Introduction to Renewable

Energy and Resources

Renewable Energy Sources and
Management

“This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only
of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein”
 Introduction to renewable energy

• Energy: The ability to do work (heat, light,

mechanical, electrical, chemical, nuclear, ...)
• We have used wood, coal, and then oil as our
sources of energy
• We are running out of oil, and need to find other
sources of energy
• But the solution must be different: it should be
sustainable => renewable energy
 Introduction to renewable energy

• Renewable energy: Energy source that can be

easily replenished

 Solar
 Wind and wave
 Biomass and biogas
 Hydropower
 Geothermal
 Tidal
 Introduction to renewable energy

• The sun: diameter of 1.4 million km, and a mass of

1.99x1030 kg

Solar energy and annual consumption

Solar energy 3850000 EJ
Wind energy 2250 EJ
Biomass potential 100 – 300 EJ
Total energy consumption (2010) 539 EJ
Electricity consumption (2010) 66.5 EJ
Introduction to renewable energy
 Energy and sustainable development

• Historically, economic development has

been strongly correlated with increasing
energy use and growth of green house
gas (GHG) emissions
• Renewable energy (RE) can help support
increasing energy demand but reduce
GHG emissions, leading to sustainable
development (SD)
 Energy and sustainable development

• RE can accelerate access to energy,

particularly for the 1.4 billion people
without access to electricity and the
additional 1.3 billion people using
traditional biomass
• RE deployment can reduce vulnerability to
supply disruptions and market volatility
• Low risk of severe accidents
• Environmental and health benefits
 Energy and sustainable development

• Barriers:
– Scocial-cultural
– Information and awareness
– Market and economic
• Opportunities:
– Integrating SD and RE strategies
– International and national SD strategies
– Internationalization of economic and social
externalitlies
RE in Vietnam and over the world

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency,

2013 Vietnam Country Nuclear Power Profile
RE in Vietnam and over the world
RE in Vietnam and over the world
RE in Vietnam and over the world
 RE in Vietnam and over the world

Source: National Renewable

Energy Lab (NREL), Energy
Analysis Office
RE in Vietnam and over the world
RE in Vietnam and over the world
RE in Vietnam and over the world
RE in Vietnam and over the world
RE in Vietnam and over the world

Source: www.bp.com
 Physical and chemical basic
principles of RE

• Photosynthesis
6C 2O+ 6 H 2O s → C6 H1 O
u n lig h t
2 6 + 6O2

• Photovoltaic
 Physical and chemical basic
principles of RE

• Wind
– Available power
1
P1 = ρAV 3

2
– Maximum extractable power
8
Pmax = ρAV 3
27
 Social implications

• Advantages:
– Free energy (sunlight, wind, heat, ...)
– No moving parts (photosynthesis and
photovoltaic)
– Scalable (photovoltaic)
– Minimal maintenance (photosynthesis and
photovoltaic)
– No noise, harmful emissions or polluting
gases (photosynthesis and photovoltaic)
 Social implications

• Disadvantages:
– Visual impact from wind farms
– Noise impact from wind farms
– Electromagnetic impact from wind farms
– High land use (photovoltaic, wind, ...)
– Volatile nature of sunlight, and wind