All terrestrial energy sources except nuclear, geothermal and tidal are from current solar insolation or from fossil remains of plant and animal life that relied directly and indirectly upon sunlight, respectively.
Permanent Green Energy Production
Victoria V. Petrescu, Aversa Raffaella, Apicella Antonio, Florian Ion T. Petrescu | Bucharest Polytechnic University, Second University of Naples
After 1950, began to appear nuclear fission plants. The fission energy was a necessary evil. In this mode it stretched the oil life, avoiding an energy crisis. Even so, the energy obtained from oil represents about 60% of all energy used. At this rate of use of oil, it will be consumed in about 60 years. Today, the production of energy obtained by nuclear fusion is not yet perfect prepared. But time passes quickly. We must rush to implement of the additional sources of energy already known, but and find new energy sources. Green energy in 2010-2015 managed a spectacular growth worldwide of about 5%. The most difficult obstacle met in worldwide was the inconstant green energy produced.
Introduction
Energy development is the effort to provide sufficient primary energy sources and secondary energy forms for supply, cost, impact on air pollution and water pollution, mitigation of climate change with renewable energy.
Technologically advanced societies have become increasingly dependent on external energy sources for transportation, the production of many manufactured goods, and the delivery of energy services (Aversa et al., 2017 a-e, 2016 a-o; Petrescu et al., 2017, 2016 a-e).
This energy allows people who can afford the cost to live under otherwise unfavorable climatic conditions through the use of heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning. Level of use of external energy sources differs across societies, as do the climate, convenience, levels of traffic congestion, pollution and availability of domestic energy sources.
All terrestrial energy sources except nuclear, geothermal and tidal are from current solar insolation or from fossil remains of plant and animal life that relied directly and indirectly upon sunlight, respectively (Petrescu, 2011).
Ultimately, solar energy itself is the result of the Sun's nuclear fusion.
Geothermal power from hot, hardened rock above the magma of the Earth's core is the result of the decay of radioactive materials present beneath the Earth's crust, and nuclear fission relies on man-made fission of heavy radioactive elements in the Earth's crust; in both cases these elements were produced in supernova explosions before the formation of the solar system.
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable (naturally replenished).
In 2008, about 19% of global final energy consumption came from renewable, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.2% from hydroelectricity.
New renewable (small hydro, modern biomass, wind, solar, geothermal, and biofuel) accounted for another 2.7% and are growing very rapidly (Petrescu, 2012).
The share of renewable in electricity generation is around 18%, with 15% of global electricity coming from hydroelectricity and 3% from new renewable. Wind power is growing at the rate of 30% annually, with a worldwide installed capacity of 158 (GW) in 2009, and is widely used in Europe, Asia, and the United States.
At the end of 2009, cumulative global photovoltaic (PV) installations surpassed 21 GW and PV power stations are popular in Germany and Spain (Petrescu, 2014).
Solar thermal power stations operate in the USA and Spain, and the largest of these is the 354 megawatt (MW) SEGS power plant in the Mojave Desert.
The world's largest geothermal power installation is The Geysers in California, with a rated capacity of 750 MW. Brazil has one of the largest renewable energy programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from sugar cane, and ethanol now provides 18% of the country's automotive fuel (Petrescu and Calautit, 2016 a-b).
Ethanol fuel is also widely available in the USA, the world's largest producer in absolute terms, although not as a percentage of its total motor fuel use.
While many renewable energy projects are large-scale, renewable technologies are also suited to rural and remote areas, where energy is often crucial in human development.
Globally, an estimated 3 million households get power from small solar PV systems. Micro-hydro systems configured into village-scale or county-scale mini-grids serve many areas.
More than 30 million rural households get lighting and cooking from biogas made in household-scale digesters. Biomass cook stoves are used by 160 million households.
Climate change concerns, coupled with high oil prices, peak oil, and increasing government support, are driving increasing renewable energy legislation, incentives and commercialization.
New government spending, regulation and policies helped the industry weather the 2009 economic crisis better than many other sectors.
Green energy in 2010-2015 managed a spectacular growth worldwide of about 5%.
Wind power
Airflows can be used to run wind turbines. Modern wind turbines range from around 600 kW to 5 MW of rated power, although turbines with rated output of 1.5–3 MW have become the most common for commercial use; the power output of a turbine is a function of the cube of the wind speed, so as wind speed increases, power output increases dramatically. Typical capacity factors are 20-40%, with values at the upper end of the range in particularly favorable sites. Wind energy is the cleanest and sufficient, the safest, cheapest and most sustainable. Where land space is not enough, wind farms can be built and in the water. It must put the wind to work (Petrescu, 2015 a-c).
Wind energy or wind power is extracted from air flow using wind turbines or sails to produce mechanical or electrical energy. Windmills are used for their mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping, and sails to propel ships. A wind farm or wind park is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other purposes. A wind farm can also be located offshore. Many of the largest operational onshore wind farms are located in Germany, China and the United States. In just five years, China leapfrogged the rest of the world in wind energy production, going from 2,599 MW of capacity in 2006 to 62,733 MW at the end of 2011. However, the rapid growth outpaced China's infrastructure and new construction slowed significantly in 2012.
A windfarm or wind park is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other purposes. A wind farm can also be located offshore.
Many of the largest operational onshore wind farms are located in Germany, China and the United States. For example, the largest wind farm in the world, Gansu Wind Farm in China has a capacity of over 6,000 MW of power in 2012 with a goal of 20,000 MW by 2020. The Alta Wind Energy Center in California, United States is the largest onshore wind farm outside of China, with a capacity of 1,020 MW. As of April 2013, the 630 MW London Array in the UK is the largest offshore wind farm in the world, followed by the 504 MW Greater Gabbard wind farm in the UK.
There are many large wind farms under construction and these include Sinus Holding Wind Farm (700 MW), Lincs Wind Farm (270 MW), Lower Snake River Wind Project (343 MW), Macarthur Wind Farm (420 MW).
In just five years, China leapfrogged the rest of the world in wind energy production, going from 2,599 MW of capacity in 2006 to 62,733 MW at the end of 2011. However, the rapid growth outpaced China's infrastructure and new construction slowed significantly in 2012.
At the end of 2009, wind power in China accounted for 25.1 gigawatts (GW) of electricity generating capacity, and China has identified wind power as a key growth component of the country's economy. With its large land mass and long coastline, China has exceptional wind resources. Researchers from Harvard and Tsinghua University have found that China could meet all of their electricity demands from wind power by 2030.
By the end of 2008, at least 15 Chinese companies were commercially producing wind turbines and several dozen more were producing components. Turbine sizes of 1.5 MW to 3 MW became common. Leading wind power companies in China were Goldwind, Dongfang Electric, and Sinovel along with most major foreign wind turbine manufacturers. China also increased production of small-scale wind turbines to about 80,000 turbines (80 MW) in 2008. Through all these developments, the Chinese wind industry appeared unaffected by the global financial crisis, according to industry observers.
According to the Global Wind Energy Council, the development of wind energy in China, in terms of scale and rhythm, is absolutely unparalleled in the world. The National People's Congress permanent committee passed a law that requires the Chinese energy companies to purchase all the electricity produced by the renewable energy sector (Fig. 1-2).
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Fig. 1 Wind farm in Xinjiang, China
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Fig. 2 The Gansu Wind Farm in China is the largest wind farm in the world, with a target capacity of 20,000 MW by 2020.
U.S. wind power installed capacity in 2012 exceeded 51,630 MW and supplies 3% of the nation's electricity (Petrescu and Petrescu, 2010; Petrescu, 2009).
New installations place the U.S. on a trajectory to generate 20% of the nation’s electricity by 2030 from wind energy. Growth in 2008 channeled some $17 billion into the economy, positioning wind power as one of the leading sources of new power generation in the country, along with natural gas. Wind projects completed in 2008 accounted for about 42% of the entire new power-producing capacity added in the U.S. during the year (Petrescu and Petrescu, 2011 a-b).
At the end of 2008, about 85,000 people were employed in the U.S. wind industry, and GE Energy was the largest domestic wind turbine manufacturer. Wind projects boosted local tax bases and revitalized the economy of rural communities by providing a steady income stream to farmers with wind turbines on their land. Wind power in the U.S. provides enough electricity to power the equivalent of nearly 9 million homes, avoiding the emissions of 57 million tons of carbon each year and reducing expected carbon emissions from the electricity sector by 2.5%.
Texas, with 10,929 MW of capacity, has the most installed wind power capacity of any U.S. state, followed by California with 4,570 MW and Iowa with 4,536 MW. The Alta Wind Energy Center (1,020 MW) in California is the nation's largest wind farm in terms of capacity. Altamont Pass Wind Farm is the largest wind farm in the U.S. in terms of the number of individual turbines (Fig. 3-4).
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Fig. 3 The Shepherds Flat Wind Farm is an 845 MW wind farm in the U.S. state of Oregon.
Fig. 4 Brazos Wind Farm in the plains of West Texas.
The content & opinions in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of AltEnergyMag
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