12.1. Renewable Energy Flashcards
1
Q
Trends in renewable Energy
A
- Only 5% of the world’s current energy consumption is renewable.
- Traditional biofuels are used as a majority of renewable energy, followed by hydropower
- From 2010 to 2016, there has been a big increase in the use of wind power, solar power
2
Q
Patterns in Renewable energy
A
- the less developed and lower GDP per capita, the higher percentage use of renewable energy
- exceptions - iceland, norway, sweden
3
Q
Biofuels basics
A
- Biofuels are fossil fuel substitutes that can be made from a range of agricultural crop materials including oilseeds, wheat, corn and sugar.
- Recently, increasing amounts of cropland have been used to produce biofuels at the expense of food production.
4
Q
Use of Biofuel - Opinions
A
- The argument has been that this is an environmentally friendly way of meeting the rising demand for energy; burning biofuels releases less CO2 than traditional fossil fuels.
- Initially, environmental groups such as Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace were in favour of biofuels, but as the damaging environmental consequences have become known, such organisations were the first to demand a rethink of this energy strategy.
5
Q
Different Types of Biofuel
A
main methods of producing biofuels are:
- Growing crops high in sugar (sugar cane, sugar beet) or starch (corn/maize). Yeast fermentation is then used to
produce ethanol
- Growing plants containing high amounts of vegetable oil such as oil palm and soybean. The oils are then heated to reduce their viscosity. They can be burned directly in a diesel engine, or chemically processed to produce fuels such as biodiesel
- Wood can be converted into biofuels such as wood-gas, methanol or ethanol fuel
6
Q
Biofuel - trends and patterns of production
A
- From 2005-2016, there was a huge increase in Biofuel production
- Areas with high biofuel production are Brazil, USA, Alaska
- Areas with some biofuel production are China, Canada, Indonesia
7
Q
Ethanol Use Globally
A
- Ethanol is the most common biofuel globally (90%), particularly in Brazil and USA. Ethanol can be used in petrol engines when mixed with gasoline. Most existing petrol engines can run on blends of up to 15% ethanol.
- In the USA the amount of maize turned into ethanol increased from 15m tonnes in 2000 to 85 million tonnes in 2007, about one-third of US maize production.
- In contrast Brazil uses sugar cane to produce ethanol. More than 50% of Brazil’s sugar cane crop is now used for this. Sugarcane-based ethanol can be produced in Brazil at about half the cost of maize-based ethanol in the USA.
- The EU use soybean oil as the main source for production and several Asian countries, including Malaysia and Indonesia use palm oil
8
Q
Global Ethanol Production
A
- From 2007 to 2015, USA dominates global ethanol production, taking up more than 50%, followed by Brazil
9
Q
Environmental impacts of Biofuels
A
- The expansion of palm oil estates has been at the expense of considerable deforestation and violation of human rights of indigenous people in Malaysia and Indonesia.
- Between 1999 and 2007 EU imports of palm oil have more than doubled to 4.5 million tonnes
- China has recently set aside an area the size of England to produce non-food plants for biodiesel
- Critics say that when all factors such as the use of fertilisers and pesticides are taken into account, biofuels have a net negative impact on the environment
- Significant loss of forested areas cleared for biofuel crops.
10
Q
EU’s Biofuel Target
A
- In 2009, the EU set a target that 10% of all transport energy should be renewable by 2020.
- Whilst this doesn’t mention biofuels, they are the only source of renewable transport energy.
- This major increase in biofuel production will, Friends of the Earth say, have a devastating impact on the world’s poorest countries:
- Pushing up food prices;
- Damaging wildlife through deforestation and soil erosion; and destroying communities by clearing more land for crop production.
11
Q
Fuel v Food Debate
A
- The impact of using farmland for biofuel plants rather than food production is significant.
- In 2008 the World Bank estimated that, on average, food prices had risen by 140%, with 75% of this rise being directly due to demand for biofuels and speculation on crops and cropland
- World’s poorest people cannot afford increases in food prices, as up to 80% of income may be spent on food:
12
Q
Wind Power basics
A
- Harnessing the kinetic energy of the wind and converting it to mechanical energy and electricity is one of the most rapidly growing, cost-effective and proven
renewable energy technologies - By 2012, 22 countries had installations of more than 1,000 megawatts, compared with just 11 countries in 2006
- Both China and the USA have over 50,000 MW of installed wind energy, and total world wind energy installation amounted to over 250,000 MW in 2012
- This represents a ten-fold increase since 2001, yet wind energy still amounts to only 3% of total world electricity production
13
Q
Reasons why LICs don’t use wind power
A
- Lack of finance e.g. national debt, rural poverty, other financial priorities
- Lack of technology (at a suitable price? as no-strings attached AID?)
- Lack of skills and technical expertise (to install and/or to maintain)
- Preference for other renewable energy (e.g. HEP)
- Natural hazard risk assessments (e.g. from hurricane damage)
- Local factors, such as a conflict of interests (i.e. land ownership and tourism)
- Maybe an established dependence on non-renewables (e.g. oil)
- Relative initial higher costs for non-renewable
- National energy policy (i.e. lack of interest)
- Energy demand level - large urban areas would be better served by power station
14
Q
Are off-shore wind farms a better option?
A
- Offshore winds tend to blow at higher speeds
and are more consistent than on land, thus allowing
turbines to produce more electricity - (the potential energy produced from the wind is directly proportional to the cube of the wind speed, so wind speeds a few km per hour higher can produce a significantly larger amount of electricity).
15
Q
Consequences for the producers of wind
power if wind turbines fail
A
- Economic consequences - loss of income, extra cost to repair, reduced profit margin, loss of public/consumer confidence in wind energy, local businesses suffer
- Social consequences – possible power shortage/outages resulting in reduced quality of life
- Organisational - need to send out repair teams to often more remote locations, including offshore
- Positives - research and development into improved designs of turbines / control system or stimulus to improve maintenance and customer service
