RENEWABLE ENERGY

The aim of this project is to look at the advantages and disadvantages of renewable energy and what are they. Our sources include facts and figures from several websites.
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources, which are naturally replenished on a human timescale, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat. Renewable energy often provides energy in four important areas: electricity generation, air and water heating/cooling, transportation, and rural(off-grid) energy services.

Now, we are going to explain the following renewable energies:

SOLAR ENERGY is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of ever-evolving technologies such as solar heating, photovoltaics, solar thermal energy, solar architecture, molten salt power plants and artificial photosinthesis.

It is an important source of renewable energy and its technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on how they capture and distribute solar energy or convert it into solar power.

·         Photovoltaic solar panels are made up of materials capable of producing electricity when the Sun's rays hit them.

·         Thermal solar collectors are used to heat water, which can either be used directly or indirectly, upon making turbines rotate and thereby generate electricity.

WIND POWER is the use of air flow through wind turbines to provide the mechanical power to turn electric generator 4 and traditionally to do other work, like milling or pumping. Wind power, as an alternative to burning fossil fuels , is plentiful, renewable , widely distributed, clean , produces no greenhouse gas emissions during operation, consumes no water, and uses little land^. The net effects on the environment are far less problematic than those of fossil fuels sources.

Wind farms consist of many individual wind turbines, which are connected to the electric power transmission network.

1.       The blades turn, propelled by the wind and transfer their movement to the shaft.

2.       The movement of the shaft passes to the multiplier, where an adequate turning speed for the generator is reached.

3.       Then, the generator transforms this mechanical energy into electrical energy.

4.       The energy produced moves through conductors cables to a transformer and from there, flows to the distribution network. 

HYDRAULIC ENERGY is the water which has a certain wieght. As a fluid it is able to move and adapt to the volume that contains it. A river is an example of this behaviour of water. 

BIOMASS is plant or animal material used for energy production, heat production, or in various industrial processes as raw material for a range of products.

FUEL CELLS. A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions.Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requiring a continuous source of fuel and oxygen (usually from air) to sustain the chemical reaction, whereas in a battery the chemical.

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY. Geothermal energy is thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth. Thermal energy is the energy that determines the temperature of matter. The geothermal energy of the Earth's crust originates from the original formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of materials.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

Advantages: it is a clean energy source, without waste products and is easy to store. Also the water stored in reservoirs situated at altitude permits the regulation of the flow of the river.Other advantages of renewable energies is that it can’t run out and it is very abundant so it can be found in the majority of+ places.It makes the region more autonomous, since it develops in the same region where it is installed, industry and the economy.

Disadvantages: the construction of hydroelectric plants is expensive and needs  large  networks of power cables. Reservoirs also mean the loss of productive soil and fauna due to the flooding of their habitat. They also cause a decrease in the  flow of the rivers and streams below the dam and alter the quality of the waters. The following animation shows how hydraulic energy is stored and exploited.Renewable energy may be a better option for emission creation than fossil fuels but that doesn’t mean they are free from pollution.Also it can take a lot of espace to be installed.

USES OF RENEWABLE ENERGIES IN SPAIN

Electricity from renewable sources in Spain represented 42.8% of electricity demand coverage during 2014. The country has a very large wind power capability built up over many years and is one of the world leaders in wind power generation.

Initially Spain also positioned itself as a European leader in solar power, by 2007-2010 the country was second only to Germany in installed capacity, however other countries (Italy in particular) have since leapfrogged Spanish development. By 2015 solar power in Spain though significant produced less than a third of that of wind power in 2015.

Spain has set the target of generating 20% of all its energy needs from renewable energy sources by 2020 and an additional 0.8% may be available for other EU countries under the cooperation mechanism bringing the total to 20.8%. By the end of 2014 Spain had reached a level of 16.2% of all its energy needs from renewable energy sources.

The story of renewable energy development in Spain is both a mixed and unfinished one. Under previous subsidies the country expanded its renewable base rapidly and helped establish a domestic industry in both wind turbine and solar energy. However, support was drastically cut back following the global financial crisis and new installations stagnated between 2012 and 2015. The debts incurred during the boom period have led to tougher and retrospective revisions of contracts to providers of renewable energy reducing returns considerably. In being one of the first-to-market countries, Spain faces the challenge of powerful competitors from countries such as Denmark, Germany and China and ironically a cheaper and more mature renewable energy sector which Spain itself helped to pioneer.

Here you can see a video of Renewable Energies.

By: Paula Capel, Hugo Expósito, Alba María Molina and Arturo Beléndez.