Renewable Energy in Ghana: Advantages, Disadvantages, and Examples, Assignments of Fossil Fuels

Download Renewable Energy in Ghana: Advantages, Disadvantages, and Examples and more Assignments Fossil Fuels in PDF only on Docsity! July 2014 The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of FES Ghana or of the organization for which the author works. Table of Content 1. Introduction 2 2. Fossil Fuels and the Negative Impact on our Environment 2 3. Renewable Energy: Definitions and Examples 4 3.1. Solar Energy 5 3.2. Wind Energy 7 3.3. Hydro Energy 8 3.4. Biomass Energy 11 4. General Advantages and Disadvantages of Renewable Energy 13 5. Renewable Energy in Ghana 13 6. Conclusions 15 Bibliography 16 Renewable Energy – An Eco-Friendly Alternative? by Friederike Adra Ghana Office 2 1. Introduction Even though the earth continues evolving, the resources used by humans will eventually become scarce. Over decades, fossil fuels were and are still being used as the major energy source for households, industries and service providers. However, due to the limited amount of fossil fuels, energy is becoming more and more expensive, and the consequence of their consumption is having an impact on our environment and climate. The major impact is called the Greenhouse Gas Effect, which is in other words “gases that trap heat in the atmosphere”.1 The trapped heat does not leave the earth without severe consequences. Global warming is one of the terms often used to describe the reason for many natural catastrophes. One of the major consequences resulting from the greenhouse gas effect is called Climate Change which causes the melting down of major glaciers and the poles resulting in the rise of the sea level. Due to the trapped heat, extreme weather conditions occur, such as droughts and floods.2 Due to the dangerous and life threatening factors, many countries are investing therefore in renewable energy, such as solar energy, windmills, hydropower or biomass energy. This shift to a “cleaner energy” should result in the reduction of greenhouse gases and therefore mitigating climate change. Term definitions and examples of fossil fuels and renewable energy will be explained leading to the requirements for installing renewable energy systems. The paragraphs after will be highlighting the general advantages and disadvantages of renewable energy systems and the basic costs for private usage and government investments. 2. Fossil Fuels and the Negative Impact on our Environment Due to the decreasing amount of fossil fuels, and the increase in their price for governments and consumers, Charles Darwin’s expression “survival of the fittest”3 would perfectly suit the ongoing competition for the remaining fossil fuels by powerful and wealthier countries. Many leading countries would interfere economically and politically in weaker and poorer economies for their rich ground on fossil fuels. But what are fossil fuels? Fossil fuels are the remains of dead plants and animals over several millions of years. Those remains became energy resources like “coal, fuel oil or natural gas”4. They are easily processed and transportation is mostly done through pipes. Many people would prefer the easily 1 United States Environmental Protection Agency. Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Available on, http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/ [accessed 19 th May 2014] 2 British Geological Survey. Consequences of greenhouse-effect temperature rises. Available on, http://www.bgs.ac.uk/discoveringGeology/climateChange/CCS/consequencesOfTemperatureIncrease.html [accessed 16 th June 2014] 3 Encyclopaedia Britannica. Animal Behaviour. Available on, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/25597/animal-behaviour#ref497943 [accessed 13 th May 2014] 4 Science Daily. Fossil fuel. Available on, http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/f/fossil_fuel.htm [accessed 13 th May 2014] 5 countries lack the strong power net other countries have, and hence cannot distribute the energy to the households. Renewable Energy Sources are usually referred to energy produced through sun, wind or water power. There are special ways in capturing the mentioned natural energy and transforming it into energy we can actually use at home. 3.1. Solar Energy The widely used mechanism is the utilization of solar panels, by using the sun to generate electricity. A solar panel is a set of solar photovoltaic modules electrically connected and mounted on a supporting structure. A photovoltaic module is a packaged, connected assembly of solar cells. The solar panel can be used as a component of a larger photovoltaic system to generate and supply electricity in commercial and residential applications. A photovoltaic system typically includes a panel or an array of solar modules, an inverter, and sometimes a battery and/or solar tracker and interconnection wiring. Depending on construction, photovoltaic modules can produce electricity from a range of frequencies of light, but usually cannot cover the entire solar range (specifically, ultraviolet, infrared and low or diffused light). Hence much of the incident sunlight energy is wasted by solar modules, and they can give far higher efficiencies of illuminated with monochromatic light. Therefore, another design concept is to split the light into different wavelength ranges and direct the beams onto different cells tuned to those ranges. This has been projected to be capable of raising efficiency by 50%15. Currently the best achieved sunlight conversion rate (solar module efficiency) is around 21.5% in new commercial products typically lower than the efficiencies of their cells in isolation. Solar panels can be installed on roofs or on the ground. Additional trackers sense the direction of the sun and tilt the modules as needed for maximum exposure to the light. There are two main types of catching solar energy easily, one which absorbs the direct sunlight and transforms it into energy, and the other method is by using the sun’s heat as an energy source. 15 Max – Planck – Institute in Germany is doing research at the moment to develop a more efficient solar panel (range 50-80%) 6 The invention of affordable solar stoves has been used since few years in Madagascar. With only 15€ for these stoves, households use the sunlight for cooking and are even able to store energy in a battery for later use.16 Prices and Coverage Years to use 17 25 Coverage of households 1 (4-6 persons) Price for investment per households 15.000 – 25.000 € (depending supplier + size of panels + battery) Pays off in Approximately 10 years and above Capacity/Full-load hours 18 800-900 h per year Advantages Disadvantages Resources (if well maintained) are infinite and will not extend regardless of the amount of consumption Expensive for household Climate friendly Produces sufficient energy, but storage problematic (sometimes need for public energy supply) Profitable investment Cost of maintenance No toxic gas production Weather dependent Every area has access to sunlight even if not regularly No noise pollution 16 Hamm, H. (2014). “Solarkocher statt Kohleöfen“. Natur. Available on, http://www.natur.de/de/20/Solarkocher- statt-Kohleoefen,1,,1446.html?search=solarkocher [accessed 12 th May 2014] 17 If well maintained 18 Full-load hours is the energy source’s average annual production divided by its rated power. The higher the number of full load hours, the higher the production at the chosen site. 7 3.2. Wind Energy Countries rich on wind often refer back to the installation of windmills on wide and open fields. Around 90 countries are supporting the consumption of electricity through windmills since a few years, and more and more countries are following this new boom of eco-friendly technology.19 Windmills can be also installed off shore, in areas using the sea and ocean wind for generating electricity. However, whether on-or-off shore, the windmills cannot be working properly when the amount of wind is either too low or too strong. Windmills are always installed in certain fields and areas, mostly far from cities and villages due to the noise pollution and the need for open fields with wind. Municipalities therefore obtain regional planning on fields away from farms and even protected areas, since windmills can become a threat to wild birds.20 While fans use electricity to generate wind, the windmill does exactly the opposite. The blades of a windmill rotate once wind is present, which have a shaft connected to the generator to create electricity.21 Prices and Coverage Years to use 22 20 Coverage of households 1000 households Price for (government) investment Approximately 1.7 million to 2.5 million € per unit Pays off in Approximately 9 years and above Capacity/Full-load hours 23 1700 hours/year Advantages Disadvantages 19 Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.(2013). Renewable Energy Sources in Figures-National and International Development. Public Relations Division of the BMU, Berlin. p.65 20 Ibid. 21 Energy.gov. How do Wind Turbines Work? Available on, http://energy.gov/eere/wind/how-do-wind-turbines- work [accessed 20 th June 2014] 22 If well maintained 23 Op. Cit. No. 17 10 Another way to generate energy is through the temperature difference between the surface temperature and the temperature below the surface. There are many power plants around Japan and Hawaii who use the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion in order to generate power.30 Prices and Coverage DAM TIDAL POWER Years to use 31 Decades/hundreds of years (if well maintained, e.g. dams in Spain and Japan) 25 Coverage of households 245.000 households (with 4000 kW per year each) or 490.000 households (with 2000 kW per year each) 1250 households Price for investment US$ 622 mill. (Bui Dam, Ghana) 1.7 million € per unit Pays off in Depending on generation of power and income for sold electricity Approximately 10 years and above Capacity/Full-load hours 32 5000-6000 hours/year 5000 hours/year Advantages Disadvantages Long term profit Cost of building dams, Cost of equipment and machines Climate friendly Equipment might change water flow No water pollution Structural change through installation of required infrastructure No dangerous work place for labour Cost of maintenance Helps reduce greenhouse gas emission Flow/tide/wave dependent Wildlife disturbed by turbines under water 30 Ibid. 31 If well maintained 32 Full-load hours is the energy source’s average annual production divided by its rated power. The higher the number of full load hours, the higher the production at the chosen site. 11 3.4. Biomass Energy Biomass is one of the renewable energy resources many countries have been using since a longer time, since its energy is provided through the process of photosynthesis in plants. The energy is generated in biomass power plants by burning down crop residues, manure, forest residues or even urban wastes. Biomass resources can come in the form of solids, liquids and even gases. The burning of methane for example as a source for energy reduces the landfill gases and is hence considered a cleaner alternative than fossil fuels.33 However, if bio power is not properly managed, the energy generated through biomass can turn into a negative impact on our environment. The amount of water consumed and the air pollution produced through biomass resource can become very damaging.34 35 The process for generating energy through biomass is generally an easier process than the other already discussed types. Photosynthesis is one of the key players in the materials used to generate energy, since it captures the sun’s energy and hence releases this energy when it is being burned in the biomass power plants.36 Prices and Coverage Years to use 37 As long as there are materials to use, lifetime of plant 20 years Coverage of households e.g. approximately 25.8% of households in Germany alone (several plant) Price for government investment Several million € (depending on size of plant) 33 Union of Concerned Scientists. How Biomass Energy Works. Available on, http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choices/renewable-energy/how-biomass-energy-works.html [accessed 20 th June 2014] 34 Ibid. 35 More information on biomass energy provided by the German Government can be found here: http://www.bmel.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/EN/Publications/BiomassActionPlan.pdf?__blob=publicationFile 36 Ibid. 37 If well maintained 12 Pays off in Between 5.4 years and 7 years38 Capacity/Full-load hours 39 Between 5000 hours/year and 8000 hours/year40 Advantages Disadvantages Resources (if well maintained) are infinite and will not extend regardless of the amount of consumption Produces a small amount of CO2 emission Low cost Increases the price for wheat and corn Well utilized resource Land needed to produce biomass Most plentiful resource High cost of transportation Can be used in different forms (liquid, solid or gas) Competition for land use Not weather dependant Reduction of landfill disposals 10 MW biomass power project can create approximately employment for 100 workers during the 18-month construction phase, 25 full-time workers employed in the operation of the facility, and 35 persons in the collection, processing, and transportation of biomass material. Referring back to Ghana, it is obvious that the intention exists for using renewable resources, and that needed energy is available. Installing the tools for generating electricity for many households and companies through solar energy, wind, water, or biomass needs close observation however, on where to appropriately installing the panels, mills, turbines and power plants.41 Considering the high state of mismanagement and inefficient funds, it will probably be not easy to finance this eco-friendly technology and hence provide people with electricity. The installation of the renewable resource tools would not only cost a fortune for the object itself, but also the deployment. The first step of observing different areas for different types of potentials is already being conducted by the Ghana Energy Commission with support from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) for on-and off shore wind energy.42 After Ghana’s 38 Rossi di Schio, C. Technical and economic aspects of Biomass fuelled CHP plants based on ORC turbogenerators feeding existing district heating networks. Available on, http://www.turboden.eu/en/public/downloads/09A06400_paper_orc_turboden_clotilde.pdf [accessed 23 th June 2014] 39 Full-load hours is the energy source’s average annual production divided by its rated power. The higher the number of full load hours, the higher the production at the chosen site. 40 Supra No. 33 41 West, L. Top 7 Renewable Energy Sources. Available on, http://environment.about.com/od/renewableenergy/tp/renew_energy.htm [accessed 19 th May 2014] 42 Arrakis Group. Renewable Energy- what is Ghana’s wind power potential?. Available on, http://www.arrakis- group.com/energy/renewable-energy-what-is-ghanas-wind-power-potential/ [accessed 19 th May 2014] 15 provided. People have to become aware of the dangerous impact fossil fuels have on a long term, and how important it is to shift slowly to renewable energy resources. 6. Conclusion While technology and science are advancing more and more over time, the step for making use of them in favor of our earth should be as important. The existing potential for a clean consumption and resource extraction is given by nature and neither harms humans and animals, nor would it ever end up compared to fossil fuels. Developed countries are already taking the initiative for renewable energy sources, and are creating different tools which cost millions (if not billions) of Euro just to aid the earth, environment and climate against toxic gases. Ghana has shown commitment to renewable energy and has to evaluate which energy resources are cost-effective and the best with regards to the circumstances of the country. The only hindrance of using more renewable energy resources in future could be the finances to install these technologies. The four main sources discussed are solar, wind, water and biomass energies and the necessary technology for each category. 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