Abstract
It was required to determine relative merits of commonly used renewable energy (RE) systems for which estimation of their individual sustainability percent achievable was chosen as the single criterion assessment tool. The methodology developed for estimating sustainability included identification of individual sustainability indices (SI) and examining the scope of sustainability percent input /kWh power generation for each of SI indices and summing them up estimating total sustainability accrued from respective RE systems. The RE systems studied included photo-voltaic (PV) cells, bio-fuels, on-shore & off-shore wind energy and OTEC schemes. Coal power plant being commercially viable was studied as the referral energy scheme. Nine SI indices identified for study included resource potential, greenhouse gas saving, influence on flora & fauna, effects on human health, land loss aspects, food and potable water security, economy evaluation, and improvement in quality of life from economic growth. Total sustainability achievable showed the highest in OTEC, followed by wind, bio-fuels and PV, respectively. SI index on quality of life showed RE schemes like OTEC & bio-fuels competing equally with coal power plant having poor sustainability with the least power generation cost; whence Hybrid OTEC showed the highest sustainability with high power production cost. Four fold approaches have been suggested for reducing power generation cost of OTEC. (i) Adopting economically viable scheme of not less than 40 MW. (ii) Heating up the working fluid with solar irradiation, terming SOTEC scheme. (iii) Saving cable laying cost, from hydrogen production utilizing the power generated. (iv) Hybridization of OTEC scheme.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
