‫بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم‬

Sustainable Development and

Disaster Management (CE-419)
LECTURER: ENGR WAQAS AHMAD
LECTURE NO: 5-6 (Sustainable Energy)
 Origin of Fossil Fuel
A fossil fuel is a fuel formed by natural processes, such as anaerobic
decomposition of buried dead organisms, containing energy originating
in ancient photosynthesis The age of the organisms and their resulting
fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650
million years. Although fossil fuels are continually being formed via
natural processes, they are generally considered to be non-renewable
resources because they take millions of years to form and the known
viable reserves are being depleted much faster than new ones are being
made.
Origin of Fossil Fuel
Over geological time this organic matter, mixed with mud, became
buried under further heavy layers of inorganic sediment. The resulting
high levels of heat and pressure caused the organic matter to
chemically alter, first into a waxy material known as kerogen (complex
fossilized organic material) which is found in oil shales (sedimentary
rock from which oil can be extracted), and then with more heat into
liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons in a process known as catagenesis.
Despite these heat driven transformations (which may increase the
energy density compared to typical organic matter), the embedded
energy is still photosynthetic in origin.
What are the Options for Generating Electricity?
Electricity is vital to modern life. It powers our lights and appliances at
home. It powers many industry processes. It is used to power trains and
to charge electric vehicles.
Every form of electricity generation has its strengths and weakness and
future electricity generation will need a range of options, although they
must be low carbon if greenhouse gas emissions are to be reduced.
Nuclear generation provides reliable supplies of electricity, with very
low carbon emissions and relatively small amounts of waste that can be
safely stored and eventually disposed off.
Fossil Fuel Power Plants
• Fossil fuel power plants burn carbon fuels such coal, oil or gas to
generate steam that drives large turbines that produce electricity. These
plants can generate electricity reliably over long periods of time.
However, by burning carbon fuels they produce large amounts carbon
dioxide, which causes climate change. They can also produce other
pollutants, such as sulphurous oxides, which cause acid rain.
• Fossil fuel plants require huge quantities of coal, oil or gas. These
fuels may need to be transported over long distances. The price of
fuels can rise sharply at times of shortage, leading to unstable
generation costs.
Large hydro & Nuclear power plants
Hydro dams can generate large amounts of electricity. However, dry
periods can drain the reservoirs. The flooding of reservoirs behind dams
and slowing of the flow of the river below the dam can have a serious
impact on the ecology around the dam. The number of sites suitable for
new dams is limited.

Nuclear power plants use the heat produced by nuclear fission to

generate steam that drives turbines, like in fossil fuel plants. However,
no greenhouse gases are produced in this fission process, and only small
amounts are produced across the whole fuel cycle.
Nuclear Power Plants
• Nuclear fuel can be used in a reactor for several years. The used fuel
that remains after this time must be stored and then either recycled to
make new fuel or carefully disposed of. However, because the amount
of fuel used to generate electricity is so much less than that used in
fossil fuel plants it is much more practical to do this with used nuclear
fuel than with the wastes and emissions from fossil fuels.
• Nuclear power plants can run for many months without interruption,
providing reliable and predictable supplies of electricity. Nuclear
generation is one of the safest and least environmentally damaging
forms of electricity generation.
 Renewables
• Renewables such as wind, solar and small scale hydro
produce electricity with no greenhouse gas emissions at the
point of generation and very low amounts of greenhouse
gas emissions across their entire lifecycle.
• Many renewables do not produce electricity predictably or
consistently. Electricity generation from wind turbines
varies with the wind speed, and if that wind is too weak or
too strong no electricity is produced at all. The output of
solar panels is reliant on the strength of the sunshine, which
depends on the time of day and the amount of cloud cover.
This means that renewables have to be backed up by other
forms of electricity generation, often fossil fuel generation
with their resultant greenhouse gas emissions.
Sustainable Energy

• Sustainable energy is a form of energy that meet our today’s demand

of energy without putting them in danger of getting expired or
depleted and can be used over and over again. Sustainable energy
should be widely encouraged as it do not cause any harm to the
environment and is available widely free of cost. All renewable
energy sources like solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower and ocean
energy are sustainable as they are stable and available in plenty.
Sustainable Energy
Sun will continue to provide sunlight till we all are here on earth, heat
caused by sun will continue to produce winds, earth will continue to
produce heat from inside and will not cool down anytime soon,
movement of earth, sun and moon will not stop and this will keep on
producing tides and the process of evaporation will cause water to
evaporate that will fall down in the form of rain or ice which will go
through rivers or streams and merge in the oceans and can be used to
produce energy through hydropower. This clearly states that all these
renewable energy sources are sustainable and will continue to provide
energy to the coming generations
Why Sustainable Energy
• There are many forms of sustainable energy sources that can
be incorporated by countries to stop the use of fossil fuels.
Sustainable energy does not include any sources that are
derived from fossil fuels or waste products. This energy is
replenishable and helps us to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and causes no damage to the environment. If we
are going to use fossil fuels at a steady rate, they will expire
soon and cause adverse affect to our planet .
Need for Sustainable Energy
• During ancient times, wood, timber and waste products were the only
major energy sources. In short, biomass was the only way to get
energy. When more technology was developed, fossil fuels like coal,
oil and natural gas were discovered. Fossil fuels proved boom to the
mankind as they were widely available and could be harnessed easily.
When these fossil fuels were started using extensively by all the
countries across the globe, they led to degradation of environment.
Coal and oil are two of the major sources that produce large amount of
carbon dioxide in the air. This led to increase in global warming.
Need for Sustainable Energy
• Also, few countries have hold on these valuable products which led to
the rise in prices of these fuels. Now, with rising prices, increasing air
pollution and risk of getting expired soon forced scientists to look out
for some alternative or renewable energy sources. The need of the
hour was to look for resources that are available widely, cause no
pollution and are replenishable. Sustainable Energy, at that time came
into the picture as it could meet our today’s increasing demand of
energy and also provide us with an option to make use of them in
future also.
Types of Sustainable Energy
Sustainable energy are not just a part of renewable energy sources, they are
also the sources of energy that can best be used to power homes and
industries without any harmful effects being experienced. This is the sole
reason why many people advice the use of these forms of energy in everyday
life. It is because its effects to the environment are purely beneficial,
following are the types of sustainable energy.
• Solar Energy
• Wind Energy
• Geothermal Energy
• Ocean Energy
• Biomass Energy
• Hydroelectric Power
Solar Energy

Solar energy is the best form of sustainable energy. This energy

manifests itself in two forms. There is the light and the heat. Both of
these forms are equally important to us in our day to day living and
other forms of life. For instance, the plants need the light to grow and
generate food while man needs the heat energy to maintain body
temperature and power their homes and industries. This means that it is
the greatest form of sustainable energy. It can be used two folds with
greater results as needed. This only serves to generate confidence and
ensure that we live the way we intended without causing further harm to
the environment.
Wind Energy

Wind is a sustainable energy source. It is available naturally and can be

tapped to produce vast amounts of power that can be used in many ways and
places. For instance, sailors tap this energy to help the ship propel through its
various directions to distant shores for trading. Nowadays, this energy sources
is being commercialized. There are many companies that have invested
heavily on power grids and windmills to tap into this energy source. The
energy generated can be sold to other people to power their homes and
industries. In the near future, sustainable energy like wind power will be a big
industry and the fossil fuels exploration will have halted and no longer being
used.
Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy allows us fetch the energy from beneath the earth. This
occurs by installing geothermal power stations that can use heat coming out
from inside the earth and use it to generate electricity. The temperature below
the earth around 10,000 meters is so high that it can used to boil water.
Geothermal energy cannot be harnessed everywhere as high temperature is
needed to produce steam that could move turbines. It can be harnessed in
those areas that have high seismic activity and are prone to volcanoes. They
are environment friendly and can produce energy throughout the day but their
ability to produce energy at suitable regions restricts us from using it on a
much wider scale.
Ocean Energy

There is massive size of oceans in this world. About 70% of the earth is
covered with water. The potential that ocean energy has to generate
power is much higher than any other source of energy. This sustainable
energy allows us to harness it in 3 ways i.e. wave, tidal or ocean thermal
energy conversion (OTEC). Tides have immense power which when
effectively tapped can generate a lot of energy and can be used to power
millions of homes. Waves produced at the oceans can be used by ocean
thermal plants to convert the kinetic energy in waves to mechanical
energy of turbines which can again converted to electrical energy through
generators. Setting up of big plants at ocean may cause ecological
imbalance and disturb aquatic life.
Biomass Energy

Biomass energy is produced by burning of wood, timber,

landfills and municipal and agricultural waste. It is
completely renewable and does not produce harmful gases
like carbon dioxide which is primarily responsible for
increase in global warming. Although, carbon dioxide is
produced by burning these products but that is equally
compensated when plants take this carbon dioxide and
produce oxygen. It also helps to reduce landfills but are not
as effective as fossil fuels.
Biomass comes from a variety of sources which include:

 Wood from natural forests and woodlands

 Forestry plantations
 Forestry residues
 Agricultural residues such as straw, cane trash and green agricultural wastes
 Agro-industrial wastes, such as sugarcane bagasse and rice husk
 Animal wastes (cow manure, poultry litter etc)
 Industrial wastes, such as black liquor from paper manufacturing Sewage
 Municipal solid wastes (MSW)
 Food processing wastes
Hydroelectric Power

On the other hand, there are the rivers or waterfalls whose energy of the
moving water is captured that can turn turbines to generate power. This
is commonly known as hydroelectric power. It is very common
nowadays and it is powering most parts of the world and one of the
biggest form of alternative energy currently being used. There are many
companies and countries that are exporting this energy to other countries
who unable to harness it on their own due to lack of the necessary
resources or conditions. The energy is commonly transported in form of
power lines to various parts of the country and even outside the country.
Alternative Sources of Oil
US Energy Sources and Uses
Unequal Geographical Distribution of Energy
Peaking
Production and Usage
EROEI
EROEI of Oil Sources
EROEI of Oil Sources
EROEI of Bio-Fuels
CO2 Emissions
 Not In My Back Yard - NIMBY

• Risk associated with Nuclear Accidents

• Nuclear Waste
Chernobyl (Ukraine) Nuclear Disaster
Fukushima Dalichi Nuclear Disaster
Challenges in Renewable Energy Sources

• Reliance on natural processes - Unreliable

– Wind doesn’t always blow
– Sun doesn’t always shine
– Availability across the globe is different
– High tech knowledge requirements
• Storage and Transmission
• Land Intensive