Coal versus Wind Powered Electricity Generation - Essay Example

COAL VERSUS WIND POWERED ELECTRICITY GENERATION Name of Student Name of School Coal versus Wind Powered Electricity Generation. Wind power generation is different from other forms of thermal generation because of the stochastic nature of wind. Forecasting of wind power plays an important part in handling the setbacks that are involved with the demand and supply of electricity. The generation of electricity through wind can be described as the utilization of air flowing through wind turbines to power generators that in turn produce electricity. It is used as an alternative of other sources of power and is easier to deal with than other sources. Coal power is another source of energy that is widely used nowadays that requires the use power stations to burn the coal so it can produce electricity after passing through the various stages of conversion. This paper discusses the two sources, their comparisons and differences and also why the government invests in wind farms and how they can convince private investors to do the same through way of policies and incentives. COMPARISONS 1.Needs a lot of money to set Up 2. Maintenance costs are high. 3. Both have implications on the environment. 4. 5. 6. 7. WIND POWER CHARACTERISTICS Has many individual turbines connected to the power network. It is in Plenty It is renewable. It is clean. It produces small levels of green house emissions. It does not use water. Have minimal harmful effects on the environment. COAL POWER CHARACTERISTICS There is the use of power stations where the fuel is burnt to produce energy. It is limited and can ran out. Steam turbines are used. Emits greenhouse gas. There is solid waste from coal that must be disposed. Some of the waste can be recycled for building materials. Waste heat energy is released in the air. Wind farms usually have many wind turbines that are connected to the network that transmits power in the form of electricity. It has been found to be a cheaper means of generating power especially in offshore farms where the wind is found to be stronger and steadier than that found on land (Saidur et al, 2010). The farms usually have turbines numbering from a few hundreds to even thousand depending on the size of the land. The land that is found in between the turbines may be used for farming or other purposes. The turbines are connected to one another by way of medium voltage systems of power collection that also serve as communication networks. The average space between each turbine is seven rotor diameter of the turbine. Sometimes the construction and maintenance of the farms can become a little more costly but they produce energy that is used to power small scale electricity providers some being private in nature . Wind power is thought to be safer than other methods since it is clean and is always found in plenty. There are very low levels of emissions of harmful gases into the air and there is no waste to be found afterwards that needs to be disposed (Foley et al, 2012). There are no harmful effects on the environment since the turbines move at such slow speeds they are not a threat even to birds or other flying objects. There is no use of water which makes it easier to manage and can be done anywhere there is enough space and availability of wind. The challenge that seems to set back most of the farms is the need for new transmission lines to help carry power from the wind farms especially when there is high generation of energy. When there is accurate forecasting of wind power, the need for more power in reserve and balancing energy is reduced. When done right it allows for scheduling, commitment of units of thermal generators, better dispatch and competitive trading in the market. Coal powered electricity generation requires the use of power stations where the fuel is burnt to produce energy. In many countries this is the most common source of energy used. These power stations have unique type of machinery that enables the conversion of heat energy generated from combustion to mechanical energy (Fischer, 2010). Many of these plants use energy that is produced from expanding gases such as combustion gases. When the stations are being set up, there needs to be the consideration of the byproducts and how they are to be separated from the end product. Waste heat energy is usually released into the air or into a lake that is why most of them are built near water bodies. Using coal means there is the emission of carbon dioxide which is a green house gas that causes global warming. It contains other substances such as sulfur oxide, mercury and nitrogen which are harmful to the human body and also to the atmosphere. Some of the waste from the plants can be recycled and used for building materials (Patel, 2005). In the near future these power stations might not exists due to the diminishing of these resources that are used to produce the energy that is used and people would have to turn to other sources like wind power. During production in these stations, there is the need for a high level of caution from the employees since some of the materials are harmful to human health and protective clothing should be used. The only similarity with these types of energy generating systems is that they require a lot of money to set them up. In regards to the two forms of power generation, there is the increasing awareness of the emissions of harmful gases which has led to the new technologies emerging that have lower emissions and promote capturing and sequestration of the carbon dioxide so that it is transported to a storage site and deposited where it cannot enter the atmosphere. The deposits are made in underground geological formations and the target is to prevent the release of huge amounts of carbon dioxide (Lewis et al, 2007). The underground storage can also be done in the form of mineral carbonates. It is a highly viable means of reducing the emissions caused by use of fossil fuels that cause global warming. As much as this might be a new trend there is the question as to whether it can be a long term means of storing carbon dioxide and what the implications would be in the long run. There is also the consideration of deep ocean storage but the prospect is not too strong due to the effects that might come from ocean acidification. Reports indicate that North America has one of the largest storage capacities that can support up to nine hundred years of carbon dioxide deposits putting into consideration the current production rates. However this is an uncertain prediction since there is the risk of the gas leaking into the atmosphere. For coal fired combustion plants there are two options of capturing the harmful gas. Nitrogen can be removed from the flue gases or it can be removed from the air before combustion occurs to get a gas stream that is ready for sequestration. The largest influencing force in the installation of wind farms was from the government after the emergence of the mandatory renewable energy target which started in 2001. It led to the construction and installation of renewable energy technology including wind farms in a bid to try and meet the MRET targets for 2010 (Ackermann, 2005). It considered wind power a cheap form of energy generation that would greatly benefit the country in the future. These moves were not welcomed by all and some government ministers were against the move. Recently the new government in place is doing everything it can to stop further emergence of wind farms by discouraging investors and even breaking the policies that once supported these forms of renewable energy (Buhre et al, 2005). To encourage private electricity providers to invest in wind farms the government can reinstate the MRET policy which would help encourage more generation of electricity from renewable sources, it would also help to reduce the emission of green house gases since it has one of the highest emission levels brought about by the large reserves of coal that have helped to keep the electricity prices at low rates. These high emissions of such gases has started to cause concern over climate change hence the need for such policies which would also make sure the energy source are ecologically sustainable. In conclusion we find that both wind powered electricity generation and coal powered electricity generation are sustainable means of generating power. However they have various setbacks mainly in terms of the implication they have on the environment and how this can be handled to ensure the atmosphere is kept safe from global warming. They also have their advantages in that coal powered stations have been around for decades and are still being used to date while technologies are being put into place to reduce harmful emissions. Wind power is a more recent form of electricity generation that has proven to be less hectic to use and not as expensive as the other means in terms of the setup and also in the maintenance of the wind farms. References. Saidur, R., Islam, M. R., Rahim, N. A., & Solangi, K. H. (2010). A review on global wind energy policy. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,14(7), 1744-1762. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032110000626 Foley, A. M., Leahy, P. G., Marvuglia, A., & McKeogh, E. J. (2012). Current methods and advances in forecasting of wind power generation. Renewable Energy, 37(1), 1-8. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148111002850 Fischer, C., & Preonas, L. (2010). Combining policies for renewable energy: Is the whole less than the sum of its parts?. Resource for the Future Discussion Paper, (10-19). http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Papers.cfm?abstract_id=1569634 Lewis, J. I., & Wiser, R. H. (2007). Fostering a renewable energy technology industry: An international comparison of wind industry policy support mechanisms. Energy policy, 35(3), 1844-1857. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6cf1r3z5#page-4 Ackermann, T. (Ed.). (2005). Wind power in power systems (Vol. 140). Chichester, UK: John Wiley. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Ackermann%2C+T.+%28Ed.%29.+%282005%29.+Wind+power+in+power+systems+%28Vol.+140%29.+Chichester%2C+UK%3A+John+Wiley.&btnG=&hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5 Buhre, B. J. P., Elliott, L., Sheng, C. D., Gupta, R. P., & Wall, T. F. (2005). Oxy-fuel combustion technology for coal-fired power generation. Progress in energy and combustion science, 31(4), 283-307. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360128505000225 Patel, M. R. (2005). Wind and solar power systems: design, analysis, and operation. CRC press. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Patel%2C+M.+R.+%282005%29.+Wind+and+solar+power+systems%3A+design%2C+analysis%2C+and+operation.+CRC+press.&btnG=&hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5 . Read More