2.

Renewable Energy Resources

What is Renewable Energy

Renewable energy is energy

that is collected from renewable
resources, which are naturally
replenished on a human timescale.
 Some aspects of renewable energy
 It exists perpetually and is abundant
 Ready to harnessed and inexhaustible
 Clean alternative to fossil fuels

1
What role does renewable energy play in the Environmental protection?
 Cont…

The key drivers for renewable energy expansion are the

following:
The demand-supply gap ( as population increases)
A large untapped potential
Concern for the environment
The need to strengthen energy security
A viable solution for rural electrification
Pressure on high-emission industry sectors from their
shareholders
2
 Cont…
Why do we need renewable energy resources? Why can’t
we just continue to use non-renewable resources???

• CO2 is at 407ppm (Oct 2018) increased by

90ppm in the last 70 years
• Global warming ~1.1°C in the past 200
years
• Ocean acidification
• Rising sea level ~3.2mm each year
• Decreasing ice sheet mass
• Retreating glaciers
• Decreasing Arctic ice at a rate of 13% each
decade

Renewable energy is crucial for mitigating climate change!!! How???

3
Cont…

4
 Cont..

Which forms of Renewable Energy can we find in your

geographic area?
Check out the Get Energy Active website at
5
www.getenergyactive.org.
 Types of Renewable Energy

All known renewable energy sources originate in, or are

6
close derivatives of, electromagnetic radiation of our Sun.
 Hydropower Energy

Hydropower is a versatile and

valuable energy source to meet peak
energy demand
Convert energy of falling water to
mechanical energy and onto electrical
energy
Producing electricity by converting
the power of waves and water into
energy

Will water constrain our

energy future??? 7
 Cont…
■ Nature
• Generation of electricity using the flow of water
• Gravity as source.
• Requires a large reservoir of water.
• Considered cleaner, less polluting than fossil fuels.
■ Controversy
Require the development of vast amounts of infrastructures:
• Dams.
• Reservoirs.
• Power plants and power lines.
• Financial resources or aid resources
Environmental problems:
• The dams themselves often alter the environment in the areas
where they are located.
8
• Changing the nature of rivers
 Cont…

How a Hydroelectric Power System Works

The mechanical energy produced by the turbine is
converted into electric energy using a turbine generator.
Inside the generator, the shaft of the turbine spins a magnet
inside coils of copper wire.

9
 Cont..

Pros Cons
No greenhouse gas emissions The loss of land under the
reservoir.
Cheap electricity
Interference with the transport of
Providing base load power sediment by the dam.
Capable of large scale production Humanitarian implications
Depends on seasonal nature of
water
Problems associated with the
reservoir.
Climatic and seismic effects.
Impact on ecosystems
Eutrophication 10
 Wind Energy
What device is used in transforming wind energy? What
considerations make wind energy advantageous?

The energy generated by wind is normally converted into

electrical energy using a wind mill/ turbine.
A wind turbine produces power by converting the force of
the wind (kinetic energy) acting on the rotor blades
(rotational energy) into torque (mechanical energy).
Wind energy converted into electrical energy is a clean
alternative to other energy
Wind energy does not produce harmful by-products and
environmental pollution to nature.
11
 Cont…
Is there any demerit associated with wind
energy source?

12
 Cont…
Why wind energy??

o Clean, less/zero emissions

 NOx, SO2, CO, CO2
 Air quality, water quality
 Climate change
o Reduce fossil fuel dependence
 Energy independence
 Domestic energy—national security
o Renewable
 No fuel-price volatility 13
 Solar Energy

The sun is often regarded as the ultimate answer to our

energy problems
Solar energy technologies can be loosely divided into two
categories:
Photovoltaic (PV devices) or “solar cells” change
sunlight directly into electricity.
Solar Power Plants - indirectly generates electricity when
the heat from solar thermal collectors is used to heat a fluid
which produces steam that is used to power a generator.
Why solar energy is the most important
renewable type of energy?? 14
 Cont…
The two main benefits of using solar energy are
Systems do not produce air pollutants or carbon dioxide.
Systems have minimal impact on the environment.
The main limitations of solar energy are
The amount of sunlight that arrives at the earth's surface is not
constant.
The amount of sunlight varies depending on location, time of day,
season of the year, and weather conditions.

The amount of sunlight reaching a square foot of the earth's

surface is relatively small, so a large surface area is necessary to
15
absorb or collect a useful amount of energy.
 Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy is one of the only

renewable energy sources not dependent on the
Sun. Instead, it relies on heat produced under
the surface of the Earth.
It is heat from within the Earth.
It is a natural part of the energy flow within
the Earth’s depths.
There are two main applications of
geothermal energy
Producing electricity at specialized power
plants, and
Direct-heating, which puts to direct use the 50-MWAluto
temperature of water piped under the earth’s Langano site16in
surface. central Ethiopia
 Cont…
Where do we find Geothermal Energy?

Most of the commercial-grade

production geothermal energy
is harvested along localized
―geothermal systems‖, where
the heat flow is near enough to
the surface that hot water or
steam is able to rise either to
the surface, or to depths that we
can reach by drilling. 17
 Hydrogen Energy
Hydrogen is an attractive energy source to replace
conventional fossil fuels, both from the environmental and
economic standpoint.

Hydrogen is a net zero emission energy system!!!

 Cont…
How to produced hydrogen energy?

 Water electrolysis
using any power
source (wind, solar,
nuclear power).
 Steam methane
reformation from
reforming natural
gas /biogas with
steam
 Nuclear reaction
 Fermentation 19
 Cont…
Why Hydrogen Energy future?
Excellent energy carriers and economically competitive
Clean energy a zero emission energy solution
Unlimited supply produced from indigenous sources
Innovative Technology fuelling new energy technologies
8Solves major world problems simultaneously:
Global Warming
Air Quality
Energy Security
High Efficiency
Sustainability
 Fossil fuels can’t achieve this!! 20
 Tidal and Wave Energy

Tidal energy is a form of power produced by the natural

rise and fall of tides caused by the gravitational interaction
between Earth, the sun, and the moon.
Tidal energy uses gravitational pull of Earth, moon and
sun to produce energy where as a wave energy caused by the
wind blowing over the surface of the ocean uses kinetic
forces of waves to generate electricity.
8Among sources of renewable energy, tidal energy has
traditionally suffered from relatively high cost and limited
availability of sites with sufficiently high tidal ranges or flow
velocities, thus constricting its total availability.
21
 Bioenergy Technology Overview
Biomass: renewable organic matter
Biofuels: solid, liquid or gaseous fuels produced from
biomasses
Bioenergy: any usable energy obtained from biofuels
It is the energy contained (stored) in biomass

Relationships of definitions

22
 Biomass Energy
 Biomass energy refers to any energy
produced from recently living organic
matter like plants or animals.
 Biomass is the only renewable energy that
can be converted into gaseous, liquid or
solid fuels by means of known conversion
technologies.
How the use of biomass as a
renewable fuel can reduce the
ecological footprint of all nations
with regard to energy?

23
Advantages and Disadvantages of Biomass

24
 Bioenergy Sources
 Bioenergy is energy derived from non-fossil materials of
biological origin and renewable energy resource has many different
uses (heat, electricity, transport).
Biomass
Biofuels
-Bioethanol
-Biogas
-Biodiesel
8Bioenergy contributes to climate change mitigation when:
 Biomass is grown sustainably or based on waste/residues
 Converted to energy products efficiently
Used to displace GHG-intensive fuels 25
 Cont…
What are the influencing factors effecting
Bioenergy facilities?

Growing waste disposal issues/opportunities

Renewable energy government mandates/incentives
New financial and owner groups looking for renewable
energy business deals
Fossil fuel pricing – abrupt current and future price increases
Accelerate on in the development of new biomass to energy
conversion technologies
Greenhouse gas reduc1on opportunities
26
 Biomass to Energy Conversion Technologies

 Advanced technologies are now under development to convert

biomass into various forms of secondary energy including electricity,
gaseous and liquid biofuels, and even hydrogen.
Q) What are the purpose of energy/biomass
conversion???
 To provide clearly defined fuel characteristics that meet given
fuel quality standards
 Upgrading of energy sources in terms of :
∗ Energy density, energy efficiency,
∗ Handling,
∗ Storage and transport,
∗ Environmental compatibility,
27
∗ Utilizing of by-products and residues.
Biomass-to-Bioenergy Routes

28
 Conversion Technologies

Depending on the conversion of biomass in principal two

main pathways come into consideration:

29
 A. Physical Conversion Process

Briquetting is the process of densification of biomass to

produce homogeneous, uniformly sized solid pieces of high bulk
density which can be conveniently used as a fuel.
In a pure briquetting process, the pressure and temperature
make the material bond with the help of its own lignin which acts
as a binder.
The reduction of material density is the reason for savings in
transport and handling costs and any improvement in combustion
over the original material
This art essentially involves two parts: the compaction under
pressure of loose material to reduce its volume and to agglomerate
the material so that the product remains in the compressed state.
30
 Cont…
 Charcoal is produced in many
countries around the world. The basic
idea is quite similar to briquetting: the
densification of energy.
Briquetting can be combined with
carbonization to further improve the
densification of the charcoal.
 Carbonization is the art of
reinventing the waste biomass into a
carbon−/energy-rich charcoal.
 During the carbonization process,
the biomass is losing its lignin content
and thereby an important binder for
briquetting.
31
 Cont…

Why to briquette biomass?

Better feed handling characteristics

High volumetric energy
Higher calorific value
Less biodegradation
Reduced particulate emissions
Less dust produced when handling
More uniform size
Improved combustion characteristics
High homogeneity of the fuel 32
 B. Biological Conversion

Biochemical conversion of biomass involves use of

bacteria, microorganisms and enzymes to breakdown biomass
into gaseous or liquid fuels, such as biogas or bioethanol.
It does not require a significant amount of external energy.
The most popular biochemical technologies

Anaerobic digestion (biomethanation) biogas

Fermentation (aerobic digestion)bioethanol

Discuss the role of microorganisms in the production of

biogas and bioethanol 33
 Anaerobic Digestion

An anaerobic digestion

is an air tight, oxygen free
process.
Microbes break down
biogas and nutrient rich
materials.
Gobar gas is final
product (CH4 &CO2)
Fermentation process is
carried out in an air tight
digester
34
Cont…

35
 C. Thermochemical Conversion

Thermochemical conversion processes include

combustion, gasification, pyrolysis, and solvent liquefaction.
Each process functions at a distinct degree of oxidation,
temperature, heating rate and reaction time to produce
electric power, heat, fuels, and/or chemicals.

36
 Cont…

1. Direct combustion
Combustion is an exothermic (heat-
producing) reaction between oxygen and
the hydrocarbon in biomass.
 The biomass is converted into heat,
water, and carbon dioxide.
During combustion most of the energy
is released in the form of heat.
Biomass combustion is discouraged
due to the release of polluting
contaminations like CO2, SO2, NOx and
solid waste in the end products 37
 Cont…
Discuss the major drawbacks of direct combustion
of biomass

38
 2. Gasification

Producer gas – a low heating value gas mixture of CO2, H2, CO,
CH4, N produced from gasification feedstock's in air.
Synthesis gas – a gas mixture of predominantly CO and H2 produced
from gasification feedstock's in oxygen and steam followed by gas
separation to remove CO2.
What are the products of gasification? How syngas
is produced?
 3. Pyrolysis
Pyrolysis (or de-volatilization) process is the thermal
decomposition of organic materials such as biomass at elevated
temperatures in an inert atmosphere.
It involves a change of chemical composition. In general,
pyrolysis of organic substances produces volatile products and
leaves char, a carbon-rich solid residue.
Pyrolysis can be segmented into three process types;
torrefaction, slow pyrolysis, and fast pyrolysis each with different
temperatures, pressures, and reaction times.
Slow pyrolysis will produce gases and solid bio chars
while fast pyrolysis will produce liquids (bio oil).
Dry Biomass char + (CO, CO2, H2, H2O (g), CH4) + tars + Ash40
 4. Hydrothermal Liquefaction

Hydrothermal liquefaction is a relatively low-temperature

(300–400°C), a high-pressure process that produces bio-oil from
relatively wet biomass in the presence of a catalyst and hydrogen.
Liquefaction’s main use case involves the conversion of bio-
organic waste with high water content, including wet primary and
secondary sludges.
Reduced greenhouse gas emissions vs. other technologies.
A direct path to convert bio-organic waste to fuels.
Thermal conversion efficiency of over 80%.

41
 Biofuels
Biofuels are a class of renewable energy
derived from living materials such as
microbial, plant, or animal materials.
Biofuel is any fuel whose energy is obtained
through a process of biological carbon
fixation.
Primary biofuels are defined as organic materials
that are deployed as an energy source
immediately, without any prior processing.
Secondary biofuels refer to any form of biomass
that is used to generate energy after it has been
processed.

How do biofuels compare to

42
conventional fuels
 Cont…

How is biofuel made?

The energy source originally comes from
the sun captured through photosynthesis
by the plants used as feedstock's for biofuel
production , and stored the plant cells.
….through different conversion
technologies the energy stored in the plant
cell changed in to usable biofuel
energy…….then used for mainly
transportation purpose!!
 Cont…

Why biofuels?
Increasing energy requirement (oil &fossil fuels running out)
Trust on energy conservation and renewable
Stringent environmental regulation (low level of pollution)
Reducing GHG emission(low carbon foot print)
Easy to source/economic security
Biodegradable
 Usage of marginal lands for production
Reasonable calorific value
 Technology adaptation is better than technology substitution44
Generation of Biofuels

45
 Bioethanol
 Bioethanol is produced by the fermentation of carbohydrate rich
sources which includes sugar can, sugar beet ,corn etc.
 It is a petrol additive/substitute
 Is one of the widely used alternative automotive fuel in the world
to cut down a vehicle carbon oxide and other smog causing
emission.
 World ethanol production is about 60% from sugar-crop feedstock.
 Ethanol is the most widely used liquid biofuel.

46
 Biodiesel
 Biodiesel is a cleaner burning renewable
alternative to diesel fuel that is made from
biological sources; namely vegetable oil
or animal fats (triglycerides).

 Biodiesel can be produced commercially

from a variety of oils and fats:
• Animal fats. Edible, inedible, and all other
variations of tallow, lard, choice white grease,
yellow grease, poultry fats, and fish oils
• Plant oils. Soy, corn, canola, sunflower,
rapeseed, cottonseed
• Recycled greases. Used cooking oils and
restaurant frying oils.
47
 Biogas Energy
 Biogas typically refers to a mixture of different gases produced by
break down of organic matter in the absence of oxygen.
It is a mixture of:
- Methane (CH4 65%) - Carbone dioxide (CO2)
- Hydrogen (H2) - Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) - Sludge
A biogas plant supplies energy and fertilizer.
It improves hygiene and protects the environment.
Biogas is produced by putrefactive bacteria, which break down
organic material under airless conditions. This process is called
"anaerobic digestion".
8The digestion process consists of two main phases:
- acid formation,
48
- methane formation.
 Cont…
All feed materials consist of
-organic solids,
-Animal manure
- inorganic solids,
- water.
In the first phase, protein,
carbohydrate and fat give rise to
fatty acids, amino acids and
alcohols.
 Methane, carbon dioxide and
ammonia form in the second
phase.
 The slurry becomes somewhat
thinner during the process of
digestion. 49
 Biogas production phases

Hydrolysis is any chemical reaction in which a molecule of water breaks one or more
chemical bonds
Acidogenesis is the fermentation stage where the products of hydrolysis (soluble
organic monomers of sugars and amino acids) are degraded by acidogenic bacteria to
produce alcohols, aldehydes, and volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and acetate together with
H2 and CO2
Methanogenesis is an anaerobic respiration that generates methane as the final product
of metabolism. In aerobic respiration, organic matter such as glucose is oxidized
50
to
CO2, and O2 is reduced to H2O.
 Cont…
In order for a biogas process to be effective and productive,
there are a number of parameters that have to be optimized.
Environmental condition anaerobic condition
pH condition  pH of between 6.5 and 8
Temperature
- psychrophiles 0 – 20°C
- mesophiles 15 – 45°C
- thermophiles 40 – 65°C
Substrate (feed stock)
Dry matter content  not be higher than around 50%
Carbon/ nitrogen (C/N) ratio less than 30/1
Organic load 51
 Production and Management of Bio-fuel Plants

List the Criteria's for Feedstock Energy

Plantation

Sufficient areas of waste land, not usable for agriculture

Tree species favorable climate and soil conditions
Harvest cycles & densities optimize the harvest of fuel
Multipurpose species and improve soil condition
Growing in degraded soils & withstand droughts
Rapid growing legumes that fix nitrogen to enrich soil
Species that can e found similar ecological zones
Produced high calorific values 52
Site preparation and biofuel crop management

53
Harvesting and transportation of biofuel feedstock plants

54
Biofuel feedstock plants

55
Cont…

56
 What makes Jatropa especially attractive??

Jatropa curcas (physic nut) is unique among biofuel plants

and currently Jatropa is the first choice for biodiesel…
Able to tolerate arid climates, rapidly growing
Can yield up to two tons of biodiesel fuel per year per
hectare
It has use for a variety of products after biofuel is extracted
It is drought resistant, can grow in saline, marginal and
infertile soil, requiring little water and maintenance
It is hearty and easy to propagate
Is capable of stabilizing sand duns and combating
desertification 57
Characterizations of biofuel feedstock's

58
Biofuel road map and linkage to other fuel types

Q). Why fossil fuel based economy change in to

biofuel economy??? What are the drivers for the
change??
 Waste to Energy
 Waste-to-energy (WtE) is the process of generating energy in
the form of electricity and/or heat from the primary treatment of
waste, or the processing of waste into a fuel source.
 WtE is a form of energy recovery and will contribute to the
development of a low-carbon society.
 Most WtE processes generate electricity and/or heat directly
through combustion, or produce a combustible fuel commodity,
such as methane, methanol, ethanol or synthetic fuels.
 Incineration and anaerobic digestion as waste with energy
recovery are the most common WtE implementation.

60
Cont…

61
 Cont…
What are the main advantages, disadvantages
and requirements of waste to energy ???

62
 Cont…

Self assessment questions

Discuss on Biofuels vs Fossil Fuels in terms of;
1. Carbon-transforming processes.
2. The effects of the use of fossil fuels and biofuels on the
global carbon cycle and global climate change.
3. A cost/benefit analysis of the production and use of
biofuels.

63