Conventional sources

Come from the Earth and will eventually run out.

Coal: Formed from decayed plant materials that have been compacted into
a solid by heat and pressure over millions of years.
Petroleum: A fossil fuel extracted from deep within the Earth that is the
remains of dead plants and animals.
Natural gas: Created over millions of years when layers of decaying plant
and animal materials are exposed to extreme heat and pressure under the
Earth's surface.
Renewable sources
Come from the environment and replenish themselves.
Wind: Harnesses energy from the wind and converts it into electrical
power.
Geothermal: A renewable energy source because heat is continuously
produced inside the Earth.
Solar: A free form of energy that can be obtained from the sun and
converted to other forms using solar panels or natural processes.
Biomass: An abundantly available renewable energy source that can be
woody biomass or agricultural waste.
 Wind Energy
Wind is a byproduct of the sun's uneven heating of the Earth's
surface, the planet's rotation, and the Earth's irregular
surfaces. Different types of land and water absorb the sun's heat at
different rates, which causes wind.
Local winds are caused due to two mechanisms:
1. Differential heating and cooling of water and land mass: During
the day the land mass Having low heat capacity as compared to
water) becomes hotter than the water mass and warmer lighter
air above the water mass rises and cooler heavier air above the
water mass replaces it, this is the mechanism of shore breezing
during day time. At night the direction of breeze is reversed
because the land mass cools rapidly then mater mass.
2. Hills and mountain sides: The air above the slopes heats up
during the day and cools down during the night more rapidly
than the air above the low land.
Advantages of wind energy
 Clean source of energy
 Renewable and reliable source of energy
 Domestic source of energy
 Cost-effective source of energy
 Creates jobs
 Benefits local communities
 Technological Advancements
 Wind energy is also being integrated with smart grids
Disadvantages of wind energy
 It is intermittent source of energy
 Wind turbine design is complex
 Require storage batteries which causes to environment pollution
 Low energy density
 It can harm wildlife
Basics of wind energy
Fluid: A fluid is a substance that deforms continuously under the
application of a shear (tangential) stress no matter how small the
shear stress may be. Thus fluids comprise the liquid and gas (or
vapor) phases.
Viscosity:
A fluid element, when subjected to shear stress, experiences a rate
of deformation given by du/dy.
Lift and Drag on aerofoil:
Lift and drag are two aerodynamic forces that wind turbines
use to extract energy from the wind. When wind flows across a
wind turbine blade, the air pressure on one side of the blade
decreases, creating a difference in air pressure that generates
lift and drag.
Lift is the force that is perpendicular to the flow, while drag is
the force that's parallel to the flow. The lift force is usually
stronger than the drag force, which causes the rotor to spin.
 When the wind approaches the aerofoil the force acting on it
only drag force, no lift force.
 It is possible to create drag without lift but impossible to
create lift without drag force.
 Lift force is produced by different velocities of wind on either
side of aerofoil (aerofoil creates a pressure difference)
 A good aerofoil has high lift to drag ratio (as high as 30
times)
Power in the Wind:
Three factors determine the output from a wind energy
converter
 The wind speed
 The cross sectional area of wind swept by rotor
 The overall conversion efficiency
The wind turbine works on the principle of conversion of kinetic
energy of wind into mechanical energy/electrical energy.
Betz Limit:
Considering the ideal model shown in Fig, the cross-sectional
area swept by the turbine blade is designated as S, with the air
cross-section upwind from the rotor designated as S1, and
downwind as S2. The wind speed passing through the turbine
rotor is considered uniform as V, with its value as V1 upwind,
and as V2 downwind at a distance from the rotor. Extraction of
mechanical energy by the rotor occurs by reducing the kinetic
energy of the air stream from upwind to downwind, or simply
applying a braking action on the wind. This implies that:
The force (F) exerted by the wind on the rotor is
(3)
Optimal angular velocity of wind turbine rotor =

Optimal tip speed ratio =

n = number of rotor blades

s = length of disturbed wind stream
Available power of wind =
The Geothermal energy is enormous and last for several
millions of years. Hence it is called renewable energy. There
is the large amount of heat lying in earth's interior in the form
of Volcanoes, geysers and hot springs. This thermal energy
contained in the interior of the earth is called geothermal
energy. Magma is the molten rock within the earth is pushed
up towards the surface where the heat of the magma is being
conducted upward through an overlying rock layer. The hot
magma near the surface solidifies into igneous rock. The
heat of the magma is conducted upward to this igneous rock.
Ground water which finds its way down to this rock through
cracks is heated by the heat of the rock or by mixing with hot
gases and steam coming from magma. The heated water
convectively rise upward and into a porous and permeable
reservoir above the igneous rock.
Fig: Geothermal Resource
(OTEC)
Tidal Energy
 Single Basin Tidal Power plant
In this Power plant the power
generation is intermittent. Power
generation during high & low tide.
Single basin tidal power plant
consists of a basin separated from
the sea by a wall called dam or
dyke. The flow of water between
sea and basin and vice versa is
through sluice. The rise and fall of
tide provide the potential head.
Single basin tidal power plant uses
reversible water turbine that
means whenever the water flow
from the sea to basin or from
basin to sea the power generation The main drawback of the single
is possible with the help of this basin tidal power plant is that it
reversible water turbine. cannot generate power
continuously.
 Double Basin Tidal Power plant
Double basin power plant can provide power continuously or on
demand. It consists of two basins called upper and lower basin.
One basin is maintained always at a lower level than other. A dam
is constructed between sea and basins and turbine runs between
basins. During high or flood tide the upper sluice gate is opened
and water starts to flow from sea to the upper basin. During this
time the lower sluice gate are closed and lower basin is empty. As
soon as the level of upper basin is raised to full, the turbine starts
and water flows from upper to lower basin (water still flowing
from sea to upper basin). At the end of high tide upper basin is full
and its sluice gates are closed. Now during ebb or low tide when
water level falls below the level of lower basin, its sluice gates are
opened and water starts to flow from lower basin to sea. This
continues until the head in upper basin is sufficient to run the
turbine. With this system a longer and more continuous power
generation per day is possible.
 Biomass Energy
Biomass energy is energy derived from plants and animal waste
which are, or were recently, living material.
 Through photosynthesis, light energy from the sun is converted
to chemical energy which is stored in plants.
 Animals eat plants and store the chemical energy.
 This stored chemical energy in the biomass can be converted
into electricity, fuel and heat.
Sources: Biomass is divided into primary and secondary sources.
• Primary biomass energy sources are plant materials grown for
energy production, such as wood, crops, fruits, maize, sugar cane,
and sunflower seeds which get converted to sunflower oil.
• Secondary biomass energy sources are ‘waste’ materials which
can be used for energy production. These include – Plant residues:
agricultural and forestry residues, Fish and animal waste: manure,
fish heads and abattoir waste, Waste yeast from the beer-brewing
industry, Paper mill sludge, Sewage
Biomass Conversion Technologies and Products
Advantages of biomass energy are:
 Biomass is always and widely available as a renewable source of
energy.
 It is carbon neutral.
 It reduces the overreliance of fossil fuels.
 Is less expensive than fossil fuels.
 Biomass production adds a revenue source for manufacturers.
 Less garbage in landfills.

Disadvantages:
 Biomass energy is not as efficient as fossil fuels
 It is not entirely clean
 Can lead to deforestation.
 Biomass plants require a lot of space.