Syllabus Edition

First teaching 2015

Last exams 2025

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Renewable & Alternative Energy Sources

Alistair Marjot

Written by: Alistair Marjot

Reviewed by: Bridgette Barrett

Renewable & Alternative Energy Sources

What are Renewable Energy Sources?

  • Sources of energy with lower carbon dioxide emissions than fossil fuels include renewable energy sources

  • Renewable energy are energy sources that will not run out and include:

    • Solar

    • Biomass

    • Hydropower

    • Wind

    • Wave and tidal

    • Geothermal

  • Once in place, these renewable energy sources do not produce any greenhouse gas emissions (with the exception of biomass)

    • However, it is important to note that greenhouse gases may be emitted in the production, construction and transport of the equipment required for the above renewable energy sources

Renewable Energy Sources Examples:

Solar

  • The energy from the Sun that falls on the Earth is transferred by radiation

    • Mostly visible light and infrared radiation

  • The amount of energy transferred from the Sun to the Earth each hour is roughly equal to the energy use of the world for one year

  • Therefore, scientists are working hard to find methods of harnessing this energy

    • Solar energy has a low energy density, which means large collecting devices are required

    • Collecting solar energy is expensive (due to the equipment required) and inefficient

Solar PV panels

  • Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels transfer energy from sunlight electrically producing a current, and therefore generating electrical power

    • Solar cells, sometimes called photovoltaic cells, are made of semiconducting materials

    • A number of photovoltaic cells or panels connected together can supply electricity to homes, small-scale businesses, communication devices and satellites

    • Energy generated can be stored in batteries for later use

   Advantages

  • Solar energy is a renewable resource

  • In many places on Earth sunlight is a reliable energy resource (this means that the sun shines most of the time)

  • Solar farms produce no greenhouse gases or pollution

  • Solar energy can be generated in remote places where they don't have electricity (e.g. to power solar street signs in rural areas)

  • Can be small or large scale

  • Can be incorporated into building design

  • Technology is improving and reducing the cost

   Disadvantages

  • Solar farms need to be large scale to produce large amounts of electricity, which is expensive to set up

  • Uses large areas of land

  • People often don't like the appearance of large solar farms, this is known as visual pollution

  • In many places on Earth sunlight is not a reliable energy resource (there are not enough sunshine-hours to justify the set-up costs)

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Solar PV panels use energy from sunlight to produce electricity

Solar thermal panels

  • Solar thermal panels transfer energy from sunlight to the thermal store of the solar panels which is used to heat water in the pipes

    • Solar panels can be used to warm domestic water supplies

    • This can reduce the cost of producing hot water since it is heated partially by solar panels

   Advantages

  • Solar energy is a renewable resource

  • In many places on Earth sunlight is a reliable energy resource (this means that the sun shines most of the time)

  • Solar thermal panels produce no greenhouse gases or pollution once they are operating

  • Solar thermal panels can cut the cost of energy bills for households

   Disadvantages

  • Additional energy (e.g. from fossil fuels) is still needed to heat water to a higher temperature in domestic households

  • In many places on Earth sunlight is not a reliable energy resource (the sun doesn't shine regularly enough to justify the set-up costs)

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Solar thermal panels use energy from sunlight to heat water directly

Biomass

  • Biofuels (also known as biomass fuels) are renewable fuels derived from organic materials, such as plants and animal waste, that can be used as an alternative to fossil fuels.

    • However, they have only half the energy density of fossil fuels

  • The three main biofuels are:

    • Biodiesel - made by refining renewable fats and oils (e.g. vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled cooking oil)

    • Bioethanol - made by fermentation (of crops rich in sugars or starches, such as corn or sugarcane)

    • Biogas - released when organic waste products decompose

   Advantages

  • Biofuel is a renewable resource - uses waste or bioproducts that can be regrown

  • Some vehicles can be powered by biofuel rather than using fossil fuels

  • Biofuel is considered to be carbon neutral

  • No sulfur dioxide is produced

   Disadvantages

  • Crops of biofuel producing plants must be grown which takes time

  • Growing the crops takes a lot of land, and takes resources needed for food production

  • Burning biofuels releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere (however, it is considered carbon neutral because plants take in carbon dioxide when they photosynthesise)

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Plants take in carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, but carbon dioxide is released back into the atmosphere when biofuels are burned

Hydropower

  • When water is stored above ground level it has gravitational potential energy

  • This energy can be transferred to kinetic energy if the water is allowed to flow down the slope

  • Flowing water turns the turbine to generate electricity

   Advantages

  • Can respond to demand quickly so is reliable and available

  • Can generate large scale amounts of electricity in a short period of time

  • Often in sparsely populated areas

   Disadvantages

  • Expensive to build and maintain

  • Creating reservoirs sometimes results in the need to flood valleys, which destroys habitats, towns and villages

  • The pumping systems (used if water needs to be pumped up to the reservoir) often rely on fossil fuels, releasing large amounts of greenhouse gases

  • Dam traps sediment which can affect ecosystems downstream

  • Visual pollution

  • Can prevent fish movement and migration upstream

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A hydroelectric dam transfers the gravitational potential energy of the water to kinetic energy in order to generate electricity

Wind

  • Wind energy is a renewable form of energy that harnesses the power of the wind to generate electricity

  • It involves the use of wind turbines, which have large blades that spin when the wind blows

  • The rotating blades transfer kinetic energy to a generator, which converts it into electrical energy

   Advantages

  • Wind is an abundant resource that will never run out, making wind energy a sustainable and renewable source of power

  • Wind energy produces no greenhouse gas emissions or air pollutants during operation, helping to reduce the negative impact on climate change and air quality

  • Wind energy reduces dependence on fossil fuels and foreign energy sources, promoting energy independence and security

  • The wind energy industry creates jobs in manufacturing, installation, operation, and maintenance of wind turbines

  • Can be small or large scale

  • Can be on land or offshore

  • Cheap to run

   Disadvantages

  • Wind is not constant, and the availability of wind energy fluctuates

  • Electricity generation from wind turbines depends on wind speed and consistency

  • Wind turbines can be visually intrusive, especially when installed in large numbers

  • Some people may find the noise generated by wind turbines to be disruptive

  • Wind farms require large areas of land, which can have an impact on agricultural or natural landscapes

  • Birds and bats may occasionally collide with wind turbines, causing some impact on local wildlife populations

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Photo by Zbynek Burival on Unsplash 

A wind farm in Austria - some people think wind turbines are an eye-sore, especially when installed in large numbers

Wave and tidal

  • The rise and fall of waves or the tide can be used to turn a turbine and generate electricity

Advantages

  • No pollution

  • Reliable and can produce a large amount of electricity at short notice

  • Renewable energy resource

  • Small systems are being developed to provide electricity for small islands

Disadvantages

  • Expensive to build and maintain

  • Damages fragile habitats

  • Very few suitable locations

  • The technology is not advanced enough for large scale electricity production

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Underwater turbines generate electricity from the movement of waves

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Tidal barrages can generate electricity from the movement of water, both as the tide comes in and as it goes out again

Geothermal

  • Geothermal energy is caused by the heat that is generated from within the Earth

    • The Earth's interior is extremely hot, partly due to radioactive elements deep in the Earth that release energy as they decay

  • This geothermal energy heats up rocks in the Earth's crust, sometimes to an extremely high temperature

    • Water can be poured into shafts below the Earth's surface

    • The water is heated and returned via another shaft as steam or hot water

    • Steam can be used to turn a turbine and generate electricity, and the hot water can also be used to heat homes

   Advantages

  • Renewable resource

  • Reliable source of energy

  • Geothermal power stations are usually small compared to nuclear or fossil fuel power stations

   Disadvantages

  • Few suitable locations on Earth, so only viable for small scale electricity production in many countries

  • Can result in the release of greenhouse gases from underground

  • Expensive to build and maintain

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Cold water is heated by natural geothermal energy underground, and then returned as hot water or steam, which can be used to generate electricity

Nuclear

  • Energy stored in the nucleus of atoms can be released when the nucleus is broken in two

    • This is known as nuclear fission

  • Nuclear power stations use fission reactions to create steam, to turn turbines to generate electricity

  • Nuclear power is a low carbon low-emission non-renewable resource but is controversial due to the radioactive waste it produces and the potential scale of any accident

Advantages

  • No pollution released into atmosphere

  • Nuclear reactors are perfectly safe as long as they are functioning properly (rigorous safety checks must be routinely carried out and rigorous safety procedures followed)

  • Nuclear power stations can generate electricity reliably on a large scale to be available as needed

  • Small amounts of uranium are needed, and large reserves are available

  • Reduces reliance on fossil fuels

  • Increases energy security

Disadvantages

  • Uranium ore found in the ground is used for fission reactions and since there is a finite supply, nuclear power is a non-renewable resource

  • Nuclear fuels produce radioactive waste, which needs to be stored for thousands of years

  • Safe ways of storing radioactive waste are very expensive

  • If an accident occurs at a nuclear reactor, radioactive waste can leak out and spread over large areas

  • Cost of decommissioning (shutting down) nuclear power plants is very high

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Nuclear fission occurs when a large nucleus is broken into two smaller nuclei, releasing large amounts of energy

  • Nuclear energy is often used in countries who do not have their own supplies of fossil fuels, such as France

  • In 2019 approximately 4% of the global primary energy supply was from nuclear power

  • There are 439 active nuclear reactors across the world. Most of these are in just five countries:

    • USA (92)

    • France (56)

    • China (54)

    • Russia (37)

    • Japan (33)

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Share of electricity production from nuclear power plants

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