Renewable Energy

Lecture 1
Introduction to Renewable Energy

MECH 4390, Instructor: Dr. Evgeny Shafirovich

Why Renewable Energy?

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Fossil Fuels vs Renewable Energy

• To meet its energy needs, the world community currently depends

heavily on fossil fuels.
• Fossil fuels: non-renewable and unfriendly to the environment.
• Renewable energy: environment-friendly and can be harvested indefinitely.

• Renewables are the fastest-growing energy source in the world.

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Consequences of Fossil Fuel Combustion

• Emissions during the combustion of fossil fuels are responsible for smog,
acid rain, and global climate change.
• The environmental pollution is a serious threat to vegetation, wild life, and
human health.
• Air pollution causes numerous health problems, e.g., asthma and cancer.
• Global climate change
• Fossil fuel-based economy is not sustainable since the estimated life of
known reserves is limited.
• The switch to renewable energy sources is inevitable.

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Undesirable Emissions from Combustion of
Fossil Fuels

• CO2: primary greenhouse gas, contributes to global warming.

• Nitrogen oxides (NOx), Hydrocarbons (HC): cause smog.
• Carbon monoxide (CO): toxic
• Sulfur dioxide (SO2): causes acid rain.
• Particulate matter (PM): causes adverse health effects.

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Two Approaches to Reducing Emissions

1. Implementing energy efficiency practices in all aspects of energy

production, distribution, and consumption so that less fuel is used
for the same useful output.
• Energy efficiency can reduce the fossil fuel use.

2. Using renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydroelectric,

biomass, and geothermal to replace fossil fuels.
• Renewable energy can replace fossil fuels.

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Renewable Energy Sources

• An energy source is called renewable if

it can be renewed and sustained
without any depletion and any
significant effect on the environment.

• Renewable source: also called

alternative, sustainable, or green energy
source.

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 Solar
• Can be converted to heat
and electricity.
• Sufficient to meet the entire
energy needs of the world.
• Obstacles
• Low concentration of solar
energy on earth
• High capital cost

Macho Springs Solar Facility (50 MW), Luna County, NM

Photo Credit: El Paso Electric

https://www.epelectric.com/renewables-tech/solar-energy/solar-energy-facilities
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 Wind

• Kinetic energy of wind is

converted into electricity using
wind turbines.
• It is one of the fastest growing
renewables.

Hueco Mountain Wind Ranch owned by El Paso Electric.

Photo credit: WindEnergy7.com

El Paso not benefiting from renewable wind energy during high wind advisory.
https://cbs4local.com/news/local/el-paso-not-benefiting-from-renewable-wind-energy-during-high-wind-
advisory#:~:text=El%20Paso%20is%20gaining%20only,built%20on%20a%20mountain%20range.
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Hydro
• The collection of river water at
some elevation and directing it
into a hydraulic turbine is the
common method of converting
water energy into electricity.
• Hydro energy represents the
greatest amount of electricity
production among renewables.
• It supplies most of electricity
needs of some countries.
Hoover Dam
Photo: E. Shafirovich

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Geothermal

• High-temperature underground fluid is

extracted, and the energy of the
geothermal fluid is converted to
electricity or heat.
• Geothermal energy conversion is one of
the most mature renewable energy
technologies.
• Electricity generation
• District heating
Drilling for a geothermal plant.
El Paso County Geothermal Project at Fort Bliss,
Final Report #DE-EE0002827, 2016.

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Biomass

• Organic renewable energy

• A variety of sources
• Forest
• Agriculture
• Wastes

Biogas facility in the Camino Real Landfill, Sunland Park, NM

Photo credit: El Paso Electric

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Ocean

• Ocean thermal energy conversion

(OTEC) uses the temperature
difference between deep and
shallow waters to run a heat engine.
• Wave and tidal energies are
mechanical forms of ocean energy
since they represent potential and
kinetic energies of ocean water.

A wave energy converter at a U.S. Navy test site in Hawaii.

Photo credit: Northwest Energy Innovations

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The Original Energy Source is the Sun

• Renewable energy is the manifestation

of solar energy in different forms.
• wind energy
• hydroelectric power
• ocean thermal and wave energy
• biomass
• Example: a hydroelectric power plant
generates electricity year after year −
the water absorbs solar energy and
evaporates but comes back as a rainfall.

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Energy Storage

• A major problem in using renewables such as solar and wind is the fact
that their availability fluctuates and does not necessarily coincide with
the peak energy demand times.
• It is necessary to develop off-peak energy storage systems and
transmit the stored energy to electrical grids at peak demand times.
• While many small-scale energy storage systems have been proposed, it
is still a challenge to scale these systems to power plant requirements.

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Stored Energy Forms
• Potential (pumped hydropower and compressed air)
• Kinetic (flywheels)
• Thermal (both sensible and latent heat)
• Electrical (supercapacitors and superconducting magnets)
• Electrochemical (batteries)
• Chemical (fuels)

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About Electric Cars

• The electric cars can be claimed to be zero emission vehicles only

when the electricity they consume is generated from emission-free
renewable resources.

• All cars sold should be zero emissions by 2025 in Norway and by 2030
in the UK and Germany.
• In 2020, Norway became the first country where the sale of electric cars has
overtaken those powered by gasoline, diesel, and hybrid engines.
• In Norway, 98% of the electricity production come from renewable energy
sources (93% - hydropower).

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Economical Competitiveness of Renewable
Energy

• Hydroelectric, geothermal, and wind power generation technologies

compete with fossil fuel-based electricity generation economically.

• Steady decreases in solar electricity cost combined with increased

government incentives are likely to help wider use of solar electricity
in the coming years.

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 World Energy Consumption

1 includes biofuels

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www.eia.gov/ieo
U.S. Renewable Energy Consumption vs Coal

U.S. renewable energy consumption surpasses coal now.

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U.S. Coal and Renewable Energy by Source

In 2019, electricity generation from wind surpassed hydro.

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 World Net Electricity Generation by Source

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www.eia.gov/ieo
 U.S. Electricity Generation by Source
• 2021
1. Natural gas
2. Coal
3. Renewables
4. Nuclear

• 2050
1. Renewables
2. Natural gas
3. Nuclear
4. Coal

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www.eia.gov/aeo
 U.S. Renewable Electricity Generation by Source
• 2021
1. Wind
2. Hydropower
3. Solar
4. Other (mostly biomass)
5. Geothermal

• 2050
1. Solar
2. Wind
3. Hydropower
4. Other (mostly biomass)
5. Geothermal
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www.eia.gov/aeo
Primary and Secondary Sources
of Energy

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Primary Sources of Energy
• Coal
• Oil
• Natural gas
• Natural uranium and thorium
• Wind
• Hydropower
• Geothermal heat
• Biomass
• Ocean waves and tides
• Sunlight
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Origin of “Primary” Sources of Energy
Sunlight Biomass Fossil fuels

Ocean waves
Sun Earth
Gravity Gravity
Nuclear reactions Hydropower

Wind
Geothermal
Tides

Earth Uranium
Moon
Nuclear reactions Thorium
Gravity
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 Energy of the Sun
The sun is basically a giant ball of
hydrogen gas undergoing fusion into
helium gas and giving off vast
amounts of energy in the process.

Integrated reaction:
4p → 4He + 2νe + 6γ

E = mc2

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Source: NASA
Secondary Sources of Energy

also referred to as energy carriers:

• Electricity
• Hot water
• Plutonium
• Refined fuels
• Synthetic fuels (e.g., hydrogen)

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Electricity

• Electricity is an energy carrier.

• For many energy needs, it is much easier to use electricity than
the energy sources themselves.
• We use electricity to move the energy from power plants to
homes and businesses.

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 Refined Fuels

• Crude oil is sent to a refinery by

pipeline, ship, or barge.
• Different parts of the crude oil
are separated into useable
petroleum products.
• A 42-gallon barrel of crude oil
provides slightly more than 44
gallons of petroleum products.

US Energy Information Administration 31

Hydrogen
• Hydrogen is an energy carrier.
• Hydrogen can be produced from a variety of resources, such as
water, fossil fuels, or biomass.
• Combustion of hydrogen does not produce CO2.
• Currently, hydrogen is produced primarily from fossil fuels,
leading to large CO2 emissions.
• The density of hydrogen (liquid or compressed gas) is low.
• Hydrogen has a high specific energy (MJ/kg) but a low energy
density (MJ/L).
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The Energy Lifecycle

• Exploration for and discovery of the primary source

• Production or harvesting the energy
• Preparation, transport, and/or storage
• Further processing, purification, and conversion
• Utilization
• Recovery, destruction or decontamination, or storage of
by-products and/or wastes

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Overall Efficiency
is the product of the efficiencies of all stages.
Overall efficiency for converting chemical energy to light energy is:

Coal Power Transmission

Light
plant lines
E3 = 0.05
E1 = 0.35 E2 = 0.9
E = E1 · E2 · E3 = 0.016
What else should we account for in LCA?
• Building and operating the power plant
• Mining and delivering the coal
• Disposing of the ash and other wastes from the plant
• Manufacturing and disposing of the bulb 34
 Overall Efficiency: Example

Wikipedia 35
Energy and Power Units

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Dimensions and Units
• Any physical quantity can be characterized by dimensions.
• The magnitudes assigned to the dimensions are called units.

Secondary (derived) dimensions

Velocity,
Energy,
Volume,
etc.

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Unit Systems

• International System of Units (SI)

• A simple and logical metric system based on a decimal relationship
between the units
• The dominant system in science
• Preferred by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
• The Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 designates “the
metric system of measurement as the preferred system of weights and
measures for United States trade and commerce.”
• The imperial system and the US customary system (“English”)
• No apparent systematic numerical base
• Used in Liberia, Myanmar, and the United States
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Prefixes in SI Units

More prefixes:

1024 yotta, Y
1021 zetta, Z
1018 exa, E
1015 peta, P

10-15 femto, f
10-18 atto, a
10-21 zepto, z
10-24 yocto, y
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Scientific and Engineering Energy Units
• SI metric units:
1 J = 1 N·m = 1 kg·m·s-2
1 BTU = 1.055 kJ
1 kJ = 103 J
1 quad = 1.055 EJ
1 EJ = 1018 J
1 cal = 4.19 J
• Non-SI metric units:
1 cal is the energy needed to increase temperature 1 kJ = 0.948 BTU
of 1 g of water by 1 °C at 15°C (or 4°C)
1 EJ = 0.948 quad
1 kcal
1 J = 0.239 cal
1 kWh = 3600 kJ
• English units:
1 BTU is the energy needed to increase temperature
of 1 lb of water from 39.1 to 40.1°F
1 quad = 1015 BTU 40
Commercial Energy Units

• 1 bbl oil equivalent (energy in 1 barrel of oil)

• 1 MCF gas equivalent (energy in 1 thousand of standard cubic feet
of natural gas)
• What is an oil barrel (bbl) as a volume unit?
• 1 bbl = 42 US gallons = 158.9873 L
• 1 gallon = 3.785 L
• 1 Mbbl = 103 bbl
• 1 MMbbl = 106 bbl
• There are other barrels as well - avoid confusion!

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More Commercial Energy Units
• 1 tonne oil equivalent (energy in 1 metric ton of oil,
i.e. in 1,000 kg of oil)
• 1 tonne coal equivalent (energy in 1 metric ton of coal,
i.e. in 1,000 kg of coal)
• 1 CMO (energy in 1 cubic mile of oil)
• What is a tonne as a mass unit?
• 1 tonne (metric ton) = 1,000 kg = 2,205 lbs
• 1 ton (short ton) = 2,000 lbs
• 1 long ton = 2,240 lbs ≈ 1,000 kg

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BTU Content of Common Energy Units

• 1 barrel (42 gallons) of crude oil = 5,800,000 Btu

• 1 gallon of gasoline = 124,000 Btu (based on U.S. consumption, 2008)
• 1 gallon of diesel fuel = 139,000 Btu
• 1 gallon of heating oil = 139,000 Btu
• 1 barrel of residual fuel oil = 6,287,000 Btu
• 1 cubic foot of natural gas = 1,028 Btu (based on U.S. consumption, 2008)
• 1 gallon of propane = 91,000 Btu
• 1 short ton of coal = 19,988,000 Btu (based on U.S. consumption, 2008)
• 1 kWh = 3,412 Btu

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Power Units

• 1 kW = 1 kJ/s
1 kW = 3,413 BTU/hr
• 1 BTU/hr

• 1 hp = 0.7457 kW = 2,545 BTU/hr

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