Do We Have Enough Sustainable Energy Sources??

Reports claims, within three decades global energy demand will increase by 56%. 

Due to over-consumption, soon there will be oil shortage. how do we cope with the ever growing global energy demands.

Sticking to the sustainable energy strategy and making active contributions to the sustainable energy developments can make big difference in the global energy demands. 

Sustainable energy is the sustainable provision of energy that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Technologies that promote sustainable energy include renewable energy sources,such as hydroelectricity, solar energy,wind energy, wave power, geothermal energy and also technologies designed to improve energy efficiency.

HYDROPOWER

1. Hydropower or water power is power derived from the energy of falling water and running water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes mainly for electricity.
2. Hydropower has been used for irrigation and the operation of various mechanical devices,such as watermills,sawmills,textile mills,domestic lifts,power houses and paint making.
3. Hydro power is a renewable energy source.
4. Hydropower types: 

Conventional hydroelectric, referring to hydroelectric dams.

Run-of-the-river hydroelectricity,which captures the kinetic energy in rivers or streams, without the use of dams.

Small hydro projects are 10 megawatts or less and often have no artificial reservoirs.

Micro hydro projects provide a few kilowatts to a few hundred kilowatts to isolated homes,villages, or small industries.

Pumped-storage hydroelectricity stores water pumped during periods of low demand to be released for generation when demand is high.

WIND POWER

Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy,such as using wind turbines to make electrical power,windmills for mechanical power,wind pumps for water pumping or drainage,or sails to propel ships.

1. Wind power is a renewable energy source.
2. Types of wind power: 

Wind turbine– a turbine that converts wind energy into mechanical energy.

Windmill– a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades.

Windpump– a windmill used for pumping water, either as a source of fresh water from wells, or for draining low-lying areas of land.

Sail– any type of surface intended to move a vessel, vehicle or rotor by being placed in a wind – in essence a propulsion wing.

MARINE ENERGY

1. Marine Energy or Ocean energy refers to the energy carried by ocean waves,tides,salinity, and ocean temperature differences.
2. The movement of water in the world’s oceans creates a vast store of kinetic energy,or energy in motion.This energy can be harnessed to generate electricity to power homes, transport and industries.
3. Marinepower can be renewable or non-renewable energy source.
4. 4.Forms of ocean energy:

RENEWABLE:

Marine current power- The energy obtained from ocean currents.

Osmotic power-The energy from salinity gradients.

Ocean thermal energy The power from temperature differences at varying depths.

Tidal power -The energy from moving masses of water — a popular form of hydroelectric power generation.Tidal power generation comprises three main forms, namely:tidal stream power,tidal barrage power, and dynamic tidal power.

Wave power-The power from surface waves.

NON-RENEWABLE:

Petroleum and natural gas beneath the ocean floor are also sometimes considered a form of ocean energy.

SOLAR POWER

1. Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics(PV),or indirectly using concentrated solar power(CSP).Its Renewable source of energy.
2. Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam.Photovoltaics convert light into electric current using the photoelectric effect.

Types of Solar energy: 

Solar water heater– Heating water with solar energy.


Solar Electricity-Using the sun's heat to produce electricity.

Photovoltaic Systems– Producing electricity directly from sunlight.

Passive Solar Heating and Daylighting-Using solar energy to heat and light buildings.

Solar Process Space Heating and Cooling-Industrial and commercial uses of the sun's heat.


Solar Impulse - First Solar Powered Flight 

The world’s first solar airplane able to fly day and night powered solely by the sun has flown San Francisco (CA) – Phoenix (AZ) – Dallas (TX) – St. Louis (MO) – Cincinnati (OH) – Washington D.C. (District of Columbia) – New York City over a period of two months.

BIOENERGY

Bioenergy is renewable energy made available from materials derived from biological sources.

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Types of Bioenergy

Biopower is electricity generated from combustion of biomass,either alone or in combination with coal, natural gas or other fuel (termed co-firing).

Biofuel is liquid,gas and solid fuels produced from two types of biomass materials – plant sugars and starches (e.g., grains), and lignocellulosic materials (e.g., leaves, stems and stalks).Liquid and gas biofuels are produced through fermentation,gasification,pyrolysis,torrefaction,and transesterification conversion technologies.

*This is a guest post from one of the blog reader.

References:
Wikipedia
Internet Sources
Image Source - Google Images