Explaining Renewable Energy

Elaine A. Moore studied chemistry as an undergraduate at Oxford University, England, and then stayed on to complete a DPhil in theoretical chemistry with Peter Atkins. After a two-year postdoctoral position at the University of Southampton, England, she joined the Open University, UK (OU), in 1975, becoming a lecturer in chemistry in 1977, senior lecturer in 1998 and reader in 2004. She retired in 2017 and currently has an honorary position at the Open University.She has produced OU teaching texts in chemistry for courses at levels 1, 2 and 3 and written texts in astronomy at level 2 and physics at level 3. She is a co-author of Metals and Life and of Concepts in Transition Metal Chemistry, which were part of a level 3 Open University course in inorganic chemistry, and were co-published with the Royal Society of Chemistry. She was team leader for the production and presentation of an Open University level 2 chemistry module delivered entirely online. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She was a co-chair for the successful departmental submission of an Athena Swan bronze award.Her research interests are in theoretical chemistry applied mainly to solid-state systems, and she is the author or co-author of more than 50 papers in refereed scientific journals. A long-standing collaboration in this area led to her being invited to help run a series of postgraduate workshops on computational Materials Science hosted by the University of Khartoum, Sudan.

• 1. Introduction2. Solar Energy2.1. Photovoltaic (solar) cells2.1.1 Semiconductors2.1.2. The p-n junction2.1.3. Materials 2.1.4. Other solar cells2.2. Other Considerations2.3. Solar thermal panels2.3.1 Materials2.3.2 Other ConsiderationsQuestions3. Wind power3.1. Wind turbines3.2. Electrical generators3.3. Materials3.4. Other ConsiderationsQuestions4. Water power4.1. Hydroelectric dams4.2. River turbines4.3. Wave power4.4. Tidal power4.5. Material4.6. Other ConsiderationsQuestions5. Geothermal Energy5.1. The origin of geothermal energy5.2. Accessing geothermal energy5.2.1 Using geothermal energy for heating5.2.2 Using geothermal energy to produce electricity5.3. Considerations Questions6. Hydrogen6.1. Hydrogen production6.1.1. Electrolysis6.1.2. Chemical Reactions6.1.3. Biohydrogen production6.2. Storage and transport6.3. Hydrogen use6.3.1. Fuel cells6.4. ConsiderationsQuestions7. Biomass7.1. How is energy produced from biomass?7.2. Why is energy derived from biomass considered renewable? 7.3. Types of biomass7.3.1. Wood7.3.2. Crops and Grasses7.3.3. Algae7.3.4. Waste7.4. ConsiderationsQuestions8. Energy storage 8.1. How rechargeable batteries work 8.2. Batteries for storage8.2.1 Kead-acid batteries8.2.2. Lithium-ion batteries8.2.3. Sodium based batteries8.2.4. Redox flow batteries8.3. Batteries for transport8.3.1. Lithium-based batteries8.4. Capacitors8.5. Pumped storage hydropowerQuestions9. Carbon capture, storage and conversion9.1. Carbon capture and storage9.1.1. Trees and peat bogs9.1.2. Construction materials and minerals9.1.3. Porous solids9.1.4. Absorbance by liquids9.2. Conversion of captured carbon dioxide9.2.1. Mineralisation9.2.2 Chemicals and FuelsQuestions

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