Research project 1. Solar Energy Solar energy is a form of energy which is widel
ID: 297675 • Letter: R
Question
Research project
1. Solar Energy
Solar energy is a form of energy which is widely available in abundance and have many different uses. Energy provided by sun in 1 hour is equivalent to energy consumed on earth in one whole year. And for this reason, there is ample opportunity to work and use this energy in comparison to any other form. Solar energy can be used to heat our homes, heat water, cook our food, power our lights etc
Example: During day time solar energy can be used to power the water pump and also charge the rechargeable batteries and use them to power garden lights in the night.
2. Wind energy
Wind is a form of solar energy and is a result of the uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun, the irregularities of the earth's surface, and the rotation of the earth. Wind flow patterns and speeds vary greatly across the United States and are modified by bodies of water, vegetation, and differences in terrain. Humans use this wind flow, or motion energy, for many purposes: sailing, flying a kite, and even generating electricity. The terms wind energy describe the process by which 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.
Example : how do wind turbines make electricity?
Hydro (water) energy: As countries throughout the world search for renewable sources of energy, the answer may lie in the oceans that separate us. WATER POWER is a renewable source of energy that uses the power of falling water to turn turbines, which produce electricity. This type of energy is also known as hydro power. Turbine generators can harness energy from ocean surface currents that travel in relatively constant directions.
Example for harnessing water energy:
Biomass
Biomass is basically a stored source of solar energy initially collected by plants during the process of photosynthesis whereby carbon dioxide is captured and converted to plant materials mainly in the form of cellulose, hemi-cellulose and lignin. The term biomass therefore covers a range of organic materials recently produced from plants, and animals that feed on the plants. The biomass can be collected and converted into useful bioenergy. It includes crop residues, forest and wood process residues, animal wastes including human sewage, municipal solid waste, food processing wastes, purpose grown energy crops and short rotation forests
Eg : Dump any liquid waste to light up the street lights. This posturizes how our future energy needs have to be met.
Task:
Your job in this project is to understand/learn about the respective energy and how it works? Based on your understanding you have to make a model (Still/working) of your experiment and prepare a research report.
The research report should contain a) Introduction (purpose of your experiment), b) literature review, c) methodology/analysis (the materials and equipment you will need to do the experiment, how to assemble and conduct the experiment, what you may see during the experiment etc) d) conclusions, e) future prospective and f) references
Project Criteria
Research Report
1. What are your driving questions and goals?
Describe the driving questions and goals. Why is
this important to know?
1 mark
2. What is your plan?
Include your project proposal.
1 mark
3. What did you find out?
Describe your findings and results
2 marks
4. What is your recommendation?
Do you recommend this as an alternative energy
form? What are some potential advantages and obstacles?
1 mark
Model
1. How well do you convey your ideas?
Appropriate usage of materials and creatively projected
4 marks
2. What is the science behind it all?
Describe the energy concepts related to your
project.
1 mark
Project Criteria
Research Report
1. What are your driving questions and goals?
Describe the driving questions and goals. Why is
this important to know?
1 mark
2. What is your plan?
Include your project proposal.
1 mark
3. What did you find out?
Describe your findings and results
2 marks
4. What is your recommendation?
Do you recommend this as an alternative energy
form? What are some potential advantages and obstacles?
1 mark
Model
1. How well do you convey your ideas?
Appropriate usage of materials and creatively projected
4 marks
2. What is the science behind it all?
Describe the energy concepts related to your
project.
1 mark
Explanation / Answer
1)The driving questions and goals of the project are:
: 1 .is there sufficient fossil fuels to satisfy needs of the future?
2.The effects of usage of Fossil fuels as sources of energy has led to increasing pollution and global warming.Alternative energy sources are required.
2) The plan is to device methods to harness energy from renewable energy sources and use them as an alternatives to fossil fuels.
3)The renewable energy sources which could be harnessed are : solar energy,wind energy, hydro energy and biomass energy.
The solar energy can be converted directly to electricity using solar cells.Which contain pannels of enriched Si and can generate electricity directly from sunlight. There are more technologies which could use the heat of the sunlight to boil water to produce steam to drive electricity generators. Similar technologies using an array of concave mirrors can used to heat water systems and perform other operations using solar energy.
The wind energy can be used to drive wind Mills to generate electricity .The wind energy has also been used for centuries to grind grains .
Hydro power can be used to generate hydroelectricity by using the potential energy of stored water bodies in dams to move the turbines of the generators to generate electricity.
Biomass can used to produce clean fuel containing methane gas,which can be used as a fuel and also for electricity generation.
4) Yes,considering the negative impacts of Fossil fuels in the environment,it is the need of the hour to replace these fuels with renewable energy sources.
The potential advantages are:-
1) Reduced dependence on fossil fuels as sources of energy.
2) Clean energy would be harnessed without adversely impacting the environment.
The potential disadvantages are :-
1) most of the current technology is based on power obtained from fossil fuels,a significant technology renovation would be required to efficiently utilize renewable energy.
2) The fossil fuels generate over 80% of total energy requirements.The technology for efficient utilization and energy generation from renewable sources is still untapped.
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