MAKTAB RENDAH SAINS MARA

LANGKAWI

REWNEWABLE SOURCE
ENERGY

Advisor: SIR HISHAM B. AHMAD

Student: NURALIA BT. FADZIL
Class:

504 URANIUM

CONTENT
INTRODUCTION..

WIND.
HYDROPOWER
SOLAR..
GEOTHERMAL..
TIDAL
WAVE
BIOMAS
REFERENCES

2
3-4

INTRODUCTION
To begin, renewable energy is as energy that is collected from
resources which are naturally replenished on a human timescale, such
as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat. Renewable
energy often provides energy in four important areas: electricity
generation, air and water heating/cooling, transportation, and rural (offgrid) energy services

WIND
Energy from moving air
How uneven heating of water and land causes wind
Image of how uneven heating of water and land causes wind.
Land heats up faster than water.
Warm air over the land rises.
Cool air over the water moves in.
Wind is caused by the uneven heating of the earth's surface by the sun.
Because the earth's surface is made of different types of land and water,
it absorbs the sun's heat at different rates. One example of this uneven
heating can be found in the daily wind cycle.
The daily wind cycle
During the day, the air above the land heats up faster than the air over
water. The warm air over the land expands and rises, and the heavier,
cooler air rushes in to take its place, creating wind. At night, the winds
are reversed because the air cools more rapidly over land than over
water.
In the same way, the atmospheric winds that circle the earth are created
because the land near the earth's equator is heated more by the sun
than the land near the North Pole and the South Pole.
Wind energy for electricity generation
Today, wind energy is mainly used to generate electricity, although water
pumping windmills were once used throughout the United Stat es.

HYDROPOWER
Energy from moving water
Image of the water cycle. Solar energy heats water on the
surface, causing it to evaporate.
This water vapor condenses into clouds and falls back onto the
surface as precipitation.
The water flows through rivers back into the oceans, where it
can evaporate and begin the cycle over again.
Source: Adapted from National Energy Education Development
Project (public domain)
Image of how a hydropower plant works.
The water flows from behind the dam through penstocks, turns
the turbines, and causes the generators to generate electricity.
The electricity is carried to users by a transmission line.
Other water flows from behind the dam over spillways and into
the river below.
Source: Tennessee Valley Authority (public domain)
bar graph showing hydropower and other renewable electricity
generation, 1995-2013, in million megawatthours.
Hydropower generates electricity
Hydropower is the largest renewable energy source for
electricity generation in the United States. In 2014, hydropower
accounted for about 6% of total U.S. electricity generation and
48% of generation from all renewables.

Because the source of hydroelectric power is water,

hydroelectric power plants are usually located on or near a
water source.
Hydropower relies on the water cycle
Understanding the water cycle is important to understanding
hydropower. There are three steps in the water cycle:
Solar energy heats water on the surface, causing it to
evaporate.
Water vapor condenses into clouds and falls as precipitation
(rain, snow, etc.).
Water flows through rivers back into the oceans, where it can
evaporate and begin the cycle over again.
Mechanical energy is harnessed from moving water
The amount of available energy in moving water is determined
by the volume of flow and the change in elevation (or fall) from
one point to another. Swiftly flowing water in a big river, like the
Columbia River that forms the border between Oregon and
Washington, carries a great deal of energy in its flow. Water
descending rapidly from a high point, like Niagara Falls in New
York, also has substantial energy in its flow.
At both Niagara Falls and the Columbia River, water flows
through a pipe, or penstock, then pushes against and turns
blades in a turbine to spin a generator to produce electricity. In
a run-of-the-river system, the force of the current applies the
needed pressure, while in a storage system, water is
accumulated in reservoirs created by dams, then released as
needed to generate electricity.

History of hydropower
Hydropower is one of the oldest sources of energy. Hydropower
was used thousands of years ago to turn paddle wheels to help
grind grain. The nation's first industrial use of hydropower to
generate electricity occurred in 1880, when 16 brush-arc lamps
were powered using a water turbine at the Wolverine Chair
Factory in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The first U.S. hydroelectric power plant opened on the Fox
River near Appleton, Wisconsin, on September 30, 1882.

SOLAR
Energy from the sun
The sun has produced energy for billions of years. The energy in the sun's rays
that reaches the earth (solar radiation) can be converted into heat and electricity.
Radiant energy from the sun has powered life on earth for many millions of
years.
The sun
Source: NASA
In the 1830s, the British astronomer John Herschel famously used a solar
thermal collector box (a device that absorbs sunlight to collect heat) to cook
food during an expedition to Africa. Today, people use the sun's energy for a
variety of purposes.
Solar energy can be used for heat and electricity
When converted to thermal energy, solar energy can be used to heat water for
use in homes, buildings, or swimming pools; to heat spaces inside homes,
greenhouses, and other buildings; and to heat fluids to high temperatures to
operate turbines that generate electricity.
Solar energy can be converted into electricity in two ways:
Photovoltaic (PV devices) or solar cells change sunlight directly into electricity.
Individual PV cells are grouped into panels and arrays of panels that can be
used in a variety of applications ranging from single small cells that charge
calculator and watch batteries, to systems that power single homes, to large
power plants covering many acres.
Solar thermal/electric power plants generate electricity by concentrating solar
energy to heat a fluid and produce steam that is then used to power a generator.
There are two main benefits of solar energy:

Solar energy systems do not produce air pollutants or carbon dioxide.

When located on buildings, solar energy systems have minimal impact on the
environment.
There are two main limitations of solar energy:
The amount of sunlight that arrives at the earth's surface is not constant. The
amount of sunlight varies depending on location, time of day, time of year, and
weather conditions.
Because the sun doesn't deliver that much energy to any one place at any one
time, a large surface area is required to collect the energy at a useful rate.

GEOTHERMAL
What is geothermal energy?
The word geothermal comes from the Greek words geo (earth) and
therme (heat). Geothermal energy is heat from within the earth. This
heat can be recovered as steam or as hot water, and it can be used to
heat buildings or to generate electricity.
Geothermal energy is a renewable energy source because the heat is
continuously produced inside the earth.
Geothermal energy is generated deep inside the earth
Image of the earth's interior, from the outside to the inside, with the crust,
the mantle of magma and rock, the outer core of magma, and the
innermost core of iron.
Source: Adapted from a National Energy Education Development Project
graphic (public domain)
Geothermal energy is generated in the earth's core. Temperatures hotter
than the sun's surface are continuously produced inside the earth
caused by the slow decay of radioactive particles, a process that
happens in all rocks. The earth has a number of different layers:
The core has a solid iron core and an outer core made of hot melted
rock called magma.
The mantle surrounds the core and is about 1,800 miles thick. The
mantle is made up of magma and rock.
The crust is the outermost layer of the earth. The crust forms the
continents and ocean floors. The crust can be 3 to 5 miles thick under
the oceans and 15 to 35 miles thick on the continents.
The earth's crust is broken into pieces called plates. Magma comes
close to the earth's surface near the edges of these plates. This is where
volcanoes occur. The lava that erupts from volcanoes is partly magma.
The rocks and water absorb the heat from this magma deep

underground. The rocks and water found deeper underground have

higher temperatures.
People around the world use geothermal energy to heat their homes and
to produce electricity by drilling deep wells and pumping the hot
underground water or steam to the surface. People can also make use
of the stable temperatures near the surface of the earth to heat and cool
buildings.

TIDAL
idal Power Technologies
Until recently, the common model for tidal power facilities involved
erecting a tidal dam, or barrage, with a sluice across a narrow bay or
estuary. As the tide flows in or out, creating uneven water levels on
either side of the barrage, the sluice is opened and water flows through
low-head hydro turbines to generate electricity. For a tidal barrage to be
feasible, the difference between high and low tides must be at least 16
feet. La Rance Station in France, the worlds first and still largest tidal
barrage, has a rated capacity of 260 MW and has operated since 1966.
However, tidal barrages, have several environmental drawbacks,
including changes to marine and shoreline ecosystems, most notably
fish populations.6
Tidal TurbineSeveral other models for tidal facilities have emerged in
recent years, including tidal lagoons, tidal fences, and underwater tidal
turbines, but none are commercially operating. Perhaps the most
promising is the underwater tidal turbine. Several tidal power companies
have developed tidal turbines, which are similar in many ways to wind
turbines. These turbines would be placed offshore or in estuaries in
strong tidal currents where the tidal flow spins the turbines, which then
generate electricity. Tidal turbines would be deployed in underwater
farms in waters 60-120 feet deep with currents exceeding 5-6 mph.
Because water is much denser than air, tidal turbines are smaller than
wind turbines and can produce more electricity in a given area.7 A pilotscale tidal turbine facility the first in North America was installed in
New Yorks East River in December 2006. The developer, Verdant
Power, hopes to eventually install a 10 MW tidal farm at the site.8

Environmental Impacts
Unlike fossil-fueled power plants, wave and tidal energy facilities
generate electricity without producing any pollutant emissions or
greenhouse gases. Since the first wave and tidal energy facilities are
currently being deployed, the full environmental impacts of wave and
tidal power remain uncertain but are projected to be small. Concerns
include impacts on marine ecosystems and fisheries. Environmental
impact studies are currently underway and several pilot and commercial
projects are undergoing environmental monitoring. The East River tidal
turbine pilot project includes a $1.5 million sonar system to monitor
impacts on fish populations, for example.9 Careful siting should minimize
impacts on marine ecosystems, fishing and other coastal economic
activities. Wave and tidal facilities also have little or no visual impact, as
they are either submerged or do not rise very far above the waterline.

WAVE

Wave Energy Technologies

There are three main types of wave energy technologies. One type uses floats,
buoys, or pitching devices to generate electricity using the rise and fall of ocean
swells to drive hydraulic pumps. A second type uses oscillating water column
(OWC)devices to generate electricity at the shore using the rise and fall of water
within a cylindrical shaft. The rising water drives air out of the top of the shaft,
powering an air-driven turbine. Third, a tapered channel, or overtoppingdevice
can be located either on or offshore. They concentrate waves and drive them
into an elevated reservoir, where power is then generated using hydropower
turbines as the water is released. The vast majority of recently proposed wave
energy projects would use offshore floats, buoys or pitching devices.
The worlds first commercial offshore wave energy facility will begin operating
by the end of 2007 off the Atlantic coast of Portugal. The first phase of the
project, which Scottish company, Ocean Power Delivery (OPD) developed,
features three Pelamis wave energy conversion devices and generates a
combined 2.25 MW of electricity. OPD plans to expand the facility to produce
22.5 MW in 2007.5

BIOMASS

Biomassrenewable energy from plants and animals

Photosynthesis. In the process of photosynthesis, plants convert radiant
energy from the sun into chemical energy in the form of glucose or
sugar. Water plus carbon dioxide plus sunlight yields glucose plus
oxygen. Six water plus six carbon dioxide plus radiant energy yields
sugar plus six oxygen.
Source: Adapted from The National Energy Education Project (public
domain)
Image with different kinds of biomass types: wood, crops, garbage,
landfill gas, and alcohol fuels
Source: Adapted from The National Energy Education Project (public
domain)
Biomass is organic material that comes from plants and animals, and it
is a renewable source of energy.
Biomass contains stored energy from the sun. Plants absorb the sun's
energy in a process called photosynthesis. When biomass is burned, the
chemical energy in biomass is released as heat. Biomass can be burned
directly or converted to liquid biofuels and biogas that are burned as
fuels. Examples of biomass and their uses for energy:
wood and wood processing wastesburned to heat buildings, to
produce process heat in industry, and to generate electricity
agricultural crops and waste materialsburned as a fuel or converted to
liquid biofuels
food, yard, and wood waste in garbageburned to generate electricity in
power plants or converted to biogas in landfills
animal manure and human sewageconverted to biogas, which can be
burned as a fuel
Converting biomass to other forms of energy

Burning biomass is only one way to release its energy. Biomass can be
converted to other useable forms of energy like methane gas or
transportation fuels like ethanol and biodiesel.
Methane gas is a component of landfill gas or biogas that forms when
garbage, agricultural waste, and human waste decompose in landfills or
in special containers called digesters.
Crops such as corn and sugar cane are fermented to produce fuel
ethanol for use in vehicles. Biodiesel, another transportation fuel, is
produced from vegetable oils and animal fats.
How much biomass is used for fuel?
Biomass fuels provided about 5% of the energy used in the United
States in 2015. Of that 5%, about 43% was from wood and woodderived biomass, 46% was from biofuels (mainly ethanol), and about
11% was from municipal waste. Researchers are trying to develop ways
to use more biomass for fuel.
Collecting and using biogas from landfills
Landfills for municipal solid waste can be a source of energy. Anaerobic
bacteria that live in landfills decompose organic waste to produce a gas
called biogas. Biogas contains methane. Methane is the same energyrich gas found in natural gas, which is used for heating, cooking, and
producing electricity.
Landfill biogas can be dangerous to people and the environment
because methane is flammable, and it is a strong greenhouse gas. In
the United States, there are rules requiring landfills to collect methane
gas for safety and rules to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Source: The National Energy Education Project (public domain)
Some landfills control the methane gas emissions simply by burning or
flaring methane gas. Methane gas can also be used as an energy

source. Many landfills collect biogas, treat it, and then sell the methane.
Some landfills use the methane gas to generate electricity.
Using biogas from animal waste
Some farmers produce biogas in large tanks called digesters
where they place manure and bedding material from their barns.
Some farmers cover their manure ponds (also called lagoons) to
capture biogas. Biogas digesters and manure ponds contain the same
anaerobic bacteria found in landfills. The methane in the biogas can be
used for heating and can also be used for generating electricity on the
farm

REFERENCES
1. Source: Adapted from National Energy Education Development
Project (public domain)
2. http://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/?page=renewable_home
3. http://www.rnp.org/node/wave-tidal-energy-technology