Energy crisis is one of the greatest problem on the earth now a days!! and that too getting a clean
energy is just a talk.
Putting aside the environmental consideration a moment, the nuclear energy might look economical, but in reality, if the cost of installation and proper disposal of the waste are considered, it is huge and a great compromise to the biological ecosystem.
Luckily there are so many options for a clean/green energy that is economical and viable. Here is a list of some of the core clean energy sources.
There are two components in solar power
Putting aside the environmental consideration a moment, the nuclear energy might look economical, but in reality, if the cost of installation and proper disposal of the waste are considered, it is huge and a great compromise to the biological ecosystem.
Luckily there are so many options for a clean/green energy that is economical and viable. Here is a list of some of the core clean energy sources.
- solar
- wind
- hydel
- biomass
There are two components in solar power
- light
- heat
When it comes to solar energy, most of us immediately think of solar panels.
Solar panel are photo voltaic cells that convert the light energy into electrical energy. Photo-synthesis in plants is another example in the nature, that converts light into chemical energy, which can become the source for biomass energy later.
The heat energy from sun is one of the potential source that is still not fully harnessed yet. It is mostly seen only on domestic water heating systems. Solar thermal power stations are being setup to extract this energy using several methods.
Solar thermal power stations typically use parabolic reflectors or Fresnel lens to heat water or fluids and which in-turn used to drive the mechanical engine to produce electric energy.
For more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_solar_thermal_power_stations
One of the excellent method devised to extract solar thermal energy is molten-salt method. This method also addresses one of biggest problem of storing energy. Which means it also act like a heat battery and energy can be generated later during the night times.
Next in the list is solar chimney or solar updraft tower.
The structure of this plant is like an inverted funnel. The base of this acts as a greenhouse like heat collector. The principle of this technique is, the air inside base of the funnel gets heated and tries to escape through its narrow tube. Wind turbines are set up at these places and hot air drives them producing energy.
For more info:
http://www.eere.energy.gov/basics/renewable_energy/thermal_storage.html
Another important source of energy which is not fully harnessed is wind. There are numerous methods to harness wind power. Various types of wind turbines are available. Most common are the horizontal axis wind turbine and they are mostly larger turbines used by commercial organisation. There are also small turbines which can be used for domestic purpose.
There are some vertical axis wind turbines available, which has several advantaged over HAWT. But the currently available designs are not efficient, there lot of room for its design and efficiency improvements.
There are also a few uncommon wind power systems to explore,
The principle of harvesting energy from bio-waste is converting biomass dumps and septic systems into bio-gas digesters where biological organisms disintegrate them in unaerobic conditions into combustible gases like methane.
This bio-gas can be used for various purposes including power generation. People might not like using this biogas for cooking purpose but can be directly used for industrial and non-cooking purpose saving significant energy.
In some of the cases, it is more efficient to convert these green energy directly into end requirement rather than converting it into common form of energy, ie., electrical energy. There are always a conversion loss and avoid this means saving energy.
One such common example is solar water heater and another one which I always wondered but never seen in India is a hydraulic ramp pump. The principle of this pumps are some what similar to hydro-electric power plant, the potential energy of over head water is directly used to pump part of it to a greater height. For example 10% of the water flowing through a pipe can be pumped to a height of 10 times the pipe's overhead height.
This has lot of application, especially on remote hilly villages where there are no proper power infrastructure. Water may be pumped from small streams/falls without electric or diesel pumps to higher altitude water supply systems for a village.
The heat energy from sun is one of the potential source that is still not fully harnessed yet. It is mostly seen only on domestic water heating systems. Solar thermal power stations are being setup to extract this energy using several methods.
Solar thermal power stations typically use parabolic reflectors or Fresnel lens to heat water or fluids and which in-turn used to drive the mechanical engine to produce electric energy.
For more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_solar_thermal_power_stations
One of the excellent method devised to extract solar thermal energy is molten-salt method. This method also addresses one of biggest problem of storing energy. Which means it also act like a heat battery and energy can be generated later during the night times.
Next in the list is solar chimney or solar updraft tower.
The structure of this plant is like an inverted funnel. The base of this acts as a greenhouse like heat collector. The principle of this technique is, the air inside base of the funnel gets heated and tries to escape through its narrow tube. Wind turbines are set up at these places and hot air drives them producing energy.
For more info:
http://www.eere.energy.gov/basics/renewable_energy/thermal_storage.html
Another important source of energy which is not fully harnessed is wind. There are numerous methods to harness wind power. Various types of wind turbines are available. Most common are the horizontal axis wind turbine and they are mostly larger turbines used by commercial organisation. There are also small turbines which can be used for domestic purpose.
There are some vertical axis wind turbines available, which has several advantaged over HAWT. But the currently available designs are not efficient, there lot of room for its design and efficiency improvements.
There are also a few uncommon wind power systems to explore,
- Humdinger Windbelt
- EWICON (Electrostatic Wind Energy Converter)
- Saphon Zero-Blade Technology
EWICON (Electrostatic Wind Energy Converter)
EWICON (Electrostatic Wind Energy Converter)
EWICON (Electrostatic Wind Energy Converter)
Next on the list is, energy from biomass or bio-waste. One of the problem in metropolitan and small towns in India and some of the developing countries are improper waste water management systems, drainage systems and septic systems. If these systems are properly organised and managed it can give lot of benefits than causing various health hazards. Some of the obvious benefits are,- clean environment
- zap mosquitoes, malaria, dengue etc and free from such health hazards
- water saving
- manure production
- energy harvesting
The principle of harvesting energy from bio-waste is converting biomass dumps and septic systems into bio-gas digesters where biological organisms disintegrate them in unaerobic conditions into combustible gases like methane.
This bio-gas can be used for various purposes including power generation. People might not like using this biogas for cooking purpose but can be directly used for industrial and non-cooking purpose saving significant energy.
In some of the cases, it is more efficient to convert these green energy directly into end requirement rather than converting it into common form of energy, ie., electrical energy. There are always a conversion loss and avoid this means saving energy.
One such common example is solar water heater and another one which I always wondered but never seen in India is a hydraulic ramp pump. The principle of this pumps are some what similar to hydro-electric power plant, the potential energy of over head water is directly used to pump part of it to a greater height. For example 10% of the water flowing through a pipe can be pumped to a height of 10 times the pipe's overhead height.
This has lot of application, especially on remote hilly villages where there are no proper power infrastructure. Water may be pumped from small streams/falls without electric or diesel pumps to higher altitude water supply systems for a village.
