ENERGY RESOURCES &

GENERATION OF
ELECTRICITY
 AGENDA
(LEARNING OUTCOMES)

• Introduction to energy resources and production

• SOLAR ENERGY
• WIND ENERGY
• GEO THERMAL ENERGY
• BIO MASS ENERGY
• ENERGY FROM WATER
• TIDAL ENERGY
 INTRODUCTION
 Energy is the key input to drive and improve the life cycle.

 It is the gift of the nature to the mankind in various forms.

 The consumption of the energy is the energy is directly proportional to the progress of
the mankind.

 with ever growing population, urbanization, improvement in the living standard of the
humanity, industrialization of the developing countries, the global demand for energy is
expected to increase rather significantly in the near future.

 The primary source of energy is fossil fuel, however the finiteness of fossil fuel reserves
and large scale environmental degradation caused by their widespread use, particularly
global warming , urban air pollution and acid rain , strongly suggests that harnessing of
 RENEWABLE RESOURCES

Renewable resources are natural

resources that can be
replenished in a short period of
time.

● Solar ● Geothermal
● Wind ● Biomass
● Water
SOLAR

Energy from the

sun.

Why is energy from

the sun renewable?
Solar Energy
 Solar Energy - Solar energy is the energy received by the earth from the sun. This energy is in
the form of solar radiation, which makes the production of solar electricity possible.
 Sun is the prime source of energy.
 Sun daily spreads an enormous amount of energy; out of which our mother earth receives a very
small fraction. Even that small fraction is so much that is sufficient to meet all our demands.

 The energy that is directly received through the solar radiation can be classified as
solar photovoltaic
Solar thermal.
Solar Energy
 The word PV means “voltage from light”. The photovoltaic cells are used to turn sunlight
directly into electricity. PV cells generate power through the interaction of tiny particles of light
called “photons” with electrons in the cells. PV cells were originally

 developed for use in space program, PV cells have powered nearly every man made satellite
sent into the orbit.

 These days many equipment are using solar energy in this way and so many buildings are being
equipped with arrays of PV cells for meeting their electricity demand.

 In this way of solar energy conversion by photovoltaic means the semiconductor silicon cells
directly convert the sun’s light into electricity.
Solar Energy
 The widely used mechanism is the utilization solar panels, by using the sun light to generate
electricity.

 A solar panel is a set of solar photovoltaic modules electrically connected and mounted on a
supporting structure.

 A photovoltaic module is a packaged, connected assembly of solar cells.

 The solar panel can be used as a component of a larger photovoltaic system to generate and
supply electricity in commercial and residential applications.
Solar Energy
 A photovoltaic system typically includes a panel or an array of solar modules, an
inverter, and sometimes a battery and/or solar tracker and interconnection
wiring.
 Depending on construction, photovoltaic modules can produce electricity from
a range of frequencies of light.

 Currently the best achieved sunlight conversion rate (solar module efficiency) is
around 21.5% Solar panels can be installed on roofs or on the ground.

 PV modules can have additionally trackers which senses the direction of the sun
and tilt the modules as needed for maximum exposure to the light.
Solar Energy

Advantages Disadvantages
• Clean • Inefficient- maximum efficiency
• Sustainable upto 30%
• Free of Cost • Costly equipment
• Provide electricity to Remote • Part time ( not available at night
places and cloudy areas)
• High maintenance cost
WIND Energy from the
wind.

Why is energy
from the wind
renewable?
Wind Energy
 Winds are caused by the uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun, the

irregularities of the earths surface, and rotation of the Earth.

 The term” Wind Energy” or “ Wind Power” describes the process by which

“The wind is used to generate the electric energy through the mechanical energy

generated by the wind mill from the kinetic energy of wind” .

 Since long time windmills are used to mill wheat and pump water.
 Wind Energy
 Modern windmills are called wind turbines. They transform the energy of the wind into

mechanical power, which can then be used to produce electricity.

 Wind turbines can be used singly or in clusters called wind farms and are usually about 60

m high.

 unelectrified homes, boats etc., to power television and other domestic appliances and so

on.

 For the economical harnessing of wind power a wind velocity of about 7 m/sec. is required
 GEOTHERMAL
Energy from Earth’s
heat.
Advantage: unlimited source
of cheap energy.
Disadvantage: There are only
a few places where magma
comes close to Earth’s
surface. Elsewhere, very deep
wells are needed to tap this
energy and that is expensive.
Geothermal Energy
 Geothermal energy uses the heat energy present underneath the

Earth, and is capable of supplying all of our energy.

 Two wells are drilled. One well injects water into the ground to

provide water. The hot rocks heat the water to produce steam. The

steam that shoots back up the other hole(s) is purified and is used

to drive turbines, which power electric generators.

Geothermal Energy
 When the water temperature is below the boiling point of water a binary system

is used. A low boiling point liquid is used to drive a turbine and generator in a

closed system similar to a refrigeration unit running in reverse.

 There are also natural sources of geothermal energy: some can come from

volcanoes, geysers, hot springs, and steam vents. The world's largest geothermal

power installation is The Geysers in California, with a rated capacity of 750 MW.

 Geothermal power has the advantage that it is not variable, like most of the

other renewable sources.

 BIOMASS
Energy from
burning organic or
living matter.
Examples include:
Wood, leaves, food wastes, and
manure.
 Biomass and biofuel
Biomass consists of living or recently dead organisms or other biological material, i.e. carbon. Biomass is
used to produce biofuel. The most common material for biofuels are photosynthetic plants. A plant
especially grown to be used for biofuel manufacturing is known as an energy crop.

Biodiesel is a very common Biogas is produced by the biological Bioalcohol (or alcohol
biofuel. It is made from oils breakdown of organic matter in the fuel) is produced with
(extracted from maize, absence of oxygen. The biodegradable the help of fermentation-
sunflower, palm fruit and materials can be manure, sewage, inducing microorganisms.
sometimes from animal green waste (plant parts), household The most common is
products) that undergo chemical and industrial waste. Biogases are rich ethanol fuel (or
processing. Used edible in methane. They can be used to bioethanol) that is widely
vegetable oil is sometimes generate heat, electric or mechanical used instead of petrol to
transformed into biodiesel too. energy, or as fuel for vehicles. power cars in some
Biodiesel is used in diesel Biogas is produced in facilities for countries, predominantly
engines. biological treatment of waste. It is also Brazil.
formed naturally in landfills where it World leaders in biomass
contributes to the greenhouse effect. use: USA, Germany, Brazil,
UK
 Biomass Energy
 Biomass production involves using garbage or other renewable resources such as corn or other vegetation to

generate electricity. When garbage decomposes, the methane produced is captured in pipes and later burned to

produce electricity.

 Vegetation and wood can be burned directly to generate energy, like fossil fuels, or processed to form alcohols.

 Brazil has one of the largest renewable energy programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from

sugar cane, and ethanol now provides 18% of the country's automotive fuel. Ethanol fuel is also widely available

in the USA.

 Vegetable oil is generated from sunlight, H2O, and CO2 by plants. It is safer to use and store than gasoline or

diesel as it has a higher flash point. Straight vegetable oil works in diesel engines if it is heated first.

 Vegetable oil can also be converted to make biodiesel, which burns like normal diesel.
WATER or HYDROELECTRIC
Energy from the
flow of water.

Why is energy of
flowing water
renewable?
 Hydropower
• Hydropower (also called hydraulic or water power) is derived from the force of
moving water. Since water is much denser than air, its movement generates more
energy than wind does.

• Electricity generated with hydropower is called hydroelectricity.

• Hydropower was harnessed with waterwheels to operate watermills, sawmills,

textile machines and others long before electric power came into use.

• Hydropower supplies some 19% of all electricity in the world. It is generally far
cheaper than fossil fuels or nuclear energy.
Hydropower

 Hydroelectricity is mostly generated in dams. Water is first collected in dams, then let flow
through turbines. A great advantage of this technology is that the amount of energy
produced can be easily adjusted to the level of demand by controlling the outflow of water.

 Another technology that utilizes a dam but no reservoir is the run-of-the-river

hydroelectric generation. Here, the dam cuts across the river, ensuring water will fall from
its upper edge, pass through turbines and flow back into the lower level of the river. In
some run-of-the-river installations, water is directed into a pipe, from where it passes
through turbines and returns into the river.
sssssssss
 Tidal Energy
The lack of a reservoir reduces the negative environmental impact of the power installations. However, there are certain problems
related to dams, such as high construction and maintenance costs, the risk of dam breakage, and threats for water creatures. To
avoid these complications, damless hydroelectricity has been created.

Another up-and-coming electric source is wave

Tidal power technologies convert the energy of
power. One wave power technology employs floating
tides into electricity. Their biggest advantage is
objects that the waves move, creating electricity.
the fact that tides are much more predictable
With wind turbines, the air fluctuations caused by the
than wind or solar energy. However, tidal
moving water can also be used to produce power. A
power is not very common yet.
project that uses the movement of the water below
Tidal energy is captured with tidal stream its surface has also been developed.
systems which use the kinetic energy of moving World leaders in
The first wave farm (a collection
water to drive turbines. A less popular hydropower use: China,
of wave power generators) in
technology to capture tidal energy are barrages Brazil, Canada, USA,
the world was opened in 2008
(similar to dams), which use the water’s India
in Portugal. Its capacity is 2.25
potential energy. Barrages are not preferred
MW. Scotland plans to build an
because of higher costs and bad environmental
even larger facility with a 3 MW
effects.
capacity.