Overview
We ask the question ‘Can renewable energy sources power the world?’ as a response to the growing awareness that increased use of renewable energy technologies is making a major contribution to global efforts to limit anthropogenic climate change.The course begins by examining the environmental concerns that have caused a rise in interest in renewable energy, introducing the main sources and technologies, and describing global efforts to increase the share of renewables. The course then looks at each of the principal renewable energy technologies and the contributions they might make to global energy demand.Finally, several future energy scenarios are analysed to show how combinations of renewable energy sources and technologies could provide a major share of global energy needs.Transcript5 This OpenLearn science course was produced with the kind support of Dangoor Education, the educational arm of The Exilarch's Foundation. This course is accredited by the CPD Standards Office. It can be used to provide evidence of continuing professional development and on successful completion of the course you will be awarded 24 CPD points. Evidence of your CPD achievement is provided on the free Statement of Participation awarded on completion.Anyone wishing to provide evidence of their enrolment on this course is able to do so by sharing their Activity Record on their OpenLearn Profile, which is available before completion of the course and earning of the Statement of Participation. Enrolling on the course will give you the opportunity to earn an Open University digital badge. Badges are not accredited by The Open University but they’re a great way to demonstrate your interest in the subject and commitment to your career and to provide evidence of continuing professional development.Once you are signed in, you can manage your digital badges online from My OpenLearn. In addition, you can download and print your OpenLearn statement of participation – which also displays your Open University badge.The Open University would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations for the course before you begin, in our optional start-of-course survey. Once you complete the course we would also value your feedback and suggestions for future improvement, in our optional end-of-course survey. Participation will be completely confidential and we will not pass on your details to others.
Syllabus
- Introduction and guidance
- Introduction and guidance
- What is a badged course?
- How to get a badge
- Acknowledgements
- Week1Week 1: Introducing renewable energy
- Introduction
- 1 Defining sustainable and renewable energy
- 1.1 Renewed interest in renewables
- 2 Energy definitions and concepts
- 2.1 Units of energy and power
- 2.2 Efficiency and capacity factor
- 3 Renewable energy from the Sun
- 4 Energy supply and demand: world and UK
- 4.1 World energy supplies
- 4.2 Energy supply and demand in the UK
- 5 Fossil fuels, greenhouse gases and climate change
- 5.1 What are the causes of climate change?
- 6 Overview of renewable energy sources
- 6.1 Non-solar renewables
- 7 EU and UK renewable energy prospects 2020–2030
- 7.1 Electricity market reform and new EU 2030 targets
- 8 Case study: Scotland aims for 100% renewable electricity by 2020
- 9 Week 1 quiz
- 10 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week2Week 2: Solar energy for heating and daylighting
- Introduction
- 1 Solar thermal energy and daylighting
- 1.1 Solar radiation
- 2 Direct and diffuse solar radiation
- 2.1 Availability of solar radiation
- 2.2 Optimising solar energy collection
- 3 Passive solar heating of buildings
- 4 Daylighting
- 5 Active solar heating
- 6 Varieties of solar collector
- 7 Solar district heating
- 8 Heat pumps
- 8.1 Air and ground source heat pumps
- 8.2 Heat gains from heat pumps
- 9 Solar thermal electricity generation
- 9.1 Power towers
- 10 Week 2 quiz
- 11 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week3Week 3: Solar photovoltaics
- Introduction
- 1 Basic physical principles of photovoltaics
- 1.1 Semiconductors
- 2 Photovoltaic materials and technologies
- 2.1 Crystalline silicon PV
- 2.2 Gallium arsenide PV
- 2.3 Thin-film silicon PV
- 2.4 Other thin-film PV technologies
- 2.5 Concentrating PV systems
- 3 Photovoltaic systems for remote power
- 4 PV systems for houses
- 5 PV systems for non-domestic buildings
- 6 Large PV power plants
- 7 Energy yield from PV systems
- 8 PV economics and environmental impact
- 8.1 Environmental impact and safety
- 9 PV integration into electricity systems
- 10 The growing world PV market
- 11 Week 3 quiz
- 12 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week4Week 4: Bioenergy
- Introduction
- 1 Introducing bioenergy
- 2 Biomass as a solar energy store
- 2.1 How much energy from biomass?
- 3 Biomass as a fuel
- 4 Biomass energy from plants
- 4.1 Woody biomass
- 4.2 Cellulosic materials
- 4.3 Other energy crops
- 4.4 Microalgae and other microorganisms
- 5 Secondary biomass energy from wastes, residues and co-products
- 5.1 Wood residues
- 5.2 Temperate and tropical crop co-products
- 5.3 Wastes
- 6 Biomass processing
- 6.1 Physical processing
- 6.2 Thermochemical processing
- 6.3 Biochemical processing
- 7 Environmental impact of bioenergy
- 7.1 Emissions
- 7.2 Land use
- 8 Energy balance of bioenergy
- 9 Costing bioenergy
- 10 Future prospects for bioenergy
- 11 Week 4 quiz
- 12 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week5Week 5: Hydroelectricity
- Introduction
- 1 Background to hydroelectricity
- 2 Hydropower resources – world, regional, national
- 2.1 Regional hydro resources
- 2.2 National hydro resources
- 3 World hydro output
- 4 Small-scale hydro
- 5 Stored energy and available power
- 5.1 Pumped storage
- 5.2 Power, head and flow rate
- 6 Types of hydroelectric plant
- 7 Types of hydro turbine
- 8 Hydro as a component of a power system
- 9 Environmental impact of hydroelectricity
- 9.1 Hydrological effects
- 9.2 Other physical effects
- 9.3 Social effects of hydroelectricity
- 9.4 Considerations and comparisons
- 10 Economics of hydroelectricity
- 11 Future prospects for hydro
- 12 Week 5 quiz
- 13 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week6Week 6: Wind energy
- Introduction
- 1 The origins of wind and atmospheric pressure
- 2 Energy and power in the wind
- 3 Wind turbine types
- 4 Aerodynamics of wind turbines
- 4.1 Aerofoils and harnessing aerodynamic forces
- 5 Power and energy from wind turbines
- 5.1 Calculating wind energy distribution
- 5.2 Estimating annual energy production
- 5.3 Wind speed maps, atlases and computer models
- 6 Environmental impact of wind energy
- 6.1 Wind turbine noise
- 6.2 Electromagnetic interference
- 6.3 Wind turbines and aviation
- 6.4 Impact on wildlife
- 6.5 Public attitudes and planning considerations
- 7 Calculating the costs of wind energy
- 8 Offshore wind energy
- 9 Future prospects for wind energy
- 10 Week 6 quiz
- 11 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week7Week 7: Wave energy
- Introduction
- 1 The physical principles of wave energy
- 1.1 Deep and shallow water waves
- 1.2 What happens beneath the surface?
- 2 Wave energy resources
- 3 Wave energy technologies
- 3.1 Fixed devices
- 3.2 TAPCHAN and other fixed devices
- 3.3 Floating devices
- 3.4 Point absorbers: the AWS-III/Clam
- 3.5 Attenuator devices
- 4 Wave energy economics
- 5 Environmental impact of wave energy technology
- 6 Grid integration of wave energy
- 7 Conclusions
- 8 Week 7 quiz
- 9 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week8Week 8: Towards a renewable future
- Introduction
- 1 UK renewable energy futures
- 1.1 UK electricity scenarios
- 2 Balancing renewable supply and demand
- 3 Pathways to 2050
- 4 Renewable energy futures for Denmark
- 5 Renewable energy futures for Germany
- 5.1 Germany as a role model?
- 6 Renewable energy scenarios for Europe
- 7 European supergrids and DESERTEC
- 8 Can renewables power the world?
- 8.1 95% of global energy from renewables by 2050
- 8.2 Comparing International Energy Agency and Greenpeace scenarios
- 9 Summary and conclusions
- 10 End of course quiz
- 11 End of course summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
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5.0 rating, based on 1 Class Central review
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I recently completed the renewable energy course, and I must say it was an enlightening journey. From the moment I enrolled, I was impressed by the depth of knowledge and the practical approach taken by the instructors. They made complex topics feel…