Energy issues & Renewable Energy
Solar Energy & Wind Energy
Renewable Energy
•Renewable energy is useful energy that is collected from renewable
resources, which are naturally replenished on a human timescale, including
carbon neutral sources like sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal
heat. The term often also encompasses biomass as well, This type of energy
source stands in contrast to fossil fuels, which are being used far more quickly
than they are being replenished.
•Renewable energy often provides energy in four important areas:
1. Electricity generation,
2. Air and water heating/cooling,
3. Transportation, and
4. Rural (off-grid) energy services.
Advantages of Renewable Energy
•Renewable energy resources exist over wide geographical areas, in contrast
to fossil fuels, which are concentrated in a limited number of countries.
•Usage of renewable energy would reduce environmental pollution such as air
pollution caused by burning of fossil fuels and improve public health, reduce
premature mortalities due to pollution and save associated health costs that
amount to several hundred billion dollars annually.
•Renewable energy systems are more efficient and cheaper and their share of
total energy consumption is increasing.
•The incentive to use 100% renewable energy, for electricity, transport, or
even total primary energy supply globally, has been motivated by global
warming and other ecological as well as economic concerns.
Challenges in implementation of large-scale
renewable energy :
•The most significant barriers to the widespread implementation of large-scale
renewable energy and low carbon energy strategies are primarily political and
not technological.
•Many renewable energy technologies are still under development, These
technologies are not yet widely demonstrated or have limited
commercialization.
•Lack of funding for research, development and demonstration (RD&D)
Total Renewable electricity generation in India
Year wise renewable energy generation (GW)
Source
2014-15
2015-16
2016-17
2017-18
2018-19
2019-2020
Large Hydro
129,244
121,377
122,313
126,134
135,040
155,970
Small Hydro
8,060
8,355
7,673
5,056
8,703
9,366
Solar
4,600
7,450
12,086
25,871
39,268
50,103
Wind
28,214
28,604
46,011
52,666
62,036
64,639
Bio mass
14,944
16,681
14,159
15,252
16,325
13,843
414
269
213
358
425
366
191,025
187,158
204,182
227,973
261,797
294,288
1,105,446
1,168,359
1,236,392
1,302,904
1,371,517
1,385,114
17.28%
16.02%
16.52%
17.50%
19.1%
21.25%
Other
Total
Total utility power
% Renewable
power
•India is one of the countries with large production of energy from renewable sources.
As of 27 November 2020, 38% of India's installed electricity generation capacity is from
renewable sources (136 GW out of 373 GW).
•India is the first country to have a dedicated ministry for renewable energy.
Solar Energy
Solar Energy
Solar energy: radiant light and heat from the sun, is harnessed using a range of
ever-evolving technologies such as solar heating, photovoltaic’s, concentrated solar
power (CSP), concentrator photovoltaic’s (CPV), solar architecture and artificial
photosynthesis.
Solar technologies are broadly characterized into two types, depending on the way
they capture, convert, and distribute solar energy.
1. Passive solar: Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to the Sun,
selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or light dispersing properties,
and designing spaces that naturally circulate air.
2. Active solar: Active solar technologies encompass solar thermal energy, using
solar collectors for heating, and solar power, converting sunlight into electricity
either directly using photovoltaic’s (PV), or indirectly using concentrated solar
power (CSP).
Solar Energy Technologies
Solar thermal collector:
A solar thermal collector collects heat by absorbing
sunlight. The term "solar collector" commonly refers to
a device for solar hot water heating or non water
heating devices such as solar air heaters.
Photovoltaics (PV):
Photovoltaics is the conversion of light into
electricity using semiconducting materials that
exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon
studied in physics, photochemistry, and
electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is
commercially utilized for electricity generation
and as photosensors.
Concentrated solar power (CSP, also known as
concentrated solar thermal) systems generate
solar power by using mirrors or lenses to
concentrate a large area of sunlight onto a
receiver. Electricity is generated when the
concentrated light is converted to heat (solar
thermal energy)
Solar architecture is an architectural approach
that takes in account the Sun to harness clean
and renewable solar power. It is related to the
fields of optics, thermics, electronics and
materials science. Both active and passive solar
housing skills are involved in solar architecture.
Artificial photosynthesis is a chemical process
that biomimics the natural process of
photosynthesis to convert sunlight, water, and
carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and oxygen.
Space-based solar power
photovoltaic or thermal systems are used to
power up space station, and to keep it in
Geosynchronous orbit.
Solar Energy in India
•Solar power in India is a fast developing
industry. The country's solar installed capacity
was 35,739 MW as of 31 August 2020.
•With about 300 clear and sunny days in a
year, the calculated solar energy incidence on
India's land area is about 5000 trillion kilowatthours (kWh) per year.
•Rural electrification: total of 4,600,000 solar
lanterns and 861,654 solar-powered home
lights were installed. Typically replacing
kerosene lamps.
•The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is
offering a 30- to 40-percent subsidy of the cost
of lanterns, home lights and small systems (up
to 210 W Twenty million solar lamps are
expected by 2022.
Challenges for Solar Energy in India
•The land price is costly for acquisition in India.
•Dedication of land for the installation of solar arrays must compete with other needs.
•The amount of land required for utility-scale solar power plants is about 1 km (250
acres) for every 40–60 MW generated.
•substandard equipment with overrated nameplate has tarnished the industry.
Wind Energy
Wind Energy
•A wind turbine, or wind energy converter, is a device that converts the wind's kinetic
energy into electrical energy.
•The power available from the wind is a function of the cube of the wind speed, so as
wind speed increases, power output increases up to the maximum output for the
particular turbine.
•Arrays of large turbines, known as wind farms, are becoming an increasingly important
source of intermittent renewable energy and are used by many countries as part of a
strategy to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels.
Advantages of Wind Energy
major advantages of wind energy are:
•wind supply is abundant and inexhaustible.
•its inherent strength to support rural employment and uplift of rural economy.
•Further, unlike all other sources of power, wind energy does not consume any waterwhich in itself will become a scarce commodity.
•The biggest advantage with wind energy is that the fuel is free, and also it doesn’t
produce CO2 emission.
•Wind farm can be built reasonably fast, the wind farm land can be used for farming as
well thus serving dual purpose, and it is cost-effective as compare to other forms of
renewable energy.
•Key mitigation tool to reverse climate change.
Wind Energy in India
•Wind Energy holds the major portion of 43.4% of
total renewable energy capacity (87027.65MW)
and continued as the largest supplier of clean
energy.
•India ranks fourth in largest installed wind power
capacity in the world.
•Wind power generation capacity in India has
significantly increased in recent years. As of 30
September 2020, the total installed wind power
capacity was 38.124 GW.
•Offshore wind power plants
India has an offshore wind energy potential of
around 70 GW in parts along the coast of Gujarat
and Tamil Nadu.
Challenges for wind Energy in India
•Wind power must still compete with conventional generation sources on a cost
basis. Even though the cost of wind power has decreased dramatically in the past several
decades, wind projects must be able to compete economically with the lowest-cost source
of electricity, and some locations may not be windy enough to be cost competitive.
•Good land-based wind sites are often located in remote locations, far from cities where
the electricity is needed. Transmission lines must be built to bring the electricity from the
wind farm to the city. However, building just a few already-proposed transmission lines
could significantly reduce the costs of expanding wind energy.
•Wind resource development might not be the most profitable use of the land. Land
suitable for wind-turbine installation must compete with alternative uses for the land,
which might be more highly valued than electricity generation.
•Turbines might cause noise and aesthetic pollution. Although wind power plants have
relatively little impact on the environment compared to conventional power plants,
concern exists over the noise produced by the turbine blades and visual impacts to the
landscape.
•Wind plants can impact local wildlife. Birds have been killed by flying into spinning
turbine blades. Habitats of few species are destroyed.