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Chapter 1
Introducing renewable energy
By Godfrey Boyle, Bob Everett and Gary Alexander

1.1 Introduction
Renewable energy sources, derived principally from the enormous power of the Suns radiation, are at once the most ancient and the most modern forms of energy used by humanity. Solar power, both in the form of direct solar radiation and in indirect forms such as bioenergy, water or wind power, was the energy source upon which early human societies were based. When our ancestors first used fire, they were harnessing the power of photosynthesis, the solar-driven process by which plants are created from water and atmospheric carbon dioxide. Societies went on to develop ways of harnessing the movements of water and wind, both caused by solar heating of the oceans and atmosphere, to grind corn, irrigate crops and propel ships. As civilizations became more sophisticated, architects began to design buildings to take advantage of the Suns energy by enhancing their natural use of its heat and light, so reducing the need for artificial sources of warmth and illumination. Technologies for harnessing the power of Sun, firewood, water and wind continued to improve right up to the early years of the industrial revolution. However, by then the advantages of coal, the first of the fossil fuels to be exploited on a large scale, had become apparent. These highlyconcentrated energy sources soon displaced wood, wind and water in the homes, industries and transport systems of the industrial nations. Today the fossil fuel trio of coal, oil and natural gas provide over 80% of the worlds energy. Concerns about the adverse environmental and social consequences of fossil fuel use, such as air pollution or mining accidents, and about the finite nature of supplies, have been voiced intermittently for several centuries. But it was not until the 1970s, with the steep price rises of the oil crisis and the advent of the environmental movement, that humanity began to take more seriously the prospect of fossil fuels running out, and the possibility that their continued use could be destabilizing the planets natural ecosystems and the global climate (see Section 3 below). The development of nuclear energy following World War II raised hopes of a cheap, plentiful and clean alternative to fossil fuels. However, nuclear power development has stalled in some countries in recent years, due to increasing concern about safety, cost, waste disposal and weapons proliferation, although in other countries nuclear expansion is continuing.

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Continuing concerns about the sustainability of both fossil and nuclear fuel use have been a major catalyst of renewed interest in the renewable energy sources in recent decades. Ideally, a sustainable energy source is one that:

is not substantially depleted by continued use does not entail significant pollutant emissions or other environmental problems does not involve the perpetuation of substantial health hazards or social injustices.

In practice, only a few energy sources come close to this ideal, but as this and subsequent chapters will show, the renewables (see Section 4 for an explicit definition) appear generally more sustainable than fossil or nuclear fuels: they are essentially inexhaustible and their use usually entails fewer health hazards and much lower emissions of greenhouse gases or other pollutants. Before going on to introduce the renewables in more detail, it is first useful to review some basic energy concepts that may be unfamiliar to readers who do not have a scientific background. For a more detailed discussion of basic energy concepts, see, for example, Energy Systems and Sustainability (Everett et al., 2012).

Force, energy and power

The word energy is derived from the Greek en (in) and ergon (work). The scientific concept of energy (broadly defined as the capacity to do work) serves to reveal the common features in processes as diverse as burning fuels, propelling machines or charging batteries. These and other processes can be described in terms of diverse forms of energy, such as thermal energy (heat), chemical energy (in fuels or batteries), kinetic energy (in moving substances), electrical energy, gravitational potential energy, and various others. In the main, this book uses the international SI system of units. The conversion factors between these and other units commonly used in the field of energy can be found in Appendix A. The scientific world agreed on a single set of units, the SI system (Systme International dUnits) in 1960. There are seven basic units, of which the three which are relevant here are the metre (m), the kilogram (kg) and the second (s). The units for many other quantities are derived from the basic units. For some of the derived units, such as metres per second (m s1), the unit for speed, the base units are obvious. Others have been given specific names, such as the:

newton (N) for force the joule (J) for energy the watt (W) for power.

Large quantities are specified using multipliers (see Table 1.1 for some examples). Thus, a kilowatt (written as 1 kW) is a thousand watts. Note that, unless otherwise stated, in this book the multiplier M and the terms billion and trillion are as defined in Table 1.1 (Appendix A has more details about international variations in definition).

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table 1.1 Multiplier prefixes Symbol K M G T P E prefix kilomegagigaterapetaexaMultiply by as a power of ten one thousand 103 one million 106 one billion (one thousand million) 109 one trillion (one million million) 1012 one quadrillion (one billion million) 1015 one quintillion (one billion billion) 1018

In order to change the motion of any object, a force is needed, and the formal SI unit for force, the newton (N), is defined as that force which will accelerate a mass of one kilogram (kg) at a rate of one metre per second per second (m s2). Expressed more generally: force (N) = mass (kg) acceleration (m s2). Thus the derived unit, the newton, is equivalent to kg m s2 In the real world, force is often needed to move an object even at a steady speed, but this is because there are opposing forces such as friction to be overcome. Whenever a force is accelerating something or moving it against an opposing force, it must be providing energy. The unit of energy, the joule (J) is defined as the energy supplied by a force of one newton in causing movement through a distance of 1 metre. In general: energy (J) = force (N) distance (m). So a joule is dimensionally equivalent to one newton metre (N m). The terms energy and power are often used informally as though they were synonymous (e.g. wind energy/wind power), but in scientific discussion it is important to distinguish them. Power is the rate at which energy is being converted from one form to another, or transferred from one place to another. Its unit is the watt (W), and one watt is defined as one joule per second (hence a watt is equivalent to one J s1). A 100 watt incandescent light bulb, for example, is converting one hundred joules of electrical energy into light (and waste heat) each second. In popular speech, power is often taken to denote electricity, but scientifically it applies to any situation where energy is transferred or converted. Occasionally (for example in Chapter 9) a power rating maybe specifically defined as MWe or MWt where the subscripts e and t refer to electrical and thermal energy respectively. In practice, it is often convenient to measure energy in terms of the power used over a given time period. If the power of an electric heater is 1 kW, and it runs for an hour, we say that it has consumed one kilowatt-hour (kWh) of energy. As 1 kilowatt is 1000 watts, from the definition of the watt this is 1000 joules per second. There are 3600 seconds in an hour, so: 1 kWh = 3600 1000 = 3.6 106 joules (3.6 MJ). Energy is also often measured simply in terms of quantities of fuel, and national energy statistics often use the units tonnes of coal equivalent (tce), tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) or even barrels of oil equivalent

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(boe). The most common units and their conversion factors are listed in Appendix A.

Energy conservation: the first law of thermodynamics

The renewable energy technologies described in this book transform one form of energy into another (the final form in many cases being electricity). In any such transformation of energy, the total quantity of energy remains unchanged. This principle, that energy is always conserved, is expressed by the first law of thermodynamics. So if the electrical energy output of a power station, for example, is less than the energy content of the fuel input, then some of the energy must have been converted to another form (usually waste heat). If the total quantity of energy is always the same, how can we talk of consuming it? Strictly speaking, we dont: we just convert it from one form into other forms. We consume fuels, which are sources of readily available energy. We may burn fuel in an a vehicle engine, converting its stored chemical energy into heat and then into the kinetic energy of the moving vehicle. By using a wind turbine we can extract kinetic energy from moving air and convert it into electrical energy, which can in turn be used to heat the filament of an incandescent lamp causing it to radiate light energy.

Forms of energy
At the most basic level, the diversity of energy forms can be reduced to four:

kinetic gravitational electrical nuclear.

Kinetic energy
The kinetic energy possessed by any moving object is equal to half the mass (m) of the object times the square of its velocity (v), i.e.: kinetic energy = m v2 where energy is in joules (J), mass in kilograms (kg) and velocity in metres per second (m s1). Less obviously, the kinetic energy within a material determines its temperature. All matter consists of atoms, or combinations of atoms called molecules. In a gas, such as the air that surrounds us, these move freely. In a solid or a liquid, they form a more or less loosely linked network in which every particle is constantly vibrating. Thermal energy, or heat, is the name given to the energy associated with this rapid random motion. The higher the temperature of a body, the faster its molecules are moving. In the temperature scale that is most natural to scientific theory, the Kelvin (K) scale, zero corresponds to zero molecular motion. In the more commonly used Celsius scale of temperature (written as C), the size of one degree is the same as 1 kelvin, but zero corresponds to the freezing point of water

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and 100 C to the boiling point of water at atmospheric pressure. The two scales are therefore related by a simple formula: temperature (K) = temperature (C) + 273.

position 2

Gravitational energy
A second fundamental form of energy is gravitational energy. On Earth, an input of energy is required to lift an object because the gravitational pull of the Earth opposes that movement. If an object, such as an apple, is lifted above your head, the input energy is stored in a form called gravitational potential energy (often just potential energy or gravitational energy). That this stored energy exists is obvious if you release the apple and observe the subsequent conversion to kinetic energy. The gravitational force pulling an object towards the Earth is called the weight of the object, and is equal to its mass, m, multiplied by the acceleration due to gravity, g (which is 9.81 m s2, although for rough calculations needing less than 2% precision a value of 10 m s2 is often used). Note that although everyday language may treat mass and weight as the same, science does not. The potential energy (in joules) stored in raising an object of mass m (in kilograms) to a height H (in metres) is given by the following equation (see Figure 1.1): potential energy = force distance = weight height = m g H.
1 metre

position 1

Figure 1.1 The amount of energy required to raise a 100 g apple vertically through 1 m is approximately one joule (1 J)
Figure 1.1 shows a hand raising a red apple from position 1 to position 2 through a vertical distance of 1 metre.

Electrical energy
Gravity is not the only force influencing the objects around us. On a scale far too small for the eye to see, electrical forces hold together the atoms and molecules of all materials; gravity is an insignificant force at the molecular level. The electrical energy associated with these forces is the third of the basic forms. Every atom can be considered to consist of a cloud of electrically charged particles, electrons, moving incessantly around a central nucleus. When atoms bond with other atoms to form molecules, the distribution of electrons is changed, often with dramatic effect. Thus chemical energy, viewed at the atomic level, can be considered to be a form of electrical energy. When a fuel is burned, the energy liberated (the chemical energy) is converted into heat energy. Essentially, the electrical energy released as the electrons are rearranged (that is, the net release of energy from the breaking and forming of bonds) is converted to the kinetic energy of the molecules of the combustion products. A more familiar form of electrical energy is that carried by electric currents organized flows of electrons in a material, usually a metal. In metals, one or two electrons from each atom can become detached and move freely through the lattice structure of the material. These free electrons allow metals to carry electrical currents. To maintain a steady current of electrons requires a constant input of energy because the electrons continually lose energy in collisions with the metal lattice (which is why wires get warm when they carry electric currents). Voltage (in volts) is a measure of the electrical potential difference between two points in an electrical circuit, analogous to height in the measurement of gravitational potential energy (see above). The power (in watts) delivered

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by an electrical supply, or used by an appliance, is given by multiplying the voltage (in volts) by the current (measured in amperes, or amps): power (W) = voltage (V) current (I). In a typical power station, the input fuel is burned and used to produce high-pressure steam, which drives a rotating turbine. This in turn drives an electrical generator, which operates on a principle discovered by Michael Faraday in 1832: a voltage is induced in a coil of wire that spins in a magnetic field. Connecting the coil to an electric circuit will then allow a current to flow. The electrical energy can in turn be transformed into heat, light, motion or whatever, depending upon what is connected to the circuit. Electricity is often used in this way, as an intermediary form of energy: it allows energy released from one source to be converted to another quite different form, usually at some distance from the source. Another form of electrical energy is that carried by electromagnetic radiation. More properly called electromagnetic energy, this is the form in which, for example, solar energy reaches the Earth. Electromagnetic energy is radiated in greater or lesser amounts by every object. It travels as a wave that can carry energy through empty space. The length of the wave (its wavelength) characterizes its form, which includes X-rays, ultraviolet and infrared radiation, visible light, radio waves and microwaves.

Nuclear energy
The fourth and final basic form of energy, bound up in the central nuclei of atoms, is called nuclear energy. The technology for releasing it was developed during the Second World War for military purposes, and subsequently in a more controlled version for the commercial production of electricity. Nuclear power stations operate on much the same principles as fossil fuel plants, except that the furnace in which the fuel burns is replaced by a nuclear reactor in which atoms of uranium are split apart in a fission process that generates large amounts of heat. The energy source of the Sun is also of nuclear origin. Here the process is not nuclear fission but nuclear fusion, in which hydrogen atoms fuse to form helium atoms such enormous numbers of these reactions take place that massive amounts of solar radiation are generated in the process. Attempts to imitate the Sun by creating power-producing nuclear fusion reactors have been the subject of many decades of research and development effort but have yet to come to fruition.

Conversion, efficiencies and capacity factors

When energy is converted from one form to another, the useful output is never as much as the input. The ratio of the useful output to the required input (usually expressed as a percentage) is called the efficiency of the process: percentage efficiency = (energy output/energy input) 100. This efficiency can be as high as 90% in a water turbine or well-run electric motor, around 3540% in a coal-fired power station (if the waste heat is not put to use), and as low as 1020% in a typical internal combustion engine. Some inefficiencies can be avoided by good design, but others are inherent in the nature of the type of energy conversion.

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In the systems mentioned above, the difference between the high and low conversion efficiencies is because the latter are heat engines involving the conversion of heat into mechanical or electrical energy. Heat, as already indicated, is the kinetic energy of randomly moving molecules, an essentially chaotic form of energy. No machine can convert this chaos completely into the ordered state associated with mechanical or electrical energy. This is the essential message of the second law of thermodynamics: that there is necessarily a limit to the efficiency of any heat engine. Some energy must always be lost to the external environment, usually as lowtemperature heat. (Box 2.4 of Chapter 2 looks at the efficiency of heat engines in more detail). When considering the economics of a power plant, rather than just its efficiency, it is useful to have a measure of its productivity in practice. One measure of this is the plants capacity factor (CF): its actual output over a given period of time divided by the maximum possible output. The units for the output quantities can be kWh, MWh, GWh, etc., and the result can be expressed as either a fraction or a percentage. There are 8760 hours in a year (365 days 24 hrs/day = 8760 hours), so a 1 MW plant running constantly at its full rated capacity for one year would generate 8760 MWh of output, and would have a capacity factor of 1, or 100%. A 1 MW wind turbine might, in practice, typically produce 3000 MWh of electricity in a year (because the wind doesnt always blow at the full rated speed for which the turbine is designed) in such a case its capacity factor would be: (3000/8760) = 0.342 = 34.2% The period to which a capacity factor relates is not always a year weekly or monthly capacity factors are often quoted. The terms plant factor and load factor are also sometimes used as synonyms for capacity factor in the context of power systems.

1.2 present-day energy use

world energy supplies
The energy used by a final consumer is usually the end result of a series of energy conversions. For example, energy from burning coal may be converted in a power station to electricity, which is then distributed to households and used in immersion heaters to heat water in domestic hot water tanks. The energy released when the coal is burned is called the primary energy required for that use. The amount of electricity reaching the consumer, after conversion losses in the power station and transmission losses in the electricity grid, is the delivered energy. After further losses in the tank and pipes, a final quantity, called the useful energy, comes out of the hot tap. World total annual consumption of all forms of primary energy increased more than tenfold during the twentieth century, and by the year 2009 had reached an estimated 502 EJ (exajoules), or some 12 000 million tonnes of

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oil equivalent (Mtoe) (Figure 1.2). As the figure reveals, fossil fuels provided more than four fifths of the total. The world population in 2009 was some 6.8 billion, so the annual average energy consumption per person was about 74 GJ (gigajoules), equivalent to the energy content of approximately 5.5 litres of oil per day for every man, woman and child.
other sources 4.7% traditional biomass 6.0% hydro** 2.3% nuclear * 5.1%
*

oil 32.4% natural gas 22.1% coal 27.4%

The nuclear contribution is the notional primary energy that would be needed to produce the actual output at an efficiency of 38%. The hydro contribution is the actual electrical output. Total: about 502 EJ equivalent to12 billion tonnes of oil, or an average continuous rate of energy consumption of 15.9 TW.

**

Figure 1.2 Percentage contributions to world primary energy consumption in 2009, other sources are new biomass, solar and geothermal energy, and energy from wind, wave, tide and wastes (sources: authors estimates based on BP, 2010; IEA, 2009; WWEA, 2010)
Figure 1.2 is a pie chart showing the percentage contributions to world primary energy consumption in 2009. The contributions are as follows: oil: 32.4%, natural gas: 22.1%, coal: 27.4%, nuclear: 5.1%. This has a footnote saying that The nuclear contribution is the notional primary energy that would be needed to produce the actual output at an efficiency of 38%. The chart continues: hydro 2.3%. This has a footnote saying The hydro contribution is the actual electrical output. The chart continues: traditional biomass: 6.0%, other sources, 4.7%. The chart has a footnote saying Total: about 502 exajoules equivalent to 12 billion tonnes of oil, or an average continous rate of energy consumption of 15.9 terawatts.

But these figures conceal major differences. The average North American consumes more than 250 GJ per year, most people in Europe use roughly half this amount, and many of those in the poorer countries of the world less than one fifth much of it in the form of local biofuels (see Chapter 4). How much do renewables contribute to world energy supplies? As Figure 1.2 shows, traditional biomass, hydro power and a range of other renewable sources contributed an estimated 13% of world primary energy in 2009. Figure 1.3 gives a more detailed breakdown, for the year 2008.
energy from wastes 2.4% new biomass 27.6% hydro 18.0% geothermal 3.8% solar 0.8% wind, wave, tide, etc 1.2% traditional biomass 46.2% Total consumption: 65 EJ Figure 1.3 Chart showing percentage breakdown of individual renewable energy sources contributions to world primary energy supplies (sources: authors estimates based on IEA, 2009; BP 2010)
Figure 1.3 The chart takes the form of a pie chart. Reading clockwise from the top the percentage contributions from the various renewable energy sources are: Hydro 18%; geothermal 3.8%; solar 0.8%; wind, wave, tide etc. 1.2%; traditional biomass 46.2%; new biomass 27.6%; energy from wastes 2.4%. Underneath the chart a total consumption of 65 EJ is given.

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The largest contribution is an estimated value of 30 EJ from traditional biomass (wood, straw, dung, etc.) mainly used in developing countries. Since most of this isnt traded, it often doesnt enter into national economic statistics and its true magnitude is only known approximately. The next largest category is new biomass. This includes wood and other crops specifically grown for energy purposes, biogas, and biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. This is a commodity that is likely to be traded and so its magnitude is more certain. Hydro power is the next largest category, supplying over 2% of the worlds primary energy. New biomass, together with energy from wastes, geothermal energy, solar energy and energy from wind, wave and tidal power make up the other sources shown in Figure 1.2. In practice, many electricity generating fossil fuelled and renewable energy technologies produce large amounts of unused waste heat. Renewable energy proportions based on primary energy may thus give a misleading picture. Proportions of renewable energy in national (and global) statistics are now often quoted in terms of gross final energy consumption (see Box 1.1).
Box 1.1 primary energy, delivered energy and gross final energy Figure 1.2 showed the estimated total global primary energy consumption for 2009. About 2530% of this was turned into waste heat in power stations, most of which is dumped uselessly into seas, lakes or the sky via cooling towers. Only a small percentage of this waste heat is put to good use in district heating schemes. This wastage occurs in fossil fuelled power stations, nuclear power plants and renewable power plants fuelled by wood or landfill gas. For example a landfill gas plant may consume 4 kWh of (primary) gas to produce 1 kWh of output electricity. However, other technologies such as wind, PV and hydro power can generate useful electricity directly with minimal losses. When comparing technologies or compiling national statistics, those based on delivered energy, i.e. the fuel, useful heat or electricity actually received by an end user probably give a better representation of the overall picture. The 2009 European Union Renewable Energy Directive (CEC, 2009) sets out requirements for expressing future national renewable energy contributions in terms of the gross final energy consumption. This is the defined as the delivered energy to the end users but with two additional small contributions: firstly, the losses in transmission of electricity and heat (in district heating schemes); and secondly the electricity and heat consumed in energy industries (such as in oil refineries or within power stations). However, it does not include the very large waste heat losses in electricity generation that feature in primary energy figures. The overall effect of using statistics based on gross final energy is to give more prominence to hydro, wind and PV technologies and less to low efficiency electricity generation technologies based on fossil fuels, nuclear power or renewables where the waste heat is not put to good use. It also focuses attention on the need to improve electricity generation efficiencies.

How long will the worlds fossil fuel reserves last? At current consumption rates, it is estimated that world coal reserves could last for about 120 years, oil for approximately 45 years and natural gas for around 60 years (BP, 2010). However, in the more immediate future there are likely to be serious constraints on the rate at which fossil fuels can be produced,

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particularly oil. Existing oilfields have a limited life; once exhausted they have to be replaced with new ones. In order just to maintain the worlds oil production at its current level, a large number of new oil fields will have to be developed. Even more challenging is the need for new fields to be continuously discovered (Figure 1.4). According to the International Energy Agency, the easy oil has been largely used up. What remains is likely to be more expensive and in difficult areas such as the Arctic or in deep offshore wells (IEA, 2010a).

100 million barrels per day 80 60 40 20

actual data

projection unconventional oil natural gas liquids crude oil: fields yet to be found crude oil: fields yet to be developed crude oil: currently producing fields

1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 year Figure 1.4 An International Energy Agency chart indicating the challenges involved in maintaining current levels of conventional oil production (source: IEA, 2010a)
Figure 1.4 is an area chart showing actual and future projected values for world oil supply from 1990 to 2035. It shows the world oil supply broken into five categories: crude oil: currently producing fields; crude oil: fields yet to be developed; crude oil: fields yet to be found; natural gas liquids; unconventional oil. It has a vertical axis labelled million barrels per day, and a horizontal axis labelled year. A vertical line indicates the year 2009 with a label and arrow to the top left reading actual data, and a label and arrow to the top right reading projection. The overall chart shows a slow rise in world oil supply from 65 million barrels per day in 1990 up to 81 million barrels per day in 2009, and steadily rising to 95 million barrels per day in 2035. The world data for the category: crude oil: currently producing fields starts at 58 million barrels per day in 1990 and rises up to 70 million barrels per day in 2009. The curve continues into the projection zone by steadily falling to 15 million barrels per day in 2035. The data on crude oil: fields yet to be developed starts from zero in 2009 and increases steadily to 30 million barrels per day in 2035. The data on crude oil: fields yet to be found starts from zero in 2015 and rises steadily to 20 million barrels per day in 2035. Data from natural gas liquids begins at 7 million barrels per day in 1990, increases very slowly up to 10 million barrels per day, and continues up to 20 million barrels per day in 2035. Unconventional oil starts at zero in 1990, rises very slowly to 3 million barrels per day in 2009, and steadily up to 10 million barrels per day in 2035.

According to a study of global oil depletion by the UK Energy Research Centre: a peak of conventional oil production before 2030 appears likely and there is a significant risk of a peak before 2020.
(Sorrell et al., 2009)

So although large worldwide reserves of oil will remain, the overall production of conventional oil seems likely to plateau or even decline. This has serious implications for the UK, where oil production peaked in 1999 and gas production peaked in 2000.

Energy use in the uK

In the UK, as in most countries, energy demand is categorized in official statistics into four main sectors: domestic, commercial and institutional (or services), industrial and transport. As Figure 1.5 shows, almost one third of UK primary energy is lost in the process of conversion and delivery most of it in the form of waste heat from power stations. These losses are greater than the countrys demand for space and water heating energy. Even when energy has been delivered to customers in the various sectors, it is often used very wastefully. The UK energy system is described in more detail in Chapter 10 of this book. In the UK, the contribution of renewables to primary energy supply in 2009 was quite small: some 3.3% (see Figures 1.5 and 1.6(a)). The percentage

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renewables primary energy coal delivered energy by fuel domestic by sector heat >100C by end use space and water heating 0 1000 2000 cooking 3000 4000 lights and appliances 5000 6000 petajoules (PJ) 7000 8000 9000 transport machinery services transport industry lost in conversion and delivery oil gas nuclear heat

solid

liquid

gas

electricity

renewables and heat

Figure 1.5 UK primary and delivered energy use, 2009 (sources: DECC, 2010a, DECC, 2010b) Note: in the second bar, electricity includes renewable electricity; renewables and heat includes biofuels for transport and heat from CHP plants
Figure 1.5 shows the primary and delivered energy consumption of the UK for 2009, split by fuel, by sector and by end use. It has four horizontal bars. The x-axis is marked in petajoules and runs from 0 to 9000. The top bar shows primary energy. It starts with about 1300 PJ of coal use, plus a further 3000 PJ of oil use, plus a further 3600 PJ of gas use, plus a further 640 PJ of nuclear heat, plus a further 320 PJ of renewables giving a total primary energy demand of about 8800 PJ. The second bar shows delivered energy broken down by fuel. It starts with 100 PJ of solid fuel, plus a further 2700 PJ of liquid fuel, plus a further 1900 PJ of gas, plus a further 1160 PJ of electricity, plus a further 150 PJ of renewables and heat, giving a delivered energy total of about 6000 PJ. The difference between this 6000 PJ and the 8800 PJ in the top bar is 2800 PJ marked as lost in conversion and delivery. The third bar shows delivered energy broken down by sector. The domestic sector consumes about 1800 PJ, the services sector consumes a further 700 PJ, the transport sector a further 2400 PJ, and the industrial sector a further 1100 PJ, giving a total of about 6000 PJ, i.e. the same as in the second bar. The fourth bar shows delivered energy by end use. Space and water heating uses about 2100 PJ, heat above 100C uses about a further 700 PJ, cooking uses about a further 130 PJ, transport uses about a further 2400 PJ, lights and appliances use about a further 560 PJ and machinery uses a further 170 PJ, giving a total of about 6000 PJ, i.e. the same as in the second and third bars.

contribution of renewables to electricity supplies was somewhat larger, however. Some 6.7% of UK electricity came from renewable and waste sources, mainly in the form of wind power, with smaller contributions from biomass, waste and landfill gas combustion and hydro power (DECC, 2010b). The UK Government aims to increase the proportion of primary energy from renewables to 15% by 2020 (see Section 5).

1.3 Fossil fuels and climate change

Societys current use of fossil and nuclear fuels has many adverse consequences. These include air pollution, acid rain, the depletion of natural resources and the dangers of nuclear radiation. This brief introduction concentrates on one of these problems: global climate change caused by emissions of greenhouse gases from fossil fuel combustion. The surface temperature of the Earth establishes itself at an equilibrium level where the incoming energy from the Sun balances the outgoing infrared energy re-radiated from the surface back into space (see Chapter 2, Figure 2.5). If the Earth had no atmosphere its surface temperature would be 18 C; but its atmosphere, which includes greenhouse gases principally, water vapour, carbon dioxide and methane acts like the panes of a greenhouse, allowing solar radiation (which lies in the range UV shortwave infrared) to enter but inhibiting the outflow of long-wave infrared radiation. The natural greenhouse effect that these gases cause is essential

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hydro 6.6% wind and wave 11.6% geothermal and solar heat 1.0% biomass 80.7%

landfill gas 23.8% sewage gas 4.0% wood 7.9% municipal waste 9.5% liquid biofuels 14.7% other biomass 20.8%

Total contribution: 288 PJ or 3.3% of UK primary energy consumption

total wind 30 contribution of renewable sources to electricity generated/TWh 25 20 15 10 5 0 1990

other biomass

landfill gas

total hydro

1995

2000 year

2005

2009

Figure 1.6 (a) Primary energy contributions from renewable energy in the UK, 2009. The total, 6875 Mtoe, is equivalent to 288PJ. The main contributors were wind, biomass in various forms, and hydro power (b) Growth in electricity generation from renewable sources in the UK 19902009. In 2009 renewables contributed 6.7% of UK electricity (source: DECC 2010b)
Figure 1.6a shows the percentage contributions to UK renewable energy in 2009. It is in the form of a pie chart, with the biomass entry further broken down as a stacked bar chart to the right. The entries for the pie chart are as follows: biomass: 80.7%, geothermal and solar heat: 1.0%, wind and wave: 11.6%, hydro: 6.6. The biomass contribution is further broken down into different categories as follows: landfill gas: 23.8%, sewage gas: 4.0%, wood: 7.9%, municipal waste: 9.5%, liquid biofuels: 14.7%, other biomass: 20.8%. There is a footnote which reads: Total contribution 258 PJ or 3.7% of UK primary energy production. Figure 1.6b The chart takes the form of a stacked bar chart with each bar representing from bottom to top total hydro, landfill gas, other biomass and total wind. The vertical axis represents the contribution of renewable sources to electricity generation in TWh and the horizontal axis represents the year, one bar per year with five year intervals being marked. Total hydro has remained relatively constant at about 5 TWh over the total period though there were noticeable dips to 4 TWh in 1996and 2001 and to 3 TWh in 2003. In 1990 the total of the other three renewables added a further 1 TWh to bring the total to about 6 TWh. Landfill gas started to increase in 1992 but remained relatively constant at about 1TWh until about 1997 after which it grew steadily reaching about 5 TWh in 2009. other biomass started to increase from 1991 when it contributed about 1 TWh and grew steadily to about 6 TWh in 2009. Wind power started growing in 1994 when it contributed about 1 TWh growing slowly until 2003 when it was contributing about 2 TWh then more rapidly after that so that it was contributing about 10 TWh in 2009. Thus the total contribution from renewables was about 26 TWh in 2009 which represented about 6.7% of total UK electricity.

in maintaining the Earths surface temperature at a level suitable for life at around 15 C. Since the industrial revolution, however, human activities have been adding extra greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. The principal contributor to these increased emissions is carbon dioxide from the combustion of fossil fuels. Humanitys rate of emission of CO2 from these fuels has increased enormously since 1950 (see Figure 1.7). There have also been significant additional contributions from emissions of methane. Scientists estimate (IPCC, 2007a) that these anthropogenic (human-induced) emissions caused a rise in the Earths global mean surface temperature of approximately 0.8 C between 1950 and 2005 (Figure 1.8). If emissions are not curbed, the IPCC estimates that the Earths surface temperature could

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35 CO2 emitted/Gt y 1 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1850 1900 year 1950 2000 natural gas oil coal

Figure 1.7 Co2 emissions from the burning of fossil fuels 18502009 (sources: Boden et al., 2010; IEA, 2010b; BP, 2010)
Figure 1.7 The graph is a line graph with lines representing coal, oil and natural gas. The area under each line and above the line below is shaded to represent the contributions of coal, oil and natural gas to total Co2 emissions. Co2 emissions in Gt per year are on the y-axis with the scale being from zero to 35 Gt y-1 in 5 Gt intervals. The year is on the x-axis and is marked in 50 year intervals. In 1850 total Co2 emissions were below 1 Gt, almost entirely from coal. These grew slowly reaching about 2 Gt in 1900 and 3 Gt in 1920. Emissions then remained relatively constant until about 1945 when emissions from coal grew steadily from about 4 Gt in 1950 to about 9 Gt in 2000 then more rapidly reaching about 12 Gt in 2009. Emissions from oil were zero or negligible until about 1925 when they started to grow, slowly at first so that the total for coal plus oil had reached about 12 Gt in 1950 The total then climbed steadily until 2000 when it had reached about 19 Gt then more rapidly reaching 23 Gt in 2009. Natural gas only started showing on the graph after 1950. The total of coal plus oil plus gas grew from about 12 Gt in 1950 to 19 Gt in 2000 then more rapidly reaching 24 Gt in 2009.

rise by between 1.4 and 5.8 C (depending on the assumptions made) by the end of the twenty-first century. Such rises would probably be associated with an increased frequency of climatic extremes, such as floods or droughts, and serious disruptions to agriculture and natural ecosystems. The thermal expansion of the worlds oceans could mean that sea levels would rise by around 0.5 m by the end of the century, which could inundate some lowlying areas. Beyond 2100, or perhaps before, much greater sea level rises could occur if major Antarctic ice sheets were to melt.

decadal averaged data from thermometers 95% confidence range

0.8 temperature difference from 1961 to 1990 average/C

0.4

0.4

0.8 1860

1880

1900

1920

1940 year

1960

1980

2000

Figure 1.8 observed changes in global average surface temperature 18602005, relative to corresponding averages for the period 19611990. The term 95% confidence range indicates that there is only a one in 20 chance of a measurement lying outside this range (source: IPCC, 2007b)
Figure 1.8 is a line graph with temperature on the y-axis. The scale is based on the difference between the actual temperature and the average temperature between 1961 and 1990, with zero being in the centre and the scale ranging from 0.8 C to +0.8 C in 0.1 C increments. The year is on the x-axis and is marked in 10 year intervals. The line itself represents the measured difference in decadal average temperature from the 19611990 average. A shaded area either side of the line represents the 95% confidence limits i.e. there is only a one in 20 chance of a measurement lying outside this range. In 1860 the decadal average temperature difference (datd) was about 4.5 C this rose to -1.5C in 1880, fell to -5.0 C in 1910 then rose to zero in 1940, fell to 2 C in 1950 and has then risen steadily since then reaching about +5.0 in 2005. The 95% confidence interval was about 1.0 C in 1860 and remained at about that until about 1935. over the period to 1940 it fell to about 0.75 C where it remained until 2005.

The threat of global climate change, mainly caused by carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion, is one of the main reasons why

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there is a growing consensus on the need to reduce such emissions. In order to ensure that global mean temperature rises do not exceed 2 C above pre-industrial levels by 2050, studies show that global carbon emissions will need to be reduced by approximately 80% by that date. This implies that global CO2 emissions need to peak almost immediately and then fall sharply over the course of the rest of this century (Allen et al., 2009). Emission reductions on this scale will inevitably involve a switch to lowor zero-carbon energy sources such as renewables.

1.4 Renewable energy sources

Renewable energy can be defined as: energy obtained from the continuous or repetitive currents of energy recurring in the natural environment.
(Twidell and Weir, 1986)

or as energy flows which are replenished at the same rate as they are used
(Sorensen, 2000).

From Figure 1.9, which summarizes the origins and magnitudes of the Earths renewable energy sources, it is clear that their principal source is solar radiation. Approximately 30% of the 5.4 million EJ per year arriving at the Earth is reflected back into space. The remaining 70% is, in principle,
direct conversion to heat in air, earth and oceans: (47%) 2.55 million EJ y 1

solar radiation: 5.4 million EJ y 1

hydrological cycle (evaporation, precipitation): (23%) 1.26 million EJ y 1

short wave radiation direct reflection to space: (30%) 1.64 million EJ y 1

wind, waves convection and currents: (<1%) 11.7 thousand EJ y 1 convection in volcanoes and hot springs: 9.36 EJ y 1 photosynthesis: 1260 EJ y 1
hydroelectric power

ocean tides: 93.6 EJ y 1

conduction in rocks: 1008 EJ y 1 Figure 1.9 The various forms of renewable energy depend primarily on incoming solar radiation, which totals some 5.4 million EJ per year
Figure 1.9 is a drawing showing the fate of the Earths incoming solar radiation, which totals 5.4 million EJ per year. Coloured arrows show it split into five portions over a landscape of greenery, rivers, volcanoes and the sea; a dam on a river is labelled hydroelectric power. The rock substrate is also visible at the front of the drawing. The five arrows are labelled: short wave radiation direct reflection to space (30%) 1.64 million EJ per year; direct conversion to heat in air, earth and oceans: (49%) 2.65 million EJ per year; hydrological cycle (evaporation, precipitation): (20%) 1.08 million EJ per year; photosynthesis: (less than 1%) 1260 EJ per year. The ocean is labelled ocean tides: 93.6 EJ per year. The rock substrate is labelled conduction in rocks: 1008 EJ per year.

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available for use on Earth, and amounts to approximately 3.8 million EJ, more than 8200 times the rate of consumption of fossil and nuclear fuels in 2009, some 462 EJ. (If biofuels and hydro power are included, total world energy consumption was 502 EJ, as stated earlier.) Two non-solar, renewable energy sources are also shown on the figure: the motion of the ocean tides and geothermal heat from the Earths interior, which manifests itself in convection in volcanoes and hot springs, and in conduction in rocks.

Solar energy: direct uses

Solar radiation can be converted into useful energy directly, using various technologies. Absorbed in solar collectors, it can provide hot water or space heating. Buildings can also be designed with passive solar features that enhance the contribution of solar energy to their space heating and lighting requirements. Solar energy can also be concentrated by mirrors to provide high-temperature heat for generating electricity. Such solar thermal-electric power stations are in commercial operation in countries like the USA and Spain. Solar thermal energy conversion is described in Chapter 2. Solar radiation can also be converted directly into electricity using photovoltaic (PV) modules, normally mounted on the roofs or facades of buildings. At the time of writing, electricity from photovoltaics is more expensive than that from conventional sources, but prices are falling fast and the industry is expanding rapidly. Solar photovoltaics is described in Chapter 3.

Solar energy: indirect uses

Solar radiation can be converted to useful energy indirectly, via other energy forms. A large fraction of the radiation reaching the Earths surface is absorbed by the oceans, warming them and adding water vapour to the air. The water vapour condenses as rain to feed rivers, into which dams and turbines can be located to extract the energy of the flowing water. Hydropower, described in Chapter 5, has steadily grown during the twentieth century, and at the time of writing provides about a sixth of the worlds electricity. Sunlight falls in a more perpendicular direction in tropical regions and more obliquely at high latitudes, heating the tropics to a greater degree than polar regions. The result is a massive heat flow towards the poles, carried by currents in the oceans and the atmosphere. The energy in such currents can be harnessed, for example by wind turbines. Wind power, described in Chapter 7, has developed on a large scale only in the past few decades, but is one of the fastest-growing of the new renewable sources of electricity. Where winds blow over long stretches of ocean, they create waves, and a variety of devices can be used to extract that energy. Wave power, described in Chapter 8, is attracting new funding for research, development and demonstration in several countries. Bioenergy, discussed in Chapter 4, is another indirect manifestation of solar energy. Through photosynthesis in plants, solar radiation converts water and atmospheric carbon dioxide into carbohydrates, which form the basis of more complex molecules. Biomass, in the form of wood or other

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biofuels, is a major world energy source, especially in the developing world. Gaseous and liquid fuels derived from biological sources make significant contributions to the energy supplies of some countries. Biofuels can also be derived from wastes, many of which are biological in origin. Biofuels are a renewable resource if the rate at which they are consumed is no greater than the rate at which new plants are re-grown which, unfortunately, is often not the case. Although the combustion of biofuels generates atmospheric CO 2 emissions, these should be offset by the CO2 absorbed when the plants were growing, but significant emissions of other greenhouse gases can result if the combustion is inefficient.

non-solar renewables
Two other sources of renewable energy do not depend on solar radiation: tidal and geothermal energy. Tidal energy, discussed in Chapter 6, is often confused with wave energy, but its origins are quite different. Ocean tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon (with a small contribution from the Sun) on the worlds oceans, causing a regular rise and fall in water levels as the Earth rotates. The power of the tides can be harnessed by building a low dam or barrage behind which the rising waters are captured and then allowed to flow back through electricity-generating turbines. It is also possible to harness the power of strong underwater currents, which are mainly tidal in origin. Various devices for exploiting this energy source, such as marine current turbines (rather like underwater wind turbines) are at the demonstration stage. Heat from within the Earth is the source of geothermal energy, discussed in Chapter 9. The high temperature of the interior was originally caused by gravitational contraction of the planet as it was formed, but has since been enhanced by the heat from the decay of radioactive materials deep within the Earth. In some places where hot rocks are very near to the surface, water is heated in underground aquifers. These have been used for centuries to provide hot water or steam. In some countries, geothermal steam is used to produce electricity and, in others, hot water from geothermal wells is used for heating. If steam or hot water is extracted at a greater rate than heat is replenished from surrounding rocks, a geothermal site will cool down and new holes will have to be drilled nearby. When operated in this way, geothermal energy is not strictly renewable. However, it is possible to operate in a renewable mode by keeping the rate of extraction below the rate of renewal.

1.5 Renewable energy in a sustainable future

Renewable energy sources are already providing a significant proportion of the worlds primary energy; Chapter 10 Integration will describe a number of long-term energy studies suggesting that renewables are likely to be providing a much greater proportion of the worlds energy by the

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second half of the twenty-first century. However, this introductory chapter concludes with a very brief look at the prospects for renewable energy in the European Union (EU) as a whole, and in the United Kingdom in particular, in the coming decades. The EU in its 20:20:20 Directive, passed in 2009, set a target for Europe to achieve by 2020 a 20% reduction in carbon emissions combined with a 20% contribution to gross final energy consumption from renewable sources. Within this overall target, individual member states have been given different specific targets suited to their climates and circumstances: the target for the UK is to produce 15% of primary energy from renewables by 2020 (European Union, 2011). EU member countries have been directed to produce National Renewable Energy Action Plans showing how they propose to achieve their 20:20:20 targets. The UK Governments Action Plan (DECC, 2010c) concludes that delivering 15% of UK gross final energy consumption by 2020 is likely to involve renewables generating approximately:

30% of electricity demand, including 2% from small-scale sources 12% of heat demand 10% of transport demand.

To ensure that these targets are met, the UK government has put in place a number of support measures which include the following.

A Renewables Obligation (RO): an obligation on large-scale electricity suppliers to source a significant proportion of their supplies from renewable sources. A Clean Energy Cash-Back scheme (similar to the feed-in tariff schemes operating in Germany and some other countries), under which premium prices are paid to small-scale generators of renewable electricity. A Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), offering incentives to encourage the use of heat producing renewables. A Renewable Transport Fuel obligation, in which road fuel suppliers are obliged to blend in a proportion of biofuels. A Green Investment Bank to channel capital towards renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

Looking a little further ahead, to 2030, the UK Committee on Climate Change in its 2011 report on Renewable Energy (CCC, 2011) envisaged the renewable energy contribution rising to:

between 35% and 65% of electricity supplies between 35% and 50% of UK heat demand between 11% and 25% of transport energy needs.

The precise values achieved will depend on the policies pursued and their effectiveness. The total contribution of renewables to gross final consumption could be between 28% and 46% (Figure 1.10).

1.6 Summary
The analysis on which Figure 1.10 is based, together with other similar analyses, suggests that the prospects for renewable energy in the coming

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decades look bright. Chapter 10 examines in more detail the future prospects for renewables in the UK, the EU and the World as a whole. In the chapters that follow, each of the principal renewable energy sources are examined in turn: in each case their physical principles, the main technologies involved, their costs and environmental impact, the size of the potential resource and their future prospects are discussed. To start, we discuss the renewable source that is the basis of most of the others: solar energy.

non-renewable 1 800 renewables 3% 1 600 1 400 1 200 1 000 800 600 400 200 0 2009 E = 6.6% H = 1.6% T = 2.5% 2020 E = 30% H = 12% T = 8% 2030 E = 30% H = 35% T = 11%

renewable 6 000 5 000 4 000 3 000 2 000 1 000 2030 E = 40% H = 35% T = 11% 2030 E = 50% H = 35% T = 11% 0 2030 year E = 65% H = 50% T = 25% gross final consumption/PJ

Figure 1.10 Scenario from the UK Committee on Climate Change illustrating the potential contribution of renewables to UK heat (H), electricity (E) and transport energy (T), and to overall gross final energy consumption, by 2020 and 2030, compared with the contributions in 2009 (adapted from, CCC, 2011). Note: gross final consumption shown above is approximately equivalent to delivered energy, excluding losses in conversion and delivery, as shown in the last three bars of Figure 1.5 above
Figure 1.10 takes the form of a stacked bar chart showing the contribution of renewables and non-renewables to total energy consumption. The vertical axis has delivered energy in TWh and ranges from zero to 1800 TWh in 200 TWh increments. There are bars representing delivered energy in 2009 and projected figures for 2020 and for four different scenarios for 2030 with the contribution of renewables and fossil fuels to total delivered energy shaded in different colours. Above each bar, the contribution of renewables to total delivered energy is given as a percentage and below each bar the total contribution of renewables to electricity supply (E), heat demand (H) and transport energy needs (T) are given as percentages. For 2009, the total delivered energy is 1600 TWh with 3% from renewables. Underneath the contributions are given as E=6.6%. H=1.6% and T=2.5%. For 2020 the expected delivered energy is about 1500 TWh with renewables contributing 15%. The contributions are given as E=30%, H=12% and T=8%. For 2030 the total delivered energy is about 1500 TWh for all four scenarios. For scenario 1), renewables are 28% of delivered energy with the contributions being E=30%, H=35% and T=11%. For scenario 2) renewables are 31% of delivered energy and contributions are E=40%, H=35% and T=11%. For scenario 3) renewables are 34% of delivered energy and contributions are E=50%, H=35% and T=11%. For scenario 4) renewables are 46% of delivered energy and contributions are E=65%, H=50% and T=25%.

gross final consumption/TWh

15%

28%

31%

34%

46%

References
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