1. TRENDS IN RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS
(CASE STUDY ON DEVELOPMENTS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES)
Sudershan Malpani 1
, Navneet Agarwal 2
, Ravish Khichar 3
1,
Student, Computer Science Engineering, sudershan.malpani@gmail.com.
2
Student, Computer Science Engineering, enavneetagarwal@gmail.com
3
Student, Information Technology Engineering, ravish.khichar@gmail.com
Abstract
Renewable energy is derived from natural processes that are replenished constantly. Included in the definition is
electricity and heat generated from solar, wind, ocean, hydropower, biomass, geothermal resources, and biofuels and
hydrogen derived from renewable resources. In 2006, about 18% of global final energy consumption came from
renewables, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, such as wood-burning. Each of these sources has unique
characteristics which influence how and where they are used. Increasing the proportion of power derived from
renewable energy sources is becoming an increasingly important part of many country’s strategies to achieve
reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. However, renewable energy investments can often have external costs and
benefits, which need to be taken into account if socially optimal investments are to be made. This paper attempts to
estimate the magnitude of these external effects and benefits for the case of renewable technologies so as to set some
really ambitious targets for expanding renewable energy. The external effects we consider are those on landscape
quality, wildlife and air quality. We also consider the welfare implications of different investment strategies for
employment and electricity prices. Welfare changes for different combinations of impacts associated with different
investment strategies are estimated. We also test for differences in preferences towards these impacts between urban
and rural communities, and between high-and low-income households. In this dual storm of an economic recession
and a climate crisis the renewable energy turns out to be the boon for human welfare. After all, the solution to one
lies in the solution to the other.
Keywords: Renewable Energy, Economic recession, Choice Experiments, climate crisis.
1. INTRODUCTION:
We use energy every day. It surrounds us in different
forms, such as light, heat, and electricity. Our bodies
use the energy stored in molecules of substances like
carbohydrates and protein to move, breathe, grow,
and think. We also use energy to do work and to play.
Humans have invented thousands of machines and
appliances that use energy to make our work easier,
to heat our homes, and to get ourselves from place to
place. With the advancement of science and
technology getting carried away centuries per
centuries we have witnessed the petulant and never
ending consumption of non renewables that are non
replenishable affecting the nature and the human
itself by leading him to a state of craving for energy
fulfillment demands, and all these effects can be
easily seen in the present scenario with ever growing
energy needs and ever exhausting natural energy
sources. That is why there comes the need of some
energy sources that could satisfy human appetite even
after the complete extinguition of natural resources,
and that could be used again and again without
bothering about its availability and extinction.
Renewable energy is energy generated from natural
resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and
geothermal heat, which are renewable (naturally
replenished).
2. CURRENT SCENARIO
In 2008, total worldwide energy consumption was
474 exajoules (5×10e20 J) with 80 to 90 percent
derived from the combustion of fossil fuels.This is
equivalent to an average power consumption rate of
15 terawatts (1.504×10e13 W). Not all of the world's
economies track their energy consumption with the
same rigor, and the exact energy content of a barrel
of oil or a ton of coal will vary with quality.
The estimates of remaining non-renewable
worldwide energy resources vary, with the remaining
fossil fuels totaling an estimated 0.4 YJ (1 YJ =
10e24J) and the available nuclear fuel such as
uranium exceeding 2.5 YJ. Fossil fuels range from
0.6-3 YJ if estimates of reserves of methane
clathrates are accurate and become technically
extractable. The world also has a renewable usable

2. energy flux from the sun that exceeds 120 PW (8,000
times 2004 total usage), or 3.8 YJ/yr, greater than any
non-renewable resources.
2.1 FOSSIL FUELS:
In the current scenario the high increase in the use of
fossil fuels is being seen. Between 1980 and 2006,
the worldwide annual growth rate was 2%. Coal,
natural gas, and nuclear became the fuels of choice
for electricity generation and conservation measures
increased energy efficiency. From 1965 to 2008, the
use of fossil fuels has continued to grow and their
share of the energy supply has increased leading to
their deterioration in near future.According to a study
in 2005, it is interpreted that we will run out of
conventional oil in 35 years (2045), coal in 149 yrs
(2159).
2.2 NUCLEAR POWER:
In 2005 nuclear power accounted for 6.3% of world's
total primary energy supply. The nuclear power
production in 2006 accounted 2,658 TWh (23.3 EJ),
which was 16% of world's total electricity
production. In November 2007, there were 439
operational nuclear reactors worldwide, with total
capacity of 372,002 MWe. A further 33 reactors were
under construction, 94 reactors were planned and 222
reactors were proposed. If coal, gas or oil electric
generators are replaced by nuclear power plants, they
must be considered CO2 negative when a pound of
recycled military plutonium or uranium can replace
3,000,000 pounds of coal energy, and the fossil
energy used in construction and fuel mining and
preparation is replaced by CO2 free generation in a
few months.
The use of fossil fuels makes the nations vulnerable
to political instabilities, trade disputes, embargoes
and a variety of other impacts. The fact that we rely
on other countries for our energy has not done us any
favors in recent years. As a nation we stand to benefit
greatly from making the change to using renewable
fuels to supply our energy needs.
Fig 1: Showing world Energy Usage of Resources[2]
Fig 2: Showing World Energy Consumption[1]

3. 3. PRAGMATIC APPROACH TOWARDS
RENWABLE ENERGY:
Renewable energy is energy generated from natural
resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and
geothermal heat, which are renewable and have
supported energy requirement needs by reducing the
requirement of being dependent on non renewables
only. In 2004, renewable energy supplied around 7%
of the world's energy consumption. The use of
renewables has been growing significantly since the
last years and we'll see that with the help of following
facts and figures taking into account various
renewable energy resources viz.
3.1 HYDRO POWER (TIDAL ENERGY):
Worldwide hydroelectricity consumption reached
816 GW in 2005, consisting of 750 GW of large
plants, and 66 GW of small hydro installations. Large
hydro capacity totaling 10.9 GW was added by the
countries like China, Brazil and India during the year,
but there was a much faster growth (8%) in small
hydro, with 5 GW added, mostly in China where
some 58% of the world's small hydro plants are now
located.
3.2 BIOMASS AND BIOFUELS:
Biomass was the predominant fuel few years ago but,
today it has only a small share of the overall energy
supply. Electricity produced from biomass sources
was estimated at 44 GW for 2005. Biomass
electricity generation increased by over 100% in the
countries like Germany, Poland and Spain.Excliding
the use of Biomass from cooking, further 220 GW
was used for heating, thus bringing the total energy
consumed from biomass to around 264 GW.
3.3 WIND POWER:
According to the World Wind Energy
Association(WWEA), the installed capacity of wind
power increasefrom the end of 2007 to the end of
2008 to total 121 GW, with over half the increase in
the United States, Spain and China and doubling this
capacity took about three years. The actual capacity
of the wind energy is generally from 13-40% of the
nominal capacity. Hence the increasing interest of
countries towards this source of renewable energy is
increasing in the upcoming years.
3.4 SOLAR POWER:
The solar energy is the very good resource and is the
most popular renewable resource of energy available.
We can get the solar energy by using heat energy
from sun by certain devices like solar panels, solar
cookers, solar heaters etc. .The available solar energy
resources are 3.8 YJ/yr (120,000 TW). Less than
0.02% of available resources are sufficient to entirely
replace fossil fuels and nuclear power as an energy
source. In practice neither will actually run out, as
natural constraints will force production to decline as
the remaining reserves dwindle.
3.5 GEOTHERMAL:
Geothermal energy is used commercially in over 70
countries. In the year 2004, 200 PJ (57 TWh) of
electricity was generated from geothermal resources,
and an additional 270 PJ of geothermal energy was
used directly, mostly for space heating. In 2007, the
world had a global capacity for 10 GW of electricity
generation and an additional 28 GW of direct heating,
including extraction by geothermal heat pumps.

4. Fig 3: Showing Status of Renewable Energy at the end of year 2008[6]
4. WHY IS RENEWABLE ENERGY
IMPORTANT TODAY:
4.1 ENERGY PRICE STABILITY:
In the last three years, there were large fluctuations in
the cost of natural gas, oil, and electricity due to
global economics, market deregulation, and political
events in some parts of the world. Renewable energy
is there to help in this scenario where everything is
becoming expensive because this is the energy which
comes from sources such as sunshine, flowing water,
wind, and biological waste, all of which are free. This
helped the people greatly so as to improve their
economy and budget and it is also very true that price
of the fossil fuels go high as they are limited in their
supply, and will increase more as they become
scarcer.
4.2 CLEAN AIR:
Air pollution is a major problem in many cities
around the world. The biggest cause of air pollution
in cities is the burning of fossil fuels, including fuels
used for transportation. Due to this pollution many
people die prematurely each year from diseases
caused by air pollution and thousands more suffer
from long-term sicknesses and disabilities. The great
advantage of using renewable energy in place of
fossil fuels is that renewable energy adds very few
pollutants to the environment. Renewable energy is
considered "clean" and "green."
4.3 PROTECTING GLOBAL CLIMATES:
When fossil fuels are burned, many harmful gases
(like carbon dioxide) are released. These gases acts
like an invisible blanket, trapping more of the sun's
energy in the atmosphere, causing the Earth to warm
up little by little. As more and more fossil fuels are
used in homes, factories, and automobiles, carbon
dioxide is building up more and more in the
atmosphere and if this continues,our planet is likely
to become significantly warmer, which could cause
many serious problems around the world. These
problems could include melting of arctic ice,
increased forest fires, rising sea levels, loss of animal
habitat, damage to coral reefs, the spreading of
tropical diseases, expanding deserts, and more
frequent and severe storms. And most of these effects
have been started to become visible.
4.4 UNLIMITED SUPPLIES:
Renewable energy supplies will never run out, while
the supplies of coal, oil, and natural gas are limited,
sunshine, wind, biomass, and water power are
considered almost limitless resources. Our large,
untapped supplies of wind, sun, water, and biomass
can power our society indefinitely. There have been
many wind energy plants have been established and
many of them getting to be started in most of the
parts of the country.
4.5 JOBS AND THE ECONOMY:
Renewable energy can be developed in such a way
that every household or neighbourhood could have its
own renewable power generating equipment. This
would create many new jobs for people involved in
setting up and maintaining this energy supply, and in
manufacturing the equipment. It is also more efficient
to produce renewable energy in small amounts right
where it is needed. The energy losses and equipment
needed to transmit power over long distances can
also be minimized in this way by the increased
manufacturing of the renewable energy equipments.
5. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:
Global revenues for solar photovoltaics, wind power,
and biofuels expanded from $75.8 billion in 2007 to
$115.9 billion in 2008. For the first time, one sector
alone, wind, had revenues exceeding $50 billion.And
now these revenues are still expanding.
Continued growth for the renewable energy sector is
expected in the mid- to long-term. At the same time,
new government spending, regulation, and policies
should help the industry weather the current
economic crisis better than many other sectors. Most
notably, U.S. President Barack Obama's "American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act "of 2009 includes
more than $70 billion in direct spending and tax
credits for clean energy and associated transportation
programs. This policy-stimulus combination
represents the largest federal commitment in U.S.
history for renewables, advanced transportation, and
energy conservation initiatives. Based on these new
rules, many more utilities are expected to strengthen
their clean-energy programs.

5. Fig 4: Showing Clean Energy Projected Growth For Years 2007-2017[5]
6. CONCLUSION:
Renewable energy has a much lower environmental
impact than conventional sources of energy. The
benefits of renewable energy extend to stimulating
the economy and creating job opportunities. There
are many benefits of renewable energy to the
ordinary citizen and business owner. Homeowners
will reap rewards from using renewable energy and
energy-efficient appliances by saving money in the
long run and reducing environmental impacts. It also
renders us able to fuel our homes independently in
many cases.
Using renewable fuels makes us less dependent.
Small business owners will also reap the benefits of
renewable energy. They will save money on utilities.
Many countries now offer tax incentives to those who
are using or planning to install clean energy systems
for lighting, heating and the running of appliances.
The government wants to make it easier for
consumers to make the switch to clean energy. This
means that tax credits will enable you to reap the
benefits of renewable energy.
7. REFERENCES:
STATISTICS
1. "Consumption by fuel, 1965 - 2008" (XLS).
Statistical Review of World Energy 2009, BP. July
31, 2006.
2. "BP Statistical review of world energy June 2006"
(XLS). British Petroleum. June 2006.
BOOKS
3. "Renewables, Global Status Report 2006" (PDF).
Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st
Century. 2006.
4. Yergin, p. 792
JOURNALS
5. Makower, J. Pernick, R. Wilder, C. (2008). Clean
Energy Trends 2008.
6. Renewables Global Status Report 2009.
STANDARDS

6. 7. Benefits of renewable energy. Available-
www.pier55.com
8. Wikipedia web services.
9. Renewable energy basics. Available-
http://www.re-energy.ca/

7. 7. Benefits of renewable energy. Available-
www.pier55.com
8. Wikipedia web services.
9. Renewable energy basics. Available-
http://www.re-energy.ca/