ENGG 413 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
Sustainable Energy Management
Introduction
Renewable energy will be discussed, along with their examples in the Philippines.
Moreover, concerns regarding and the factors affecting energy management of a country will
also be tackled.
Learning Outcomes
Intended Learning Outcomes 2 and 3 (Syllabus)
ILO 2 - Identify the various effects of environmental pollution and describe the engineer's role in the
manipulation of materials and resources.
ILO 3 - Select appropriate design treatment schemes and efficient safety measures for waste disposal and
explain their effect if implemented in the community and in the workplace.
Topic Outcomes:
• Describe renewable energy resources and determine the advantages and
disadvantages of each type
Solar Energy
- conversion of sunlight into usable energy forms. Solar photovoltaics (PV) and solar thermal
electricity are well estaSun radiation arrives outside the Earth with a specific spectral
distribution, which is modified throughout the atmosphere until reaching the Earth’s surface.
- The amount of solar energy available on a given location of the earth differs depending on the
Geographic latitude
Time of day
Year
Solar radiation components
Direct radiation - radiation from the sun that reaches the Earth without scattering. As it is the
only one with a known vector (solar vector), it can be concentrated using technological devices
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ENGG 413 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
Diffuse radiation - radiation that is scattered by the atmosphere and clouds
Established Solar Technologies
Solar PV Solar Thermal
Directly converts solar energy to electricity Harnessing solar energy for thermal
applications – domestics, industries,
hotels, hostpitals, leisure, etc.,
Absorbs 80% incident solar radiation but Use thermal energy for space heating, fluid
convert only small portion to electricity and generate electricity
Release excess heat during the operation Has been accepted worldwide as solar
thermal power
Different Solar Thermal Technologies
- A solar thermal collector converts solar radiation into useful heat and its performance depends
both on optical and thermal features.
1. Parabolic Trough Solar Thermal System - The troughs concentrate sunlight onto a
receiver tube that is positioned along the focal line of the trough. Example: SEGS in
California, with 936,384 mirrors
2. Central Tower Solar Thermal System - system takes advantage of numerous
heliostats to reflect sunlight onto the surface of the high-temperature heat absorber
on the top of the center tower.
The fluid medium (water, fused salt or air) is heated, thus directly or indirectly generating
overheated steam or high-temperature air to propel the generating set.
Example: Ivanpah 440 MW Power Facility, California, 214,000 heliostats
3. Linear Fresnel Solar Thermal System – one-axis solar tracking device, with the
parola divided into many small nearly flat mirrors with independent movement,
simultaneously focusing the linear absorber located in optical focus. E :Murcia,
Spain with 100MW/km2 land use
4. Parabolic Dish Solar Thermal System – heliostats with sunlight focused on the
engine with a cavity receiver on the focal point. One of the most efficient solar
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ENGG 413 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
electric technologies. Example: Arizona, US
5. Flat plate solar collectors – mostly used in heating water for showers. Example:
small-scale than other examples, used in heating water in swimming pools and
showers
*Heliostats – two-axis tracking mirrors which concentrate solar radiation maintaining the
reflected image at fixed position over the course of the day.
Solar Collector
Source: Wimmer et al. (2015)
Solar photovoltaics
- advantage: Module manufacturing is being done in large plants, which allows for
economies of scale, and it can be deployed in very small quantities at a time
- disadvantage: As PV generates power from sunlight, power output is limited to times
when the sun is shining. However, a number of options (demand response, flexible generation,
grid infrastructure, storage) exist to cost-effectively deal with this challenge.
Biomass Energy
- burning of wood, bark, branches, starchy roots, manure and other plant and animal materials
to produce energy
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ENGG 413 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
- An example of this is San Carlos Biopower Inc. in Negros Occidental, which uses agricultural
wastes such as sugarcane trash, coconut husks and shells, woods, grasses and other energy
crops from nearby dedicated plantations as feedstock.
- Denmark, the energy-independent islands of Samsø and Ærø get some of their space heating
from biomass, both from agricultural wastes (such as straw) and biomass crops
Biomass Energy Conversion Process
Source: Energy Company Numbers, 2020
- Heat generated by burning biomass in a boiler is used to produce steam. This steam is
used by a steam turbine which drivers a generator to produce electricity
- Other methods for turning biomass into fuel are shown below:
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ENGG 413 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
Source: Cunningham and Cunningham, 2012
Hydropower
- falling water produces energy which is harnessed as a valuable contribution to total energy
supply.
- To produce energy to power a country, dams are built. However, they can have unwanted
social and environmental effects, such as drought to the other side of the dam, endangering
freshwater biodiversity thus having impact in the fishing industry, and displacement of
communities.
- Example in the Philippines: Maria Cristina Falls and Agus VI Hydroelectric Plant, supplying
200 MW of electricity
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ENGG 413 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
Source: Project Lupad, 2016
- Less destructive alternatives to dams are low-head hydropower technologies,
and using high-efficiency turbines that can operate on run-of-the-river flow
Wind
- Wind energy comes from capturing kinetic energy using turbines to generate electricity, and
can be onshore or offshore.
- In earlier times, windmills were used to pump water in farms and ranches.
- Example in the Philippines: Pililla Win Farm in Rizal, supplying 54 MW to Meralco
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ENGG 413 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
Source: “Pililia Wind Farm.png” by Rmnsantiago is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Potential for wind energy in the Philippines can be found on the redder parts of the map
below
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ENGG 413 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
Source: World Bank Group, 2019
Sustainable Energy
Energy is the main driver of every nation’s economy, and what one chooses as their
sources has global environmental and financial effects. This is why “most important questions in
environmental science have some link to energy resources—from air pollution, climate change,
and mining impacts, to technological innovations in alternative energy sources (Cunningham
and Cunningham, 2012).”
Renewable and non-renewable are our options as energy sources. Non-renewable
sources, coal, oil and natural gas, cannot be relied on fully because of their effects on global
temperature. However, it is also not possible to be powered by 100% renewable energy (RE)
without relying on non-renewables (NRE) in the first decades of the plan. For example,
Denmark targets to use 100% RE in energy and transport sectors by 2050. In 2015, they are
producing 43% RE; in 2017 28.6% of their energy was still produced by NRE, and they
projected to eliminate coal from power production by 2030 (Ortis and Spigonardo, 2015). Thus,
to have a sustainable energy management system, one must have a good balance of RE and
NRE in their energy mix.
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ENGG 413 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
Energy Mix
● refers to how final energy consumption in a given geographical region breaks down by
primary energy source.
● To meet its energy needs, each country uses the energy available to it, in different
proportions.
● While it varies significantly from one country to another, globally fossil fuels account for
over 80% of the energy mix.
WHY A MIX?
For each region or country, the composition of the energy mix depends on:
• The availability of usable resources on its territory or the possibility of importing them
• The extent and type of energy needs to be met
• Policy choices determined by historical, economic, social, demographic, environmental
and geopolitical factors
Data Source: Bunye, Cruz, Marcelo and Tenefrancia, 2020
Renewable Energy (RE) in the Philippines
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ENGG 413 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
• Hydropower
• Geothermal
• Biomass
• Solar, wind, ocean
• Biofuels – alcohol in diesel; jathropa
In comparison, here is the energy mix of South Korea and Germany in 2018:
(Maennel, Kim, 2018)
The Philippines has higher energy production using coal than the 2 countries mentioned
above. Moreover, they both use nuclear power in their mix.
Major constraints need to be addressed in pursuing RE in the Philippines:
(i) insufficient fiscal and financial incentives; feed-in tariffs
(ii) absence of commercially viable market for
RE systems; and,
(iii) relatively high cost of technology
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Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
Sustainable Energy Management
Life Cycle of Energy Systems
- help determine environmental burdens from cradle to grave
Taking a look at PV, Wind and Coal, different stages of the life of the systems release different
percentages of carbon dioxide equivalents.
LIFE CYCLE UPSTREAM OPERATIONAL DOWNSTREAM
STAGES PROCESSES PROCESSES PROCESSES
Photovoltaics (PV) System Plant Power Generation System/Plant
Component System/Plant Decommissioning
Manufacture Operation and Disposal
Installation/Plant Maintenance
Construction
~40 g CO2e/kWh 60%-70% 21%-26% 5%-20%
Wind Raw Materials Power Generation Power Plant
Extraction System/Plant Decommissioning
Construction Operation and Waste Disposal
Materials Maintenance
Manufacture
Transmission Lines
~35 g CO2e/kWh 95% 5% <1%
Coal Raw Materials Coal Preparation Power Plant
Extraction Coal Transport Decommissioning
Construction Coal Combustion Waste Disposal
Materials Power Plant Coal Mine Land
Manufacture Operation and Rehabilitation
Power Plant Maintenance
Construction
~100 g CO2e/kWh <1% >98% <1%
Source: Spellman (2014), Lenzen and Munksgaard (2002)
Fuel combustion during operations of coal-fired power plant emits vast majority of GHGs.
Moreover, for PV power plants, the majority of GHG emissions are upstream of operation in
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Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
materials and module manufacturing.
Meanwhile, REs are not without environmental effects. Shown below are some of the
disadvantages of RE compared to coal energy.
System UPSTREAM OPERATIONAL DOWNSTREAM
PROCESSES PROCESSES PROCESSES
Solar Mining of quartz, Avian mortality – mirrors PVs recycling is not
silicon carbide, glass are mistaken by birds as yet feasible and
and aluminum among lakes environmental friendly
others
Wind Minimal during site Wind turbines disturb the Decommissioning has
monitoring and visual area of other minimal impact
testing, and unlikely people by creating
to trigger geological negative changes in the
hazards. natural environment
Vegetation clearing,
Temporary presence Wildlife mortality due to
of l arge cranes or other collisions & electrocution
large machines to due to transmission lines
assemble towers, or the blades
nacelles, and rotors
Declines in the densities of
woodland and grassland
bird species have been
shown to occur at noise
thresholds from the blades
between 45 and 48 dB,
respectively.
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Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
Coal Mining - large Water is used for Coal combustion
quantities of cooling the machines residuals to be
groundwater are and towers, and should disposed of in onsite
pumped out to access not be discharged in landfills or surface
the coal nearby water bodies if impoundments
the temperature is still
Acid mine drainage - higher than the normal
acidification of water
due to washing of Burning coal produces
coal stocks over 14 billion tonnes of
carbon dioxide each year
In terms of economic sustainability, however, shown below are the jobs and land
required for alternative energy sources.
Technology Land Use (m3 per GW-hr for Jobs (per TW-hr/yr)
30 years)
Coal 3,642 116
PV 3,237 175
Solar thermal 3,561 248
Wind 1,335 542
Source: Cunningham and Cunningham, 2012
In conclusion, since it will be a long time before the NREs will be 100% decommissioned and
will not be used anymore, having a “build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything”
(BANANA) mindset can only hamper a nation’s growth and can also hinder one’s goal in
achieving 100% RE.
References
Bunye, Cruz, Marcelo and Tenefrancia. (2020). Energy 2020 Eighth Edition
. Retrieved July 25, 2020, from Biology Dictionary:
https://biologydictionary.net/plant-cell/
Cunnigham, W. P., & Cunningham, M. A. (2012). Environmental Science: A Global Concern,
Twelfth Edition. 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020: The McGraw-Hill
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Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
Companies, Inc.
E&C Consultants. (n.d.). Making the right choices in sustainable energy management.
Retrieved July 25, 2020, from E&C Consultants:
https://www.eecc.eu/sustainable-energy-management
Lenzen and Munksgaard (2002). Energy and CO2 life-cycle analyses of wind turbines—review
6 339–362.
and applications. Renewable Energy, 2
Maennel, A.; Kim, H.-G. (2018). Comparison of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Potential
through Renewable Energy Transition in South Korea and Germany. Energies 2018, 11,
206.
Ortis, E. and Spigonardo, J. (2015, April 22). Making the Transition to a Low-carbon
Economy. Retrieved August 5, 2020, from Wharton School:
https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/can-the-world-run-on-renewable-energy/
La fondation d’entreprise Total Editors. (2015, January 7). What is the Energy Mix.
Retrieved July 25, 2020, from Planete Energies:
http://www.planete-energies.com/en/medias/close/about-energy-mix
Statistics Explained. (2020, June 17). Glossary:Carbon dioxide equivalent. Eurostat, Retrieved
July 25, 2020,
from:https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Glossary:Carbon_dioxide_eq
uivalent
Energy Company Numbers (2020). The Forms of Water. Retrieved July 25, 2020,
from: https://www.energycompanynumbers.co.uk/renewable-energy-explained/
Project Lupad (2016). PHOTOS: Maria Cristina Falls and Agus VI Hydroelectric Plant Aerial
View. Retrieved July 25, 2020, from Biology Notes for IGCSE 2014:
http://igbiologyy.blogspot.com/2014/03/109-food-pyramids-of-numbers-biomass.html
Spellman, F. R. (2014). Environmental Impacts of Renewble Energy. CRC Press.
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Main Topic 4: Sustainable Development and Energy
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