HOW DIFFERENT FORMS OF ENERGY ARE HARNESSED

I. How is Energy Harnessed from Fossil Fuels?

Coal, oil, and gas are called “fossil fuels” because they have been formed from the organic remains of prehistoric
plants and animals. Over 65% of the world’s electrical energy used today is generated by steam turbine generators
burning fossil fuels as their source of energy and large scale fossil fuelled plants provide most of the world’s base load
generating capacity.

Crude oil (called “petroleum”) is easier to get out of the ground than coal, as it can flow along pipes. This also makes it
cheaper to transport.

Some scientists are claiming that oil is not a ‘fossil’ fuel – that it is not the remains of prehistoric organisms after all. They
claim it was made by some other, non-biological process. Currently this is not accepted by the majority of scientists.

Natural gas provides around 20% of the world's consumption of energy, and as well as being burnt in power
stations, is used by many people to heat their homes. It is easy to transport along pipes, and gas power stations
produce comparatively little pollution.

Other fossil fuels are being investigated, such as bituminous sands and oil shale. The difficulty is that they need
expensive processing before we can use them; however Canada has large reserves of 'tar sands' , which makes it
economic for them to produce a great deal of energy this way.

As far as we know, there is still a lot of oil in the ground. But although oil wells are easy to tap when they're almost
full, it's much more difficult to get the oil up later on when there's less oil down there. That's one reason why we're
increasingly looking at these other fossil fuels.

Advantages of using Fossil Fuels Disadvantages of using Fossil Fuels

 Very large amounts of electricity can be generated
in one place using coal, fairly cheaply.
 Transporting oil and gas to the power stations is
easy.
 Gas-fired power stations are very efficient.
 A fossil-fuelled power station can be built almost
anywhere, so long as you can get large quantities
of fuel to it. Didcot power station, in Oxfordshire,
has a dedicated rail link to supply the coal.

 Basically, the main drawback of fossil fuels is
pollution. Burning any fossil fuel produces carbon
dioxide, which contributes to the "greenhouse
effect", warming the Earth.
 Burning coal produces more carbon dioxide than
burning oil or gas. It also produces sulphur dioxide,
a gas that contributes to acid rain. We can reduce
this before releasing the waste gases into the
atmosphere.
 Mining coal can be difficult and dangerous. Strip
mining destroys large areas of the landscape.
 Coal-fired power stations need huge amounts of
fuel, which means train-loads of coal almost
constantly. In order to cope with changing
demands for power, the station needs reserves.
 This means covering a large area of countryside
next to the power station with piles of coal.
 Fossil fuels are not a renewable energy resource.
 Once we've burned them all, there isn't any more,
and our consumption of fossil fuels has nearly
doubled every 20 years since 1900.
 This is a particular problem for oil, because we also
use it to make plastics and many other products.
 You could argue that fossil fuels are renewable
because more coal seams and oil fields will be
formed if we wait long enough. However that
means waiting for many millions of years.

II. How is Energy Harnessed from Biogas?

Biogas is another bio-based technology that harnesses natural sources and processes to produce renewable energy.
Animal wastes such as cow manure naturally give off methane as they breakdown. Animal wastes can be processed in an
anaerobic (air-free) digester, producing biogas, containing methane, which is used to power modified natural gas
engines and generate electricity. The process also improves the fertilizer potential of the manure, too!

Biogas facilities are also sited at landfills, taking advantage of the methane potential of organic wastes that are being
broken down. Landfills are already responsible for capturing and eliminating methane— a typical practice involve
burning off the methane, producing the tall flames you sometimes see at landfill. Waste-to-methane energy plants go a
step further, utilizing much of the same manure to methane technologies to harness that methane, turning trash into
electricity.

How Does Anaerobic Digestion Work?

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a biological process that occurs when organic matter is decomposed by bacteria in an
oxygen-free environment. This process produces biogas, which consists primarily of methane and carbon dioxide. This
gas can be recovered, treated, and used to generate energy in place of traditional biofuels. AD systems are also often
referred to as biogas systems.

Before entering the digester, manure is heated to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the perfect temperature to prime the
appetite of picky microorganisms. Pistons push the hot manure into the main chamber where the microorganisms feast.
The manure breaks down into a biogas bubble and a mixture of solids and liquids. The bubble, mostly methane gas, can
be harnessed and used to fuel an engine and generate electricity. The whole process takes 21 days. The leftover solids
and liquids are filtered and used for cow bedding and fertilizer.

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas. Its contribution to the greenhouse effect is over 20 times more potent than that
of carbon dioxide. On a typical farm, cow manure is spread on fields where the methane gas seeps out of the manure
and into the atmosphere. Digesters can help combat methane release by burning the gas and converting it to carbon
dioxide. The digester captures the methane before it has a chance to escape into the atmosphere in its pure form. These
digesters do more than generate a sustainable source of electricity for commercial farms. They also reduce greenhouse
gas emissions.

Besides generating electricity and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the anaerobic digestion process eliminates nearly
all cow manure odors. Many small farmers struggle to afford the new technology, but increased popularity and demand
are helping make digesters more accessible.

III. How is Energy Harnessed from Geothermal Source?

What is the hottest green energy? Coming from deep within the earth’s core, geothermal power has been used for
cooking, bathing and keeping warm since Roman times. Today, it is a promising clean energy option, and there are many
who hope it can further lessen the use of fossil fuels in the near future.

Geothermal resources have been identified in over 80 countries and approximately 70 of those are making direct use of
this energy. In Iceland, 90% of space heating is geothermal: most cities, like Reykjavík and Akureyri, use networks of
piped hot water to heat buildings in whole communities and even below outdoor pavement to melt snow on sidewalks.
In 24 countries around the world, electricity is produced from geothermal power. Five of those countries get 10-22% of
their electricity from geothermal sources. Output is growing by 3% annually, as more plants are built and capacity
improved.

Deep below the surface, the Earth is extremely hot. The temperature is believed to reach around 1,000 degrees C at
depths of 30-50 kilometers. In geologically active regions where volcanoes and hot springs abound, magma chambers of
a similar temperature exist quite close to underground rock strata at comparatively shallow depths of just a few
kilometers. Rainwater seeping down into these rocks is heated and subjected to immense pressure, which creates
geothermal aquifers. In geothermal power generation, energy is extracted from these geothermal aquifers. There are
two main types of system in use: the flash cycle, in which steam from the geothermal source drives turbines directly;
and the binary cycle, where only heat is extracted by feeding steam and hot water into heat exchangers.

Since it utilizes renewable energy produced beneath the surface, geothermal power generation does not involve any
combustion above ground. This means that CO2 emissions into the atmosphere are minimal. Clearly, greater reliance on
geothermal power generation would help prevent global warming. Since the supply of energy from within the Earth is
potentially huge and, in practical terms, inexhaustible, depletion is not a concern. Furthermore, unlike other forms of
renewable energy such as solar photovoltaic or wind power, geothermal power is independent of weather co nditions.
Indeed, capacity utilization of geothermal power generation is on at par with that of thermal power generation.

There are two types of geothermal resources: those 150°C or hotter that are found in connection with volcanic activity;
and low-temperature resources of 150°C or less that are found in places like sedimentary basins or extinct volcanic
areas.

Energy from high-temperature resources is used for electric power generation, while low-temperature resources are
used for direct purposes, such at space heating, space cooling, bathing, fish breeding and production of vegetables in
greenhouses.

Power is mainly generated from high-temperature resources by using steam to run turbines. There are two basic types
of geothermal power plants:
 Dry steam plants that use steam from a geothermal reservoir to turn generator turbines. (The first geothermal
power generator was built in 1904 in Tuscany, Italy.)
 Flash steam plants that use hot water that is pressurized to convert it to steam, which drives the generator
turbines. When the steam cools, the excess water is re-injected into the supply reservoir or used directly, e.g., in
space heating. Most geothermal power plants are flash plants.
IV. How is Energy Harnessed from Hydrothermal Source?

By taking advantage of gravity and the water cycle, we have tapped into one of nature's engines to create a useful form
of energy. In fact, humans have been capturing the energy of moving water for thousands of years. Today, harnessing
the power of moving water to generate electricity, known as hydroelectric power, is the largest source of emissions -
free, renewable electricity in the United States and worldwide.

Although the generation of hydropower does not emit air pollution or greenhouse gas emissions, it can have negative
environmental and social consequences. Blocking rivers with dams can degrade water quality, damage aq uatic and
riparian habitat, block migratory fish passage, and displace local communities. The benefits and drawbacks of any
proposed hydropower development must be weighed before moving forward with any project. Still, if it's done right,
hydropower can be a sustainable and nonpolluting source of electricity that can help decrease our dependence on fossil
fuels and reduce the threat of global warming.

On Earth, water is constantly moved around in various states, a process known as the hydrologic cycle. Wat er
evaporates from the oceans, forming into clouds, falling out as rain and snow, gathering into streams and rivers, and
flowing back to the sea. All this movement provides an enormous opportunity to harness useful energy.

In 2011, hydropower provided 16 percent of the world’s electricity, second only to fossil fuels. Worldwide capacity in
2011 was 950 gigawatts (GW), with 24 percent in the China, eight percent in the United States, and nine percent in
Brazil. Globally, hydroelectric capacity has more than doubled since 1970.

Converting moving water to electricity

In order to generate electricity from the kinetic energy in moving water, the water has to move with sufficient speed and
volume to spin a propeller-like device called a turbine, which in turn rotates a generator to generate electricity. Roughly
speaking, one gallon of water per second falling one hundred feet can generate one kilowatt of electricity.

To increase the volume of moving water, impoundments or dams are used to collect the water. An opening in the dam
uses gravity to drop water down a pipe called a penstock. The moving water causes the turbine to spin, which causes
magnets inside a generator to rotate and create electricity.

Environmental and societal concerns

While hydropower generation does not emit global warming gasses or other air pollutants, the construction and
operation of hydropower projects can have environmental and societal consequences that greatly depend on where the
project is located and how it is operated.

Dams that have flooded areas with live vegetation can emit methane, a powerful global warming gas, as that organic
material decomposes. For example, the Tucurui dam in Brazil created a reservoir in the rainforest before clearing the
trees. As the plants and trees began to rot, they reduced the oxygen content of the water, killing off the plants and fish
in the water, and released large quantities of methane.

Hydropower projects can reduce the flows in rivers downstream if the upstream flows are trapped behind a reservoir
and/or diverted into canals that take the water off stream to a generation unit. Lowering the flows in a river can alter
water temperatures and degrade habitat for plants and animals. Less water in the river can also reduce oxygen levels
which damage water quality.

Dams can also block the migration of fish that swim upstream to reach spawning grounds. In the Pacific Northwest and
California, large dams have blocked the migration of coho, chinook, and sockeye salmon from the ocean to their
upstream spawning grounds. The number of salmon making the journey upstream has fallen 90 percent since the
construction of four dams on the lower Snake River. Some steps are being taken to move fish around the dams, such as
putting them in barges or building fish ladders, but success has been limited. Downstream fish passage can also be a
challenge since young fish can be chewed up in the turbines of the dam as they head towards the ocean.

V. How is Energy Harnessed from Batteries?

There are a lot of different kinds of batteries, but they all function based on the same underlying concept. “A battery is
a device that is able to store electrical energy in the form of chemical energy, and convert that energy into electricity ,”
says Antoine Allanore, a postdoctoral associate at MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering. “You cannot
catch and store electricity, but you can store electrical energy in the chemicals inside a battery.”

There are three main components of a battery: two terminals made of different chemicals (typically metals), the anode
and the cathode; and the electrolyte, which separates these terminals. The electrolyte is a chemical medium that
allows the flow of electrical charge between the cathode and anode. When a device is connected to a battery—a light
bulb or an electric circuit—chemical reactions occur on the electrodes that create a flow of electrical energy to the
device.

More specifically: during a discharge of electricity, the chemical on the anode releases electrons to the negative terminal
and ions in the electrolyte through what’s called an oxidation reaction.

Meanwhile, at the positive terminal, the cathode accepts electrons, completing the circuit for the flow of electrons. The
electrolyte is there to put the different chemicals of the anode and cathode into contact with one another, in a way that
the chemical potential can equilibrate from one terminal to the other, converting stored chemical energy into useful
electrical energy. “These two reactions happen simultaneously,” Allanore says. “The ions transport current through the
electrolyte while the electrons flow in the external circuit, and that’s what generates an electric current.”

VI. How is Energy Harnessed from Solar Cells?

How Solar Power Works

Solar energy—power from the sun—is a vast and inexhaustible resource. Once a system is in place to convert it into
useful energy, the fuel is free and will never be subject to the ups and downs of energy markets. Furthermore, it
represents a clean alternative to the fossil fuels that currently pollute our air and water, threaten our public health, and
contribute to global warming. Given the abundance and the appeal of solar energy, this resource is poised to play a
prominent role in our energy future.

In the broadest sense, solar energy supports all life on Earth and is the basis for almost every form of energy we use. The
sun makes plants grow, which can be burned as "biomass" fuel or, if left to rot in swamps and compressed underground
for millions of years, in the form of coal and oil. Heat from the sun causes temperature differences between areas,
producing wind that can power turbines. Water evaporates because of the sun, falls on high elevations, and rushes
down to the sea, spinning hydroelectric turbines as it passes. But solar energy usually refers to ways the sun's energy
can be used to directly generate heat, lighting, and electricity.
Photovoltaics: Solar Cells

In 1839, French scientist Edmund Becquerel discovered that certain materials would give off a spark of electricity when
struck with sunlight. This photoelectric effect was used in primitive solar cells made of selenium in the late 1800s. In the
1950s, scientists at Bell Labs revisited the technology and, using silicon, produced solar cells that could convert four
percent of the energy in sunlight directly to electricity. Within a few years, these photovoltaic (PV) cells were powering
spaceships and satellites. The most important components of a PV cell are two layers of semiconducto r material
generally composed of silicon crystals. On its own, crystallized silicon is not a very good conductor of electricity, but
when impurities are intentionally added—a process called doping—the stage is set for creating an electric current. The
bottom layer of the PV cell is usually doped with boron, which bonds with the silicon to facilitate a positive charge (P).
The top layer is doped with phosphorus, which bonds with the silicon to facilitate a negative charge (N).

How does a solar cell turn sunlight into electricity?

In a crystal, the bonds [between silicon atoms] are made of electrons that are shared between all of the atoms of the
crystal. The light gets absorbed, and one of the electrons that's in one of the bonds gets excited up to a higher energy
level and can move around more freely than when it was bound. That electron can then move around the crystal freely,
and we can get a current.

Imagine that you have a ledge, like a shelf on the wall, and you take a ball and you throw it up on th at ledge. That's like
promoting an electron to a higher energy level, and it can't fall down. A photon [packet of light energy] comes in, and it
bumps up the electron onto the ledge [representing the higher energy level] and it stays there until we can com e and
collect the energy [by using the electricity].

What's the biggest difference between how a plant captures light energy and how we do it with solar cells?

We wish we could do what plants do because plants absorb the light, and [they use] that electron to change a chemical
bond inside the plant to actually make fuel.

How good are current solar cells at capturing light energy?

So we can talk about the power efficiency. The power efficiency of a typical crystalline silicon cell is in the 22 to 23
percent [range, meaning they convert as much as 23 percent of the light striking them into electricity]. The ones that
you typically might be able to afford to put on your rooftop are lower than that, somewhere between 15 and 18
percent. The most efficient, like the ones that go on satellites, might have power efficiencies approaching 50 percent.
The power efficiency is one measure, but the other thing that we're very concerned about is the cost of making them
and the scale of production.

Guide Questions:
1. Your hometown (the place where you came from, e.g. Davao City) is currently facing a shortage in energy to be
used by its citizen. If you are the head engineer tasked to address the problem of energy shortage in your
hometown, what energy source do you think is best to harness in your hometown to address the problem?
Why? Cite some reasons for your answer.
2. Some of the most widely used energy sources might bring harmful effects to the environment. In your opinion,
what could be the best step in order to avoid these negative effects without compromising our needs for
energy?