Applied Renewable Energy

Technologies

Presenters:
Ballesteros, Jonathan Bryl
Baral, Ronald
Torres, Irish Jay Y.
 Learning Objectives:
• To grasp the idea of how renewable energy technologies operate.
• Articulate the fundamentals of the key alternative energy
technologies
• Understand standard metrics for analyzing and comparing
alternative energy technologies.
Energy
• It is the ability or capacity of a system to perform work.
• Energy is also an extensive quantity, measured by amount.
Thus, you need a certain amount of energy to perform a
certain work. Energy can be added, subtracted, converted
from one form to another, but it cannot be created or
destroyed according to energy conservation law.
Energy sources are divided into two groups:

• Renewable (an energy source that can be easily

replenished)
• Nonrenewable (an energy source that cannot be
easily replenished)
RENEWABLE ENERGY

• is energy that is collected from renewable

resources, which are naturally replenished on a
human timescale, such as sunlight, wind, rain,
tides, waves, and geothermal heat.
 Uses of Renewable Energy

Electricity Heating & Transportation Rural (off-grid)

Generation Cooling Systems Services
The main types of renewable energy resources are schematically
summarized below:
Solar Energy
• Solar energy in one form or another is the source of nearly all energy on
the earth. Humans, like all other animals and plants, rely on the sun for
warmth and food.

• Solar energy is a clean, inexpensive, renewable power source that is

harnessable nearly everywhere in the world.

• Photovoltaics (often abbreviated as PV) is a simple and elegant method of

harnessing the sun's energy. PV devices (solar cells) are unique in that
they directly convert the incident solar radiation into electricity, with no
noise, pollution or moving parts, making them robust, reliable and long
lasting.
Solar Energy

Solar powered light house at Montague Island, a National Parks and Wildlife
sanctuary on the East coast of Australia.
Solar Energy

Pro’s
• High net energy
• No CO2
• Low environmental impact
• Reduces dependence on fossil
fuels
• Work on cloudy days
Con’s
• Need access to sun
• Need storage/back-up system
• High cost
• High land use
• Low efficiency
Wind Energy
• Wind energy is primarily used for power generation. Wind
power conversion systems have been increasingly employed
in the U.S., Europe, India, and more sparingly in some other
locations over the last decade.
• Wind can be considered a form of solar energy because the
uneven heating and cooling of the atmosphere cause winds
(as well as the rotation of the earth and other topographical
factors). Wind flow can be captured by wind turbines and
converted into electricity.
 Wind Energy

Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives and EDF Renewables North America will build
the 300 MW Milligan 1 Wind Farm in Saline County in southeast Nebraska
Wind Energy

Pro’s Con’s
• Most rapidly growing source of • Need lots of space and wind.
energy. • Primary drawbacks are visual
• Inexpensive and clean. pollution and migratory and
predatory bird mortality.
Geothermal Energy
• Geothermal energy is derived from the heat of the earth.
This heat can be sourced close to the surface or from
heated rock and reservoirs of hot water miles beneath our
feet.
• It's clean and sustainable. Resources of geothermal energy
range from the shallow ground to hot water and hot rock
found a few miles beneath the Earth's surface, and down
even deeper to the extremely high temperatures of molten
rock called magma.
Geothermal Energy

Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Station in Iceland

Geothermal Energy
Pro’s
• High efficiency
• Lower CO2
• Low cost at favorable sites
• Low land use and disturbance
• Moderate environmental
impact
Con’s
• Shortage of suitable sites
• Depleted if used too rapidly
• CO2 emissions
• Moderate/High air pollution
• High cost
Hydropower or Hydroelectric Energy
• a form of renewable energy that uses the water stored in
dams, as well as flowing in rivers to create electricity in
hydropower plants.
• Like other forms of electricity generation, hydropower uses a
turbine to help generate electricity; using the energy of falling
or flowing water to turn the blades.
Hydropower or Hydroenergy

Three Gorges Dam, China is the world's largest hydro facility.

Hydropower or Hydroenergy

Pro’s Con’s
• High net energy, high • Disrupts natural
efficiency, low cost water/nutrient flow of river
• No CO2 • Interrupts fish migrations
• Flood control • Floods land areas (large scale
• Irrigation possibilities dams)
• High construction costs
Biomass or Biofuels
• Biomass is organic material that comes from plants
and animals, and it is a renewable source of energy.
• Biomass contains stored energy from the sun. Plants
absorb the sun's energy in a process called
photosynthesis. When biomass is burned, the chemical
energy in biomass is released as heat. Biomass can be
burned directly or converted to liquid biofuels or
biogas that can be burned as fuels.
Biomass or Biofuels

Source: Adapted from The National Energy Education Project

Biomass or Biofuels
Pro’s
• It is renewable
• It reduces dependency on
fossil fuels
• It doesn’t produce carbon
• It is widely available
• It can be used in many forms
(can be used to create
biodiesel, biofuels and
methane gas)
Con’s
• It is not 100% clean when
burned
• It relies heavily on natural
materials
• It is not entirely efficient
• It needs a lot of space
• It is expensive
Tidal Energy
• It is a renewable form of energy that converts the natural rise and
fall of the tides into electricity.
• Tides are caused by the combined effects of gravitational forces
exerted by the Moon, the Sun, and the rotation of the Earth.
• Tidal energy presents an evolving technology with tremendous
potential. However, it can only be installed along coastlines.
Coastlines often experience two high tides and two low tides on a
daily basis. The difference in water levels must be at least 5 meters
high to produce electricity.
Tidal Energy
Three main types of tidal technologies:
Tidal Energy
Pro’s
• easy to install
• with no direct greenhouse gas
emissions and a low
environmental impact
• a very
predictable energy source
making it a highly attractive
for electrical grid management
Con’s
• Adoption of tidal technologies
has been slow
• Amount of power generated
from tidal power plants is very
small
• Tide cycles do not always
match the daily consumption
patterns of electricity and
therefore do not provide
sufficient capacity to satisfy
demand.
 Role of energy technologies in sustainability

System diagram for renewable energy conversion. The system's main goal is to maintain the constant availability of
services and products for society, production of which requires constancy of usable energy flow. Development and
optimization of the efficient energy conversion systems is a necessary condition for making this system resilient and
capable of eventually meeting energy demands.
What can be done to maximize the energy conversion
rate at the supply valve?

1. Maximize efficiency.
2. Scale-up the conversion system.
3. Tune technology to local source and
conditions.
References
• https://us.sunpower.com/complete-guide-7-renewable-energy-
sources
• https://www.energysage.com/solar/
• https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2019/08/iea
-edf-unit-to-build-300-mw-wind-farm-in-nebraska.html
• https://www.originenergy.com.au/blog/about-energy/what-is-
hydropower.html
• https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/?page=renewable_home
• https://www.e-education.psu.edu/eme807
THANK YOU! 