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Alternative Energy

Course Code	VSS102
Fee Code	S1
Duration (approx)	100 hours
Qualification	Statement of Attainment

HOME STUDY - RENEWABLE ENERGY COURSE - SOLAR WIND AND MORE

LEARN ENERGY MANAGEMENT, PRODUCTION & STORAGE

Learn to become energy self sufficient and to understand different methods of generating, storing and using electricity, from hydro and solar to wind generators.

Save money through making homes more efficient and renewable energy
Learn about energy management
Learn about energy generation, storage and management
Become aware of domestic energy usage

Explore ways to better manage energy consumption, and how to convert a building’s energy supply to an alternative system.

Study, Learn and Discover Alternative Energy Solutions for the Future

Energy for human activity is obtained from a variety of sources:

Fossil Fuels (ie: Oil, Gas, Coal).
Nuclear Fuels (ie: Uranium, Plutonium).
Renewable Fuels -
Geothermal (ie: Hot Springs)
Solar
Water (Tides, Waves)
Wind Power
Crops (Firewood, fuel distilled from crops, bagasse).

Over the past century or more, the modern world has developed a dependence on fossil fuels. We are realising increasingly, that these fuels are limited in supply, that utilising these fuels creates many environmental problems (e.g. pollution, global warming, health problems), and that we must look towards alternatives that are sustainable, and produce minimal negative effects on the environment.

This course aims to inform students about the history of energy production and consumption, theories behind management of energy, the basics of electricity, energy generation through renewable methods, manageing energy consumption in domestic settings and more.

Lesson Structure

There are 8 lessons in this course:

Introduction: The Problems and the Energy Sources.
Understanding Energy
Generating Electricity
Storage and Using Electricity
Non-Electric Systems
Energy Consumption
Energy Conservation
Converting to Alternative Systems

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

Describe the nature and scope of alternative energy.
Describe the nature and application of electricity.
Compare different methods of generating electricity
Compare different techniques for storage and use of electricity.
Describe the application and operation of different non electric energy systems
Identify ways to better manage energy consumption.
Describe energy conservation techniques.
Discuss how to convert a building’s energy supply to an alternative system.

What You Will Do

List different insulating materials which may be commonly found inside electrical equipment?
Determine a practical example to show the relevance of each of Kirchoff's Laws to a technician, in their daily work?
Contact a number of suppliers of alternative energy generating systems (e.g. wind, solar).
Find out all that you can about the types of systems they supply. Collect any relevant leaflets and brochures. If possible observe such systems in action.
Design a floor plan and describe the current electricity use of a home which you are familiar with (but which uses only mains power supply).
- This might be the home of a friend, relative, or even your own home.
Recommend ways in which this home might reduce reliability on mains supply (either in part or full) by introducing its own electricity generation system
Compare the relative significance of alternative sources of energy including wind, solar, fossil fuels, hydro, etc.
Explain electricity, including its nature, terminology and options for applying it as an energy source
Explain the generation of electricity through a variety of means including: Photo voltaic cells, Wind powered generators, Petrol powered generators and Batteries.
Describe procedures for appropriate use of electricity, including storage and safety
Develop ways of reducing energy consumption, including effective temperature control.
Evaluate a building and recommend appropriate measures for minimising it's consumption of energy.
Identify the restrictions or regulations which can affect the adoption of more appropriate energy applications for a specific property.
Plan the conversion of a property from high energy consumption systems to an appropriate network of sustainable and lower energy consumption systems.

For more courses on sustainable living and self sufficiency click here

Sample of Notes from this Course:

RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES COMPARED

The following information gives a quick comparison of renewable energy sources:

	WIND	SOLAR POWER	HYDRO POWER
Cost of installing	medium	Lower	higher
Site Specific	medium	Low	higher
Seasonal Variations	medium	Very high	medium
Running costs	medium	Low	low
Noise	yes	No	Very little
Reliability	medium	High	High
Capital Cost	medium	high	Lower

Source: Tourism Switched On: Sustainable Energy Technologies For The Australian Tourism Industries (1996), A guide prepared by Tourism Council Australia, World Travel & Tourism Environment Research Centre and the Office of National Tourism.

THE REALITIES OF SOLAR ENERGY

The following comments summarise points raised in a brochure produced by the Australian & New Zealand Solar Energy Council to clarify issues and dispel myths held about solar energy.

Solar is not only used to heat water, but can be used to supply electricity for any use (can be generated from photovoltaic cells).

· Good housing design can provide 60-100% of your heating and cooling requirements.

· Solar energy can be stored in thermal mass (e.g. building materials, rocks, water, oils) or thermochemical reactions so that it is available at any time, including at night, and on overcast days.

· Electricity produced in photovoltaic cells can be stored in batteries.

· Some solar equipment costs less than conventional alternatives to buy, install and run.

- 'Solar' clothesline save considerable energy when compared with electric driers.

- Solar pool heaters can save a lot of pool heating costs when compared to gas heaters, and don't have the same pollution costs.

Some solar equipment may cost more initially, but will be cheaper overall due to reduced running, maintenance and environmental costs (e.g. water heaters).

· Photovoltaic cells can provide power in areas where it is too costly to connect to power from an electricity grid.

· Current solar devices are already effective in comparison to established energy sources, and improvements are continuing to be made.

· Photovoltaics are now cost effective in many applications.

· There is 25 times the yearly energy needs of Australia and New Zealand falling on the land areas of those countries on an average day.

· There is sufficient roof space on homes alone in Australia and New Zealand to produce, using photovoltaics, the total electricity requirements of those countries.

· A solar water heater will 'repay' the energy used in its manufacture in only 6 to 18 months, depending on location, and will last in excess of fifteen years.

· A photovoltaic cell will collect four times the energy used in its manufacture during its lifetime.

SOME FACTS ON WIND GENERATION

· Power generated from wind is an indirect form of solar energy.

· In generating electricity from wind, the chemical and heat energy steps normally required for electricity generation are not needed: the kinetic energy of the wind turns the turbine (or blades), which then turns a generator to produce electricity.

Wind generators can run day and night depending on the presence of winds.
Electricity generated by wind can be stored in batteries, or used directly to power devices (e.g. water pumps).
Wind turbines for power generation have low environmental costs.

The southern coastline of Australia and New Zealand is in the "Roaring Forties" one of the best wind regimes for power generation in the world.
Wind generators occupy only a small space for the tower with the rest of the land available for other uses (e.g. agriculture).
A wind generator will produce the energy used in its manufacture in 1 to 4 years depending on its location.
Rotor blades need to be strong, light and durable. Recent advances in fibreglass and carbon-fibre technology have enabled the production of lightweight rotor blades. These blades are capable of performing for years in the rugged conditions of some of the world's windiest locations. Turbines with blades of this length can generate up to 1 megawatt of power.

In 1993, a joint Australian-French research project was established to investigate alternative energy options for Antarctic stations. Installation of a 10 kW wind turbine was undertaken at Casey station in Antarctica. By 2007 they hope to have a large proportion of the power requirements of their continental stations provided by renewable energy sources.

The power available from a wind turbine increases very rapidly with wind speed: a doubling of wind speed results in as much as an eight-fold increase in power. Therefore it is important to site wind generators in a place where the wind speed is high, as well as reasonably constant.

The first electricity-generating wind turbines were invented in the United States and Europe in the late 1800s. In the early 1900s, as electricity became more widely available in towns and cities, many rural communities and homesteads turned to small-scale wind turbines for their electricity supply. Many were built on-site, using old car generators and hand-carved rotor blades or old biplane propellers.

In Denmark nearly one percent of the nation's 5 million inhabitants own a wind turbine or own a share in a wind turbine. Denmark's turbines generate more than 1,000,000,000 kWh electricity per year, about 3.5% of national consumption. Most of the wind turbines in Denmark are owned cooperatively.

FREQUENT QUESTIONS

Why Choose This Course

Unique course materials (developed by our staff) and more current than some colleges (many reviewed annually); as a result, ACS graduates can be more up to date.
We work hard to help you understand and remember it, develop an ability to apply it in the real world, and build networks with others who work in this field (It’s more than just serving up a collection of information –if all you want is information, buy a book; but if you want an education, that takes learning to a whole new level).
Start whenever you want, study at your own pace, study anywhere
Don’t waste time and money traveling classes
We provide more choices–courses are written to allow you more options to focus on parts of the subject that are of more interest to you; a huge range of elective subjects are offered that don’t exist elsewhere.
Tutors are accessible (more than elsewhere) – academics work in both the UK and Australia, 5 days a week, 16 hours a day. Answering emails and phone calls from students are top priority.
We treat students as individuals –don’t get lost in a crowd. Our tutors communicate with you one to one.
Extra help at no extra cost if needed. When you find something you cannot do, we help you through it or will provide another option.
Support after you finish a course –We can advise about getting work, starting business, writing a CV, etc. We can promote students and their businesses through our extensive profile on the internet. Graduates who ask will be helped.
Support from a team of a dozen professional horticulturists, living in different parts of the UK, and in both temperate and tropical climate zones of Australia.

About ACS

ACS was started in 1979 by John Mason, who at the time was a gardening author, horticultural consultant and lecturer in horticulture at several colleges across Melbourne (in Australia). Over the summer that year John discovered that there were thousands of applicants going to be turned away from horticulture courses at Burnley Horticultural College (now Melbourne University). There were simply too few courses being offered for the number of people wanting to study horticulture in Australia. This situation prompted a move to establish a correspondence course at Burnley; but after months of unsuccessful lobbying for support from government; John wrote a course, and with help from a colleague at Council of Adult Education, marketed it.

Standards were originally set in line with what were seen to be the standards of Australia's top horticultural college; and over the years, those standards have never been reduced. This makes our courses longer and more demanding than some other colleges; but it has also led to us building a credibility that stands tall in the horticulture industry across the world.

In the early 1990's John started visiting the UK and becoming involved with the horticulture industry there. Around the mid 1990's ACS began offering RHS courses, and in 2003, John was formally recognised for his contribution to British Horticulture by being made a fellow of the Institute of Horticulture. ACS, as a school, established an office and staff in the UK in 2001, and has expanded considerably since then. Today it is formally affiliated with five other colleges in the UK (including Warwickshire College); all of who license and deliver ACS courses.

A team of leading horticulturists work for the school's horticulture department, including 12 faculty members in both the UK and Australia

How You Study

As soon as you enroll, we send an email to explain it all.
We direct you to a short orientation video (downloadable over the internet) to watch, where our principal introduces you to how the course works, and how you can access all sorts of support services
You are either given a code to access your course online, or sent out a CD or course materials through the mail (or by courier).
Work through lessons one by one, each lesson typically having four parts:

An aim -which tells you what you should be achieving in the lesson
Reading -notes written and regularly revised by our academic staff
Set Task(s) -These are practicals, research or other experiential learning tasks that strengthen and add to what you have been reading
Assignment -By answering questions, submitting them to a tutor, then getting feedback from the tutor, you confirm that you are on the right track, but more than that, you are guided to consider what you have been studying in different ways, broadening your perspective and reinforcing what you are learning about
Other - Your work in a course rarely stops at just the above four parts. Different courses and different students will need further learning experiences. Your set task or assignment may lead to other things, interacting with tutors or people in industry, reviewing additional reference materials or something else. We treat every student as an individual and supplement their learning needs as the occasion requires.

We provide access to and encourage you to use a range of supplementary services including an online student room, including online library; student bookshop, newsletters, social media etc.
We provide a "student manual", that is a quick solution to most problems that might occur

Recognition

ACS has a highly respected international profile: by employers and academics alike. People are more aware of us than many other distance education schools –just do a search for “horticulture distance education courses” and see what comes up on the internet; or search for ACS Distance education on Facebook or Linked in, and see how many connections we have compared to other colleges.
Recognised by International Accreditation and Recognition Council
ACS has been educating people around the world since 1979
Over 100,000 have now studied ACS courses, across more than 150 countries
Formal affiliations with colleges in five countries
A faculty of over 40 internationally renowned academics –books written by our staff used by universities and colleges around the world.

Extra Books or Reference Materials

The course provides you with everything that you need to complete it successfully.
Assignments may ask you to look for extra information (eg. by contacting nurseries, visiting gardens or searching the internet), but our school's resources and tutors are always available as a back up. If you hit a "roadblock", we can quickly send you additional information or provide expert advice over the phone or email; to keep you moving in your studies.