Renewable Energy Project for the City of River Rapids
1. Activity description
As a team of young and talented engineers, you have been hired by the City of River Rapids to come up
with a renewable energy solution to solve the city’s future energy needs. Currently, all of the city’s
energy is generated by burning coal. As you already know, coal is not a renewable energy source.
Burning coal also creates emissions that pollute the air and negatively affect the environment.
The mayor of the city, Ms. Liefl, is giving you a budget of $1000 to spend on renewable energy
alternatives including hydro power, wind power and solar power. In total, the city residents consume
1000 units of energy every day. You will have to make sure that your plan provides the necessary
amount of energy for the city without exceeding your budget.
To successfully complete this challenge, you will need to use your strong mathematical skills to calculate
the costs and energy outputs of your renewable energy plan. To help you with this activity, Ms. Liefl has
hired an Engineer-in-Residence (EIR) named Mikhail Kabakov to provide engineering assistance to your
team and answer your questions.
At the end of this activity, you will present your plan to the city mayor and your EIR. Below you will find
the necessary information needed to complete this challenge. If you have any questions don’t hesitate
to ask your EIR.
2. Renewable Energy Options
Energy
Output
Cost
Hydro Power
Wind Power
Solar Power
(How Stuff Works, 2001)
500 energy units (per turbine)
for every 2,500 liters of water
$500/hydro turbine
(Hydro Tasmania, 2014)
(Alternative Energy News, 2014)
10 energy units (per turbine)
for every 10 wind gusts
$10/Wind Turbine
2 energy units (per panel) for
every 10 sunrays
$2/Solar Panel
3. Important Information!
River Rapids has a river that passes through the city. The total river flow is estimated at 25,000 liters
every day. The city gets on average of about 10 wind gusts a day. There are also 10 sunrays that shine
on River Rapids daily.
Due to municipal laws, the city is not allowed to install more than 40 wind turbines so please make sure
your plan does not exceed that number.
4. Calculation Example
Calculate the number and total cost solar panels required to supply 20 units of energy per day. Assume
you have 10 sunrays per day.
Solution:
If each panel can produce 2 energy units for every 10 sunrays, then we can determine the total number
of panels required:
We also know that each panel costs $2. To determine the total cost of panels we simply multiply the
number of panels by the cost of each panel:
So to supply 20 units of energy per day we will need 10 solar panels which cost $20 in total.
Bibliography
Alternative Energy News. (2014, 02 09). Solar Power News. Retrieved 02 09, 2014, from Alternative
Energy News: http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/technology/solar-power/
How Stuff Works. (2001, 01 01). How Hydropower Plants Work. Retrieved 2014, from How Stuff Works:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/hydropower-plant1.htm
Hydro Tasmania. (2014, 02 09). About Wind Powre. Retrieved 02 09, 2014, from Hydro Tasmania:
http://www.hydro.com.au/energy/about-wind-power