Renewable Energy Resources

Renewable Energy Resources

• Direct Solar– Electricity– Heating (Passive Solar/Solar Hot water

• Wind Power• Hydropower• Biomass• Geothermal Power

Solar Electricity

• Photovoltaics

• Solar Thermal

Power Tower

Solar Trough

Hot Water

Passive Solar Space Heating

Wind Power

Geothermal – Electricity and Space Heating

Biomass Power

The Joseph C. McNeil Generating Station a biomass incinerator is the municipal power plant for Burlington, Vermont.

At least 2.7 billion people, and possibly more than 3 billion, lack access to modern fuels for cooking and heating. They rely instead on traditional biomass sources, such as firewood, charcoal, manure, and crop residues, that can emit harmful indoor air pollutants when burned. These pollutants cause nearly 2 million premature deaths worldwide each year, an estimated 44 percent of them in children. Among adult deaths, 60 percent are women. Traditional energy usage also contributes to environmental impacts including forest and woodland degradation, soil erosion, and black carbon emissions that contribute to global climate change.

The United Nations Foundation International Bioenergy Initiative

In 2005, the United Nations Foundation (UN Foundation) launched the International Bioenergy Initiative. The Bioenergy Initiative integrates in-country resources and international markets to create economic opportunities for rural communities and developing nations. This Initiative powerfully identifies the nexus of energy and development and offers compelling strategies for enhanced rural incomes, improved energy access, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Access to clean and affordable energy is vital to the achievement of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of poverty reduction and sustainable development. High oil prices disproportionately affect developing countries; therefore displacing imported oil with renewable biofuels holds great potential for leveraging scarce financial resources.

Biomass - Cane residue, Hawai’i

Biofuels

Biogas

Hydroelectric Power

Tides

The first electric 50-kilowatt closed-cycle OTECdemonstration plant called "Mini-OTEC" deployed by the National Energy Laboratory of Hawaii.

Conservation and Demand Side Management