Opportunities of wind energy

technology
Clean Source of Energy

• Wind energy technology as a source of clean energy that has no direct gaseous emissions into the

environment. The carbon footprint of electricity generation is adversely reduced with this technology compared to other

energy sources.

• By producing electricity through wind power technology, the greenhouse gas emissions is greatly reduced

and a clean atmosphere is achieved since there is no direct gaseous emissions into the environment . Both Evance et al.(2009) and U.S. Department

• All these contribute to the emission but at a lower level compared to the

non-renewable resources which have constant emissions.

Figure 1 clearly gives a comparison of the grams of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions during

electricity generation by different plants and during manufacture.

Employment Opportunity
Arewarding opportunity brought about by wind
energy technology is the employment creation. As
the advancement of wind turbines continues, more
and more people are getting employed in this sector.
During manufacture of the wind turbine parts and
the transportation of the parts to the site create
employment to the population.
• A research done in 2004 indicated that wind energy
sector gave employment in the ratio of 70% during
manufacture of the turbine parts, 17% during
installation and 13% in operation and maintenance
in the wind energy technology sector. Hence this
technology has vast employment opportunity.
The Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) focuses
on technological development to improve the
reliability and affordability of wind energy and
addressing barriers to wind energy deployment.
WETO funds research and development activities
through competitive solicitations.
Wind power has become an important source of
energy generation around the world, with global
capacity reaching over 600GW in 2018. The
construction of new wind power varies year to year
and by region; Europe, for example, saw a 32%
reduction in wind capacity in 2018 compared with
2017.
Wind energy by country: The top
10
China – installed capacity 221GW
China is the world leader in wind energy, with over a
third of the world’s capacity.
It boasts the world’s largest onshore windfarm in
Gansu Province, which currently has a capacity of
7,965MW, five times larger than its nearest rival.
US – installed capacity 96.4GW
Germany – installed capacity 59.3GW
India – installed capacity 35GW
India has the second highest wind capacity in Asia and is the only
Asian country apart from China to make the list, with a total
capacity of 35GW.
The country has the third and fourth largest onshore wind farms in
the world, the Muppandal windfarm in Tamil Nadu, Southern India
(1,500MW) and the Jaisalmer Wind Park in Rajasthan, Northern
India (1,064MW).
The Indian government has set a target of installing 60GW of wind
energy by 2022, with 25GW to be installed in the next three years.
Spain – installed capacity 23GW
Biogas
Biogas has also been known as the swamp gas, sewer
gas, fuel gas, marsh gas, wet gas, and in India more
commonly as ‘gobar gas’. It consists of 55-60 percent
of methane, 30-40 percent of carbon dioxide and
trace amount of other gases such as hydrogen
sulphide. Th e technology of biogas production is
well developed and commercially utilized in every
parts of world.
Small scale family size biogas plants of capacity
1m3/d to 6m3/d are used for household applications
such as cooking and lighting purpose whereas large
scale biogas plants are used for electricity generation
and bio-CNG production. Animal dung, agriculture
waste, municipal solid waste and industrial organic
wastes etc. are used as a feedstock for biogas
production.
Biogas technology is carbon neutral and has positive
environmental impact thereby reduces further
environmental health deterioration. It avoids
addition of extra CO2 in the atmosphere which helps
to control global warming effect. Upgraded biogas
can be utilized as an alternate source for vehicular
fuel with replacement of conventional vehicular
fuels. Vehicular emission of greenhouse gases can be
completely stopped by promoting green bioCNG
(upgraded biogas) as a vehicular fuel.
it also provides organic fertilizer for agriculture hence
contributes to sustainable agriculture development
and environment protection. The technology solves
waste management problem, create hygienic
surrounding environment and contributes to socio
economic development.
Status of Family Size Biogas Plants in India As per the
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), the
country has installed around 49.8 lakh family size
biogas plants by the end of November 2017. In 2017-
2018,the government has envisaged to install around
1.1 lakh biogas plants in different states and Union
Territories through National Biogas and Manure
Management Programme (NBMMP). The country has
installed only0.15 lakh biogas plants through NBMMP
programme by the end of 30November 2017.
Hydro energy
Hydroelectric power is the largest source of renewable
electricity in the United States, producing about 6.3% of the
nation's total electricity throughout the last decade. Even after
a century of proven experience with this reliable renewable
resource, significant opportunities still exist to expand the
nation's hydropower resources through non-powered dams,
water conveyance systems, pumped storage hydropower, and
new site development. The Water Power Program supports
the hydropower industry and complements existing
investments through the development and deployment of new
technologies and key components, as well as by identifying key
opportunity areas through which hydropower generation can
be enhanced.
Water Power Program's work in the following areas
of hydropower technology development:
Low-Head Hydropower
Materials and Manufacturing
Hydropower Systems
Hydropower Technology Accomplishments
Pumped-Storage Hydropower
The Water Power Program sponsored a team of U.S.
national laboratories to develop and demonstrate a suite
of advanced, integrated analytical tools, known as the
Water-Use Optimization Toolset (WUOT). WUOT assists
managers and operators with operating their hydropower
plants more efficiently, resulting in more energy and grid
services from available water resources, thus enhancing
the environmental benefits from improved hydropower
operations and planning. WUOT includes tools for
hydrologic forecasting, seasonal hydro-systems analysis,
day-ahead scheduling, real-time operations, and
environmental performance operations.