RENEWABLE ENERGY

SOURCES
Energy sources which are
continuously being replenished
by nature
Grade 6
 ATOM

PROTON ELECTRONS

N N
E

NEUTRON
 Definition Of The Three Parts

Mass Charge
Proton
Subatomic particle
having a positive I +
electrical charge

Neutron
Subatomic particle
with no net I +/-
electrical charge

Electron
Subatomic particle
having a negative ~0 -
electrical charge
 ELECTRICITY

An electric current is
created when tiny charged
particles flow in a wire.
Electric current can power
things like our computers
and TV sets.

ELECTRICITY
 Natural Electricity

Aurora Borealis

Lightning

Static Electricity
 ELECTRICITY HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN….

G T
…fueled by
generated, transformed, and
coal, oil or to your house
distributed
natural gas,
 Name other ways we use
electricity

Describe in your own words, the

difference between Renewable
and Non-Renewable Electricity
Brainstorm sources of
electricity.

Which are renewable and

which are non-renewable?
 NATURAL AND RENEWABLE
SOLAR
SOURCES OF ENERGY
…THEY NEE
a
eric DO UR HELP!
Geothermal Keep Am Recy tural
Clean! cle Use Na s
ce
SOLAR Resour

Wind

G T
Generator Transformer Distribution
Lines Your Home

Biomass

Hydroelectric

Biogas
Solar Energy is light and
heat energy that comes
from the sun. SOLAR
ENERGY
SOLUTIONS

Photovoltaic Solar Power Parabolic Trough Solar

System Power System

Solar Panel Solar Trough

– The basic building block
of a photovoltaic (PV)
solar power plant is the
solar cell which is
typically made of silicon.
– On a sunny day, each
square foot of PV cells
generate approximately
12 watts of electrical
power.
– A typical PV cell
converts 15% of the
incident solar energy to
DC electricity.
–Converts DC power to
AC power.
–Has a conversion
efficiency of 92%.
–Increases the voltage
from the inverter to
match the voltage on
the power lines
–Transports the electrical
energy from the power plant
to your home.
PHOTOVOLTAIC SOLAR SOLAR
POWER SYSTEM SOLUTION
#1
SOLAR CELL

POWER LINES

TRANSFORMER

INVERTER
PHOTO + VOLT = PHOTOVOLTAIC
[LIGHT] [UNIT [ELECTRICITY
OF PRODUCED
ELECTRICITY] FROM LIGHT]

Photovoltaics: The direct conversion of sunlight to electricity

http://www.aps.com/
 PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER PLANTS
Glendale Airport:
Single Axis Tracking and High
Concentration Photovoltaic

Prescott Airport:
Single Axis Tracking, Tilted
Single Axis Tracking, and
High Concentration
Photovoltaic

Scottsdale Covered Parking:

Fixed Photovoltaic panels

 Tube and Shell Heat Exchanger

Cool Water Out

Cold Water In

Warm Water Out

Hot Water In

Heat exchangers are devices built for efficient heat transfer from one
fluid to another.

http://www.taftan.com/thermodynamics/EXCHANGE.HTM
 PARABOLIC TROUGH SOLAR THERMAL POWER PLANTS
SOLAR
1 Mirrors focus the sun’s energy and increase the intensity 30 SOLUTION
to 60 times. Heat is created and focused on a pipe #2

Hot Oil Oil is heated as it moves

2
through the pipe, the oil
2 temperature can be as
1
high as 750˚ F

Cold Oil Steam

3
4
G T
Turbine
Heat Exchanger Generator
The hot oil travels through a heat
3 exchanger to heat water that
produces steam. Once heat is taken from oil, the
5 oil returns to the pipe to be
The steam turns turbines and reheated.
4
turbines create electricity.
SOLAR THERMAL POWER PLANTS

10,000,000 Watts
Solar II Experimental
Power Plant, California

25,000 Watts
Dish/Stirling
Engine System,
Arizona

1,000,000 Watts
Parabolic Trough Power
Plant, Arizona
GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

Hot Rock - Magma

 HOW DOES GEOTHERMAL HEAT GET UP TO EARTH'S
SURFACE? ¾ Convection
¾ Conduction
Heat from the Earth’s interior flows Magma or very hot rock
outward. It is transferred to the outer rising upward out of the
layer of rock or the crust. mantle can bring intense
heat into the crust

Magma or very hot rock

 CONDUCTION AND CONVECTION
Heat conduction is the transfer of heat in a solid material.

Convection is the transfer of energy within a liquid.

 Rainwater

Rainwater seeping downward through pores and crevices in the

crust to depths of a mile or more is heated. The heated water may
be stored underground in geothermal reservoirs, or the hot water
may flow upward out of the reservoirs to the surface as hot springs,
or boil near the surface to create geysers, fumaroles, and mud pots
Geysers at Yellowstone
National Park
Old Faithful

Steamboat Geyser

http://en.wikipedia.org
www.nps.gov
BINARY-CYCLE GEOTHERMAL POWER
PLANT Is one example of a geothermal power plant
Geothermal water is 3
1
brought to the surface
through wells that are
drilled deep into the
Turbine
G T
earth.

Steam
Cooler
The geothermal
2 water is passed Cooling
4 Air
through a heat Tower
exchanger to heat
a another fluid that 2 Heat Exchanger
becomes steam The steam is cooled
4 back into a liquid and
The steam spins
3 re-heated at the heat
the turbine
exchanger
generator to
1 5
produce
electricity. The geothermal
Cooled Water 5 cooled water is
Pump
Production sent back into the
Well Geothermal Reservoir earth
Injection
Well
 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY IN ARIZONA

Locate
where
geothermal
sources
are most
likely to be

Picture from www.EnergyAtlas.org

 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY IN ARIZONA

Higher temperature
springs and wells
(greater than 120˚ F)
occur in areas that may
have potential for space
heating and geothermal
green housing

Some of the areas

shown with wells and
springs greater than
140˚ F may have
reservoirs underneath
them with 250˚ - 350˚ F
temperatures that
make them suitable for
small scale binary
electric power Picture from www.EnergyAtlas.org
generation
 HOW DO YOU CONVERT WIND INTO ELECTRICITY?

The wind hits the rotor, the

rotor spins the generators
making electrical energy from
mechanical energy

Gearbox Generator
Rotor
Diameter
G
Nacelle The transformer increases
the voltage to match the
Transformer voltage on the power line
before it is sent on to your
house

T
Tower
 WIND FARMS

… are similar to
traditional farms only
because they have
turbines that spin like
windmills. What do
you think the purpose
of a turbine is?
BIOMASS ENERGY FROM ARIZONA FORESTS
2. Underburns known
1. Left alone, forests as ground fires help
become thick with trees and clear the forest floors
forest litter. so that grass grows
and large trees
survive.
3. Underburns
also prevent
more damaging
THE fires that spread
BEGINNING across the top
of the trees.

5. Sometimes fire
makes seeds grow,
but sometimes the
4. The top of tree fires spread quickly
forest has to be
and are much more difficult to fight.
replanted to speed
They leave burnt land that can take
the return of trees.
years to replenish.

What other damage can happen from forest fires?

Wild fires and bark beetles
create biomass that can
be used as a fuel to
generate electricity.
 THE BEGINNINGS OF BIOMASS

Biomass was the first

fuel mankind used for
energy.

NER
CLEA
THAN
COAL MO
NAT RE
AVAILABLE FRI URE
END
BEFORE THA LY Burning wood was
NAT N
OIL UR used for warmth
GA AL and cooking, as
S
well as keeping
wild animals away
 THE BALANCE OF BIOMASS
GR
EE
NH
a ss, Biomass generates far less MO
RE
G O
AS USE
B iom s emissions than fossil fuels
Use et les use

EL
FU
g ho

IL
n

S
SS
e

AS
Gre Gas

FO

OM
BI
LE
SS

CO2

CO
CO 2

2
CO 2
CO 2

CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) is released by burning biomass and is

used by other plants to make food.
 BALANCE OF BIOMASS

Plants take in CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) and

make oxygen.

When biomass is burned, it uses oxygen to

make CO2

This is the balance of biomass

 BIOMASS ENERGY COMES FROM
plant, human or animal derived organic matter
that is eaten, burnt, or converted into fuel.

Wood from trees, agriculture,

wood factory waste, and the
construction industry

Burnt wood from forest fires

Animals and
animal droppings
Gasification, pyrolysis, digestion, fermentation and solid fuel combustion
are five different processes that use the biomass to make electricity.

Solid Fuel
Combustion

Gasification

Pyrolysis
G T
Generator Transformer
Digestion

Fermentation
GASIFICATION
Exposing a solid fuel to high temperatures and limited oxygen produces
hydrogen rich gas

Biomass PLUS Heat Biogas

T G
Electricity
 Anaerobic Digestion

Anaerobic Digestion is a process where

organic waste such as animal manure, leaves,
trees, and other materials decompose or rot in
a container with no oxygen.

The microbes or bacteria that make the waste

material decompose or rot, grow and create
methane and carbon dioxide.
DIGESTION – ANIMAL WASTE
Bacteria, in an oxygen-starved environment
can produce methane.

Methane Collector

Gas
Activated Cleanup
Anaerobic
Process
Mixing Tank Methane
Rich Gas
Anaerobic Compression
Compost and Delivery
Recycled Settling
Water Tank
Reserve
Tank

G T
Biofuel
 DIGESTION – LANDFILL WASTE

Landfill Bacteria, in an oxygen-starved

environment can produce
methane.

Bacteria

Activated
Anaerobic Gas Gas Gas
Process Collection Cleanup Pipeline

Clean Methane can be put into gas pipelines and

used like natural gas
 FERMENTATION
Sugar in the biomass material is converted to ethanol (alcohol)

Biofuel

Fermentation
Biomass Sugar Ethanol
Chamber

T G
Electricity
PYROLYSIS – Rapid Thermal Gasification

Heating the biomass rapidly with no air can

produce pyrolysis oil and phenol oil,
sometimes referred as bio-oil leaving charcoal.
Biomass

Rapid
Pre-Dryer
High Heat
Bio-Oil
G T
 RAPID THERMAL GASIFICATION
produces more than you ever imagined…..

Flavorings

Plastics

Fragrances
Adhesives

… plus chemicals and fuels

 SOLID FUEL COMBUSTION
Biomass + Heat Steam Energy Electricity

Direct combustion of solid matter in a

boiler to produce steam.

Steam
Biomass Furnace/Boiler
Turbine G

T
Electricity
 BIOGAS

Organic
Waste
Material
+ Decomposition = Biogas

Vegetation Breaking down, Methane

Manure or changing, rich
Sewage from a solid flammable
Landfill Garbage into a liquid gas
or a gas
 NATURE CREATES BIOGAS

Nature creates biogas

from rotting plants METHANE
around ponds and
wetlands

Rotting
Vegetation

As this methane gas is released into the atmosphere it creates an invisible

ceiling which traps the heat from the sun.
 MAN-MADE BIOGAS (LANDFILLS)

Escaping methane can

destroy nearby vegetation.

To prevent methane from

escaping into the
atmosphere, it is collected
and burned in a flare stack

What else will we lose

as a result of losing
plants and trees?
LANDFILL COLLECTOR
 MAN-MADE BIOGAS (SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT)
Sewage treatment plants clean
sewage water
producing large amounts of
methane

Close-up of Flares

that can be flared or turned into electricity

 BIO-GAS DIGESTION PROCESS

Produces Electricity and so much more

The Anaerobic Digestion of
animal waste creates methane.

The remaining solids can be

used for:

™ Fertilizer

™ Animal bedding (sterilized of

all pathogens)

™Gasification

™Recycled Water can be used

for farming
BIO-GAS ANAEROBIC DIGESTER
WHAT IS HYDROPOWER?

Hydro means water in Latin. It is

the most often used source of
renewable energy used to make
electricity.
 WATER
Water is constantly moving through a cycle, evaporating from lakes, oceans
and transpiration, forming clouds, then rain or snow which goes back down
to the ocean and lakes.

Condensation

Transpiration

Evaporation
Rain
Lake

Transpiration is the evaporation of water into the atmosphere from the

leaves and stems of plants
 HOW WAS HYDROPOWER USED IN THE PAST?

For hundreds of years, moving water was used to turn wooden

wheels that were attached to grinding wheels to grind flour or
corn. The Greeks used water wheels more than 2,000 years ago.
These were known as water mills or grist mills.

Water can go over the top of the

wheel placed in the moving
water.

The flow of the water

turns the wheel at the
bottom.
 HOW A HYDROPOWER PLANT WORKS
1 2 3
Water goes to Intake towers Shaft and
Turbine Wheel Generators

1. Water goes into the Penstock Pipe at high 4

speed through the Intake Towers Electric Grid
2. Which then goes to a Turbine Wheel
3. The Turbine Wheel spins the rotor to the Generator
and makes AC electricity,
4. The electricity goes to the electrical grid to be used in
your home, in stores and in manufacturing plants.
 Renewable Energy Discussion

How easy is it to get renewable energy as

an electricity source to your home?
Will it be available 24 hours per day?
Will your lifestyle change?
 Pros and Cons of Renewable Energy
PRO CON

Solar – Continuous – Need storage,

– Abundant – Peaks at solar noon,
– Portable – Most expensive of renewable energy
– Modular sources

Wind – Cheapest of the – Not always near transmission

renewable energies lines
today – intermittent power

Geothermal – Can provide heat and – Not always near transmission lines
cooling – Not portable
– Continuous
 Pros and Cons of Renewable Energy

PRO CON

– Can be transported – Distance to the fuel

Biomass to a generator for a – Not always accessible
continuous source of
energy

– Always accessible, – Sources are limited in size

Biogas can provide energy 24
hours per day

Hydropower –Inexpensive –Dam construction is expensive

–No Pollution –Damming rivers causes changes in
–Lakes and reservoirs ecological cycles and surrounding
can be used for landscapes
recreation –There are a limited number of
feasible sites for large dams
ANSWERS
 The final YOUR
solar
destination
HOME
Wind

Hydroelectric

Hot
r ings
Sp

Geothermal