Titusville Pennsylvania 1861
Gulf of Mexico 2010
Renewables Change the Game
overfunctionalized feedstocks
distributed sources
local supply and demand
monopolies difficult to establish
no intermediaries
local economic ecosystems
new technologies needed
Survey of Renewable Energy Technologies
ChE 5551
Tuesday and Thursday
2:30-3:45 pm
2010
Amundson B75
Homework assignments weekly
mass and energy balances and Web searches
Several short papers
Two one-hour exams
Visitors welcome
Friendly to non chemical engineers
Survey of Renewable Energy Technologies
Energy sources and uses
Biomass
Chemical processing
Biological processing
Wind energy
Energy storage and sequestration
Efficiency
Renewable chemicals
Engines and combustion
Fuel cells
Environment
Economics
Tentative Schedule
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
7
9
14
16
21
23
28
30
5
7
12
14
19
21
26
28
2
4
9
11
16
18
23
25
30
2
7
9
15
energy uses
energy sources
biomass
lignocellulose
agriculture
coal, petroleum, and gas
biorefining
gasification
pyrolysis
ethanol
ethanol economics
biodiesel
catalysis
methanol and DME
FT alkanes
biochemicals
fermentation
exam
biological processing
electricity
wind and hydro
coal gasification
photovoltaics
fuel cells
climate change
Thanksgiving
efficiency
energy policy
Last day
Engineering Topics
thermodynamics
kinetics
combustion
reactor engineering
catalysis
process flow sheets
Subjects will be introduced and equations given in lecture.
The Subject of this Course
source
coal
petroleum
biomass
wind
sun

process
chemical
thermal
biological
mechanical

product
heat
chemicals
electricity
fuel
Suggested Books
Sustainable Energy: Choosing Among Options,
Jefferson W. Tester, Michael Driscol, and Elizabeth M. Drake, 2005
Energy and the Environment, J. A. Fay and D. S. Golomb, Oxford, 2002
Introduction to Energy, E. S. Cassidy and P. Z. Grossman, Cambridge, 1998
Engineering Response to Global Climate Change, R. G. Watts, CRC, 1998.
Bioenergy - Realizing the Potential, S. Silveira
Gasification Technologies: A Primer for Engineers and Scientists, J. Rezaiyan
Green Chemistry, Mike Lancaster
Wind Power in Power Systems, T. Ackerman
Biodiesel: Growing an New Economy, G. Pahl
The Renewable Energy Handbook: A Guide to Rural Independence,
W. H. Kemp
Alternative Energy Sources: The Quest for Sustainable Energy,
Paul Kruger, 2006
Fundamentals of Renewable Energy Processes, Aldo V. Da Rosa, 2005
Renewable Energy Resources, 2nd ed., John Twidell and Anthony Weir
Renewable Energy, Godfrey Boyle, ed., 2004
Catalysis for Renewables: From Feedstock to Energy Production,
Gabrielle Centi and Rutger van Santen, ed., 2007
Synthetic Fuels, R. Probstein and R. E. Hicks, 2005
Some Interesting Books:
The Prize, Daniel Yergin
Seven Sisters, Anthony Sampson
The Hype about Hydrogen, Joseph Romm
The Future of Hydrogen, Jeremy Rifkin
Out of Gas: The end of the Age of Oil, David Goodstein
Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World,
Bjorn Lomborg
An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore and Albert Gore
Renewable Energy Policy, Paul Komor
The Party’s Over: Oil, War, and the Fate of Industrial Societies,
Richard Heinberg
Long emergency: Surviving the converging Catastrophe in the 21st Century,
James H. Kunstler
American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion,
Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century, Kevin Phillips
Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy,
Matthew R. Simmons
Alcohol Can Be A Gas: Fueling an Ethanol Revolution for the 21st Century
David Blume, 2007
Beyond Oil, K. F. Deffeyes, 2005
Some Interesting Books:
Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude,
Robert Baer
Conspiracy of Fools: A True Story, Kurt Eichenwald
The End of Oil: On the Edge of a Perilous New World, Paul Roberts
Beyond Oil: The View from Hubbert’s Peak, Kenneth S. Deffeyes
The Bottomless Well: The Twilight of Fuel
and Why We will Never Run Out of Oil, Peter Huber
A Thousand Barrels a Second, Peter Tertzakian
Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America’s Energy Future, Jeff Goodell
Energy in World History, Vaclav Smil (1995)
The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan
The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan
Coal: A Human History, Barbara Freese (Minnesota author)
Fossil Fools, Joe Shuster (ChE MN graduate)
Green Hell :
How Environmentalists
Plan to Control Your Life
and What You Can Do
to Stop Them
Red Hot Lies :
How Global Warming Alarmists
Use Threats, Fraud, and Deception
to Keep You Misinformed
Renewable versus Nonrenewable
Coal, oil, gas, and biomass
CHx + O2  CO2 + H2O + heat
These all came from photosynthesis
CO2 + H2O + sunlight  carbohydrates +O2
plants
animals
energy
CO2
No net CO2 produced in cycle
The cycle takes 1 year for crops
200 million years from coal and oil!
Mato Grosso Brazil
Soybean Harvest and Corn Planting
University Windmill at Morris
The Subject of this Course
source
coal
petroleum
biomass
wind
sun

process
chemical
thermal
biological
mechanical

product
heat
chemicals
electricity
fuel
ENERGY PRODUCTION
time
wood
coal
whale oil
petroleum
hydroelectric
nuclear
natural gas
process
corn
soy beans
crop residues
wood residues
energy crops
municipal solid waste
algae
solar thermal
photovoltaic
transportation fuels (T)
chemicals (C) value
power (E)
heat (H)
SOURCES
time
wood
HTE
coal
HTE
whale oil
L
petroleum
TCH
hydroelectric E
nuclear
E
natural gas HE
process
corn
T
soy beans T
crop residues
wood residues
energy crops
municipal solid waste
algae
solar thermal E
photovoltaic E
transportation fuels (T)
chemicals (C) value
power (E)
heat (H)
RENEWABLE
wood
hydroelectric
natural gas
corn
soy beans
process
crop residues
wood residues
energy crops
municipal solid waste
algae
solar thermal
photovoltaic
transportation fuels (T)
chemicals (C)
power (E)
heat (H)
BIOMASS
wood
corn
soy beans
natural gas
process
crop residues
wood residues
energy crops
municipal solid waste
algae
transportation fuels (T)
chemicals (C)
power (E)
heat (H)
GENERATION I
corn
soy beans
process
corn ethanol
biodiesel
GENERATION II
wood
crop residues
wood residues
process
natural gas
energy crops
municipal solid waste
algae
transportation fuels (T)
chemicals (C)
power (E)
heat (H)
Energy may be the most important
technological problem
of the 21st Century
The biological revolution cannot happen
without the energy to drive it
Most wars are fought over energy
Energy must be stored chemically
Biomass must be the source
Minnesota spends $12 billion/year on imported energy
Why Examine Renewables?
Chemical engineering
petroleum
Mechanical engineering
power systems and engines
Agricultural engineering
farm production
Agriculture
food and feed crops
Biology
food and drug processing
History of Renewable Energy
before 1600
wood
horses
all renewable
Industrial Revolution
steel
coal
hydro
1850
whaling
1900
petroleum
electricity
petrochemicals
after 2000
?
Titusville Pennsylvania 1861
A Quiz
What do the following have to do with energy?
Moby Dick
1851
Stanley Steamer
1907
Pearl Harbor
1941
Our Ancestors Used Renewables
Wood
heat
Beeswax and tallow
light
Wool, cotton, and leather
clothing
Horses
transportation
(eats oats, fertilizes the soil, and produces colts)
These are completely renewable as long as they are sustainable
All agricultural based products
The Industrial Revolution demanded a
transportable liquid fuel
Whale oil was the 19th Century solution
whales not renewable fast enough
Petroleum became the replacement
gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel
10% converted into petrochemicals
The energy engine of the world economy
most located in bad places
Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Russia
World Climate
Solar Flux
Solar Flux
Solar Flux
Hubbert’s Peak
Hubbert’s Peak US
Fort McMurray Tar Sands
Rough Values of Power of Various Processes (watts)
Solar power incident on earth 1017
Solar power avg. on U.S. 1015
Solar power consumed in photosynthesis 1014
U.S. power consumption rate 1013
U.S. electrical power 1012
Large electrical generating plant 109
Automobile at 40 mph...105
Solar power on roof of U.S. home 104
U.S. citizen consumption rate 104
Electric stove 104
Solar power per m2 on U.S. surface 1342 watts m-2
about 1000 watts m-2 at high noon on the ground,
and on average (day and night) about 240
absorbed at the ground. 102
One light bulb 102
Food consumption rate per capita U.S. 102
Electric razor 101