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A COMPLETE ANAYSIS OF RENEWABLE RESOURCES

VADAKKAN GEORGE SHIJO VIDYA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, THALAKKOTTUKARA

A COMPLETE ANAYSIS OF RENEWABLE RESOURCES

A top to down approach of clean energy options available based on india and the world at large.

Energy according to physical sciences is the ability to do work. Thus, energy has been a part of mans life since beginning .Energy exists in various forms as mechanical, kinetic, chemical, potential and electrical. Energy can neither be created or destroyed nor created. It is only converted from one form to another. Man has been manipulating the resources of nature to make use of the various forms of energy for his work. Man first explored chemical energy of nature by the discovery of fire. He used this for cooking, warmth, clearing fields for farming etc. As years advanced man began using fossil fuels like petroleum, coal natural gas formed from dead animals over billions of years. The industrial revolution which began in Britain led to the indiscriminate use of fossil fuels for industrialization These rose as the main source of energy due to their apparently abundant reserves , and the comparatively low technological research and investment needed for economical usage .The advent of steam engine made fossil fuels the preferred source of the automobile industry. The prolific population growth and industrial development of 20th century put further pressure on resources. In the present scenario 93% of worlds energy needs are met together by fossil fuels and nuclear energy. Out of this nuclear contributes 5%, oil provides 41%, and coal 20% natural gas has 22% according to International Energy Agency (EIA). The indiscriminate use has given rise to an array of problems like air ,water pollutions ,ozone layer depletion ,melting of Antarctic-artic ice, rise in sea level ,global warming . These have adversely affected ecosystems all around the world in turn leading to extinction of species ,lower plant productivity etc .The

4 average temperature of earth rose by about 1 Fahrenheit .Over the years energy has become synonymous with industrial growth and industrial growth with economic and political power . Wars as in Iraq and Afghanistan were fought to gain control over the limited concentrated oil reserves in these countries. Due to our dependence on certain countries crises in these countries control fuel prices to great extend .Oil spills are another major menace to the enviornment. From 1980 to 1988 alone 72,000 barrels of oil was spilled from tankers. The recent oil spill of BP on the American coast clearly showed us how much destruction oil could cause. Our predominant dependence on fossil fuels has clearly made our planet a chaotic place .Moreover the once thought unlimited reserves are found to be limited and harder to extract making energy expensive. According to U.S department of energy world energy consumption is projected to increase at 50%. If global energy consumptions remain constant world fossil fuel will last for only 104 more years . In India coal is the primary source of energy .It serves almost 53% Indias energy needs during 2007 .It is abundantly available locally and cheap. But the Indian coal is the dirtiest in the world and causes devastating environmental risks .Coal is the most polluting among fossil fuels and contribute to about 65% of carbon dioxide emission .Indias coal reserves are not as previously thought and would be depleted in 80 years at present consumption and within 40 years if the present growth rate continues. India has 17% of the world population and is soon to overtake China as the most populous country. The limited reserves will not be able to undergo such a pressure. Thus it is evident from above that present sources of energy are unsustainable and needs to be replaced by better and cleaner options. Renewable resources with their unlimited reserves and environmental friendliness perfectly fit in to the void that is going to be created in the future. These sources o f energy create their own energy (motion in wind is caused by change in temperature caused by the sun). The objective is to harness their mechanical power and convert it to electricity in most effective and productive manner as possible. According to European Photovoltaic Industry Association solar power could provide energy for more than a 1 billion people by 2020 and 26% of energy needs by 2040 .Many of the petroleum companies have realized that renewable sources are the future and have diversified their products to meet the rising demands. A case study is the British Petroleum Company now known as BP, which has become the worlds leading providers of solar energy through its BP solar division, a business they are planning to eclipsing their oil production business in the near future.

5 Analysts agree that the first step towards a cleaner energy option would be to the supply increase efficiency. 30% -50% of electricity generated in India is lost along the supply grid. Thus modernizing can reduce the amount of energy used to generate power. During her recent visit to India Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton visited countrys first LEED certified building to give importance to efficiency investment in India. Research has led to more efficient wind mills with lighter vanes and their back turned to the wind to increase efficiency. Energy efficient building has been generally low in India due to huge initial investment and lack of awareness among contractor. Another attractive option on the rise is Clean Coal Technologies. It is clear that India will not be able to envision a future without coal even when energy resources are diversified. As a result Clean Coal Technologies such as Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) have captured the interest of researchers. CCS is a two step process (1} carbon dioxide is captured as it escapes in to the atmosphere and (2) pumped underground for safe storage. While later part has been demonstrated, capturing part is underdeveloped and expensive and will take decades and billions of dollars to develop. These do not attract investments as investors prefer short term renewable technologies. The Edison Electric Institutes estimate that commercial deployment will require 25 years more. CCS however can not be seen as an immediate and reliable solution. Nuclear energy is one of the most promising and developed among renewable resources. It is a low carbon source that is pollution is minimum. Here energy is obtained by splitting up atoms. At present it provides 6% of worlds energy supplies. But in recent years nuclear energy has lost some of its sheen especially after the Japan earth quake in 2011 which set of a nuclear disaster. Moreover the safe disposal of nuclear waste is a major problem. At present in India nuclear energy represents 2.35 of the energy used. The government plans to raise this to 5% in 2020 and t 25% by 2050. India is one of the few countries in the world and the only one among the developing countries to have achieved self reliance in all aspects of nuclear power generation starting from the prospecting and mining of uranium, the fabrication of fuel assemblies and the production of heavy water, to fuel reprocessing as well as plutonium recycling. Solar energy is one of the least polluting and most abundant among the clean energy options available. It proves to be worthy short term investment alternative to fossil fuels. Being in the tropics India is blessed with abundant sunlight and solar radiation especially in the North and West regions. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year announced an ambitious National solar Mission to accelerate the growth of

6 solar energy in India over the next decade. The Clinton Foundation is in talks with the Indian government to set up an Integrated Solar City to be the largest solar project in Gujarat. Solar thermal technologies have a very high application in solar water heating systems for domestic and industrial applications and for solar cooking in the domestic sector. Another form of solar energy is the wind energy. Low cost and readiness makes it an attractive source for short term growth. India has an installed capacity of 5,340 MW. India recently overtook Denmark as the 4th largest wind energy market in the world. Recently floating wind mills have been tested. These are wind mills that are located far out in the sea (almost 19km) from the shore. Apart from making use of the stronger and steadier winds over the ocean, these also reduce visual pollution. Hydroelectric energy is one of the oldest and most used renewable sources of energy. Here the energy of water is used to turn turbines and generate electricity. Large dams are constructed in order to store the potential energy of water. The only defect is that it displaces large forest areas but still seen as a renewable source worth replacing petrol. Ocean energy also makes use of the power of water for energy. Generating technologies for deriving electrical power from the ocean include tidal power, wave power, ocean thermal energy conversion, ocean currents, ocean winds and salinity gradients. Of these, the three most well-developed technologies are tidal power, wave power and ocean thermal energy conversion. Wave energy conversion takes advantage of the ocean waves caused primarily by interaction of winds with the ocean surface. Although many wave energy devices have been invented, only a small proportion have been tested and evaluated. Another form of ocean energy is called tidal energy. When tide comes into the shore, they can be trapped in reservoirs behind dams. Then when the tide drops, the water behind the dam can be let out just like in a regular hydroelectric power plant. Geothermal power holds enormous opportunities to provide affordable, clean energy that avoids greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) because geothermal technologies rely on heat found under the earths surface to generate uninterrupted, low-cost renewable energy. The idea of using the temperature of water to make energy actually dates back to 1881 when a French Engineer by the name of Jacques D'Arsonval first thought of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion. [OTEC] Another interesting source of energy is biofuels. Biofuels hold great potential not only for reducing our dependence on foreign oil, but also for creating new jobs and economic opportunities. Scientists in the

7 U.S. have already paved the way for biofuels to supplement and eventually even replace oil in the coming decades. However, in order for biofuels to compete with oil they need to be made cheaper. This is why research is done to develop crops that produce more biofuel, which will lower costs. A team of researchers at the BioEnergy Science Center,U.S pinpointed the exact, single gene that controls ethanol production capacity in a microorganism found in many types of biomass crops. This discovery could produce higher concentrations of ethanol from biomass crops. Although renewable sources do not promise to be the perfect sources of energy causing zero harm to our earth these are certainly better energy options for tomorrows generation. We are only starting to develop these renewable energy sources, and as such, they are not as much efficient as traditional sources of energy which have been developed over a long time and is also harder to extract usable energy from natural sources, so we must work to make it as efficient as possible through every stage and technology is the key to this. Perhaps the best solution to our growing energy challenges comes from The Union of Concerned Scientists: No single solution can meet our societys future energy needs. The solution instead will come from a family of diverse energy technologies that share a common thread they do not deplete our natural resources or destroy our environment. In conclusion, as long as technology can rein supreme and we are willing to take a leap of faith our power problems can be solved. As long as we manage our power and make ourselves more efficient when dealing with energy, along with being willing to accept new technologies and make changes, our reliance on oil will nearly disappear. Our environment will be cleaner and healthier so that it may begin to heal itself from the damage that has already been done. So let us together make the WATER WORK and SWITCH ON THE SUN.