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Alternative Sources of Energy

Tidal Power
The energy represented by tides is too dispersed in most places for it to be
useful.
The average beach tide reflects a difference of 1 meter. The commercial tidalpower electricity-generating plant requires at least a five meter difference.
This condition exists in very few places of the world. This exists at the Bay of
Fundy in Nova Scotia, near St Malo, France, in the Netherlands, and in the former
Soviet Union.

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion


(OTEC) Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion is a clean and renewable
technology that is in its development stage. This exploits the temperature
difference between warm surface water and the cold water at depth. The warm
water is vaporized and used directly to run a turbine. OR. Heat is used to vaporize a
working fluid. To vaporize a working fluid, the fluid is recondensed by chilling with
the cold water. No fuel is burned in this process, no emission is released, and the
vast scale of the oceans assures a long life for the facilities.
Brief History of OTEC
1881- Jacques Arsene d'Arsonval, a French physicist, proposed tapping the thermal
energy of the ocean.
1930- the first OTEC plant was built in Cuba by Jacques Arsene dArsnovals student.
The system produced 22 kilowatts of electricity with a low-pressure turbine.
1935- Claude constructed another plant aboard a 10,000-ton cargo vessel moored
off the coast of Brazil. However, weather and waves destroyed both plants before
they became net power generators
1956- French scientists designed another 3-megawatt OTEC plant for Abidjan, Ivory
Coast, West Africa. But the plant was never completed because it was too
expensive.
1974, the United States became involved in OTEC research with the establishment
of the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority. And this lab became one of
the worlds leading test facilities for OTEC technology.

Three OTEC Technologies


1. Closed-Cycle System- use fluids with a low boiling point, such as ammonia, to
rotate a turbine to generate electricity. Warm surface seawater is pumped
through a heat exchanger, where the low-boiling-point fluid is vaporized. The
expanding vapor turns the turbo-generator. Cold deep seawaterwhich is
pumped through a second heat exchangerthen condenses the vapor back
into a liquid that is then recycled through the system.
2. Open-cycle systems- use the tropical oceans' warm surface water to make
electricity. When warm seawater is placed in a low-pressure container, it
boils. The expanding steam drives a low-pressure turbine attached to an
electrical generator. The steam, which has left its salt behind in the lowpressure container, is almost pure, fresh water. It is condensed back into a
liquid by exposure to cold temperatures from deep-ocean water.
3. HYBRID system- combine the features of closed- and open-cycle systems. In a
hybrid system, warm seawater enters a vacuum chamber, where it is flashevaporated into steam, similar to the open-cycle evaporation process. The
steam vaporizes a low-boiling-point fluid (in a closed-cycle loop) that drives a
turbine to produce electricity.
Special conditions which are needed for OTEC technology
The deep cold water must be accessible near shore.
The temperature difference between warm and cold seawater must be at
least 40 degree F (220 degree Celsius) all year round. (This exists in the
countries near the equator)

Wind Energy
Wind energy is a variant of solar energy. It is also clean and renewable
indefinitely (for at least 5 billion years or so). Wind power has been utilized for more
than 2 thousand years. Windmills currently are most widely used for pumping
ground water and for generating electricity for individual homes and farms.
Wind energy shares certain limitations with solar energy.

It is dispersed
It is spread out through the atmosphere
It is erratic

Even where average wind velocities are great, strong winds do not always blow. This
represents the same storage problem as that of the solar energy.

Winds blow both more strongly and more consistently at high altitudes. Tall
windmills, perhaps a mile high, may provide more energy with less of a storage
problem. However, tall windmills are more difficult to, build and are fare more
expensive.
The widely used GE 1.5 megawatt model of a windmill consists of 116ft blades atop
and 212-ft tower for a total of 328 ft.
The ultimate potential of wind is unclear. The blowing wind represents far more
energy than we can use, but most of it cannot be harnessed. The commercial wind
power generation of electric power involves wind farms. This is a concentration of
many windmills in a few windy places.
The Great Plains region is the most promising area for this wind farms.
About 1000 1-megawatt windmills would be required to generate as much power as
a conventional electric power plant.
Problems caused by wind farms:

Aesthetic impact (windmill arrays must naturally be very exposed)


Interference with and death to migrating birds
The noise associated with large number of windmills operating
Disruption of communication TV, radio, cellular phones, and aircraft
communications

Biomass
Technically, this refers to the total mass of all the organisms on earth but in
an energy context. This is a catchall for various ways of deriving energy from
organisms or from their remains.
Biomass-derived energy is ultimately solar. This is because most if the energy
sources are plant materials and plants need sunlight to grow.
Biomass fuels can also be thought of as 1 unfossilized fuel. Because they
represent fuels derived from living or recent organisms.
The possibilities for biomass-derived energy are many. The use of wood as a
fuel is increasing in popularity. It also became the primary source of heat in about
4% of households.
Sometimes, using biomass energy sources means burning waste plant
materials after a crop is harvested.
What is it for?

Energy Production (biopower)


Fuel Synthesis (biofuel)
Product Synthesis (bioporduct)

Alcohol as Fuel
One biomass fuel that received special attention is alcohol. It was initially
extensively developed for incorporation into gasohol.
Gasohol- it is originally created as a blend of 90% gasoline and 10% alcohol. The
alcohol content has been, historically, produced from grains such as corn. However,
when the technology improved, it has been made possible to use the nonfood parts
of plants to produce alcohol.
The higher the proportion of alcohol in the mix, the further the gasoline can
be stretched. The main problem is that the modified vehicles must have an assured
supply of their special fuel. Until the alcohol-rich cars are widely available, most cars
will not be designed to run on such special mixtures.
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the use of gasohol rose. Gasohol
seemed to improve the performance of many car engines. It costs a bit more than
straight unleaded gasoline. The, several major companies appeared to phase out
gasohol. However, gasohol still exists in the form of super unleaded or super
unleaded with ethanol.
Government Policies which encourage the expanded use of alcohol/gasoline blends:
The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990- this includes provisions for reduced
vehicle emissions, and gasohol is somewhat cleaner-burning.
The Energy Policy Act of 1992- required gradual replacement of some
government, utility company, and other fleet vehicles with alternative
fuel vehicles.
- This act extends an exices-tax break ethanol-blend fuels.

Biogas
Another biomass fuel is the biogas. This could be called gas from garbage.
When broken down in the absence of oxygen, organic wastes yield a variety
of gaseous products. One of these products is methane (CH 4). Methane is the same
compound that predominates in natural gas.
Methane can also be produced from decaying manures.

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