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Can renewable energy sources power the world?

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Can renewable energy sources power the world? provided by OpenLearn is a comprehensive online course, which lasts for 24 hours worth of material. Upon completion of the course, you can receive an e-certificate from OpenLearn. The course is taught in Englishand is Free Certificate. Visit the course page at OpenLearn for detailed price information.

The Open University via OpenLearn
24 hours worth of material
Self Paced
Overview

  • We ask the question ‘Can renewable energy sources power the world?’ as a response to the growing awareness that increased use of renewable energy technologies is making a major contribution to ...

Syllabus

    • Introduction and guidance
    • Introduction and guidance
    • What is a badged course?
    • How to get a badge
    • Acknowledgements
    • Week1Week 1: Introducing renewable energy
    • Introduction
    • 1 Defining sustainable and renewable energy
    • 1.1 Renewed interest in renewables
    • 2 Energy definitions and concepts
    • 2.1 Units of energy and power
    • 2.2 Efficiency and capacity factor
    • 3 Renewable energy from the Sun
    • 4 Energy supply and demand: world and UK
    • 4.1 World energy supplies
    • 4.2 Energy supply and demand in the UK
    • 5 Fossil fuels, greenhouse gases and climate change
    • 5.1 What are the causes of climate change?
    • 6 Overview of renewable energy sources
    • 6.1 Non-solar renewables
    • 7 EU and UK renewable energy prospects 2020–2030
    • 7.1 Electricity market reform and new EU 2030 targets
    • 8 Case study: Scotland aims for 100% renewable electricity by 2020
    • 9 Week 1 quiz
    • 10 Summary
    • References
    • Acknowledgements
    • Week2Week 2: Solar energy for heating and daylighting
    • Introduction
    • 1 Solar thermal energy and daylighting
    • 1.1 Solar radiation
    • 2 Direct and diffuse solar radiation
    • 2.1 Availability of solar radiation
    • 2.2 Optimising solar energy collection
    • 3 Passive solar heating of buildings
    • 4 Daylighting
    • 5 Active solar heating
    • 6 Varieties of solar collector
    • 7 Solar district heating
    • 8 Heat pumps
    • 8.1 Air and ground source heat pumps
    • 8.2 Heat gains from heat pumps
    • 9 Solar thermal electricity generation
    • 9.1 Power towers
    • 10 Week 2 quiz
    • 11 Summary
    • References
    • Acknowledgements
    • Week3Week 3: Solar photovoltaics
    • Introduction
    • 1 Basic physical principles of photovoltaics
    • 1.1 Semiconductors
    • 2 Photovoltaic materials and technologies
    • 2.1 Crystalline silicon PV
    • 2.2 Gallium arsenide PV
    • 2.3 Thin-film silicon PV
    • 2.4 Other thin-film PV technologies
    • 2.5 Concentrating PV systems
    • 3 Photovoltaic systems for remote power
    • 4 PV systems for houses
    • 5 PV systems for non-domestic buildings
    • 6 Large PV power plants
    • 7 Energy yield from PV systems
    • 8 PV economics and environmental impact
    • 8.1 Environmental impact and safety
    • 9 PV integration into electricity systems
    • 10 The growing world PV market
    • 11 Week 3 quiz
    • 12 Summary
    • References
    • Acknowledgements
    • Week4Week 4: Bioenergy
    • Introduction
    • 1 Introducing bioenergy
    • 2 Biomass as a solar energy store
    • 2.1 How much energy from biomass?
    • 3 Biomass as a fuel
    • 4 Biomass energy from plants
    • 4.1 Woody biomass
    • 4.2 Cellulosic materials
    • 4.3 Other energy crops
    • 4.4 Microalgae and other microorganisms
    • 5 Secondary biomass energy from wastes, residues and co-products
    • 5.1 Wood residues
    • 5.2 Temperate and tropical crop co-products
    • 5.3 Wastes
    • 6 Biomass processing
    • 6.1 Physical processing
    • 6.2 Thermochemical processing
    • 6.3 Biochemical processing
    • 7 Environmental impact of bioenergy
    • 7.1 Emissions
    • 7.2 Land use
    • 8 Energy balance of bioenergy
    • 9 Costing bioenergy
    • 10 Future prospects for bioenergy
    • 11 Week 4 quiz
    • 12 Summary
    • References
    • Acknowledgements
    • Week5Week 5: Hydroelectricity
    • Introduction
    • 1 Background to hydroelectricity
    • 2 Hydropower resources – world, regional, national
    • 2.1 Regional hydro resources
    • 2.2 National hydro resources
    • 3 World hydro output
    • 4 Small-scale hydro
    • 5 Stored energy and available power
    • 5.1 Pumped storage
    • 5.2 Power, head and flow rate
    • 6 Types of hydroelectric plant
    • 7 Types of hydro turbine
    • 8 Hydro as a component of a power system
    • 9 Environmental impact of hydroelectricity
    • 9.1 Hydrological effects
    • 9.2 Other physical effects
    • 9.3 Social effects of hydroelectricity
    • 9.4 Considerations and comparisons
    • 10 Economics of hydroelectricity
    • 11 Future prospects for hydro

    • 12 Week 5 quiz
    • 13 Summary
    • References
    • Acknowledgements
    • Week6Week 6: Wind energy
    • Introduction
    • 1 The origins of wind and atmospheric pressure
    • 2 Energy and power in the wind
    • 3 Wind turbine types
    • 4 Aerodynamics of wind turbines
    • 4.1 Aerofoils and harnessing aerodynamic forces
    • 5 Power and energy from wind turbines
    • 5.1 Calculating wind energy distribution
    • 5.2 Estimating annual energy production
    • 5.3 Wind speed maps, atlases and computer models
    • 6 Environmental impact of wind energy
    • 6.1 Wind turbine noise
    • 6.2 Electromagnetic interference

    • 6.3 Wind turbines and aviation
    • 6.4 Impact on wildlife
    • 6.5 Public attitudes and planning considerations
    • 7 Calculating the costs of wind energy
    • 8 Offshore wind energy
    • 9 Future prospects for wind energy
    • 10 Week 6 quiz
    • 11 Summary
    • References
    • Acknowledgements
    • Week7Week 7: Wave energy
    • Introduction
    • 1 The physical principles of wave energy
    • 1.1 Deep and shallow water waves
    • 1.2 What happens beneath the surface?
    • 2 Wave energy resources
    • 3 Wave energy technologies
    • 3.1 Fixed devices
    • 3.2 TAPCHAN and other fixed devices
    • 3.3 Floating devices
    • 3.4 Point absorbers: the AWS-III/Clam
    • 3.5 Attenuator devices
    • 4 Wave energy economics
    • 5 Environmental impact of wave energy technology
    • 6 Grid integration of wave energy
    • 7 Conclusions
    • 8 Week 7 quiz
    • 9 Summary
    • References
    • Acknowledgements
    • Week8Week 8: Towards a renewable future
    • Introduction
    • 1 UK renewable energy futures
    • 1.1 UK electricity scenarios
    • 2 Balancing renewable supply and demand
    • 3 Pathways to 2050
    • 4 Renewable energy futures for Denmark
    • 5 Renewable energy futures for Germany
    • 5.1 Germany as a role model?
    • 6 Renewable energy scenarios for Europe
    • 7 European supergrids and DESERTEC
    • 8 Can renewables power the world?
    • 8.1 95% of global energy from renewables by 2050
    • 8.2 Comparing International Energy Agency and Greenpeace scenarios
    • 9 Summary and conclusions
    • 10 End of course quiz
    • 11 End of course summary
    • References
    • Acknowledgements

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