Renewable Energies
Features & capabilities
Our society has enormous energy needs since for almost daily activities we need the use of the energy. We need energy to power the dryer, the iron, the microwave, the mobile phone, the laptop, to use the transport. But just stop and think about an ordinary day in your life.
It is clear that we need this energy but there are different ways to generate it: one way is the use of fossil fuels such as gas, petrol and coal that increase highly atmospheric CO2 emissions. For this reason, they also cause an increase in the temperature of the planet. In addition, the burning of fossil fuels helps to the depletion of these resources that, how we all know, are limited resources, i.e they have expiration date. Data confirm that the use of fossil fuels is the main responsible for the global GHG emissions. The more alarming is that this use tends to increase.
Another form of generating energy in an ecological way, no damaging the environment, is the use of renewable energies. By means of using them, we are avoiding CO2 emissions linked to the burning of coal in an electric power central. If we used renewable energies in a suitable way the global energetic needs would be satisfied. Renewable energies are: solar energy, wind power, hydropower, ocean energy, geothermal energy and bioenergy.
SOLAR
ENERGY
Solar power is energy from the sun that is converted into thermal or electrical energy. Solar energy is the cleanest and most abundant renewable energy source available, and the U.S. has some of the richest solar resources in the world. Solar technologies can harness this energy for a variety of uses, including generating electricity, providing light or a comfortable interior environment, and heating water for domestic, commercial, or industrial use.
GEOTHERMAL
ENERGY
Geothermal energy consists on the use of thermal energy from the Earth’s interior. This energy is stored in both rock and trapped steam or liquid water. The geothermal energy of the Earth’s crust has its root in the original formation of the planet and in radioactive decay of minerals. The geothermal gradient is the rate of increase in temperature per unit depth in the Earth. It varies from place to place; it varies from 25 to 30 °C/km The geothermal gradient drives a continuous conduction of thermal energy in form of heat from the core of the Earth and its surface.
WIND
POWER
Wind power is a way to generate electricity by means of wind turbines using the Sun which is a renewable source of energy. Only a small proportion of the solar radiation (electromagnetic energy) reaches the surface of the Earth and is converted into kinetic energy due to differences in temperature gradient. These differences in temperature gradient create wind.
HYDRO
POWER
Hydropower is a renewable energy that is generated from water moving in the hydrological cycle. Hydropower uses the energy of water moving from higher to lower elevations on its way back to the ocean, driven by the force of gravity. The primary source of energy is the sun since the water movement is produced by solar radiation.
OCEAN
ENERGY
The ocean has an enourmous amount of energy in form of kinetic or thermal energy. This energy is offered by ocean waves,tides, salinity and ocean temperature differences. The movement of the water in the oceans creates a huge store of kinetic energy which can be harnessed to generate electrical energy.The thermal gradient and salinity gradient could be also used to generate electricity.
BIO
ENERGY
Bioenergy is a renewable energy that uses biomass to produce energy.
Biomass is the biological material derived from living, or recently living organisms. It can be used in two ways: directly to produce heat or turning it into biofuels.
Solar Radiation Management
Definition & Types of SRM strategies
Solar radiation management includes techniques that seek to reflect the sunlight reducing at the same time the global warming. These techniques have a go at reducing the amount of sunlight absorbed by the surface of the Earth. If SRM suddenly stopped, the average temperature of the earth’ surface would increase. SRM is suggested to be a controller of regional and local climate but it is not possible to use on a worldwide scale.
Energy Efficiency
Features & capabilities
Energy efficiency is a way of using less energy to provide the same service. Energy efficiency is the goal of managing and restraining the growth in energy consumption. According to the EIA (International Energy Agency) “something is more energy efficient if it delivers more services for the same energy input or the same services for less energy input”
Reducing energy consumption a reduction in energy costs can be achieved. Reducing energy use is also seen as a solution to the problem of reducing CO2emissions.
According to the EIA improving energy efficiency in buildings, industrial processes and transportation could reduce the world’s energy needs in 2050 by one third, and help control global emissions of greenhouse gases.
Tansportation
Transport is one of the responsible for the burning of fuels such as petroleum. For this reason is very important that we have sustainable transport and sustainable energy production.
Industry
The industrial sector requires energy to drive reactions, to create heat, and to obtain mechanical energy (work). However, these reactions have thermodynamic limits.
Buildings
Buildings take part in the GHG emissions and in energy consumption. In 2010 buildings meant a 32% of total global final energy use and a 19% of energy‐related GHG emissions (approximately one‐third of black carbon emissions).
Carbon Capture & Storage
Definition & Types of strategies
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a technique to remove atmospheric CO2 (to avoid the release of CO2 to the atmosphere). The chemical process of CCS is energy demanding and probably in some cases CO2 can be released (such as in leakages). This process only causes a delay in the CO2 released since it cannot be stored for ever. However, this CO2 could be used in a vast range of ways. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) allow the capture of CO2 from fuel combustion or industrial processes, the transport and its storage underground, in geological reservoirs.
CCS is a GHG emission reduction technology, whose deployment is dependent on an enabling policy framework. CCS has been carried out in industrial scale and it has resulted in 1Mt CO2 stored per year. CCS contributes one-sixth of total CO2 emission reductions required in 2050.
CCS techniques carried out in a conventional power plant could reduce CO2 emissions in roughly 80-90% compared to a conventional power plant.
CCS techniques include reforestation (and afforestation) and geological storage.
Reforestation
Coolymplanet proposes reforestation and afforestation as two good solutions to combat climate change. It is important to increase carbon sequestration by means of reforestation (or afforestation) since it helps to mitigate global warming by slowing the growth of carbon emissions to the atmosphere.
Geological storage
Geological storage is introduced as a posible option for mitigating climate change. Geological storage of CO2 has been a natural process in the Earth’s upper crust during a lot of years. CO2 storage in geological formations needs to compress CO2 to a dense fluid state known as supercritical state.