Alternative Energy Sources And Their Future Prospects In India

By- Pearl Monteiro (23), Lara Dsouza (46), Akansha Ganguly (49) and Karl Pereira (57)

What do we mean by Alternative Sources Of Energy?

• Natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable (naturally replenished).

• Energy sources that have no undesired consequences on the environment.

• Renewable, “free’’ sources.• Have lower carbon emissions, compared to conventional

energy sources.

Energy Facts : A Focus On India

• Generating power through coal causes nearly 70% of greenhouse gasses produced in India. Coal and lignite account for about 52% of India's installed energy capacity. • India’s carbon footprint is approximately 1.275 billion tons annually, making it the 4th biggest in producing greenhouse gasses worldwide.

• We produce only 25% fuel of our total requirement. The rest is all imported.

• The loss of power in transmission & distribution is about 40% of total Energy Production.

• Nearly 40% of the country’s total population (urban and rural) lives without access to electricity.

Energy Facts : A Focus On India

Renewable Power Potential Achieved

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Wind Power 20,000 MW 1,000 MW

Small Hydro Power 10,000 MW 172 MW

Biomass 20,000 MW 141 MW

Solar photo- voltaic Power 20 MW/sq.km 810 KW

SOLAR ENERGY

AN ALTERNATIVE SOURCE OF ENERGY

APPLICATIONS OF SOLAR TECHNOLOGY.

1.) Solar power.2.) Solar thermal.3.) Solar lighting.4.)Solar vehicles.

SOLAR POWER.• Solar power is conversion of sunlight into electricity.• Photovoltaic's (PV) or Concentrated solar power(CSP) are

used for conversion of light into electricity using photoelectric effect.

• Solar power runs a wide range of devices, its suitable for running homes, industries , and even for powering satellite.

• Some solar powers plants in India: i) Charanka solar park, Patan Gujarat.

ii) Mahindra solar park, Rajasthan. iii) Thyagaraj stadium plant, Delhi.

SOLAR THERMAL

• Solar thermal consist of: 1.) Water heating:- Solar hot water systems use

sunlight to heat water. Temperatures up to 60◦C can be provided by solar heating systems, generally used for domestic purposes. Use of solar heaters is well developed in India.

2.) Water treatment:- Solar distillation can be used to make saline water potable. Solar energy may be used in water stabilization pond to treat waste water without chemicals.

Energy usage for domestic purposes

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3.) Cooking:- Solar cookers use sunlight for cooking , drying and pasteurization. The worlds largest is located in Abu Road, Rajasthan is capable to cook 35000 meals a day.

SOLAR LIGHTING• Solar lighting also works on photovoltaic cells which

convert light energy into electric energy.• Solar lighting systems are suitable for both domestic

and commercial lighting application.• Solar panels get charged during day time, at night a

photo cell sensor is used to turn on light.• Solar lighting is easy and fast to install and also

economical.

SOLAR VEHICLES

•A solar vehicle is an electric vehicle powered completely or significantly by direct solar energy.• Usually, photovoltaic (PV) cells contained in solar panels convert the sun's energy directly into electric energy.• The term "solar vehicle" usually implies that solar energy is used to power all or part of a vehicle's propulsion.

SOLAR ENERGY DISTRIBUTION

REASONS TO USE SOLAR ENERGY.....!!!

• GREEN• RENEWABLE• AVALIABLE ANYWHERE• DURABLE• ECO-FRIENDLY• COST SAVINGS• EASY INSTALLATION• RELIABLE

Biomass Energy

•The term "biomass" refers to organic matter that has stored energy through the process of photosynthesis. • It exists in one form as plants and may be transferred through the food chain to animals' bodies and their wastes, all of which can be converted for everyday human use through processes like combustion .

Sources of Biomass

• Many of the biomass fuels used today come in the form of wood products, dried vegetation, crop residues, and aquatic plants.

Various sources of biomass

Biomass projects

• India has been promoting biomass gasifier technologies in its rural areas, to utilize surplus biomass resources such as rice husk, crop stalks, small wood chips .

• The goal was to produce electricity for villages up to 2 MW capacities.

Small-scale gasifiers

Biomass projects in India

• During 2011, India installed 25 rice husk based gasifier systems for power generation in 70 remote villages of Bihar .

• During the year, biomass gasifier projects of 1.20 MW in Gujarat and 0.5 MW in Tamil Nadu were successfully installed.

Biomass projects

• In 2011, India started a new initiative with the aim to demonstrate medium size mixed feed biogas-fertilizer pilot plants. This technology aims for generation, purification,enrichment, bottling and piped distribution of biogas.

Biomass plant

Other benefits

• Biomass power generation in India is an industry that attracts investments of over INR 600 crores every year.

• It generates more than 5000 million units of electricity and yearly employment of more than 10 million man-days in the rural areas

Other benefits

Future of biomass

• Biomass has become one of the most commonly used renewable sources of energy in the last two decades, second only to hydropower in the generation of electricity.

• It is such a widely utilized source of energy, probably due to its low cost and indigenous nature, that it accounts for almost 15% of the world's total energy supply and its use will keep on increasing .

Future of biomass

• In particular there is a significant potential in breweries, textile mills, fertilizer plants, the paper and pulp industry, solvent extraction units, rice mills, petrochemical plants and other industries to harness biomass power.

WHY WIND ENERGY?

• IT’S A RENEWABLE SOURCE OF ENERGY.• IT’S FREE• IT’S A CLEAN RESOURCE AS THERE IS NO

EMISSION ASSOCIATED WITH ITS USE.

HOW IS WIND ENERGY GENERATED?

THE TERM “WIND ENERGY” DESCRIBES THE PROCESS BY WHICH WIND IS USED TO GENERATE MECHANICAL POWER OR ELECTRICTY.WIND TURBINES CONVERT THE KINETIC ENERGY IN THE WIND INTO MECHANICAL POWER AND THIS POWER CAN BE USED FOR SPECIFIC TASKS.

BENEFITS OF WIND ENERGY

• NO AIR EMISSION• NO FUEL TO MINE,TRANSPORT OR STORE• NO COOLING WATER• NO WATER POLLUTION• NO WASTES

WIND ENERGY FARMS

• A WIND ENERGY FARM IS A GROUP OF WIND TURBINES IN THE SAME LOCATION FOR PRODUCTION OF ELECTRICITY.

• A LARGE WIND ENERGY FARM CONSISTS 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.

WIND ENERGY IN INDIA

• INDIA HAS THE FIFTH LARGEST INSTALLED WIND CAPACITY IN THE WORLD.

• IN 2009-10 INDIA’S GROWTH RATE WAS HIGHEST AMOUNG THE TOP FOUR COUNTRIES.

• AS OF 31st MARCH 2011 THE INSTALLLED CAPACITY OF WINDPOWER IN INDIA WAS 16078MW.

• WIND POWER ACCOUNTS FOR 6% OF INDIA’S TOTAL INSTALLED POWER CAPACITY AND IT GENERATES 1.6% OF COUNTRY’S POWER.

• MAHARASHTRA IS 3rd only TO TAMIL NADU AND GUJARAT IN TERMS OF GENERATING CAPACITY.

WIND ENERGY IN INDIA

WIND FARM IN KAYATHAR,TAMIL NADU

WIND FARM IN MUPPANDAL,TAMIL NADU

WIND-NATURAL GAS COMPARISION

• WIND• Low operating cost• High capital cost• No fuel supply/cost risk• No emissions

• NATURAL GAS• High operating cost• Low capital cost• Fuel supply/cost risk• Smog, greenhouse, gas

emissions.

WIND POWER ISN’T PERFECT

• Wind power ouput varies overtime.• It is location dependent.(rural v/s urban where

it is needed most)• Has environmental impacts.• Can only meet part of the electrical load.

Conclusion

• Alternative energy sources have no or few undesired consequences.

• If utilized properly there is no environmental degradation.

• Alternative energy resources are renewable and sustainable.