Renewable and Alternative Energy Sources

What are the Renewable Energy Sources?

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Solar Energy (Active and Passive)

o The sun is free (nobody owns or controls it)
o In principle, the amount of solar energy that reaches the Earths
surface could provide for all human energy needs forever.
Geothermal power
o Heat coming from the Geo (Earth)
Hydropower
o A cross-section of a typical hydroelectric dam
o Water flows down the penstock, turns the turbine blades which
power the generators
Tidal Power
o All large bodies of water, including the oceans and large lakes,
have tides
o Tidal power captures the energy contained in moving water mass
dues to tides.
o You can use the flowing water between low and high tides to
generate electricity, similar to hydropower.
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)
o A new, clean technology that is still in the developmental stage.
o It exploits the temperature difference between warm surface
water and the cold water at depth to run a heat engine
o A heat engine is a device placed between a high temperature
reservoir placed between a
o Either the warm water is used directly to run a turbine, or the
heat is used to vaporize a working fluid (ammonia) which runs
the turbine.
Wind Energy
o Wind is free, commonly available and can provide clean,
pollution-free energy
o Todays win-turbines are very high tech.
Biomass
o Derived from organic matter
o Stoves that burn wood are the classic example
o There had been a 20-25% increase in the use of wood stoves
over the past several decades.
Hydrogen
o