Viability and Sustainability of Renewable Energy

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VIABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY OF RENEWABLE ENERGY
ABSTRACT
Energy sustainability entails that the utilization of resources at the equivalent rate at which they
are naturally restocked on earth albeit externalities. Currently, the effectiveness of energy
consumption depicts a worrying trend especially in regions that have not yet embraced the
renewable energy sources at individual home levels. Some of the areas where there is highly
poor end-use efficiency, the transport emissions or efficiency challenges and end-use emissions
are encountered. Over the recent years, different countries have come up with policies to enable
proper and cost-effective implementation of renewable energy power plants to support the
national grid. The implementation of the policies is in line with the millennium development
goals. Some energy sources can be depleted but the non-conventional cradles of energy are solar,
wind, biomass, ocean, geothermal, and nuclear energy sources which cannot be depleted. As a
result of the effects of the greenhouse effect and global warming, designers and researchers have
discovered a number of renewable energy sources that can be used without harming the
environment. When the use of renewable energy was first proposed, the installation of the
equipment and solar systems was quite expensive but over the decades, the prices have gone
down. It is considered an investment with the shortest payback period compared to the national
grid systems based on fossil fuels. The focus of the sustainability policy by the UN is to ensure
that the energy harvested does not harm the environment.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................................5
1.1. BASIC OVERVIEW.......................................................................................................................5
1.2. PROBLEM STATEMENT..............................................................................................................8
1.3. AIMS & OBJECTIVES...................................................................................................................8
2. LITERATURE REVIEW....................................................................................................................9
2.1. RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES.............................................................................................9
2.2. VIABILITY ANALYSIS..............................................................................................................18
2.3. SUSTAINABILITY......................................................................................................................22
3. DISCUSSION...................................................................................................................................24
4. CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................................29
5. RECOMMENDATIONS (FUTURE WORK)...................................................................................30
6. REFERENCES..................................................................................................................................31
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Oil consumption on a global scale per Annum [Source: Keyhani].................................................5
Figure 2 Renewable Energy Sources on a World-wide survey [source: Oxford University Press, 2004]....5
Figure 3 World Energy Resources Trends year 2000 vs year 2020 [source: EIA,US,DOE, 2007]..............6
Figure 4 biogas plant: fixed dome type [source: V.K, Pathak]....................................................................10
Figure 5 Wind mill and wind energy farm [source: http://3scape.net]........................................................11
Figure 6 An Array of Solar Panel [source: Solare, Inc.]..............................................................................12
Figure 7 Geothermal Power Plant [Source: Renewable Energy-V.K.Pathak].............................................14
Figure 8 Market Penetration of renewable energy sources [source:
http://cleantechnica.com/2014/10/29/solar-grid-parity-us-states-2016-says-deutsche-bank/]....................20
Figure 9 Levelized cost of electricity [Source: Greentech Media, 2014]....................................................21
Figure 10 Achieved and additional realizable mid-term potential for RES-electricity by country
(OECD+BRICS) - in absolute terms (Twh) [source: IEA & EEG, 2008]...................................................26
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1. INTRODUCTION
1.1.BASIC OVERVIEW
The world uses fossil fuels to run most of its industrial activities as well as residential and
commercial activities. Automobiles run on petroleum which is a product of crude oil that is
obtained from the fossil fuels mined from earth reserves. The fossil fuels are stored up as the
dead matter of organisms and plants over a geological time [2]. It is quite important to note
that it takes centuries to store up enough fossils to get a mine reserve with oil. Another
component that is obtained from nature is coal. Coal is obtained by burning wood. It was
used as the source of fuel in the ancient industrial age when the commercial activities shifted
from the agrarian revolution to the industrial age. It occurred from the 19th century to the 20th
century. After the use of coal was proven inefficient due to the need for larger production and
faster speeds in automobiles such as the trains, oil was introduced [3]. Researchers have
estimated that the petroleum or oil reserves in the world may be depleted by the year 2100.
Figure 1 Oil consumption on a global scale per Annum [Source: Keyhani]
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The current energy use comprises of the oil, natural gas, the traditional biomass, the nuclear
energy, the hydro-electric energy, and the renewable energy. According to a research done by
Boyle [4], the world-wide total energy sources are estimated as,
Figure 2 Renewable Energy Sources on a World-wide survey [source: Oxford University Press, 2004]
Figure 3 World Energy Resources Trends year 2000 vs year 2020 [source: EIA,US,DOE, 2007]
Energy sustainability requires that the use of resources at the same rate at which they are
naturally replenished on earth without externalities. Currently, the effectiveness of energy
consumption depicts a worrying trend especially in regions that have not yet embraced
the renewable energy sources at individual home levels [5]. Some of the areas where
there is highly poor end-use efficiency, the transport emissions or efficiency challenges
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and end-use emissions are encountered. Over the recent years, different countries have
come up with policies to enable proper and cost-effective implementation of renewable
energy power plants to support the national grid. The implementation of the policies is in
line with the millennium development goals [6]. The global installation and production
growth of the solar, wind, and biofuels has seen considerable growth in areas such as,
Global Clean Energy Projected Growth 2007-2017
$0.00
$50.00
$100.00
$150.00
$200.00
$250.00
$300.00
Biofuels Wind Power Solar Power Fuel Cells Total
2007
2017
The concept of green energy or the use of renewable energy sources seeks to ensure the
generation of power to support human activities based on environmentally friendly
energy sources. Some of these energy sources are hydrogen based resources, fuel
resources, renewable energy sources, photovoltaic cells, wind power, storage devices,
ultra capacitors, batteries, and the flywheels [7].
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This paper seeks to determine the depleted state of the non-renewable resources,
the new and implemented renewable resources, and the hybrid cohort of electricity
incorporating the renewable energy to the national grid. The paper seeks to further
discuss the feasibility or viability and sustainability of the implementation of the
discovered renewable systems in the power generation systems [8].
1.2.PROBLEM STATEMENT
The discussion around the implementation of renewable energy sources seeks to solve a
global warming engineering problem. The future of petroleum industry that is based on
fossil fuel mining is slowing coming to an end. Oil demand may shortly exceed the
production capacity of even the largest supplier. The world economy is moving towards
an uneasy transition. There will be a huge need for renewable resources when the peak oil
usage period occurs. At this point the world renewable and green resources of energy
may be required to sustain the economy alongside other non-renewable resources as
supplements. Global warming is more of an engineering and energy conservation
problem as it is a moral obligation. If the human race will survive for more years, there
must be less dependence on oil and more dependence on renewable sources of energy.
1.3.AIMS & OBJECTIVES
 To determine the renewable energy sources and their applications to residential,
commercial, and industrial applications.
 To determine the optimum mixtures of renewable-energy sources to improve efficiency
as well as maximum the energy stored.
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