Muhammad Naeem (UCID-30074991)

Muhammad Hassan Qureshi (UCID‐30036686)

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Table of Contents
1. Wind Energy ..................................................................................................................................... 2
1.1 Nature and origin of Wind Energy .................................................................................................... 2
1.2 World and Canada’s distribution and usage ..................................................................................... 3
1.2.1 Global Wind Energy distribution and usage ..................................................................................... 3
1.2.2 Canada’s Wind Energy distribution and usage ................................................................................. 5
1.3 Harnessing Wind Energy ................................................................................................................... 7
1.4 Power Generation from Wind Turbines............................................................................................ 8
1.5 Problems and Challenges .................................................................................................................. 9
1.5.1 Intermittent Supply and Storage Issues ............................................................................................ 9
1.5.2 Selection of High Wind Area ........................................................................................................... 10
1.6 Environmental Impacts ................................................................................................................... 10
1.6.1 Huge Land Area Requirement ......................................................................................................... 10
1.6.2 Impact on Wildlife and Habitat ....................................................................................................... 11
1.6.3 Sound & Visual Effects on Public Health and Community .............................................................. 11
1.6.4 Water Usage.................................................................................................................................... 11
1.6.5 Life-Cycle Global Warming Emissions ............................................................................................. 11
2. Solar Energy .................................................................................................................................... 12
2.1 Nature and origin of Solar Energy ................................................................................................... 12
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 13
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1. Wind Energy
1.1 Nature and origin of Wind Energy
Wind Energy is a form of solar energy. Winds are caused by the uneven heating of the atmosphere by the
sun, the irregularities of the earth's surface, and rotation of the earth. Wind flow patterns are modified
by the earth's terrain, bodies of water, and vegetative cover. This wind flow, or motion energy, when
"harvested" by modern wind turbines, can be used to generate electricity. (Wind Energy Basics, n.d.)

Figure-1: Typical Wind Turbines (Wind Energy Basics, n.d.)

It is important to note here that wind energy is not a new form of energy, people have been using this
wind energy for thousands of years. In ancient times, as early as 5,000 BC, people used wind energy to
propel boats along the Nile River in Egypt. Similarly, by 200 BC, simple wind-powered water pumps were
used in China, and windmills with woven-reed blades were grinding grain in Persia and the Middle East.
(History of Wind Power , n.d.)

The earliest known use of wind power in mankind is definitely the sail boat. In Europe, windmills first
appeared in the 12th century. In America between 1850 and 1900, a large number of windmills operated
irrigation pumps in farms. By 1900, in Denmark, about 2500 windmills were producing an estimated
combined peak power of about 30 MW for mechanical loads such as pumps and mills.
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Figure-2: Wind's Powered Boats (History of Wind, n.d.)

1.2 World and Canada’s distribution and usage

Wind power is one of the fastest-growing renewable energy technologies at present. Usage of wind
energy is continuously on the rise across the globe, and one of the primary reasons behind this is the
falling costs.

1.2.1 Global Wind Energy distribution and usage

Global installed wind-generation capacity which is either onshore or offshore has increased by a factor of
almost 50 in the past 20 years, jumping from 7.5 gigawatts (GW) in 1997 to some 487 GW by 2016,
according to figures from the Renewable Energy Network for the 21st Century (REN21). Production of
wind electricity doubled between 2009 and 2013. Many parts of the world have strong wind speeds, but
the best locations for generating wind power are sometimes remote ones. Offshore wind power
generation systems offer tremendous energy potential. (Wind Energy, n.d.)

Furthermore, wind-turbine capacity has also increased over time since its conception. In 1985, typical
turbines had a rated capacity of 0.05 megawatts (MW) and a rotor diameter of 15 m, however, now a
days, new wind power projects have turbine capacities range from 2 MW to 5 MW depending upon the
application and location area. Commercially available wind turbines have reached 8 MW capacity, with
rotor diameters of up to 164 m. The average capacity of wind turbines increased from 1.6 MW in 2009 to
2 MW in 2014. (Wind Energy, n.d.)
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Figure-3: World Wind Energy Trend (Wind Energy, n.d.)

At present, Wind energy is a multi-billion-dollar global industry and has been continuing experiencing a
rapid growth globally. It is being predicted by “Global Wind Energy Council” that the global wind market
is expected to grow and reach 332 GW of total installed capacity by 2013, which represents an addition
of 181 GW of power in 5 years (120% growth). This would result in wind energy accounting for around
3% of global electricity production which is up from just over 1% in 2007 estimates. (Canada's Wind
Energy Road Map, n.d.)

Following figure provides an estimate of wind energy as a percentage of electricity demand in countries
around the world.
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Figure-4: Projected Wind Generation as % of Electricity Consumption (approximate)

(Canada's Wind Energy Road Map, n.d.)

1.2.2 Canada’s Wind Energy distribution and usage

Canada’s geography makes it ideally suited to capitalize on large amounts of wind energy. The benefits of
increased deployment of wind energy include grid-wide energy savings and reductions in greenhouse gas
emissions and air contaminants (including SOX, NOX and mercury). (Wind Energy Canada, n.d.)

Canada is a global leader in Wind energy and it currently ranks as the world’s 8th largest nation in terms
of total onshore installed wind energy capacity. Continuing 2017's growth, Canada finished 2018 with
12,816 MW of wind energy capacity - enough to power approximately 3.3 million homes, or six per cent
of our country's electricity demand. The year saw completion of six projects that added 566 MW of new
installed capacity, representing over $1 billion of investment. Canada is home to the world's eighth largest
wind generating fleet.
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Figure-5: Canada’s total Installed Capacity Province Wise

(Canada's Wind Energy Installed Capacity , n.d.)

Figure-6: Canada’s total Installed Capacity (Yearly Basis)

(Canada's Wind Energy Installed Capacity , n.d.)

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1.3 Harnessing Wind Energy

Wind is a form of solar energy caused by a combination of three concurrent events:

1. The sun unevenly heating the atmosphere

2. Irregularities of the earth's surface
3. The rotation of the earth.

The term "wind energy" or "wind power" describes the process by which the energy of the wind is used
to generate mechanical power or electricity. Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in the wind into
mechanical power. This mechanical power can be used for specific tasks (such as grinding grain or
pumping water) or a generator can convert this mechanical power into electricity to power homes,
businesses, schools, and the like. (How Do Wind Turbines Work?, n.d.)

Figure-7: Typical Wind Turbine (How Do Wind Turbines Work?, n.d.)

There are two types of wind turbines, the first one is with the horizontal axis and the other is with the
vertical axis. In vertical axis turbines the rotor shaft is in perpendicular position to the ground. In the
horizontal axis turbine, the rotor shaft is set in horizontal position and the blades are perpendicular
position to the ground. These wind turbines are connected to the electrical grid.

New generation turbines have two or three blades. There is a weather vane on the top of the tower and
is connected to the computer and helps the turbine to always stay in the direction of the wind. When
wind starts to blow then a low pressure is created behind the blade and a high-pressure area is created in
front of the blade. This difference in the pressure around the blade and aerodynamic force comes into
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picture due to which lift occurs. This lift makes the blades to rotate which in turn rotates the rotor shaft
that is connected to the generator. This generator converts the mechanical energy to the electrical energy.

Successful harvesting depends on two important factors these are wind direction and the wind speed. The
amount of power that can be harvested from wind depends on the

 size of the turbine

 length of its blades.

The output is proportional to the dimensions of the rotor and to the cube of the wind speed. Theoretically,
when wind speed doubles, wind power potential increases by a factor of eight. (Wind Energy, n.d.)

1.4 Power Generation from Wind Turbines

How do wind turbines make electricity? In a very simply stated way, working of wind turbine is just
opposite to that of a fan. Like a fan which uses electricity to make wind—wind turbines use wind to make
electricity in opposite way. The wind turns the blades, which in turn spins a generator to create electricity.

A wind turbine turns energy in the wind into electricity using the aerodynamic force created by the rotor
blades, which work similarly to an airplane wing or helicopter rotor blade. When the wind flows across
the blade, the air pressure on one side of the blade decreases. The difference in air pressure across the
two sides of the blade creates both lift and drag. The force of the lift is stronger than the drag and this
causes the rotor to spin. The rotor is connected to the generator, either directly (if it's a direct drive
turbine) or through a shaft and a series of gears (a gearbox) that speed up the rotation and allow for a
physically smaller generator. This translation of aerodynamic force to rotation of a generator creates
electricity.

The generators used in the wind turbine systems may be of alternating or direct current. Very large turbine
installations use AC generation. If the load on the generator is resistive as for heating and lighting, then
using a rectifier the power can be supplied directly from the generation terminals. The electricity
generation from the turbine, the generated power is fed to the electrical generation system which has a
frequency of about 50 or 60 Hz. An electrical system transfers the energy from variable speed to constant
frequency system.
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Figure-8: Wind Turbine Power Generation Process

A common feature of the wind energy system is the use of a gear box to set up the generator shaft speed.
A gear ratio 10 or 20:1 may be used. Wind turbines deliver a maximum power at a wind speed of about
30 to 35 mph so a generator that has a name plate rated capacity of 100KW will be outputting 100KW at
the rated wind speed. Wind speeds above 30 mph the generator maintains its rated capacity until the
wind speeds reaches 55 to 60 mph, then the turbine reaches the cut-out speed and its safety circuits stops
producing the electricity.

1.5 Problems and Challenges

Like all other energy resources, wind power generation has also various problems associated with its
supply and transportation and hence proper integration of generated power to the main power grid.

1.5.1 Intermittent Supply and Storage Issues

The major challenge to using wind as a source of power is that it is intermittent in nature and does not
always blow when electricity is needed. Even at the best locations of the wind harvesting there is no
guarantee that the existing wind will provide the power which will be enough to meet the given
requirements of electricity generation. Wind energy is the supplemental source for electrical power grids.
As we move away from the finite energy sources the dependence on the renewable energy sources like
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wind energy increase. So, in order to meet the specific requirement of electricity generation and be a
reliable source for the electricity generation, wind energy is to be stored.

When we talk about the storage of wing energy then the initial storage cost of these will be very high. So,
to be reliable on the wind energy for the generation of electricity rather than that of finite energy sources
like fossil fuels more and more wind energy storage solutions are needed to be explored. The
development of future technologies capable of storing energy is essential to fully harness the power of
abundant renewable energy sources.

1.5.2 Selection of High Wind Area

Further, good wind sites are often located in remote locations far from areas of electric power demand
(such as cities). Finally, wind resource development may compete with other uses for the land, and those
alternative uses may be more highly valued than electricity generation. However, wind turbines can be
located on land that is also used for grazing or even farming.

1.6 Environmental Impacts

Despite the vast potential of Wind turbine power systems, there are still a variety of environmental
impacts which are associated with wind power generation system that should be well recognized and
mitigated properly.

Although wind power plants have relatively little impact on the environment compared to fossil fuel
power plants, there is some concern over the noise produced by the rotor blades, aesthetic (visual)
impacts, and birds and bats having been killed by flying into the rotors. Most of these problems have been
resolved or greatly reduced through technological development or by properly siting wind plants.

1.6.1 Huge Land Area Requirement

The wind power facilities require a large area of land. The machines installed on a flat area requires more
land than that of those machines installed in the hilly areas. A survey which was conducted in United
States by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for large wind facilities, found that Wind Turbine
Generation System typically use between 30 to 141 acres per megawatt of power output capacity.
However, less than 1 acre per megawatt is disturbed permanently and less than 3.5 acres per megawatt
are disturbed temporarily during construction. (Environmental Impacts of Wind Power, n.d.)

It is important to mention here that; the offshore wind power generation facilities require much larger
space because the wind turbines and blades are bigger than their counterparts on land. However, by
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employing best practices in designing, planning and siting can help in minimizing the potential land use
impacts of offshore and land-based wind projects. (Environmental Impacts of Wind Power, n.d.)

Furthermore, the wind turbines also need to be spaced apart by hundreds of meters, so that the turbulent
wake effects of one wind turbine does not interfere with another nearby turbine. Therefore, only few
wind turbines can cover a very large area of land. Although the total area of a wind farm can be quite
large, however, only a very small proportion of this total land is permanently impacted by the wind farm
operations. (Land Area Requirements for Wind and Solar Projects, n.d.)

1.6.2 Impact on Wildlife and Habitat

The deaths of the Birds and bats have been one of the most controversial biological issues related to wind
turbines power generation systems. The deaths of these species at wind farm sites have raised concerns
by fish and wildlife agencies and conservation groups. However, on the other hand, several large wind
facilities have been in operation for several years and have only minor impacts on these animals. (Wind
Energy Development Environmental Concerns, n.d.)

The impact of wind turbines on wildlife especially on birds and bats, has been extensively document and
well-studied. However, as per recent research and concluded by “National Wind Coordinating Committee
(NWCC)” overall impacts are relatively low and do not pose a threat to species populations.
(Environmental Impacts of Wind Power, n.d.)

1.6.3 Sound & Visual Effects on Public Health and Community

Sound and visual are the two-major public health and community concerns related to the operating wind
turbines. Due to aerodynamics sounds are generated by the wind turbines. A community residing near
the windfarm have always complained about sounds and vibrations issues. Advancement in the
technology have suggested the improvements in minimizing the blade surface imperfections using sound
absorbent materials that can reduce the turbine sounds.

1.6.4 Water Usage

As far as operation of Wind turbines is concerned, there is no water impact associated with the wind
turbines. However, as in all manufacturing processes, some amount of water is used during manufacturing
of steel for turbine / blades and cement for wind turbines bases erection and piling systems.

1.6.5 Life-Cycle Global Warming Emissions

Although, there are no global warming emissions associated with wind turbines operations, however,
there are some emissions which are associated with other stages of a wind turbine’s life-cycle, especially
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including turbine materials production, associated project materials transportation, on-site construction
and then assembly, operation and maintenance, and decommissioning and dismantlement.
(Environmental Impacts of Wind Power, n.d.)

2. Solar Energy
2.1 Nature and origin of Solar Energy
The sun is a main source of renewable energy that could provide a limitless source of energy supply in
many parts of the world. Lack of sun can easily end life. Without the Sun, the Earth's temperature will
drop suddenly, and Earth will be cold and dark, so no plant life and no human on earth will exist (NASA).
The sun is the cause and origin of the various energy sources which are exist in the nature, such as fossil
fuels which are stored deep in the earth; waterfalls and wind energy; plant, animal, and human growth;
all organic matter that can be converted to heat and mechanical energy; along with sea waves,
gravitational and tidal power occurs upon earth moves around the sun and moon.
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Bibliography
Canada's Wind Energy Installed Capacity . (n.d.). Retrieved 04 13, 2019, from Canadian Wind Energy
Association: https://canwea.ca/wind-energy/installed-capacity/

Canada's Wind Energy Road Map. (n.d.). Retrieved 04 13, 2019, from Natural Resources Canada:
https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/sites/www.nrcan.gc.ca/files/canmetenergy/pdf/fichier/81769/windtr
m_append_e.pdf

Environmental Impacts of Wind Power. (n.d.). Retrieved 04 13, 2019, from Union of Concerned
Scientists: https://www.ucsusa.org/clean-energy/renewable-energy/environmental-impacts-
wind-power

History of Wind. (n.d.). Retrieved 04 13, 2014, from LM Wind Power : a GE Renewable Energy Business:
https://www.lmwindpower.com/en/sustainability/learn-about-wind/history-of-wind

History of Wind Power . (n.d.). Retrieved 04 13, 2014, from US Energy Information Administration:
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.php?page=wind_history

How Do Wind Turbines Work? (n.d.). Retrieved 04 13, 2019, from US Department of Energy:
https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/how-do-wind-turbines-work

Land Area Requirements for Wind and Solar Projects. (n.d.). Retrieved 04 12, 2019, from Saskatchewan
Wind: https://www.saskwind.ca/land-area

Wind Energy. (n.d.). Retrieved 04 12, 2019, from Internation Renewable Energy Agency:
https://www.irena.org/wind

Wind Energy Basics. (n.d.). Retrieved 04 12, 2019, from Wind Energy Development Programmatic EIS
Information Center: http://windeis.anl.gov/guide/basics/

Wind Energy Canada. (n.d.). Retrieved 04 13, 2019, from Natural Resources Canada:
https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy/renewables/wind/7299

Wind Energy Development Environmental Concerns. (n.d.). Retrieved 04 13, 2019, from Wind Energy
Development Programmatic EIS Information Center:
http://windeis.anl.gov/guide/concern/index.cfm