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Renewable Energy
Wind Energy
Biomass Energy
Solar Energy
Hydroelectricity
Geothermal power
Wave energy and tidal power
Biofeuel
Energy Using Nanotechnology
Tapping electricity from the air
An alternate source of energy is Hydrogen
Renewable Energy development in India
Reference
Renewable Energy
Renewable energy is derived from natural processes that are replenished
constantly. In its various forms, it derives directly from the sun, or from heat generated deep within the earth. Electricity and heat generated from solar, wind, ocean, hydropower, biomass, geothermal resources, and biofuels and hydrogen derived from renewable resources.
This renewable energy replaces conventional fuels in power generation, hot
water and space heating, transport fuels, rural energy services and in other uses.
Wind Energy
The potential of Wind Energy is believed to be five times total current global energy
production . Also wind power is renewable and produces no greenhouse gases during operation, such
as carbon dioxide and methane. Airflows of wind can be used to run wind turbines. This could require large amounts of land to be used for wind
turbines, particularly in areas of higher wind resources. Wind power is usually generated by wind turbines situated either onshore or
offshore. Offshore resources experience mean wind speeds of ~90% greater than that of land, so offshore
resources could contribute substantially more energy.
The Portuguese power company, EDP, is at the helm of an offshore wind project in
the north of Portugal. According to sources close to EDP, the project includes the installation of a
prototype floating wind turbine to be located in waters off Aguçadoura, in the
north of the country. The prototype will have a capacity of five megawatts. It
is then envisaged that a further five machines will be installed during a second, pre-commercial phase of the project.
Biomass Energy
Biomass is organic material made from plants and animals. It is a renewable
energy source because we can always grow more trees and crops, and waste will always exist. It doesn’t include fossil fuels, which take millions of years to create.
When burned, the chemical energy in biomass is released as heat. Wood waste or garbage can be burned to produce steam for making electricity, or to provide heat to industries and homes.
Burning biomass is not the only way to release its energy. It can be converted to other usable forms like methane gas, or fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. |
Wind power is renewable and produces no greenhouse gases during operation
Ocean waves can provide an unlimited source of renewable energy.
Electricity generated by water.
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Solar Energy
Solar Energy
is the energy derived from the sun through the form of solar
radiation. Solar powered electrical generation relies
on photovoltaics and heat engines. The solar applications includes space heating and cooling through solar architecture,
daylighting, solar hot water, solar cooking, and high temperature process heat for industrial
purposes. Solar energy involves capturing and harnessing the sun’s energy in three main ways as:
Passive solar design ensures that a building’s form and fabric captures the sun’s
energy and reduces the need for artificial light and heating.
Active solar water heating converts solar radiation into heat, which can be used directly or
stored. Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels or solar cells convert daylight into electricity.
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity or Energy
from water is electricity generated by water. Energy in water can be
harnessed and used. Since water is about 800 times denser than air, even a slow flowing stream of water, or moderate sea swell, can yield considerable amounts of energy. There are many
forms of water energy:
Hydroelectric energy: The water stored in a reservoir – often created by damming a river – is
converted into energy as it is piped into water turbines. The turbines are coupled to generators to produce electricity.
Hydroelectric power provides about one-fifth of the world’s electricity, supplying more than a billion people.
Micro hydro systems: These systems are hydroelectric power installations that typically produce up to 100 kW of power.
They are often used in water rich areas as a remote-area power supply
Geothermal power
Geothermal energy is energy obtained by tapping the heat of the earth itself, both from
deep into the Earth's crust or from shallow depths. Geothermal power – heat stored below the earth’s surface – can be generated as energy using different types of power plants.
Three types of power plants are used to generate power from geothermal energy: dry steam, flash, and binary. Gujarat state is drafting a policy to promote geothermal energy,
Wave energy and tidal power
Both wave energy and tidal power involve harnessing the movement and energy contained in the ocean and converting it into electrical power.
Wave
Ocean waves can, in theory, provide an unlimited source of renewable energy.
There is tremendous energy in the ocean and in many areas of the world the wind blows with enough consistency and force to provide continuous waves. Wave power devices extract energy directly from the surface motion of waves which can
be converted into electricity by wave power machines. These machines can be positioned either on the shoreline or in deeper waters
offshore.
Waves are caused by the wind blowing over the surface of the ocean.
In many areas of the world, the wind blows with enough consistency and force to provide
continuous waves. There is tremendous energy in the ocean waves. Indeed, the total power of waves breaking on the world's coastlines is estimated at 2-3
million megawatts. The west coasts of the United States and Europe and the
coasts of Japan and New Zealand are particularly good sites for harnessing wave energy.
One way to harness wave energy is to bend or focus the waves into a narrow
channel, increasing their power and size. The waves can then be channelled into a catch basin, like tidal plants, or used directly to spin turbines While
Research and Markets reports that there are currently no major commercial wave energy plants in operation, |
Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels
Solar cooker
Hydroelectricity is generated by water stored in Dams
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Biofuel
Liquid biofuel is usually either bioalcohol such as bioethanol or an oil such as
biodiesel. Bioethanol is an alcohol made by fermenting the sugar components of plant
materials and it is made mostly from sugar and starch crops. With advanced
technology being developed, cellulosic biomass, such as trees and grasses, are
also used as feedstocks for ethanol production. Ethanol can be used as a fuel
for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a gasoline additive to
increase octane and improve vehicle emissions.
Biodiesel is made from vegetable oils, animal fats or recycled greases.
Biodiesel can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually
used as a diesel additive to reduce levels of particulates, carbon monoxide, and
hydrocarbons from diesel-powered vehicles. Biodiesel is produced from oils or
fats using transesterification and is the most common biofuel in Europe.Biofuels provided 1.8% of the world's transport fuel in 2008.
Energy Using Nanotechnology
Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia have developed a more
efficient source of energy involving nano- scale particles that take only
microseconds to create and can be developed on a surface as small as a microchip.
The energy is developed using solid state energetic material consisting of fuel
and oxidizer. The nano- engineered energetic material generates a tremendous
amount of thermal and mechanical energy when ignited. Electric power is generated using the thermoelectric effect. The microfabricated devices coated
with the energetic material are capable of producing tens of joules, which are
units of energy, in the fraction of a second, which can be used for pulsed power
applications or can be stored in charge storage devices for later use in portable electronics.
Tapping electricity from the air
Brazilian scientists believe they have found a way of tapping electricity
direct from the air - and preventing lightning strikes at the same time.
Scientists have been unsure about whether an electrical charge is created when
water vapor collects on microscopic particles of dust and other material in the
air. Study leader Dr. Galembeck and his colleagues have simulated this using tiny particles of silica
and aluminum phosphate, both common airborne substances, and shown that silica
became more negatively charged in the presence of high humidity and aluminum phosphate became more positively charged.
An alternate source of energy is Hydrogen
Hydrogen is one the most abundant elements on the planet. It bonds
easily with Oxygen and other elements. That is why it works well in fuel cells
to produce electricity. Fuel cells combine hydrogen and oxygen, during this
process electrons are released. They are then collected and concentrated to
produce electricity. The emissions are pure water vapor. The largest obstacle in
cracking the hydrogen from other compounds is cost.
Renewable Energy development in India
India has among the world's largest programme for deployment of renewable energy products and systems.
The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) is the only agency of it's kind in the world to finance renewable energy projects.
India has a large potential for renewable energy (RE), an estimated aggregate of over 100,000MW. In addition, the scope
for generating power and thermal applications using solar energy is huge. However, only a fraction of the aggregate potential in
renewable, and solar energy, has been utilized so far.
The major renewable energy sources are biogas, improved cooking stoves,
biomass, solar energy, wind energy, small hydro power, energy recovery from wastes and other new and emerging technologies. About 6,400 MW
(as of March 31, 2005) of renewable power generation capacity has been set up in the country.
Wind power generation alone accounts for 3595 MW of energy, small hydro projects for another 1,705 MW and Biomass , 750 MW. More than 80,000 stand alone PV systems aggregating to about 47 MW have been
installed in the country so far. Three million families are covered under the biogas programme and 33 million improved cooking stoves have been deployed. It is estimated that some 5,000 entrepreneurs are
involved in the biogas programme and 10,000 self-employed workers are involved in the improved cooking stove programmes.
In 1992 the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNEs) announced a new strategy and action plan to replace subsidy-driven programmes with commercialization. Financial incentives were trimmed
and fiscal incentives, such as concessional tax rates, along with soft
loans, were introduced to encourage enterprise. Several renewable energy technologies
(RETs) such as wind, solar thermal, solar photovoltaics (SPV) and small hydro
(SHP) are now promoted on a commercial scale. Today India has the largest decentralized solar energy
programme, the second largest biogas and improved stove programmes, and the fifth largest wind power programme in the world. A substantial manufacturing base has been created in a variety of
RETs, placing India in a position not only to export technologies but also to offer technical expertise to other countries.
Reference
1.Biomass Energy for Rural India Society
http://bioenergyindia.kar.nic.in/
2. Government of India Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
http://www.mnrc.gov.in/ |
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