As illustrated, global total primary energy consumption has been rising over the past decade.
As shown below, fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and natural gas currently account for the majority of electricity generation.
However, as a result of concerns about the environmental issues associated with fossil fuels, as well as their finite nature and potential future depletion, renewable energy sources are gradually taking their place.
Renewable energy sources include wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass, among others.
Heating, cooling, power production, and desalination are just a few of the uses for them.
Renewable energy sources play a significant role in meeting global heating and cooling demands, accounting for roughly 10% of total demand in 2016.
Solar collectors or geothermal heat exchangers may often be used for heating.
The thermal energy of renewable sources may be used for desalination units in addition to heating.
The absorbed thermal energy is used in renewable desalination systems to evaporate saline water and produce fresh water.
Despite the fact that renewable energy sources may be used for a variety of purposes, current advances in renewable energy sources have mostly focused on power production.
According to the REN21 study, the worldwide capacity of renewable energy power plants increased by 181 GW in 2018.
Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, with about 100 GW of installed capacity, represent the largest proportion of worldwide installed renewable energy systems during this time period, followed by wind turbines with about 50 GW.
Both directly and indirectly, renewable energy technologies may be utilized to generate power.
PV panels, for example, are used to convert solar energy directly to electricity, while the thermal energy of renewable sources is sometimes transferred to power plants via thermal processes such as the Brayton and Rankine cycles.
The efficiency of renewable energy systems for electricity generation is determined by a number of factors, including the technology used as well as geographic and environmental conditions.
~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan
