Renewable Energy

EEE 4247

Dr Md. Sohel Rana

PhD (UNSW, Australia), MIFAC, MACA, MIEEE, MIEB
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Electrical & Electronic Engineering
Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology
E-mail: sohel.unsw@gmail.com; s.rana@ruet.ac.bd
Web: http://www.ruet.ac.bd/teacher/EEE/sohel
Imagination is more important than knowledge – Albert Einstein
Cell: +8801725431631 (BD); +61424029040 (AU)
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Course Material Bangladesh

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Goal of This Course Bangladesh

Why we need to study Renewable Energy Course ??

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What is Renewable Energy ?? Bangladesh

Renewable Energy Sources are defined as Fuels that can be

easily made or "renewed."

We can never use up renewable fuels.

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Renewable Energy Bangladesh

Types of Renewable Energy:

 Hydropower (water),
 Solar,
 Wind,
 Geothermal, and
 Biomass.

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Renewable Energy Bangladesh

Present Energy Resources:

 Fossil fuels - coal, oil, gas are all of limited amounts. Can’t be
replaced.

 Nuclear fuels - limited amounts of uranium for nuclear fission

reactors but reprocessing of fuel possible.

Difficult to estimate how long these fuels will last - but is it sustainable
economically or environmentally?

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Renewable Energy Bangladesh

Fig: Present renewable energy condition of World wide

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Renewable Energy Bangladesh

Fig: Present renewable energy condition of Bangladesh

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Hydro Energy Bangladesh

 What is it?
Hydropower, or hydro energy, is a form of renewable energy that
uses the water stored in dams, as well as flowing in rivers to create
electricity in hydropower plants.
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Hydro Energy Bangladesh

 How it works?
 Like other forms of electricity generation, hydropower uses a
turbine to help generate electricity; using the energy of falling or
flowing water to turn the blades.

 The rotating blades spin a generator that converts the mechanical

energy of the spinning turbine into electrical energy.
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Hydro Energy Bangladesh

 Advantages
– Cheap to operate
• Long life and lower operating costs than all other power plants

– Renewable
– Lower energy cost than any other method
– Pretty plentiful
• Some countries depend almost entirely on it

– Not intermittent (if reservoir is large enough)

– Reservoirs have multiple uses
• Flood control, drinking water, aquaculture, recreation

– Less air pollution than fossil fuel combustion

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Hydro Energy Bangladesh

 Disadvantages:
– Human population displacement
– Reduces availability of water downstream
– Ecosystem impacts
– Water pollution problems
– Decommissioning is a big problem
• The Size Issue
– Many (most) of the above problems are significantly worse for larger
dams
– However, small dams have shorter lifetimes, less capacity, and are
more intermittent
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Biomass Energy Bangladesh

 What is it?
– Biomass energy is the use of living and recently dead biological
material as an energy source

– Ultimately dependent on the capture of solar energy and

conversion to a chemical (carbohydrate) fuel
– Theoretically it is a carbon neutral and renewable source of
energy
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Biomass Energy Bangladesh

 How it works?
– Traditional: forest management, using wood as
fuel
– Use of biodegradable waste
• Examples: manure, crop residue, sewage, municipal solid waste

– Recent interest in agricultural production of energy

crops
• Should be high yield and low maintenance
• Examples: corn, sugarcane, hemp, willow, palm oil, and many others
• Does not have to be a food crop

– Production of a liquid or gaseous biofuel

• Biogas due to the breakdown of biomass in the absence of O2
– Includes capture of landfill methane
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Biomass Energy Bangladesh

 Advantages
– Versatile
– Renewable
– No net CO2 emissions (ideally)
– Emits less SO2 and NOx than fossil fuels
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Biomass Energy Bangladesh

 Disadvantages
– Low energy density/yield
– Land conversion
• Possible decrease in agricultural food productivity

– Usual problems associated with intensive agriculture

• Soil depletion
• Soil erosion
• Other water pollution problems
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Geothermal Energy Bangladesh

 How it works
– A geothermal power plant works by tapping into steam
or hot water reservoirs underground; the heat is used to drive
an electrical generator.
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Geothermal Energy Bangladesh

 Advantages
– Renewable
– Easy to exploit in some cases
– CO2 production less than with fossil fuels
– High net energy yield
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Geothermal Energy Bangladesh

 Disadvantages
– Not available everywhere
– H2S pollution
– Produces some water pollution (somewhat similar
to mining)
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Solar Energy Bangladesh

 How it works
– Solar power plants
• Steam produced to turn turbine
– Solar heating
• Active and passive systems
– Photovoltaic cells
• “Solar batteries” use special semiconductors
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Solar Energy Bangladesh

 Advantages
– Renewable and free

– High energy yield

– A very clean source of energy

• No air/water pollution during operation

– Low operating costs

• Will pay for themselves over time

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Solar Energy Bangladesh

 Disadvantages
– Intermittent source
• Energy storage issues
– Low energy density
• Requires pretty much land
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Wind Energy Bangladesh

• How it works?
– Wind turbines directly generate electricity
– Quite efficient (not a heat engine)
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Wind Energy Bangladesh

 Advantages
– High net energy yield
– Renewable and free
– Very clean source of energy
• No pollution (air or water) during operation

– Long operating life

– Low operating/maintenance costs
– Can be quickly built; not too expensive
– Now almost competitive with hydro and fossil fuels
– Land can be used for other purposes
• Can combine wind and agricultural farms
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Wind Energy Bangladesh

 Disadvantages
– Energy storage issues
• An intermittent source of energy; need backup (eg stored energy) for low-
wind days
• Or must be connected to the electrical grid

– Only practical in areas that are windy enough

– Danger to birds
• New (slow turning) designs largely eliminate this problem

– Low energy density of wind

• Must use large areas of land
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Tidal Power Bangladesh

 Tidal Power
 Tidal power is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of
tides into electrical power.
 As tides are more predictable than wind and sunlight, tidal energy
can easily be generated from the changing sea levels.
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Tidal Power Bangladesh

 Advantage
 Renewable
 Green. Tidal power is an environmentally friendly energy
source.
 It’s highly predictable
 Long Life pans
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Tidal Power Bangladesh

 Disadvantage
 Expensive
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Renewable Energy Bangladesh

 Importance of Renewable Energy:

 Energy security
 Environmental Benefits
 Jobs and the Economy
 Energy for our children's children's children

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