Renewable Energy

This chapter presents an in-depth examination of major renewable energy technologies, including their installed capacity and energy supply in 2009 , the current state of market and technology development, their economic and financial feasibility in 2009 and in the near future, as well as major issues they may face relative to their sustainability or implementation. Renewable energy sources have been important for humankind since the beginning of civilization. For centuries, biomass has been used for heating, cooking, steam generation, and power production; solar energy has been used for heating and drying; geothermal energy has been used for hot water supplies; hydropower, for movement; and wind energy, for pumping and irrigation. For many decades renewable energy sources have also been used to produce electricity or other modern energy carriers

The Economic Value of Remote Sensing of Earth Resources from Space: An ERTS Overview and the Value of Continuity of Service. Volume 1: Summary

An overview of the ERTS program is given to determine the magnitude of the benefits that can be reasonably expected to flow from an Earth Resources Survey (ERS) Program, and to assess the benefits foregone in the event of a one or two-year gap in ERS services. An independent evaluation of the benefits attributable to ERS-derived information in key application areas is presented. These include two case studies in agriculture-distribution, production and import/export, and one study in water management. The cost-effectiveness of satellites in an ERS system is studied by means of a land cover case study. The annual benefits achieveable from an ERS system are measured by the in-depth case studies to be in the range of $430 to$746 million. Benefits foregone in the event of a one-year gap in ERS service are estimated to be $147 to$220 million and $274 to$420 million for a two-year gap in ERS service

Sustainable Approaches to Controlled Environment Agriculture

This Major Portfolio explores the role sustainable controlled environment agriculture has in responding to concerns about local food security in a cold weather climate such as Canada. The technologies and processes examined within this Major Portfolio are plant factories with artificial light (PFALs), aquaponics, passive solar energy, photovoltaic, cogeneration and geothermal greenhouses, as well as a household hydroponic vertical growing kit for home and office food production. While some of the technology that is assessed is well established, others represent fairly new developments within the arena of CEA and require further advancement to assess whether they have a place as an adaptation response to climate change or can effectively play a roll in a local food systems approach to community food security in Canada. An essential question that guided my Major Portfolio research is, in what way, if at all, can growing food in an enclosed environment be a response to a local food systems approach to community food security in a cold weather climate such as Canada? As part of my Major Portfolio I examine under what conditions sustainable CEA technologies can be a part of a strategy aimed toward greater food security. The following are questions that informed my Major Portfolio research: - What are the most recent developments in sustainable CEA? - What are the groups, organizations and businesses that are operating in this space? - What are potential ways in which sustainable CEA can serve as a mitigation and adaptation strategy to climate crisis? - How can the concerns levied towards 'sustainable' CEA from the perspective of climate crisis be resolved? - How can sustainable CEA technologies be adapted to reflect the priorities of food security and food sovereignty movements

Renewable Energy Opportunities at Fort Polk, Louisiana

This document provides an overview of renewable resource potential at Fort Polk, based primarily upon analysis of secondary data sources supplemented with limited on-site evaluations. This effort focuses on grid-connected generation of electricity from renewable energy sources and also on ground source heat pumps for heating and cooling buildings. The effort was funded by the U.S. Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM) as follow-on to the 2005 Department of Defense (DoD) Renewables Assessment. The site visit to Fort Polk took place on February 16, 2010

Application of the Finite Element Method to Solve Coupled Multiphysics Problems for Subsurface Energy Extraction

Fractures are a source of extra compliance in the rock mass. Fracture compliance can estimate the fracture roughness and the type of fluid filling the fracture. The focus of this research study in chapter 2 is to illustrate how the compliance ratio of rough fractures can diverge from the compliance ratio of smooth fractures. The imperfect interface of the fracture is modeled with saw-tooth-like structures. The defined saw-tooth-like structures of contact asperities impose an in-plane asymmetry in the shear direction. The compliance ratio of the rough fracture is larger than the compliance ratio of the smooth fracture. Interlocking and riding up effects may explain our findings in chapter 2. Recovered core samples and extensive outcrops studies have proved the existence of natural fractures in many tight formations. These natural fractures are likely filled with digenetic materials such as clays, quartz or calcite. In chapter 3, this study suggests that small cemented natural fractures can be opened by the induced tensile stress due to the temperature difference between the cold fracturing fluid and hot formation. Cohesive zone model (CZM) is utilized here to simulate these natural fractures. Contribution of these micro natural fractures to cumulative gas production from a shale reservoir is investigated by modifying the transmissibility coefficient. Reservoir simulation results in chapter 3 suggest that reactivated natural fractures in the tight formations at early stages can improve gas production up to 25\%; however, their effect significantly reduces to 3\% in long term. Geothermal systems are identified as either open-loop systems (OLGS) or closed-loop systems (CLGS). The loss of working fluid, surface subsidence, formation compaction, and induced seismicity are major challenges in OLGS. To address the indicated challenges, CLGS can be considered as an alternative option. To improve the heat extraction from closed-loop wells, this research study in chapter 4 suggests highly conductive hydraulic fractures for CLGS to improve heat extraction rate. The results suggest that fractures significantly improve thermal power and cumulative extracted heat in CLGS. Thermal conductivity of the proppants is the key parameter enhancing heat extraction

CHARACTERIZATION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC VIBRATION BASED ENERGY HARVESTING SYSTEM

This work presents the characterization of electromagnetic vibration based energy harvesting system. Energy harvesting is the process which energy is derived from external sources, captured, and stored for low power application devices. Vibration energy is an alternative energy sources beside solar, wind, and thermal energies. Energy harvesting is crucially important as it is environmental friendly and renewable sources. Overall, the electromagnetic vibration based energy harvesting converted vibration energy into electrical energy based on electromagnetic principle and second order mass spring system. It mainly consists of proof mass, vibrating membrane (spring), coil and also permanent magnet. The main objective of this project is to perform the characterization for electromagnetic vibration based energy harvester. The characterizations are divided to two parts which cover both the electrical and mechanical characterizations. Under the electrical characterization, the open loop, closed loop, impedance matching and the effect of difference gravitational acceleration to output voltage are investigated. For mechanical characterization, the resonance frequency, bandwidth frequency and damping ratio are analyzed. From the electrical and mechanical characterization, it was found that the open loop voltage produced by the device is 0.6759V, while the close loop voltage is 0.3073V at 260 matched impedance. Device resonance occurs at 22.7 Hz with damping ratio of 0.001862 and 10Hz operating bandwidth. From the characterization results, this device is found to be suitable for low power and autonomous applications such as the wireless sensor network, memory cell for portable electronic device and others