Renewable Energy

The best thing we can do: INCREASE ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Cogeneration: the simultaneous production of electricity and useful heat from the same energy source, significantly improves overall energy efficiency.

All steam that is wasted could be used to heat/cool buildings

Cogeneration:

  • Using two useful sources of energy from the same source

  • Also called Combined Heat and Power (CHP)

  • Electricity AND Heat/Steam

  • Up to 90% efficient

Evolving Vehicles

  1. (ICE) Internal Combustion Engine (Conventional) ONLY: Least efficient and most polluting

  2. Hybrid

  3. (BEV) Battery Electric Vehicle: Does not burn gasoline- runs on an electric battery/motor

In the developing world, burn wood or dried cow poop. This biomass is fuel for cooking/heating

In the developed world, burn biomass to produce heat (water - steam - turbine - copper wire/magnetic field - flow of electrons)

Biofuels: Ethanol, Biodiesel, Methane

Methane: Can be captured and used in biogas digesters

Anaerobic bacteria “eat” organic waste: animal manure, leftover food waste, sewage sludge, crops such as silage, landfill waste

Obtaining ethanol through FERMENTATION

Windpower works offshore and in the great plains

Cons:

  • May interfere with bird migration

  • noise pollution

  • visual pollution

  • not a windy day??

Hydroelectric Power: water that is flowing from high to low that is controlled by dams and reservoirs and used to generate electricity, moving water turns the turbone.

Dam across a large river creates a lake

Cons:

  • High. construction costs

  • flooding upstream displaces people/floods ecosystems

  • CO2 and CH4 emmissions due to vegetation decay

  • blocks migration (solution: fish laddere and/or cannon

Tidal energy: moving water

Wave energy: Moving air and water

Geothermal Energy is heat from the earth that can creat steam to turn a turbine

Cons:

  • Suitable sites only

  • Cost

Biodiesel:

Waste from cooking oil

From algea (This source is good because the algea can absorb phosphates and nitrates from wastewater and CO2 from the atmosphere)

Hydrogen Fuel Cells: Obtaining hydrogen fuel- waater is split through electrolysis into hydrogen and oxygen gas OR the H is obtained from methane

How it works:

  • in the fuel cell, the H2 is split into 2 H+ ions and two e-

  • The electron flow through the cell

  • everything comes together again = water vapor

Cons:

  • obtaining hydrogen using fossil fuels

  • no distributuion system in places

Solar Energy

Passive: using the sun directly

Active: absorb eergy from the sun by pumping a heat-absorbing fluid through collectors; collectors: flat/black backed surface coil that fluid is pumped through; utilize the greenhouse effect.