RENEWABLE ENERGY

SOURCES
Energy sources which are
continuously being replenished
by nature
Grade 4
 ATOM

PROTON ELECTRONS

N N
E

NEUTRON
 ELECTRICITY

An electric current is
created when electrons
flow through a wire.
Electric current can power
things like our computers
and TV sets.

ELECTRICITY
 ELECTRICITY HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN……….

G T
…fueled by
generated, transformed, and
coal, oil or to your house
distributed
natural gas,
Brainstorm sources of
electricity.

Which are renewable and

which are non-renewable?
 NATURAL AND RENEWABLE
SOLAR
SOURCES OF ENERGY
…THEY NEE
p Americ
a D OUR HELP
Geothermal Kee Recy ! tural
Clean! cle U s e Na s
ce
Resour

Wind

G T
Generator Transformer Distribution
Lines Your Home

Biomass

Hydroelectric
Biogas
Solar Energy is light
and heat energy that SOLAR
comes from the sun.
ENERGY
SOLUTIONS
 SOLAR CELL

POWER LINES

TRANSFORMER

INVERTER PHOTO + VOLT = PHOTOVOLTAIC

[LIGHT] [UNIT [ELECTRICITY
OF PRODUCED
ELECTRICITY] FROM LIGHT]

Photovoltaics: The direct conversion

http://www.aps.com/ of sunlight to electricity
 PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER PLANTS

Glendale Airport:

Prescott Airport:

Scottsdale Covered Parking:

SOLAR THERMAL POWER PLANTS

10,000,000 Watts
Solar II Experimental
Power Plant, California

25,000 Watts
Dish/Stirling
Engine System,
Arizona

1,000,000 Watts Parabolic

Trough Power Plant,
Arizona
 HOW DOES GEOTHERMAL HEAT GET UP TO EARTH'S
SURFACE?
Heat comes from hot liquid Magma is Hot liquid
magma. rock

Magma or very hot rock

 Geysers at Yellowstone
National Park Old Faithful
An example of how the
heat rises from the earth

Steamboat Geyser

http://en.wikipedia.org

www.nps.gov
 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY IN ARIZONA

IDENTIFY THE
LOCATIONS
WHERE
GEOTHERMAL
COULD BE.

Picture from www.EnergyAtlas.org

 HOW DO YOU CONVERT WIND INTO ELECTRICITY?

The wind hits the rotor, the

rotor spins the generators
making electrical energy from
mechanical energy

Gearbox Generator
Rotor
Diameter
G
Nacelle The transformer changes
the voltage to match the
Transformer voltage on the power lines
before it is sent to your
house

T
Tower
 WIND FARMS

WHERE HAVE
YOU SEEN
THESE TYPES
OF WINDMILLS?
BIOMASS ENERGY FROM ARIZONA FORESTS
2. Underburns known
1. Left alone, forests as ground fires help
become thick with trees and clear the forest floors
forest litter. so that grass grows
and large trees
survive.
3. Underburns
also prevent
more damaging
THE fires that spread
BEGINNING across the top
of the trees.

5. Sometimes fire
makes seeds grow,
but sometimes the
4. The top of tree fires spread quickly
forest has to be
and are much more difficult to fight.
replanted to speed
They leave burnt land that can take
the return of trees.
years to replenish.

What other damage can happen from forest fires?

Wild fires and
bark beetles
create biomass
that can be used
to generate
electricity.
 THE BEGINNINGS OF BIOMASS

Biomass was the first

fuel mankind used for
energy.

L EANER
C
THAN
COAL MO
NAT RE
AVAILABLE FRI URE
END
BEFORE THA LY Burning wood was
NAT N
OIL UR used for warmth
GA AL and cooking, as
S
well as keeping
wild animals away
 THE BALANCE OF BIOMASS
GR
EE
NH
a ss, Biomass generates far less MO
RE
GA OUS
S E
B io m s emissions than fossil fuels
Use et les use

EL
FU
g ho

IL
en

SS
SS
Gre Gas

MA
FO

O
BI
LE
SS

CO2

CO
CO 2

2
CO 2
CO 2

CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) is released by burning biomass and is

used by other plants to make food.
 BALANCE OF BIOMASS

Plants take in CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) and

make oxygen.

When biomass is burned, it uses oxygen to

make CO2

This is the balance of biomass

 BIOMASS ENERGY COMES FROM
plant, human or animal derived organic matter
that is eaten, burnt, or converted into fuel.

Wood from trees, agriculture,

wood factory waste, and the
construction industry

Burnt wood from forest fires

Animals and
animal droppings
 BIOGAS

Organic
Waste
Material
+ Decomposition = Biogas

Vegetation Breaking down, Methane

Manure or changing, rich
Sewage from a solid flammable
Landfill Garbage into a liquid gas
or a gas
 NATURE CREATES BIOGAS

Nature creates biogas

from rotting plants METHANE
around ponds and
wetlands

Rotting
Vegetation

As this methane gas is released into the atmosphere it creates an invisible

ceiling which traps the heat from the sun.
 MAN-MADE BIOGAS (LANDFILLS)

Escaping methane can

destroy nearby vegetation.

To prevent methane from

escaping into the atmosphere,
it is collected and burned in a
flare stack

What else will we lose

as a result of losing
plants and trees?
 MAN-MADE BIOGAS (SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT)
Sewage treatment plants clean
sewage water
producing large amounts of
methane

Sewage Digester

Close-up of Flares
Sewage Water

that can be flared or turned into electricity

 HYDROELECTRIC POWER
Hydro means water in Latin. It is the most often used source
of renewable energy to make electricity.
 WATER
Water is constantly moving through a cycle: Water vapor rises into the
atmosphere through evaporation from lakes and oceans and transpiration
from plants and trees. It condenses to form clouds. Then rain or snow falls
back to the earth to the oceans and lakes.

Condensation
Transpiration

Evaporation
Rain
Lake

Transpiration is the evaporation of water into the atmosphere from the

leaves and stems of plants
 HOW HYDROPOWER WORKS

The energy of water moving downstream from the rain and snow to
a reservoir or lake goes to a large dam which has engines and
turbines that make electricity.

Another source of hydroelectricity is

tidal electricity which uses the tides
from the ocean to make electricity.
 Pros and Cons of Renewable Energy

PRO CON

Solar – Continuous – Need storage,

– Abundant – Peaks at solar noon,
– Portable – Most expensive of renewable energy
– Modular sources

Wind – Cheapest of the – Not always near transmission

renewable energies lines
today – intermittent power

Geothermal – Can provide heat and – Not always near transmission lines
cooling – Not portable
– Continuous
 Pros and Cons of Renewable Energy

PRO CON

– Can be transported to – Distance to the fuel

Biomass a generator for a – Not always accessible
continuous source of
energy

– Always accessible, – Sources are limited in size

Biogas can provide energy 24
hours per day

Hydropower –Inexpensive –Dam construction is expensive

–No Pollution –Damming rivers causes changes in
–Lakes and reservoirs ecological cycles and surrounding
can be used for landscapes
recreation –There are a limited number of
feasible sites for large dams
 The final YOUR
solar
destination
HOME
Wind

Hydroelectric
Power
Hot
r i ng s
Sp

Geothermal