Modern Trends InNon-Conventional Energy Sources

Submitted by: Sayyed Toufique Ali Abbas &

Shabbir Hussain Hussainy

Outcomes of Over using Conventional sources:

From years man has been exploiting natural resources for his selfish needs. The over exploitation led to the depletion of these sources along with their hazardous outcomes such as :

DeforestationGlobal warming Ozone layer depletion

Man has to be thoughtful in usingnatural resources or we all have to suffer

one day.Futuregenerations would be the

worst sufferers.

Keeping in mind the needs of future generation , we should move towards Non-Conventional Energy sources for a sustainable development.

A new Vision:

Hydro-Energy

Solar energyWind energy

Tidal Energy Biomass Energy

Geothermal energy

Solar Energy

Solar Energy is the energy from the sun. The Sun is the ultimate source of energy. Solar energy is the most readily available and free source of energy since prehistoric times. It is estimated that solar energy equivalent to over 15,000 times the world's annual commercial energy consumption reaches the earth every year.It can be harnessed as: Solar water heaters Solar cells Solar cooker

Solar powered boats

Solar powered boats get their energy from the sun. Using electric motors and storage batteries charged by solar panels and photovoltaic cells, solar powered boats can significantly reduce or eliminate their use of fossil fuels. Solar boats are uniquely suited to transform light energy into movement. Environmentally friendly solar energy is an energy efficient way to power commercial oceangoing vessels as well as leisure boats.

Sun 21

The “sun21” is a 45.9-foot-long specially built solar powered boat known as a catamaran. On its canopy like roof are 48 silicon photovoltaic cells, which collect energy from sunlight and transmit it to a device in one of the narrow cabins. That device transmits the energy to the 3,600 pounds of storage batteries below the deck. The 11-ton solar boat was powered on the energy needed to light 10 100-watt light bulbs. The typical speed was 3.5 knots. The solar boat has two engines that can go up to 107 nautical miles a day in good weather.

Wind Energy:

Wind energy is basically harnessing of wind power to produce electricity. The kinetic energy of the wind is converted to electrical energy. When solar radiation enters the earth’s atmosphere, different regions of the atmosphere are heated to different degrees because of earth curvature. This heating is higher at the equator and lowest at the poles. Since air tends to flow from warmer to cooler regions, this causes what we call winds, and it is these airflows that are harnessed in windmills and wind turbines to produce power.

Suitability

Average Wind Speed

km/h (mph)

Up to 15 (9.5) No good

18 (11.25) Poor

22 (13.75) Moderate

25 (15.5) Good

29 (18) Excellent

Can moving trains produce wind power???

A speeding train, for instance, produces tremendous gusts that can just as easily be converted into electricity. A couple years ago, an Indian

inventor named SantoshPradhan proposed a

modification to current trains that, according to his calculations, would have harvested as much as 10,000 megawatts of electricity each day from trains operating in Mumbai, a city in India

Now designers from the firm Yanko Design have seized upon the same principle and developed a device that can collect wind energy from passing trains. The technology works similarly to a wind tunnel concept put forth last year by a team of Korean designers in which miniature turbine-based generators would be strategically placed at various spots along the walls of a subway train tunnel.The device, called a T-Box, differs in that it is designed to be installed within the actual railing track itself. It consists of a durable metallic cylinder with vents, which allow air to flow through and rotate turbine blades housed inside. Yanko claims that a 1000 meter stretch of railroad can be retrofitted with about 150 T-boxes. Considering that a train barreling down at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour creates winds of roughly 15 miles a second, the T-boxes could generate 2.6 KwH of electricity

World’s Largest wind turbine 7 MW

Details:

Model Enercon E-126

Rotor dia.: 126 m

Energy produced: 20 million kWh/year

For 5000 household of four in EuropeInstalled in Emden, Germany in 2008

Hydro- Energy

Hydro energy is the energy produced by using the potential energy stored in water. Wherever sufficient head, or change in elevation, could be found, rivers and streams were dammed and mills were built. Water under pressure flows through a turbine causing it to spin.The Turbine is connected to a generator, which produces electricity . In order to produce enough electricity, a hydroelectric system requires a location with the following features:Change in elevation or head: 20 feet @ 100 gal/min = 200 Watts.100 feet head @ 20 gal/min gives the same output. In India the potential of small hydro power is estimated about 10,000 MW

Biomass Energy

Biomass is a renewable energy resource derived from the carbonaceous waste of various human and natural activities. It is derived from numerous sources, including the by-products from the wood industry, agricultural crops, raw material from the forest, household wastes etc.

Biomass does not add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere as it absorbs the same amount of carbon in growing as it releases when consumed as a fuel. Its advantage is that it can be used to generate electricity with the same equipment that is now being used for burning fossil fuels

Advantages

Some of advantages of biomass briquetting are high calorific value with low ash content, absence of polluting gases like sulphur, phosphorus fumes and fly ash- which eliminate the need for pollution control equipment, complete combustion, ease of handling, transportation & storage - because of uniform size and convenient lengths.

Biogas Plant Biomass Briquetting

Tidal Energy

Tidal electricity generation involves the construction of a barrage across an estuary to block the incoming and outgoing tide. The head of water is then used to drive turbines to generate electricity from the elevated water in the basin as in hydroelectric dams.

Barrages can be designed to generate electricity on the ebb side, or flood side, or both. Tidal range may vary over a wide range (4.5- 12.4 m) from site to site. A tidal range of at least 7 m is required for economical operation and for sufficient head of water for the turbines

Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy is thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth. Thermal energy is the energy that determines the temperature of matter.

The heat that is used for geothermal energy can be stored deep within the Earth, all the way down to Earth’s core – 4,000 miles down. At the core, temperatures may reach over 9,000 degrees Fahrenheit (5000 degrees Celsius). Heat conducts from the core to surrounding rock. Extremely high temperature and pressure cause some rock to melt, which is commonly known as magma. Magma convects upward since it is lighter than the solid rock. This magma then heats rock and water in the crust, sometimes up to 700 degrees Fahrenheit (370 degrees Celsius)From hot springs , geothermal energy has been used for bathing since Paleolithic times and for space heating since ancient Roman times, but it is now better known for electricity generation.

REFERENCES

1.http://mnes.nic.in2. Renewable Energy Sources for rural areas in Asia and Pacific, APO, Tokyo, 20003. www.ireda.org4. www.windenergy.com

CONCLUSION

From the above paper we came to a conclusion that, with the increasing demand for energy with increasing population, the non-conventional sources of energy should be adopted in order to sustain and preserve our natural resources for future generation.