Renewable Energy Sources for Environmental Sustainability

Running head: ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Environmental Sustainability
-Renewable Energy Sources
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Aim of this study is to develop understanding of renewable energy sources as a key
issue in environmental sustainability. 10 academic sources (including peer to peer reviewed
journal articles, books and newspapers) were identified that provided key insights into
renewable sources of energy that is used to prepare an annotated bibliography, followed by
the development of a short research paper incorporating the key findings.
Search for the journal articles was made on NCBI PubMed Database using the
keywords ‘Renewable Energy’ and selected journals published in the last 5 years.
Annotated Bibliography:
1. Aziz, N. I. H. A., & Hanafiah, M. M. (2017). The potential of palm oil mill
effluent (POME) as a renewable energy source. Journal of Green Energy, 1(2),
323-346. (150)
The authors study the utility of palm oil mill effluents (POME) as an alternative
source of renewable energy in this journal article. According to the authors, the effluents
from the palm oil mills as well as its byproducts causes environmental problems near the oil
mills, and thus using the extract as a source of energy provides a double benefit of renewable
energy plus the protection of the environment. According to the authors, the POME (which is
a thick brownish liquid) has high content of grease, oil and solids and have a high Chemical
Oxygen Demand (COD) and Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD value wich makes it an
effective energy source. Even though POME is not toxic in nature, discharge of untreated
POME can adversely affect the aquatic ecosystems due to the high COD and BOD. Thus ithe
study supports that POME as a renewable source of energy can help environmental
conservation and sustainable development.

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ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
2. Ekpeni, L. E., Benyounis, K. Y., Nkem-Ekpeni, F., Stokes, J., & Olabi, A. G.
(2014). Energy diversity through renewable energy source (RES)–a case study of
biomass. Energy Procedia, 61, 1740-1747.
In this study, the authors assessed the utility of biomass (such as microalgae, grass,
yeast and renewable biomass substrates) as a renewable energy source. The authors point out
that using biomass as an energy source can help to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases
through the reduced utilization of fossil fuels and can also help waste management practices
in rapidly urbanizing areas. Authors also suggested that biodiesel and bioethanol can be
combined with the traditional fossil fuels to provide a substitute fuel that can be used in the
traditional combustion engines. However, the authors also pointed out that one of the most
important consideration in the usage of biomass as alternate source of energy is the
conversion of biomass into the combustible form which might need additional energy,
depending on the type of biomass used. However still, it can be implied that biomass still
serve as a potential source of alternative energy.
3. Surendra, K. C., Takara, D., Hashimoto, A. G., & Khanal, S. K. (2014). Biogas as
a sustainable energy source for developing countries: Opportunities and
challenges. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 31, 846-859.
In this paper, the authors studied the utility of Biogas as an alternate source of energy
for developing countries. According to the authors, almost three billion people across the
developing countries still depend on biomass in the form of wood, animal dung and crop
residues as an energy source. Using this energy source of environmental, health and social
problems, however, converting the biomass to biogas can overcome this problem and provide
a cleaner source of energy for these countries. According to the authors, regular waste
products such as kitchen waste, animal manure, crop by byproducts and green waste can be

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ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
converted to biogas through anaerobic digestion in special reservoirs. The authors also
pointed out that such technology can be very expensive to install and hence it can be difficult
to develop in remote communities. In such scenarios, it can be useful when funding support is
provided by the government in the development of this technology.
4. Habibullah, M., Masjuki, H. H., Kalam, M. A., Rahman, S. A., Mofijur, M.,
Mobarak, H. M., & Ashraful, A. M. (2015). Potential of biodiesel as a renewable
energy source in Bangladesh. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 50,
819-834.
In this journal article, the authors studied the potential of biodiesel as an alternative
source of renewable energy. The authors pointed out that the different forms of biodiesel
have similar functional properties compared to the conventional diesel making them viable
replacements for the fossil fuel for ignition engines. Additionally, the use of biodiesel also as
some added advantages such as lower emission of Carbon Monoxide and Hydro Carbons,
overall reduction in the environmental pollution through the reuse of organic waste and
provide a cheap source of renewable energy. Authors also suggested that in countries where
livestock rearing is very common, the production of biodiesel is very convenient due to the
plentiful supply of organic waste from the farms. Authors also proposed that biodiesel can
also be made from mustard oil, soybean oil,. Cottonseed oil, coconut, micro algae, rubber
seed, sesame, seed, mosna oil, castor, linseed oil, neem, jatropha and karanja.
5. Sarralde, J. J., Quinn, D. J., Wiesmann, D., & Steemers, K. (2015). Solar energy
and urban morphology: Scenarios for increasing the renewable energy potential
of neighbourhoods in London. Renewable Energy, 73, 10-17.
In this paper the authors studied the potential of harvesting solar energy in the cities.
The author studied the urban morphology of the Greater London area to find if the city