Suchergebnisse

Despite the fossil fuel fired power generatingplants being the major producers of greenhouse gases, it isclearly evident that renewable sources of energy are not going toreplace them any time soon. There is a general consensusamongst scientists and governments that our climate is changingat an unprecedented rate, and it is argued that it is largely causedby greenhouse gas emissions from economic activity that isunlikely to be significantly scaled down through forums andprotocols. Many studies indicate that a higher concentration ofgreenhouse gases in the atmosphere, particularly carbon dioxide,is the primary cause of global warming that is driving climatechange. While awaiting for renewable energy to make furthertechnological advances, improve its efficiency, and place itself asa cost effective contender to conventional power generation,energy efficiency and conservation are currently the leastexpensive alternative for power and process industry to meet agrowing demand for cleaner energy. For all the renewable energyresources put together, renewable energy accounts for 19.1% oftotal electricity production, of which 85% is hydro-electricity.Energy efficiency and renewable energy should remain the twinpillars of sustainable energy policy [1]. In many countries, energyefficiency is also seen to have a national security benefit becauseit can be used to reduce the level of energy imports from foreigncountries and may slow down the rate at which domestic energyresources are depleted.In this paper, we focus on the current state of the electricalsystem efficiency from generation to utilisation, and identify thecritical areas where efficiency can be enhanced through currenttechnology, design and operational practice.