Renewable Energy Technologies Course Chapter 1

Renewable Energy Technologies
By
Prof. Ghada
Amer
Vice Dean for Postgraduate
and Research
Faculty of Engineering –Benha
University

Course Outline
Chapter 1 Overview of energy use : (1 Lecture)
• Today’s energy use
• Fossil fuels and environmental impact
• Renewable energy source and devices, Economics
Chapter 2 Hydrogen and Fuel Cells (2 Lecturers)
• Basics of electrochemistry
• Polymer membrane electrolyte (PEM) fuel cells
• Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs)
• Hydrogen production and storage
• Coal-fired plants and integrated gasifier fuel cell (IGFC) systems
Chapter 3 Solar Energy (2 Lecture)
• Solar radiation
• Solar thermal energy
• Photovoltaics (Solar cells)
• CO2 capture and solar fuels
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Chapter 4 Biomass and Bio-energy (1 Lecture)
• Synthetic fuels from the biomass
• Bio-fuel cells
Chapter 5 Wind Energy and Hydroelectricity (1 Lecture)
• Availability of wind energy
• Wind turbines, wind parks and power control
• Water turbines and hydroelectric plants
Chapter 6 Nuclear Power station (4 Lecture)
• The Motivation for Nuclear Energy
• Neutron Reactions
• Nuclear Fission
• Chain Reactions and Nuclear Reactors
• Types of Nuclear Reactors
• Nuclear Fuel Cycle
• Nuclear Waste Disposal: Amounts of Waste
• Storage and Disposal of Nuclear Wastes
• Nuclear Reactor Safety
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Chapter 7 Energy Storage (2 Lecture)
• Smart grid systems
• Hybrid vehicles
• Forms of energy storage
• Batteries
• Supercapacitors
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• Renewable energy source and devices
Chapter 1
Overview of energy use

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6
What is Energy?
• “Energy is a property of matter that can be
converted into work, heat or radiation.

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Renewable Energy Technologies, By Prof.
Ghada Amer
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Today’s Energy

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Nature of Energy
Energy is all around you!
– You can hear energy as sound.
– You can see energy as light.
– And you can feel it as wind.

Fundamental Forms of Energy
• Mechanical Potential and kinetic
• Heat
• Radiant - Sun Light
• Electrical
• Chemical - Food we eat and a tank of gasoline
• Nuclear - Nuclear Reactor, Bombs used in war

Energy Measurement
• Units
– BTUs (British thermal unit)
– Calories
– kWh
– Joules
• One can be converted to another if the
conversion factor is known

Conversion Factors
• 1055 Joules = 1 Btu
• 1 Calorie = 1,000 calories
• 1kWh = 3,412 Btus

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Illustration-1
On a winter day a home needs 1 x 106 BTU of
fuel energy every 24 hours to maintain the
interior at 65ºF.
At what rate is the energy being consumed in
watts?
Power 
Energy
Time

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Illustration 2
•A 100W light bulb is left accidentally on
overnight (8 hours). How much energy
does it consume ?
•And how much money does this cost, if
electricity cost 10 cents per Kilowatt
hour?

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Energy Use = Power x Time of Power Use
 100W  8h   800Wh
 0.8kWh
Cost of the Energy = Energy Used x Cost of Unit of Energy
 0.8kWh  
$0.10
1kWh





 $0.08

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1515
Calculation of Your Energy
Consumption
• List the appliances that you use at home. Note
down their power consumption and estimating the
time of usage, calculate approximate energy
consumption for a month.
– Electric bulbs (number of bulbs)
– AC (If any)
– Refrigerator
– Washer
– Dryer
– Dishwasher etc.
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Law of Conservation of Energy
• In 1905, Albert Einstein said that mass and
energy can be converted into each other.
• He showed that if matter is destroyed, energy
is created, and if energy is destroyed mass is
created.
2
»E = MC

Energy sources and uses
• Energy uses in developed countries
– industrial
– domestic
– transportation
• Note: Electricity is not an energy source, converted
from another source (coal, hydro, nuclear, etc.).
• 1st Law of Thermodynamics - You can’t get more
energy out of something than you put in
• 2ond Law – In any conversion of heat energy to useful
work, some energy is always degraded to a lower
quality energy

Energy
Resources
• Supplementing free solar energy
– 99% of heat comes from the sun
– Without the sun, the earth would be –240 0C (-400 0F)
• We supplement the other 1% with primarily non-renewable
energy sources

Energy Source-Fuels
Classification
Non renewable (limited in
quantity or depleting)
Fossil Fuels
Coal
Natural Gas
Petroleum
Oil Shale
Tar Sands
Nuclear Fission
Renewable (unlimited by rate of use or
non-depleting)
Solar
Hydro
Wind
Tidal
Biomass
Nuclear Fusion

Chapter 1
• Renewable energy source and devices

NONRENEWABLE AND RENEWABLE RESOURCES
A nonrenewable resource is a natural resource that
cannot be re-made or re-grown at a scale comparable
to its consumption.

COAL, PETROLEUM, AND GAS
Coal, petroleum, and natural gas are considered
nonrenewable because they can not be
replenished in a short period of time. These are
called fossil fuels.
• Accumulations of dead marine organisms on
the ocean floor were covered by sediments.
• Muddy rock gradually formed rock (shale)
containing dispersed oil.
• Sandstone formed on top of shale, thus oil
pools began to form.
• Natural gas often forms on top of oil.
• Primary component of natural gas is
methane
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HOW IS COAL MADE ???

HOW ARE OIL AND GAS MADE ???

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I need you to answer the
following

Here’s the Dilemma:
• Fossil Fuels are a nonrenewable resource because they were
formed from the remains of plant and animal matter from over 65
million years ago. Once they are gone, they are gone forever!
• Some examples of fossil fuels are: petroleum, vinyl, Styrofoam,
plastics, food additives, paints, fertilizers, synthetic fibers, and
thousands of other products.
• Many environmental problems our country faces have also arisen
from using fossil fuels.
Environmental Problems

Some Environmental Problems Caused By
Using Fossil Fuels
• Global Warming
• Acid Rain
• Thermal Pollution

Global Warming!
• Global average surface temperature has risen 0.5-1.1 degrees
Fahrenheit since reliable records began in the late 1800s. This has
been attributed to the increase in carbon dioxide.
• Projected temperature increase could have detrimental effects on
the earth.
Detrimental Effects on the Earth
• Gases are emitted when fossil fuels are burned
from coal plants and automobiles. One of the most
significant is carbon dioxide, a gas that traps heat in
the earth’s atmosphere.

Detrimental Effects Caused By
Global Warming
•In coastal areas, sea level may rise due to the warming of
the oceans and the melting of glaciers.
•Inland agricultural zones could suffer an increase in the
frequency of droughts, resulting in food shortages.
•Altered weather patterns may result in more extreme
weather events.
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What is Acid Rain?
• Carbon dioxide gas dissolves into water droplets as they form
into rain, producing weak carbonic acid. As a result, normal rain
is slightly acidic.
• Sulfur released by coal-burning factories and power plants and
nitrogen oxide from automobile exhaust pollute the air and
combine with the water vapor and increase the acidity of rain.
• There are many negative effects of acid rain on the earth
Negative Effects of Acid Rain

Effects of Acid Rain
• Acid precipitation leaches calcium, potassium, and
other valuable nutrients from the soil, making it less
fertile.
• Acid Rain falling on lake ecosystems
or runoff from streams or
neighboring slopes, causes the pH of
the lake water to fall below normal,
damaging plant and animal life.
• Acid Rain damages plant tissues. Many
trees in the forests of the northern-
eastern United States are dying.

What is Thermal Pollution?
• During the electricity-generation process, burning fossil
fuels produces heat energy.
• Much of this heat is released into the atmosphere or to
water that is used as a coolant. Heated air is not a
problem.
• Heated water, once returned to rivers and lakes, can
upset the aquatic ecosystem.

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
• 1. What is Fossil Fuel?
• 2. Name three examples of fossil fuels?
• 3. Write a sentence behind each one of
these environmental problems explaining
how each is effecting the earth:
– 1. Global Warming-
– 2. Acid Rain-
– 3. Thermal Pollution-
• 4. What can humans do to help relieve the
environment from these problems?
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Problem & Opportunity
• Several Problems
– Air & water pollution
– Health effects of pollution
– Oil depletion/ imports
– Global warming from CO2
• One Solution
– Renewable energy sources
cause minimal pollution,
don’t cause global warming
and are locally available

Chapter 1
• Renewable energy source, devices & Economics

There are lots of Alternatives
• Nuclear
• Hydroelectric
• Wind
• Solar
• Wave
• Tidal
• Geothermal
• Bio-mass
• Helium 3 (from the moon)

SOLAR
• Energy from the sun. Why is energy from the sun renewable?
• Solar energy is generally captured in two forms:
 via photovoltaic cells for electricity generation or
 via thermal panels for heating purposes
• Remains an expensive method of generating
electricity compared to conventional sources and
other renewable sources such as wind or hydro
power
• Recent advances in technology and support from
certain governments have continued to drive solar
penetration
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1. Most widely available source of energy
2. Largest potential for decentralized power generation
3. Not as limited in location siting as other renewable sources such as
Wind & Hydro
4. Solar thermal technology characteristics attractive owing to ability to
store energy
5. Scaling up (& down) very easy for Solar PV
6. Increased demand driving down costs (grid parity?)
7. Most expensive form of energy (though not so much if you consider
end-to-end costs of other energy sources)
8. Large up-front Capital investment
9. Cannot contribute to base-load power (until further improvements in
energy storage)
10. Imposes great stress on the grid owing to fluctuating nature
11. Solar PV - Difficult to store energy in electric form
About -SOLAR
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Solar Power - Photovoltaic
Current is generated through
Photovoltaic effect -flow of free
electrons in Silicon Panel due to
solar irradiance
Direct current (DC) is generated
which can be stored in a battery
or converted to Alternating
Current (AC)
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Solar Power – Solar Thermal
Sun’s infrared rays are concentrated
through reflecting mirrors on a
heating fluid (normally liquid salt)
medium, which in turn generates
steam to propel turbines
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Solar Thermal
 Heat from the sun can be used to heat
water, houses, pools, in industry and to
generate electricity
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Solar Cookers
• Many different designs
• Can improve health & reduce
deforestation in developing countries

Solar Cars?
• Hybrid and Electric cars
are coming
• Why not solar charge
them?

GEOTHERMAL
Energy from Earth’s heat.
Why is energy from the heat of
the Earth renewable?

WIND • Converts kinetic energy for wind to electrical
energy
• Uncertainty is the main problem with wind
production owing to the inherent unpredictability
of weather conditions
modern windmills have
become quite efficient and
cost effective in windy
areas
• Smaller Land requirement when compared to Solar, Hydro
• Can be built off-shore
• Fluctuates less than solar
• Cheaper than Solar
• Premium Onshore sites saturated
• Intermittency issue
• Offshore towers more expensive
• Energy Storage not viable
• Cause Noise pollution
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BIOMASS
• Ethanol is an alcohol distilled from plant material (corn in the U.S.,
sugar cane in Brazil, wheat in Europe) and used as gasoline substitute
or blend stock
• U.S. and Brazil account for 90% of global ethanol production and
consumption
• Ethanol can be blended to around 10% of the gasoline pool without
any noticeable impact on vehicle performance, but higher blend
proportions require some engine modifications
• Biodiesel is produced by the transformation of animal fat or vegetable
oil into a conventional diesel substitute
• Emit less particulate pollution than traditional petroleum based gasoline and
diesel fuels
• Not enough land space to grow crops for biofuel demand
• Question over whether producing them actually requires more
energy than they generate
• Still polluting when compared to wind or solar
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Water Energy
Hydro-electric, wave, tide
 Cheap electricity
 Capable of providing base load power
 Capable of large scale production
 Environmental concerns.
 Ecology in dam catchment area destroyed
 Settlements in catchment areas have to be relocated
 High upfront capital investment costs
 Limited in number of potential sites/locations
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Nuclear Energy – What is it?
• A nuclear change in which nuclei of certain isotopes with large mass
numbers are split apart into lighter nuclei when struck by neutrons.
– Isotopes – two or more forms of a chemical element that have the
same number of protons but different mass numbers because they
have different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei.
– Radioactivity – Unstable nuclei of atoms shoot out “chunks” of mass
and energy.
• Fission reactors, uses Uranium-235
• Fission
• Resulting heat used to produce steam that spins turbines to generate
electricity
• Produces radioactive and fission fragments
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The Nuclear Fuel Cycle
Produces highly radioactive
materials that must be stored
safely for 10,000-240,000 years.
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Locations of U.S. Nuclear Power Plants
51

RENEWABLES – ECONOMICS
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Each type of power project needs to be evaluated
for the benefits and costs

Energy Industry
Associated
Equipment/
Technology
Suppliers
Energy Industry
Non-Renewable
Coal Oil & Gas
Renewable Energy
Solar Wind Bio-fuels Hydro
Others
(Fuel
Cells,
Geother
mal etc.)
Utilities/
Consumers
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Energy Composition
U.S. and European generating capacity is dominated by fossil fuel
combustion though a shift happening towards non-fossil fuel
generation
2%
16%
19%
16%7%
40%
US & EU Energy Mix (2012)
Renewables
Hydro
Gas
Nuclear
Oil
Coal
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US Electricity Composition
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Clean-Tech Investment Chain
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Cost – Renewables versus
Non-renewables
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Cost (US$
cents/kWh)
U.S. Utilization by Plant Type
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Utilization
Utilzation

Evaluating Energy Resources
• Renewable
• Future availability
• Net energy yield
• It takes energy to get energy
• Habitat degradation
• Cost (initial and ongoing)
• Community disruption
• Political or international issues
• Suitability in different locations
• Polluting (air, water, noise, visual)
Each type of power project needs to be evaluated
for the benefits and costs

Ways to Improve Energy Efficiency
• Cogeneration – combines heat and power
• Two forms of energy (ex. steam and electricity) are
provided from the same fuel source. Used in Western
Europe, U.S. produces 9% of electricity using
cogeneration plants)
• Efficient electric motors
• High-efficiency lighting
• Increasing fuel economy
• Alternative vehicles
• Insulation
• Plug leaks
2020 Renewable Energy Technologies,
By Prof. Ghada Amer
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2020 Renewable Energy Technologies,
By Prof. Ghada Amer
Solutions: A Sustainable Energy
Strategy
61

What Can You Do?
Energy Use and Waste
• Drive a car that gets at least 15 kilometers per liter (35 miles per
gallon) and join a carpool.
• Use mass transit, walking, and bicycling.
• Super-insulate your house and plug all air leaks.
• Turn off lights, TV sets, computers, and other electronic equipment
when they are not in use.
• Wash laundry in warm or cold water.
• Use passive solar heating.
• For cooling, open windows and use ceiling fans or whole-house
attic or window fans.
• Turn thermostats down in winter and up in summer.
• Buy the most energy-efficient homes, lights, cars, and appliances
available.
• Turn down the thermostat on water heaters to 43-49ºC (110-120ºF)
and insulate hot water heaters and pipes.
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Renewable Energy Technologies Course Chapter 1

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