Exploring new resources as potential energy resources, clean and green energy for sustainable use.

1. Alternative Sources of
Green Energy
Meesha Singh
Research Scholar

2. Green Energy?
 Green energy is that which comes from specific sources that have the highest
environmental benefit, including solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, eligible
biomass and small hydroelectric sources, according to the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA).
 All green energy sources are renewable, but all renewable energy sources
are not green!
 Renewable energy “includes resources that rely on fuel sources that restore
themselves over short periods of time and do not diminish,” which includes all
the green options but also other sources such as large hydroelectric dams,
which present certain environmental tradeoffs.

3. Major global concerns
Limited energy
resources
• Diminishing
supplies
• Increasing energy
demands.
Fluctuations in
energy prices
• Geo-strategic
tensions.
• Political
disturbances
around the globe.
• Increasing
dependency on oil
imports.
Climate change &
environmental risk
• Burning of fossil
fuels → Green
House Effect →
Global Warming.
• Coal mining →
Barren land.
• Oil spilling →
Destroys
ecosystems.

4. Various forms of Green Energy
Alternative sources
 Biofuels
 Ocean sources
Common sources
 Solar power
 Wind power
 Hydroelectric power
 Geothermal power

5. Biofuels
 Biofuels are solid, liquid or gaseous fuels that are produced from biomass. The
biomass or organic matter that is converted to biofuels may include food
crops, bioenergy crops (e.g., switchgrass or prairie perennials), agricultural
residues, wood/forestry waste and by-products, animal manure and algae.
 Biotechnology provides tools that allow rapid development of domesticated
genotypes with growth and composition characteristics optimized for energy
production.

7. • produced by the action of microorganisms and enzymes through the
fermentation of sugars or starches or cellulose.
• For e.g. Ethanol, Methanol, Butanol.
Bio-alcohols
• produced from oils or fats using transesterification.
• Feedstocks for biodiesel include animal fats, vegetable oils, soy,
rapeseed, jatropha, mustard, flax, sunflower, palm oil, algae etc.
Biodiesel
• produced by the process of anaerobic digestion of organic material
by anaerobes.
• produced either from biodegradable waste materials or by the use of
energy crops fed into anaerobic digesters to supplement gas yield.
Biogas
• For e.g. wood, sawdust, grass trimmings, domestic refuse, charcoal,
agricultural waste, non-food energy crops and dried manure.Solid biofuels

8. • Certain types of algae contain natural
oils that can be readily distilled into a
vegetable oil or a number of
petroleum-like products that could
serve as drop-in replacements for
gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.
Algal
biofuels
• Jatropha, Mahua, Amaranth, Soybean,
Sweet sorghum, Wheat, Brassica.
Bioenergy
crops

10. The Five Ethical Principles of the
Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2011)
These principles are as follows (quoted from Nuffield Council on Bioethics
2011):
1. Biofuels development should not be at the expense of people‘s essential
rights (including access to sufficient food and water, health rights, work rights
and land entitlements).
2. Biofuels should be environmentally sustainable.
3. Biofuels should contribute to a net reduction of total greenhouse gas
emissions and not exacerbate global climate change.
4. Biofuels should develop in accordance with trade principles that are fair and
recognise the rights of people (including labour rights and intellectual
property rights).
5. Costs and benefits of biofuels should be distributed in an equitable way.

11. Some latest advancements in
the production of Bio-energy

12. Microbial fuel cell as new technology
for bioelectricity generation
 Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) uses an active microorganism as a biocatalyst in an
anaerobic anode compartment for production of bioelectricity.
 The microorganism acts as active oxidizes the organic substrates to produce
electrons and protons; electricity generation from waste materials.
 Some MFC bacteria (electricigens): Geobacterspecies, Shewanella
putrefacians, Pseudomonas species.
-According to a study conducted by Biofuel & Renewable Energy
Research Center, Iran (2015).

13. Macro algae -an attractive renewable
source for bio-energy molecules
 Higher biomass production rate per unit area.
 Easier depolymerization as they contain less complex cell wall metrics.
 Carbon dioxide fixation rate is much higher than by terrestrial plants.
 Attractive option for CO2 sequestration and recycling.
 No diversion of food from the human food chain.

14.  CSMCRI, Bhavanagar for the first time in India has been able to produce
ethanol using a seaweed polysaccharide.
 Rengasamy and his team have successfully developed a technology to produce
biogas from seaweeds.
 Ravishankar and his team from Plant Cell Biotechnology Department, Central
Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore have done extensive work on
isolation and characterization of hydrocarbon producing microalga
Botryococcus braunii from Indian waters.
 Synthetic Biology & Biofuel Group (ICGEB, New Delhi) has been working on
genetic modification of marine and fresh water green algae (Chlamydomonas
and Chlorella sp) and Cyanobacteria for enhancement of growth rate and
biofuel production.

15. Latest studies in Bio-energy research
 Production of hydrocarbon liquid by pyrolysis of Camellia sinensis (tea) seed
deoiled cake and characterization of products.
 Isolation and molecular characterization of cellulolytic fungi used for
conversion of sugarcane biomass for bioethanol production.
 Potential of wheat straw for biogas production using thermophiles.
 Ultrasonic pretreatment to enhance biohydrogen production from food waste.
 Biological hydrogen production by facultative anaerobic bacteria Enterobacter
aerogens (MTCC 8100).
 Production of biodiesel from neem oil using synthesized iron nanocatalyst.
- As published in Recent Advances in Bioenergy Research (Volume III), 2014.

16. Ocean Energy Sources
There are six different resources which are available from oceans:
 offshore wind energy,
 wave power,
 marine current energy,
 ocean thermal energy conversion,
 tidal power,
 osmotic power.
Ocean energy sector has great potential but it is unsuitable for commercial use
because of high cost of power plants and other technologies.

17. Conclusion
 Ongoing concerns about climate change have made renewable energy sources
an important component of the world energy consumption portfolio.
 Two main solutions may be implemented to reduce CO2 emissions and to
overcome the problem of climate change: replacing fossil fuels with
renewable energy sources as much as possible and enhancing energy
efficiency regardless of type.
 The need of the hour is to explore more and more alternative resources as
potential renewable sources of energy.

18. THANK YOU! 