Renewable Energy for Rural Economic Development

Jeffrey Martino

James Rovere

Matthew Schifano

Monank Shah

Problem Statement

How do we install hydroelectric turbines as a renewable energy source to improve the economic situation and quality of life in rural areas of Sri Lanka while sustaining the environment in a cost effective manner?

World Bank Project

• Utilize private sector power generation

• Integrate this with main source of power generation

• Use of renewable energy sources such as water, wind, biomass, and solar photovoltaic cells

• Reduce cost while maximize efficiency

Renewable Energy for Rural Economic Development

• ID: P076702

• Commitment Amount: $125.7 Million

• Product Line: IBRD/IDA

• Country/Area: South Asia

• Status: Active

• Approval Date: June 20th 2002

Politics

• “The government has been ruling without a clear majority since late 2005”

• Not all parties have agreed on anything since this time

• Violence in Northern and Eastern regions of Sri Lanka because of presidential election in November 2005

Politics

• World Bank may experience difficulty install renewable energy sources

• Followers of parties against WB Project can act out in a violent manner

Education• Four general themes have been outlined as the

basis for the Educational Sector Development Project:

• Increasing equitable access to basic and secondary education

• Improving the Quality of Education• Enhancing the Economic Efficiency and Equity of

Resource Allocation • Strengthening Education Governance and Service

Delivery

Economy

• Low-income compared to rest of global economy.• Stronger economy necessary to establish stable

education system.• Has become increasingly larger and more stable

over the past few years.• Living conditions becoming better as the economy

grows; such as a decrease in the infant mortality rate.

Roads

• Improving the road system will make the project for the World Bank easier

• Road Sector Project’s goal is to fix 620 km of highways in Sri Lanka

• Road Sector Project will offer jobs and lower transportation costs for the general public of Sri Lanka

An Improved Model for Predicting the Efficiency of Hydraulic Propeller Turbines

• Mathematical model for calculating peak efficiency of a turbine

• Based on factors such as age, size, and specific speed

• Factor not accounted for: Updated or “rerunnered” turbines

An Improved Model for Predicting the Efficiency of Hydraulic Propeller Turbines

• Which age should be used? Actual or performance equivalent

• Factor included which takes account for both the actual and performance equivalent ages

• Mathematical model now applicable to predict efficiency of all types of turbines

Progress in Energy and Combustion Science

• Division of energy consumption by location data, data of population by geography and energy currently exploitable by different types of renewable energy sources.

• Currently only 25% of the energy available from hydro sources is exploited and only 25% of the world energy is provided by hydropower. This leaves great potential for future investment in hydropower research and utilization.

Progress in Energy and Combustion Science

• Small-hydropower system and large-hydropower system.

• The small-hydropower system consists of two subsections, the small-hydropower system and micro-hydropower system.

• Micro-hydropower system (MHP) has a capacity of below 100 kilowatts (kW).

• Small-hydropower system (SHP) has a capacity of 101 kW and 1 megawatt (MW).

An Improved Vertical-axis Water-current Turbine Incorporating a Channeling Device

• New model of the Water-Current Turbine(WCT)• Experiments done to show that addition of

channeling device is efficient improvement:• Allows for control of flow speed through turbine and

increases output of energy• Lowers initial investment placed toward the creation of

the turbine

• Conclusion: result of newer, more efficient renewable energy source that can be applied to even low-income countries.

Sustainable Development of Small Hydropower Plants

• Numerous small hydropower plants were built in Turkey

• Small hydro plants are beneficial to the economy– Turkey no longer has to buy energy from other

countries

• Misplaced hydro plants can lead to environmental damage

Conclusion

• Our research on the country and an analytical reviews provided important insight into our problem statement.

• The analytical reviews give us a better understanding of our situation and will prove to be a key component when brainstorming possible solutions.

Citation

http://web.worldbank.org/

http://www.energyservices.lk/statistics/geographic.htm

http://metalink.binghamton.edu:8331/V/8F1RCVD696SE6AH2LAMJQD4BBI7T7AITJ52V3RAQTPAAGNMURS-00620?func=native-link&resource=BNG03111