1,721,078 research outputs found
Introducing the IMEJ: A new home for the dissemination of research and development in marine renewable energy
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Delivering developing country growth: A new mechanistic approach driven by the photovoltaic industry.
No full textEnergy security, climate change and economic crises are currently dominating the attention of the world. It is also well known that access to energy is a crucial and enabling mechanism for development. In particular, the provision of electricity in rural settings has tremendous impact on well being, education and health, especially in poorer regions in the world. In today's climate, we should, therefore, not forget the plight of those less well-off, especially in the near term due to a likely rise in protectionist policies of developed nations. In an effort to bring a balance, we need to be more diligent in our understanding of the needy, by bringing in clear objectives for development coupled with social responsibility that are likely to generate both stability and economic growth globally. Photovoltaics (PV), the conversion of sunlight to electricity, has over many decades been recognised as one of the most flexible technologies that could best benefit people in rural and deprived areas around the world.Unlike the utilisation of PV in buildings which is mainly a response to feed-in tariffs in developed countries, rural electrification offers a unique opportunity as it is less complex when compared to other renewables, but will require high levels of quality control. After the major strides made by the PV industry, it is now time for this now highly developed PV industry not only to call the shots in initiating a new approach of “PV for Development” but also to entice such entities as the G8, the UN, the EU and the World Bank to contribute to a major activity to provide electricity for the poor. This article attempts to convey a new approach to establishing such an activity. The analysis starts by considering a PV industry contribution of “one watt per kWp” manufactured to an industry trust.When combined with double contributions from the G8 countries, this will result in the provision of around 3–10 GWp of PV driven electricity for rural areas by 2020. It could be activated and owned by the PV industry alone resulting from 3.5 GWp by 2020. Receiving global approval by many of the developed countries and international institutions is more than likely to double this figure
Generating electrical power from ocean resources
No full textOcean energy resources derived from wind, waves, tidal or marine currents can be utilized and converted to large scale sustainable electrical power. Conversion technologies are easily adaptable and can be integrated within the current utility infrastructure. However, ocean energy has many forms - tides, surface waves, ocean circulation, salinity, and thermal gradients. The focus of this chapter is dedicated to two of these, namely waves and tidal energy. The first are the result of wind-driven waves derived ultimately from solar energy and the latter represents those found in tidal or marine currents, driven by gravitational effects. This chapter also gives an analysis of the current state of art of generating electricity from wave and tidal currents (termed ocean energy). Section 8.01.1 provides an overview of ocean wave and marine current energy conversion with more emphasis on the latter; Sections 8.01.2, 8.01.3, 8.01.4, and 8.01.5 address respectively the history of wave energy, wave resource assessment, wave device development, and air turbines; and Section 8.01.6 gives a review of the economics of ocean energy as applied to wave and tidal energy conversion technologies.</p
Wake studies of a 1/30th scale horizontal axis marine current turbine
No full textA 0.4 m diameter (1:30th scale) horizontal axis marine current turbine (MCT) was tested in a circulating water channel. The turbine performance and wake characteristics were determined over a range of flow speeds and rotor thrust coefficients. Measurements of the water surface elevation profiles indicated increasing variation and surface turbulence with increasing flow speeds. Blockage-type effects (where the measured point velocity was greater than the inflow velocity) occurred around the sides of the rotor for all flow speeds. Although the effects were exaggerated at model scale, it is expected that reasonable variations in water level and flow velocity could also occur over a full scale MCT arra
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