StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Renewable Energy - Technologies, Policies and Market - Report Example

Cite this document
Summary
From the paper "Renewable Energy - Technologies, Policies and Market" it is clear that continual dependence on fossil fuels comes with great challenges. Some of these include global warming, increase in fuel prices, and depletion of fossil reserves among others. …
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER92.7% of users find it useful
Renewable Energy - Technologies, Policies and Market
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Renewable Energy - Technologies, Policies and Market"

Renewable Energy The steady increase in industrialization and human population raises the demand for energy and other material needs. Human beings depend so much on energy for their daily activities such as transport, industrial activities, medical purposes and domestic use. There is need for more sustainable energy sources so that all these human activities can succeed. Furthermore, continual dependence on fossil fuels comes with great challenges. Some of these include global warming, increase in fuel prices and depletion of fossil reserves among others. Therefore, renewable sources of energy are the only sure alternative remedy to all these challenges. Several technologies in this area need to be improved or new ones put in place for the full exploitation of these sources of energy. Varied sources of renewable energy exist and it only depends on the world’s ability to exploit them. As per now, fossil fuels supply over 80% of the world’s consumption while renewable and nuclear energy supply only 13.5% and 6.5% respectively (Tiwari and Mishra 457). This indicates how the continual use of fossil fuels can have a great impact to the environment at a greater percentage. There is a need to focus more on the other sources of energy apart from just one source. To start with, the energy from the sun can have so many uses especially in the today’s world where there is need for cheap and affordable source of energy. Conversion of solar energy to other forms requires technology and expertise since some of these forms come with so much complexity and technological challenges (Assmann 24). There exists several ways of how to convert the heat from the sun into other forms of energy such as solar dishes and towers. The total capacity of these technologies that are in existence is about 0.4 GW (Assmann 24). There are predictions that these technologies can rise and play a major role in the renewable energy sector in the near future. The overall production of electricity using photovoltaic technology was at 4 GW in 2004 (Assmann 24). Assmann (24) explains that PV systems use the solar module as their underlying technology. These modules have an efficiency of converting solar energy to electricity of about 10-17 %. However, there are still more research into this area and more sophisticated PV systems will be in existence. Furhthermore, solar collectors are in use in areas that receive low solar energy. Large applications of water heating systems that use solar energy exist in hotels, swimming pools and hospitals. Biomass is another source of renewable energy that comes from plant remains, waste materials and animal wastes. Most sources of woody biomass are the forests while those that are non woody come from industrial wastes. There is an increase in the number of companies that produce and supply wood as well as those that produce a lot of industrial waste. Most countries have not invested much in the production of biomass and the existing technologies are not adequate for this sector to realize its full potential (Assmann 20). Use of biomass is mostly in the rural areas where it forms a cheap source of energy as well as a source of income for the rural dwellers (EUREC 198). There are various ways through which biomass is utilised as a sourece of energy in these countries. In homes, technology has come with simple appliances for use of wood, charcoal and other forms of biomass. Some countries such as Sweden use biomass to produce electricity (Assmann 21). The total usage of biomass is at 37 GW all over he world as per the 2004 statistics. Another key application of biomass is in the production of fuel gas through gasification processes (Assmann 21) There is large scale production of biogas fuel from biomass especially in India. Pyrolysis Is a technique that can be used in the conversion of biomass into solid, liquid, or gaseous fractions. Moreover, esterification and extraction methods are used in the production of biodiesel from oilseeds world wide. The production capacity was at 2.2 billion litres in the year 2004 (Assmann 21). Ethanol is also a nother substance thet can be produced from fermentation of sugars and also through hydrolysis of lignocelullosic biomass (Assmann 22). Water energy is another souce of renewable source of energy that has been in use for many centuries. Many countires have heavily invested on this for generation of electricity by use of various techniques suc as turbines. The small-hydro technoogy is widely used in China; with the world’s overall overal use being estimated at 40 GW. However, a number of countries still experience small problems here and there in the installation and maintenance of hydro-electric system (EUREC 201). In countries where there is high demand for electricity, wind has been another good option for this form of energy. Countries which have greatlly invested in this include China and India. The annual growth rate of installations of wind technology is 20% and the figure can rise in the near future (EUREC 202). The rating of the machines used in this technology has seen major advancements with the current ones being rated at 1MW. There are prospects of producing those with a rating of 2.5MW with 80M diameter. There are also other small scale generators installed in rural areas in most countries for harnessing wind power for domestic use or rural electrification (EUREC 202). The oceanic energy is one form of marine energy that has not been explored fully. The oceans offer enough spaces where the use of varied technologies can be used effectively. The main challenge is that the marinne sources of energy are always hard and expensive to explore. The existing marine sources of energy can also be too small to employ the expensive technology in their exploitation. This is why this source of energy is still lying dormant in most cases. However, there exists some places where there is abundant sources of marine energy and this gives room for their exploitation in future (EUREC 207-208). The technologies that can be used for these forms of energy are many and include horizontal turbines for tidal currents, thermodynamic systems such as a vapour cycle that can extract power from the varying temperatures between the surface of the oceans and the ocean depth. However, there are still challenges in harnessing other forms of oceanic energy such as oceanic osmotic energy(salinity gradient) and oceanic biomass (EUREC 210-2012). Geothermal energy can be harnessed in two forms. These two forms include the direct utilisation or the indirect exploitation by converting the steam energy in geothremal wells to electricity. One of the widely used methods for harvesting this form of energy is through making use of its heating property, hence the direct utilization. The large scale use of geothremal heat energy is a recent development where methods like district heating, and greehouse complexes are employed. Heat exchangers have also been employed by other countries in the geothermal exploitation (Tiwari and Mishra 380-383). For electricity generation purposes, the steam energy in geothermal wells is piped to steam turbines that convert It to electricity. These technologies are used to produce electricity for commercial purposes since they can supply wide areas with power (Tiwari and Mishra 380-383). There are many sources of energy in the world that have not been explored even though they are also rich sources. Some of these include the oceanic sources of energy that seem expensive to exploit. There should be more improvements in the existing technologies so to allow for full exploitation of these resources. If the world can turn to the use of renewable sources of energy apart from just focusing on fossil fuels, the exploitation of renewable sources of energy can get much attention and more technological innovations and improvements can come up. One compelling reason as to why this should be effected is because the sources of fossil fuels get exhausted everyday. Furthermore, there is need for clean sources of energy that are environmentally friendly. Works Cited Assmann, Dirk. Renewable Energy: A Global Review of Technologies, Policies and Markets. Routledge, 2012. EUREC, Agency. The Future for Renewable Energy 2: Prospects and Directions. Routledge, 2013. Tiwari, G. N. and Rajeev Kumar Mishra. Advanced Renewable Energy Sources. Royal Society of Chemistry, 2011. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(Renewable Energy Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words, n.d.)
Renewable Energy Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words. https://studentshare.org/chemistry/1862980-renewable-energy-bio-fuelsgreen-technology-or-environmental-issues
(Renewable Energy Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words)
Renewable Energy Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words. https://studentshare.org/chemistry/1862980-renewable-energy-bio-fuelsgreen-technology-or-environmental-issues.
“Renewable Energy Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words”. https://studentshare.org/chemistry/1862980-renewable-energy-bio-fuelsgreen-technology-or-environmental-issues.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Renewable Energy - Technologies, Policies and Market

The Use of the Renewable Energy

renewable energy comes from resources that are natural such as wind, tides, sunlight, rain, geothermal heat, and tides.... About 16% of the world's energy consumption is catered for by renewable energy, traditional biomass taking care of 10%, and hydroelectricity contributing 3.... About 16% of the world's energy consumption is catered for by renewable energy, traditional biomass taking care of 10%, and hydroelectricity contributing 3.... renewable energy is good because it is non-polluting....
8 Pages (2000 words) Research Paper

U.K. Energy Sustainability Public Policy

The need is to reform energy policy to a more public advocacy framework so that the United Kingdom is able to lead the world in strategies, policies and technology designed around climate change prevention.... (2004) “Renewable Energy policies and Barriers” in Cleveland, C.... Consumers are being asked to pay for subsidies for renewable energy.... The renewable energy policy in the UK is expensive.... Instances of public resistance to renewable energy policy do illustrate some notable opposition to particular aspects of such public policies....
18 Pages (4500 words) Essay

How the EU Will Meet Its Target by 2020

Other than this, in the renewable energy targets for the EU, the 15% overall demand for electricity has to be met from renewable sources.... In UK more than a third of carbon emissions are from renewable energy.... The effort was undertaken to create an initial market and encourage the renewable energy industries.... This includes the privitisation of the National Coal Board, British Gas, the introduction of new policies favoring competition within the UK market and availability of cheap gas from the North sea....
10 Pages (2500 words) Essay

Renewable Energy

This dissertation "renewable energy" shows that this article looked at structuring the investment process towards financing this project for renewable energy, to ensure its success.... Chioma Ubajaka: How can Project Finance for renewable energy Projects be Structured to Ensure There Bankability This article looked at structuring the investment process towards financing this project for renewable energy, to ensure its success....
14 Pages (3500 words) Dissertation

Renewable Energy Sources

This involves all supply chain areas from market generation, distribution and transmission networks and market responsible for retailing.... "renewable energy Sources" paper argues that government incentives and environmental laws should be strong enough to enhance such a transition.... Insufficient and inadequate incentives would result in limited success in terms of consumption and production of renewable energy sources.... renewable energy Sources Of renewable energy Sources Oil-producing countries in 1973 decided to hike the crude oil prices from two dollars to ten dollars per barrel....
6 Pages (1500 words) Literature review

Energy Security as the Most Important Factor in a Country's Energy Mix

On this account, there is necessity for the country to come out with sound energy policies and strong energy market design.... n Europe, Germany – because of its large size (as energy market [Vattenfall, 2008, pp.... 4]) and strategic location -- is among the very few countries that can significantly impact the national and regional policies on energy.... This essay "energy Security as the Most Important Factor in a Country's energy Mix" raises the issue of energy security has been a hot item of discussion on account of the depletion of oil is nearing as proof there are about the world's already getting into the peak of fossil fuel extraction....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay

Today and Future of Renewable Energy in Australia

The paper 'Today and Future of renewable energy in Australia' is a worthy variant of the case study on technology.... The paper 'Today and Future of renewable energy in Australia' is a worthy variant of the case study on technology.... renewable energy ... uture of the renewable energy in Australia 8 ... Australia is one of the countries that have put measures on reducing carbon emissions through generation of renewable energy (Dincer, 2000)....
8 Pages (2000 words) Case Study

Renewable Energy Industrial Policy

The paper 'renewable energy Industrial Policy' is a great example of an Environmental Studies Essay.... The paper 'renewable energy Industrial Policy' is a great example of an Environmental Studies Essay.... renewable energy Industrial Policy ... weden's renewable energy industrial policy ... he country for aspirations for 2020 is to attain a 50% renewable energy and be able to renew the transport sector energy by 10%....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us