Today, people are using more energy than ever before. As the population grows and countries around the world develop, the demands on electricity grids and oil and gas supplies have increased. Due to their finite nature, dependence on fossil fuels has become less viable. To address this, engineers have been at the forefront of developing systems that are helping generate, transfer, contain, and recover energy from renewable sources.

In this blog, we will examine these energy sources, as well as the work engineers are doing to overcome some of the issues associated with the transition to renewable energy.

Wind Power

A report carried out by the Northern Ireland Department for the Economy found that of the renewable energy generated and used in Northern Ireland between June 2022 and June 2023, 83.5% came from wind. Since 1891, when it’s thought the first horizontal-axis wind turbines were built in Denmark, the technology used to generate wind power, alongside its popularity, has advanced. One of the main reasons for this growth is the abundance of wind as a source. Wind is plentiful in many places and is the second largest source of renewable energy globally. The second factor influencing its popularity is the potential output of wind turbines, with the energy generated from one wind turbine having the potential to power hundreds of households.

Despite this progress, wind power has its disadvantages. Wind can be intermittent, and those who rely on it as a source of energy also rely on weather conditions. In order to address this, engineers have designed the likes of the Wind Harvester, which is a device that allows turbines to harness and optimise energy from low velocity wind and diverts any electricity that is not in use to a battery, where it can be stored to power devices in the absence of wind. The cost and size of wind turbines are also a deterrent to adopting wind generated power. However, smaller wind turbines that are fit for use in a garden have been developed in a bid to make wind generated energy more accessible.

Solar Power 

Solar panels, which generate and convert sunlight into power, have also seen a surge in popularity. In the US, President Biden’s clean energy targets mean that the US solar industry workforce is expected to quadruple by 2035. In the UK today, over 1.3 million homes are equipped with solar panels. Parts of Europe, such as France, Portugal, and Greece, see over 3,000 hours of sunshine a year, and electrical engineers have been harnessing and optimising this sunshine to power electricity grids worldwide. Solar power has also been used in the transport industry, with a manufacturer in Australia producing what is thought to be the world’s first solar powered passenger train. Equipped with a lithium-ion battery bank, curved solar panels on the roof collect and generate up to 6.5kW of solar power to charge the train’s batteries. It is hoped that this is just the start of trains incorporating more renewable sources of energy.

Like wind, one of the main concerns about solar energy is the supply, particularly in countries with less sunlight. However, scientists at Stanford University have developed a means of modifying solar panels to ensure they generate power during the night. These solar panels not only rely on the heat of the sun, but they harness the cold of outer space. By installing a thermoelectric generator onto the panels, the temperature difference between the sun during the day, and the air at night, can be harnessed to produce electricity. 

Biomass

Biomass energy is derived from chemical energy stored by plants and animals and involves extracting energy that once came from the sun. Examples of organisms include plants, animals, wood, and waste, and biomass from these sources can be burned to create heat, converted into electricity, or processed into biofuel. Electricity generated from biomass increased 54% from 2005 to 2015 in Canada, and is increasingly being used to secure the UK’s electricity grid.

Waste powered planes, which are powered through fuels made from waste such as wood and home waste, are the latest in aerospace technology and makes up part of the industry’s plans to address the emissions associated with air travel. Dubbed Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), the European Union have set targets to increase the usage from 2% to 63% by 2050. SAFs are biofuels made from the likes of waste, sugar, and corn, and it is hoped that this technology can be extended to a range of transport industries to reduce emissions and increase efficiency. 

As the world starts to transition towards the use of renewable energy, engineers and manufacturers have a large role to play in optimising these sources, and making them more accessible, minimising their cost, and the potential for disruption to supply. Here at McGreevy Engineering, we have the expertise and accreditations to design and supply composites for the power generation sector, and are committed to playing our part in powering a more sustainable future. 

If you would like to speak to a member of our team about a project, contact us by calling: 028 9044 8755 or email: [email protected].