Write

what should NOT be forgotten.

Isabel Allende – Chilean Author
 Reflection on Learning
Course Name: Environmental Science and Engineering (GE16451)
Topic Name: Renewable Resources
Prepared By : S. MOHANA MURALI
Renewable Resources

• A renewable resource is a substance of economic value that can be

replaced or replenished in the same or less amount of time as it
takes to draw the supply down.
• Some renewable resources have essentially an endless supply, such
as solar energy, wind energy and geothermal pressure, while other
resources are considered renewable even though some time or
effort must go into their renewal, such as wood, oxygen, leather
and fish.
• Most precious metals are considered renewable as well; even
though they are not naturally replaced, they can be recycled
because they are not destroyed during their extraction and use.
Types of Renewable Resources

• 1) Bio-mass
• 2) Wind
• 3) Geo-thermal
• 4) Solar
Biomass Energy

• Biomass is the organic matter produced by plants or animals.

• Biomass Energy is defined by any organic materials that can be
burned and used as a source of fuel.
• When burned, the chemical energy in biomass is released as heat.
If you have a fireplace, the wood you burn in it is a biomass fuel.
Wood waste or garbage can be burned to produce steam for
making electricity, or to provide heat to industries and homes.
Bio-mass Sources
Biomass Conversion Process

• Here the feedstock (Input) is converted into biomass energy by

one of the following methods.
1)Combustion
2) Gasification
3) Pyrolysis
4) Anaerobic Digestion or Biodigestion
5) Fermentation
• The selection of process depends on the availability of the
resources.
Combustion

• Here the feedstock is burned in the presence of air to release

heat.
• Combustion can be used to heat steam for electricity generation.
Gasification

• The process of using heat, pressure and partial combustion to

convert the feedstock into a combustible gas mixture called
Syngas.
• The Syngas can be used in the place of natural gas for heating,
production of electricity and other uses.
Gasification
Pyrolysis

• The process of heating the feedstock at high temperatures in the

absence of oxygen.
• Since no oxygen is present, the organic material does not
combust. Instead the chemical compounds decompose into three
forms.
• 1) Bio – oil
• 2) Bio-char
• 3) Syngas
Pyrolysis
Anaerobic Digestion or Biodigestion

• A process where bacteria breaks down the organic material in the

absence of air to create biogas which can be captured and burned
to produce energy.
• The remaining byproduct is called digestate and it is a great
fertilizer.
Fermentation

• The process of converting a plant’s glucose into alcohol called

ethanol with the help of yeast.
• The ethanol is a liquid fuel which can be used as automotive fuel
Wind Energy

• The electrical energy which is obtained by harnessing the wind

using wind mills or wind turbines.
• Wind power is the use of air flow through wind turbines to
provide the mechanical power to turn electric generators. Wind
power, as an alternative to burning fossil fuels, is
plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean, produces
no greenhouse gas emissions during operation, consumes no water,
and uses little land.
Wind Turbines
Wind Turbines

• The wind turbine consists of blades which is rotated due to the

flow of air.
• The rotation of the blade is due to the airfoil design of the blade
and the aerodynamic force provided by the air.
• Since both the blades and the wind are moving, relative velocity is
considered i.e. the blades experiences the wind relatively.
• For the moving blade the relative wind velocity is
• Vrelative = Vwind – Vblade
Working of wind turbine

• Therefore the wind turbine blade is positioned in a tilted manner

in order to align with the relative speed.
• As the blade velocity increases to the tip, the relative wind speed
becomes more inclined towards the tip.
• This means that a continuous twist is given to the blade from the
root to the tip.
• However, this rotation cannot be directly coupled to a generator
because the wind turbine blades typically run at very low rpm due
to the issues of noise and mechanical strength.
Working of wind turbine

• Considering this low-speed rotation cannot produce any

meaningful electricity frequency from a generator.
• So before connecting to the generator the speed is increased in a
gear box.
• The gearbox uses a planetary gear set arrangement to achieve the
high speed ratio.
• Speed Ratio = 1:90
• A break is also sits in the nacelle in order to reduce the speed of
the blades when the velocity of wind is more.
• Cut-off Speed = 80 km/hr
Working of wind turbine

• Consequently the electricity produced is transferred through the

cables to the base where the step-up transformer is situated.
• The wind turbine should face the wind normally for maximum
power extraction.
• But the wind direction can change any time. So a velocity sensor is
fixed at the top of the nacelle.
• This measures the wind speed and the direction of the wind.
• The pulse generated by the sensor is sent to an electronic
controller which in turn sends appropriate signal to the yawing
mechanism to correct the error.
Working of wind turbine

• Thus the wind always be aligned with the wind direction.

• According to the wind speed, the relative velocity angle also
changes.
• A blade tilting mechanism is present and guarantees a proper
alignment of the blade with the relative velocity.
• Thus the blades are always at the optimum angle of attack with
the relative wind flow.
 Solar Energy

• Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is
harnessed using a range of ever-evolving technologies such as solar
heating, photovoltaics, solar thermal energy, solar architecture,
molten salt power plants and artificial photosynthesis.