Renewable power generation strategies

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. Included in the
definition is electricity and heat generated from solar, wind, ocean,
hydropower, biomass, geothermal resources, and biofuels and
hydrogen derived from renewable resources.

Each of these sources has unique characteristics which influence how

and where they are used

Renewable resource
A natural resource qualifies as a renewable resource if its stock
(quantity) can increase over time.

Natural resources which qualify as renewable resources are, for

example, oxygen, fresh water, solar energy, timber, and biomass. But
they can become non-renewable resources if more of them is used
than nature can reproduce in the same time at that place. For example
ground water may be removed from an aquifer at a greater rate than
that of new water flowing to that aquifer. Removal of water from the
pore spaces may cause permanent compaction (subsidence) that
cannot be reversed. Human consumption and use at sustainable levels
primarily uses renewable resources versus non-renewable resources.

Renewable resources may also include goods commodities such as

wood, paper and leather.

Gasoline, coal, natural gas, diesel and other commodities that come
from fossil fuels are non-renewable. Some commodities, like plastics
and diesel, are mostly made from fossil fuel but ways have been
developed for biodegradable plastic and biodiesel made from
renewable resources

Wind power

Airflows can be used to run wind turbines. Modern wind turbines range
from around 600 kW to 5 MW of rated power, although turbines with
rated output of 1.5–3 MW have become the most common for
commercial use; the power output of a turbine is a function of the cube
of the wind speed, so as wind speed increases, power output increases
dramatically Areas where winds are stronger and more constant, such
as offshore and high altitude sites, are preferred locations for wind
farms. Typical capacity factors are 20-40%, with values at the upper
end of the range in particularly favourable sites.

Globally, the long-term technical potential of wind energy is believed

to be five times total current global energy production, or 40 times
current electricity demand. This could require large amounts of land to
be used for wind turbines, particularly in areas of higher wind
resources. Offshore resources experience mean wind speeds of ~90%
greater than that of land, so offshore resources could contribute
substantially more energy.This number could also increase with higher
altitude ground-based or airborne wind turbines

Wind power is renewable and produces no greenhouse gases during

operation, such as carbon dioxide and methane.

Hydropower

The Hoover Dam when completed in 1936 was both the world's largest
electric-power generating station and the world's largest concrete
structure.

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 is a term usually reserved for large-scale

hydroelectric dams. Examples are the Grand Coulee Dam in
Washington State and the Akosombo Dam in Ghana.
• Micro hydro 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 (RAPS). There
are many of these installations around the world, including
several delivering around 50 kW in the Solomon Islands.
• Damless hydro systems derive kinetic energy from rivers and
oceans without using a dam.
• Ocean energy describes all the technologies to harness energy
from the ocean and the sea. This includes marine current power,
ocean thermal energy conversion, and tidal power.

Solar energy

Monocrystalline solar cell.

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. A partial list of other 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 technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or

active solar depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute
solar energy. Active solar techniques include the use of photovoltaic
panels and solar thermal collectors to harness the energy. Passive
solar techniques include orienting a building to the Sun, selecting
materials with favorable thermal mass or light dispersing properties,
and designing spaces that naturally circulate air.

Biofuel

Information on pump regarding ethanol fuel blend up to 10%,

California.

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. Bioethanol is widely used in the USA and in
Brazil.

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.[23]

Geothermal energy

Main articles: Geothermal energy, Geothermal heat pump, and

Renewable energy in Iceland
Geothermal energy is energy obtained by tapping the heat of the earth
itself, both from kilometers deep into the Earth's crust in some places
of the globe or from some meters in geothermal heat pump in all the
places of the planet . It is expensive to build a power station but
operating costs are low resulting in low energy costs for suitable sites.
Ultimately, this energy derives from heat in the Earth's core.

Three types of power plants are used to generate power from

geothermal energy: dry steam, flash, and binary. Dry steam plants
take steam out of fractures in the ground and use it to directly drive a
turbine that spins a generator. Flash plants take hot water, usually at
temperatures over 200 °C, out of the ground, and allows it to boil as it
rises to the surface then separates the steam phase in steam/water
separators and then runs the steam through a turbine. In binary plants,
the hot water flows through heat exchangers, boiling an organic fluid
that spins the turbine. The condensed steam and remaining
geothermal fluid from all three types of plants are injected back into
the hot rock to pick up more heat.

The geothermal energy from the core of the Earth is closer to the
surface in some areas than in others. Where hot underground steam or
water can be tapped and brought to the surface it may be used to
generate electricity. Such geothermal power sources exist in certain
geologically unstable parts of the world such as Chile, Iceland, New
Zealand, United States, the Philippines and Italy. The two most
prominent areas for this in the United States are in the Yellowstone
basin and in northern California. Iceland produced 170 MW geothermal
power and heated 86% of all houses in the year 2000 through
geothermal energy. Some 8000 MW of capacity is operational in total.

There is also the potential to generate geothermal energy from hot dry
rocks. Holes at least 3 km deep are drilled into the earth. Some of
these holes pump water into the earth, while other holes pump hot
water out. The heat resource consists of hot underground radiogenic
granite rocks, which heat up when there is enough sediment between
the rock and the earths surface. Several companies in Australia are
exploring this technology.

Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy generated from natural resources such
as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are
renewable (naturally replenished). In 2006, about 18% of global final
energy consumption came from renewables, with 13% coming from
traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3% from
hydroelectricity. New renewables (small hydro, modern biomass, wind,
solar, geothermal, and biofuels) accounted for another 2.4% and are
growing very rapidly The share of renewables in electricity generation
is around 18%, with 15% of global electricity coming from
hydroelectricity and 3.4% from new renewables.

Wind power is growing at the rate of 30% annually, with a worldwide

installed capacity of 157,900 megawatts (MW) in 2009, and is widely
used in Europe, Asia, and the United States. The annual manufacturing
output of the photovoltaics industry reached 6,900 MW in 2008, and
photovoltaic (PV) power stations are popular in Germany and Spain.
Solar thermal power stations operate in the USA and Spain, and the
largest of these is the 354 MW SEGS power plant in the Mojave
Desert.The world's largest geothermal power installation is The
Geysers in California, with a rated capacity of 750 MW. 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.

While most renewable energy projects and production is large-scale,

renewable technologies are also suited to small off-grid applications,
sometimes in rural and remote areas, where energy is often crucial in
human development. Kenya has the world's highest household solar
ownership rate with roughly 30,000 small (20–100 watt) solar power
systems sold per year.

Some renewable energy technologies are criticized for being

intermittent or unsightly, yet the renewable energy market continues
to grow. Climate change concerns, coupled with high oil prices, peak
oil, and increasing government support, are driving increasing
renewable energy legislation, incentives and commercialization. New
government spending, regulation and policies helped the industry
weather the 2009 economic crisis better than many other sectors

Renewable energy commercialization

Economics

Percentage of renewables in primary energy consumption of EU-

member states in 2005. Source: Primärenergieverbrauch und
erneuerbare Energien in der EU,
When comparing renewable energy sources with each other and with
conventional power sources, three main factors must be considered:

• capital costs (including, for nuclear energy, waste-disposal and

decommissioning costs);
• operating and maintenance costs;
• fuel costs (for fossil-fuel and biomass sources—for wastes, these
costs may actually be negative).

These costs are all brought together, using discounted cash flow, here.
Inherently, renewables are on a decreasing cost curve, while non-
renewables are on an increasing cost curve. In 2009, costs are
comparable among wind, nuclear, coal, and natural gas, but for CSP—
concentrating solar power—and PV (photovoltaics) they are somewhat
higher.

There are additional costs for renewables in terms of increased grid

interconnection to allow for variability of weather and load, but these
have been shown in the pan-European case to be quite low—overall,
wind energy costs about the same as present-day power.

Growth of renewables

From the end of 2004 to the end of 2008, solar photovoltaic (PV)
capacity increased sixfold to more than 16 gigawatts (GW), wind power
capacity increased 250 percent to 121 GW, and total power capacity
from new renewables increased 75 percent to 280 GW. During the
same period, solar heating capacity doubled to 145 gigawatts-thermal
(GWth), while biodiesel production increased sixfold to 12 billion liters
per year and ethanol production doubled to 67 billion liters per year.

Selected renewable energy indicators

Selected global indicators 2006 2007 2008
Investment in new renewable capacity 120 billion
63 104
(annual) USD
Existing renewables power capacity,
1,020 1,070 1,140 GWe
including large-scale hydro
Existing renewables power capacity,
207 240 280 GWe
excluding large hydro
Wind power capacity (existing) 74 94 121 GWe
Biomass heating ~250 GWth
Solar hot water/ Space heating 145 GWth
Geothermal heating ~50 GWth
Ethanol production (annual) 39 50 67 billion
 liters
Countries with policy targets
66 73
for renewable energy use

Wind power market

See also: List of onshore wind farms and List of offshore wind farms

Wind power: worldwide installed capacity 1996-2008

At the end of 2009, worldwide wind farm capacity was 157,900 MW,
representing an increase of 31 percent during the year, and wind
power supplied some 1.3% of global electricity consumption. Wind
power accounts for approximately 19% of electricity use in Denmark,
9% in Spain and Portugal, and 6% in Germany and the Republic of
Ireland. The United States is an important growth area and installed
U.S. wind power capacity reached 25,170 MW at the end of 2008. As of
September 2009, the Roscoe Wind Farm (781 MW) is the world's
largest wind farm.

As of 2009, the 209 megawatt (MW) Horns Rev 2 wind farm in

Denmark is the world's largest offshore wind farm. The United Kingdom
is the world's leading generator of offshore wind power, followed by
Denmark

Developing country markets

Main article: Renewable energy in developing countries

Renewable energy can be particularly suitable for developing

countries. In rural and remote areas, transmission and distribution of
energy generated from fossil fuels can be difficult and expensive.
Producing renewable energy locally can offer a viable alternative.

Renewable energy projects in many developing countries have

demonstrated that renewable energy can directly contribute to poverty
alleviation by providing the energy needed for creating businesses and
employment. Renewable energy technologies can also make indirect
contributions to alleviating poverty by providing energy for cooking,
space heating, and lighting. Renewable energy can also contribute to
education, by providing electricity to schools.

Kenya is the world leader in the number of solar power systems

installed per capita (but not the number of watts added). More than
30,000 very small solar panels, each producing 12 to 30 watts, are sold
in Kenya annually. For an investment of as little as $100 for the panel
and wiring, the PV system can be used to charge a car battery, which
can then provide power to run a fluorescent lamp or a small television
for a few hours a day. More Kenyans adopt solar power every year than
make connections to the country’s electric grid.

In India, a solar loan program sponsored by UNEP has helped 100,000

people finance solar power systems in India. Success in India's solar
program has led to similar projects in other parts of developing world
like Tunisia, Morocco, Indonesia and Mexico.

Industry and policy trends

Global revenues for solar photovoltaics, wind power, and biofuels

expanded from $76 billion in 2007 to $115 billion in 2008. New global
investments in clean energy technologies expanded by 4.7 percent
from $148 billion in 2007 to $155 billion in 2008 U.S. President Barack
Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 includes
more than $70 billion in direct spending and tax credits for clean
energy and associated transportation programs. Clean Edge suggests
that the commercialization of clean energy will help countries around
the world pull out of the current economic malaise
Global renewable energy investment growth (1995-2007

Bibliography

1. International Energy Agency (2006). World Energy Outlook 2006: Summary and
Conclusions, OECD, 11 pages.
2. International Energy Agency (2007). Renewables in global energy supply: An
IEA facts sheet, OECD, 34 pages.
3. REN21 (2008). Renewables 2007 Global Status Report, Paris: REN21 Secretariat,
51 pages.
4. United Nations Environment Program (2006). Changing climates: The Role of
Renewable Energy in a Carbon-constrained World, January, 33 pages.
5. United Nations Environment Programme and New Energy Finance Ltd. (2007).
Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2007: Analysis of Trends and
Issues in the Financing of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in OECD
and Developing Countries, 52 pages.
6. Worldwatch Institute and Center for American Progress (2006). American
energy: The renewable path to energy security, 40 pages.

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Global Status Report 2007
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