Module-1: Renewable

Energy Sources
RENEWABLE ENERGY (RE) SOURCES

Environmental consequences of fossil fuel use,

Importance of renewable sources of energy, Sustainable
Design and development, Types of RE sources, Limitations
of RE sources, Present Indian and international energy
scenario of conventional and RE sources.
 Introduction
• Renewable energy is energy produced from sources that do not deplete or
can be replenished or refilled within a human’s life time.
• Examples: Wind, solar, geothermal ,Hydropower

• Non-renewable energy sources are finite and cannot be

replenished in a short period. They are formed over millions of
years and will eventually deplete
• Examples: Fossil Fuels, Nuclear Energy.
 Environmental consequences of
fossil fuel use
• Fossil fuels are formed from the fossilized, buried remains of plants and
animals that lived millions of years ago so they are named accordingly.
• coal, natural gas, petroleum, shale oil, and bitumen.
• carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and other materials
Atmospheric Pollution
• Primary pollutants
• Secondary pollutants
• oxides of Sulphur,
• oxides of nitrogen,
• oxides of carbon,
• hydrocarbons,
• particulates (fly ash).
 Oxides of Sulphur
• Sulphur dioxide (SO2) is a colourless gas with a sharp, irritating odour. It is
produced by burning fossil fuels and by the smelting of mineral ores that contain
sulphur. Erupting volcanoes can be a significant natural source of sulphur dioxide
emissions.
• Environmental effects :
• When Sulphur dioxide combines with water and air, it forms sulphuric acid, which is
the main component of acid rain. Acid rain can:
• Cause deforestation
• Acidify waterways to the detriment of aquatic life
• Corrode building materials and paints.
 Oxides of Nitrogen

• The term nitrogen oxides (NOx) describes a mixture of nitric oxide (NO)
and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which are gases produced from natural sources,
motor vehicles and other fuel burning processes.
• Environmental and health effects of nitrogen oxides
 Elevated levels of nitrogen dioxide can cause damage to the human
respiratory tract and increase a person's vulnerability to respiratory infections
and asthma.
 Long-term exposure to high levels of nitrogen dioxide can cause chronic
lung disease.
It may also affect the senses of smell an odour.
 High levels of nitrogen dioxide are also harmful to vegetation, damaging
foliage, decreasing growth or reducing crop yields.
 Nitrogen dioxide can fade and discolor furnishings and fabrics, reduce
visibility and react with surfaces.
 Oxides of Carbon (CO, CO2)
• Carbon monoxide is a colourless, odourless gas formed when substances
containing carbon (such as petrol, gas, coal and wood) are burned with an
insufficient supply of air. Motor vehicles are the main source of carbon
monoxide pollution in urban areas.
• Health effects :
• Carbon monoxide has serious health impacts on humans and animals.
• When inhaled, the carbon monoxide bonds to the hemoglobin in the blood in
place of oxygen to become carboxyhemoglobin. This reduces the oxygen-
carrying capacity of the red blood cells and decreases the supply of oxygen to
tissues and organs, especially the heart and brain.
• For people with cardiovascular disease, this can be a serious problem.
• The effects are reversible, so symptoms decrease gradually when exposure to
carbon monoxide stops.
• Hydrocarbons
• Gasoline, petroleum, coal, kerosene, charcoal, natural gas, etc., are all
a form of hydrocarbons.

• Environmental and health effects of hydrocarbons .

• These substances contribute to the greenhouse effect and climate
change
• Deplete the ozone
• Reduce photosynthetic ability of plants
• Increase occurrences of cancer and respiratory disorders in humans.
• Particulates (Fly Ash)
• Fly ash is composed of tiny, airborne particles and is thus considered as a type of
particulate matter or particle pollution. Fly ash contains different trace elements
(heavy metals).
• Environmental and health effects of fly ash
• Wet ash ponds can pollute groundwater and if ingested, the arsenic contaminated
water increases a person's risk of developing cancer.
• Inhalation or ingestion of the toxins in fly ash can have impacts on the nervous
system, causing cognitive defects, developmental delays, and behavioral
problems while also increasing a person's chance of developing lung disease,
kidney disease, and gastrointestinal illness.
 Importance of renewable sources of energy
• clean, inexhaustible and increasingly competitive energy
• produce neither greenhouse gases nor polluting emissions
• costs are also falling at a sustainable rate.
• Renewable energies received assistance from the international community
through world climate summit.
• Total renewable energy capacity of about 32,730MW installed all over India.
 Importance of renewable energy sources
• Indispensable partner in the fight against climate change
• Inexhaustible
• Reducing energy dependence
• Increasingly competitive
• Benefiting from a favorable political horizon
• Improved public health
• Jobs and other economic benefits
• Reliability and resilience
 Sustainable Design and development
• Sustainable energy is a form of energy that meet our today’s demand of
energy without putting them in danger of getting expired or depleted and can
be used repeatedly.
• Sustainable energy sources
• Need for Sustainable Energy
 Sustainable Design
• optimize site potential
• minimize non-renewable energy consumption
• use environmentally preferable products
• protect and conserve water
• enhance indoor environmental quality
• optimize operational and maintenance practices.
 Sustainable development
• Energy security
• Renewable energy sources are evenly distributed around the globe as
compared to fossils and in general less traded on the market.
• The introduction of renewable energy can also make contribution to
increasing the reliability of energy services.
• A diverse portfolio of energy sources together with good management
and system design can help to enhance security.
• Social and economic development
• economic growth and expansion of energy consumption
• renewable energy study in 2008, proved that employment from
renewable energy technologies was about 2.3 million jobs worldwide,
which also has improved health, education, gender equality and
environmental safety.
• Energy access
• Distributed grids based on the renewable energy are generally more
competitive in rural areas with significant distances to the national
grid
• low levels of rural electrification offer substantial openings for
renewable energy-based mini-grid systems to provide them with
electricity access
• Climate change mitigation and reduction of environmental
and health impacts
• reduce greenhouse gases which mitigates climate change
• reduce environmental and health complications associated with
pollutants from fossil fuel sources of energy .
 Types Of Renewable Energy Source
• Solar Energy
• Wind Energy
• Hydro Energy
• Ocean Energy
• Geothermal Energy
• Biomass Energy
• Hydrogen Energy
 Solar Energy
• illumination, hot water, electricity and
cooling systems for businesses and industry
• Install a home solar system or commercial
solar panels; construct a building to
incorporate solar hot water, cooling or
ventilation systems
• design from scratch structures that take
advantage of the sun’s natural attributes for
passive heating and lighting .
Wind energy
Hydro Energy
Geothermal Energy
Biomass Energy
Hydrogen Energy
Limitations of RE sources
• renewable energy sources is location-based and commercially feasible
• energies need storage capacities
• energy sources cause pollution
• Renewable energies frequently need funding for making them
reasonable
• Some types of energy sources require a huge space
Limitations of solar

• Higher Costs than Fossil

Energy Forms
• Intermittent Nature
• High Capital Investment
• Cannot be Built Anywhere
 Limitations of
Hydro Energy
• Environmental, Dislocation
and Tribal Rights
• Wildlife and Fishes get
affected
• Earthquake Vulnerability
• Siltation
• Tail Risk, Dam Failure
• Cannot be Built Anywhere
• Long constructing Time
Biomass
Energy

• Pollution in case of
Poor Technology
• Feedstock Problems
• Good Management
Required
• Limited Potential
• Controversial
Limitations of Wind
Energy
• Low Persistent Noise
• Loss of Scenery
• Land usage
• Intermittent Nature
Limitations of
Geothermal Energy

• Long construction Time Leading

to Cost Overruns
• Slow Technology Improvement
• Regulations
• Limited Locations
Limitations of Tidal Energy

• High Initial Capital Investment

• Limited Locations
• Effect on Marine Life
• Immature Technology
• Long construction Time
• Weather Effects
 Present Indian and international
energy scenario of conventional
and RE sources

• International energy scenario of conventional

sources
• Indian energy scenario of conventional
sources
• International energy scenario of renewable
sources
• Renewable energy scenario in India
Installed capacity of conventional energy
sources across globe
International energy scenario of conventional sources
• Oil
• Oil reserves at the end of 2018 totaled 1730 billion barrels
• The global R/P ratio shows that oil reserves in 2018 accounted for 50
years of current production.
• South & Central America has the highest R/P ratio (136 years) while
Europe has the lowest (11 years).
• OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) holds 71.8% of
global reserves.
• Venezuela (17.5% of global reserves)
• Saudi Arabia (17.2%)
• Canada (9.7%)
• Iran (9.0%) and Iraq (8.5%)
• Global oil production increased by 2.2 million b/d in 2018.
• US (2.2 million b/d), Canada (410,000 b/d) and Saudi Arabia (390,000 b/d)
• Venezuela (-580,000 b/d) and Iran (-310,000 b/d)
• OPEC production declined by 330,000 b/d while non-OPEC production
increased by 2.6 million b/d
• Oil consumption in 2018 grew by an above average 1.4 million b/d
• China (680,000 b/d) and the US (500,000 b/d) accounted for the majority
of this year’s growth.
 Installed capacity of Oil across
globe
Natural gas
• World proved gas reserves in 2018 increased by 0.7 Tcm to 196.9 Tcm
mainly as a result of increased reserves in Azerbaijan (0.8 Tcm).
• Russia (38.9 Tcm), Iran (31.9 Tcm) and Qatar (24.7 Tcm)
• The current global R/P ratio shows that gas reserves in 2018 accounted
for 50.9 years of current production, 2.4 years lower than in 2017.
• Middle East (109.9 years) and CIS (75.6 years) are the regions with
the highest R/P ratio
Installed
capacity of
Natural gas
across globe
Coal
• World coal reserves in 2018 stood at 1055 billion tonnes
• US (24%), Russia (15%), Australia (14%) and China (13%)
• anthracite and bituminous (70%)
• The current global R/P ratio shows that coal reserves in 2018 accounted
for 132 years of current production.
• North America (342 years) and CIS (329 years) the regions with the
highest ratio.
• Global coal production increased by 4.3% in 2018
• Coal consumption increased by 1.4% in 2018, the fastest growth since
2013
Installed capacity of coal across
globe
Indian power sector
• The national electric grid in India has an installed capacity of 368.79
GW as of 31 December 2019.
• The gross electricity generated by utilities in India was 1,372 TWh and
the total electricity generation (utilities and non utilities) in the
country was 1,547 TWh
• The gross electricity consumption in 2018-19 was 1,181 kWh per
capita.
Contribution of various agencies to Indian
power sector
Contribution of
various types of
power to Indian
power sector
Indian energy scenario of conventional sources
• Coal
• India's electricity sector consumes about 72% of the coal produced in the
country.
• Coal consumption by utility power was 608 million tons in 2017-18.
• Indian coal has a gross calorific value (GCV) of about 4500 Kcal/kg
• Indian power plants using India's coal supply consume about 0.7 kg of
coal per kWh of power generation.
• India is the world’s second largest producer of coal after the People’s
Republic of China.
• India has coastal (31 GW) and inland plants (159 GW), which are usually
located close to mines.
• India has 18 GW of power plants that are designed to only use
imported coal.
• Plants using only domestic coal have a total capacity of 140 GW
• NTPC-52 GW
• State governments-59 GW
• Independent power producers (IPPs)-75 GW
• captive power plants- 54GW
• Oil
• It is the second-largest source in the country’s total primary energy
supply (TPES)
• India is now the third-largest oil-consuming country in the world.
• oil production in India comes primarily from three onshore states,
Assam, Gujarat and Rajasthan, which together account for more than
96% of onshore outputs.
• . India’s oil demand is expected to reach around 6 mb/d by 2024,
representing 3.9% growth per annum.
• Natural gas
• The present gas based installed capacity for power generation in the
country is 24,937 MW
• The share of natural gas in total final consumption (TFC) is increasing,
as industrial and residential consumption continue to grow.
• Gas imports began in 2003 and have increased stepwise since, as
India has expanded its LNG terminal capacity.
• In 2017 total natural gas imports were 27 bcm, of which 49% came
from Qatar
• India has imported from more than 13 countries in 2017, including
large shares from Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Australia
International energy scenario of renewable sources
 Solar
• Germany
• At the end of May 2019, the cumulative solar power capacity of
Germany reached 47.72 GW
• China
• Several centralized solar power projects of 2019 will get benefitted by
China’s government subsidies, like 247.64 million dollars involving the
total installed capacity of 22.79 GW.
• Japan
• Japan is still among the world’s leaders in terms of total solar energy
production, roughly around 55.5 GW in early 2019. The country could
install nearly 155 GW by 2030 if things go according to their targets.
• United States
• According to the U.S Energy Information Administration, nearly 17%
of electricity generation in the United States was hailed with the help
of renewable power. The U.S Department of Energy has also
forecasted a 10% hike in their solar power generation by end of every
year
• India
• A country with one of the fastest-growing solar plants, India’s solar
installed capacity reached 28.18 GW in March 2019. the country
became the lowest cost producer of solar power in the world.
• United Kingdom
• Around 5% of Britain’s total electricity generation was provided
through solar by early 2019.
 Wind
• China – installed capacity 221GW
• US – installed capacity 96.4GW
• Germany – installed capacity 59.3GW
• India – installed capacity 35GW
• Spain – installed capacity 23GW
• United Kingdom – installed capacity 20.7GW
• France – installed capacity 15.3GW
• Brazil – installed capacity 14.5GW
• Canada – installed capacity 12.8GW
• Italy – installed capacity 10.1GW
Geothermal Power
• United States – 3,676 MW
• Indonesia – 2,133 MW
• Philippines – 1,918 MW
• Turkey – 1,526 MW
• New Zealand – 1,005 MW
• Mexico – 962.7 MW
• Italy – 944 MW
• Kenya – 861 MW
• Iceland – 755 MW
• Japan – 601 MW
Biomass
 Renewable energy scenario in
India
• Renewable energy (including large hydro) accounted for almost 36% of
India’s total power capacity mix at the end of the calendar year (CY) 2019,
according to data from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), and the
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
• The country’s total installed power capacity stood at about 371 GW as of
December 31, 2019. Of this, renewables (including large hydro) accounted
for about 133.2 GW, up from 122.8 GW last year, an 8.5% rise.
• Solar- 35.6 GW
• Wind- 37.5 GW
• Hydro- 50.1 GW
• Biomass- 9.86 GW
• Geothermal energy- 10,600 MW