Thermal Energy Storage Technologies for Sustainability

Systems Design, Assessment and Applications

S. Kalaiselvam,R. Parameshwaran

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9780124173057
• Topic: Technik & Maschinenbau
• Subtopic: Energieressourcen

Thermal Energy Storage Technologies for Sustainability is a broad-based overview describing the state-of-the-art in latent, sensible, and thermo-chemical energy storage systems and their applications across industries. Beginning with a discussion of the efficiency and conservation advantages of balancing energy demand with production, the book goes on to describe current state-of-the art technologies. Not stopping with description, the authors also discuss design, modeling, and simulation of representative systems, and end with several case studies of systems in use.

• Describes how thermal energy storage helps bridge the gap between energy demand and supply, particularly for intermittent power sources like solar, wind, and tidal systems
• Provides tables, illustrations, and comparative case studies that show applications of TES systems across industries
• Includes a chapter on the rapidly developing field of viable nanotechnology-based thermal energy storage systems

Chapter 1

Energy and Energy Management

Abstract

Energy is the lifeline of all human activities and the chief catalyst for the overall development of the key sectors within a country. The role of energy sources and proper energy management techniques can be considered the decisive factors that merit the economic potential status for a developed country among the world’s nations. The challenges pertaining to the extraction, generation, and distribution of energy have to be confronted at every step of the energy-efficient systems design. This would help acheive the energy conservation potential as well as carbon emissions reduction. The development of state-of-the art technologies amalgamated with renewable energy integration would contribute to offsetting the future energy demand/consumption without sacrificing energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.

Keywords

Energy

Energy management

Energy efficiency

Environmental sustainability

Energy conservation

Energy consumption

Energy sources

Renewable energy integration

Sustainability

1.1 Introduction

Energy and energy management are two facets of a mature technology that would move the economic status of a country from normal to the height of societal development. A nation with a strong mission of ensuring energy efficiency at each step of its societal development can sustain higher economic growth on a long-term basis. The increasing concerns about climate change and environmental emissions have led to conserving energy through the development of several energy-efficient systems. The underlying concept behind this is the reduction of extensive utilization of fossil fuel or primary energy sources and their associated carbon emissions. From this perspective, the following sections are designed to explain energy concepts, project energy demand/consumption, and describe possible energy management techniques that would be helpful for the development of a sustainable future.

1.2 Energy Resources, Energy Sources, and Energy Production

In the spectrum of energy and energy management, energy resources, energy sources, and energy production are extremely vital starting from their discovery, conversion, and production to end-use consumption. Although the terminologies related to energy resources and energy sources seem to be associated, a basic difference exists that helps the scientific community to move the task of energy production forward to meet energy demand.

Energy resource refers to a reserve of energy, which can be helpful to mankind and society in many ways. On the other hand, energy source also means the system that is devised for extracting energy from the energy resource. For example, the availability of fossil fuels under the earth in the form of coal can be categorized as an energy resource. The system or the technology that is incorporated to extract the energy available from the fossil fuel (coal) can be classified as the energy source.

Earth has large energy resources or basins including solar, hydro, wind, biomass, ocean, and geothermal. Through the application of the human ideologies and emerging technologies, tapping the energy from these reserves in an efficient manner has always been a paramount task. Earth’s finite and renewable energy reserves along with recoverable energy from these resources are depicted in Fig. 1.1.

Figure 1.1 Finite and renewable planetary energy reserves (Terawatt-years, TWy). Total recoverable reserves are shown for the finite resources. Yearly potential is shown for the renewable [1].

It is not only important that the energy be extracted from these reserves or reservoirs; the real success of the task depends on efficient transformation to the actual societal requirements. In simpler words, the extracted e...