Renewable energy in Lithuania The word energy

Renewable energy in Lithuania

The word “energy” derives” from Greek language and means “action”. One type of energy can become the other type of energy, although the energy itself never comes from nowhere and never disappears to nowhere.

The most important source of energy is sun. Almost every type of energy derives from it, except nuclear energy. Oil, gas and coal – the types of natural fuel – are the result of the process which endured for million years.

Lithuania almost does not have energy sources dig out from the ground so we have to import. In the process of burning oil, coal and gas the air is polluted. Instead Lithuania has quite huge recourses of renewable energies such as sun, wind, biomass, geothermal energy. We have contemporary science, technologies, industrial potential for developing renewable energetics.

Vastly used organic fuel will be enough for mostly few hundred years. Alternative energy – it is the kind of energy which is renewed by nature itself.

SUN ENERGY

The sun was very important source of energy for humanity in all times. • One of the first known attempts to accumulate Sun energy was made by philosopher Socrates 2400 year ago. He had built the house of such a shape and in a such place that the house had maximum of sun illumination in springs and autumns. • Such way of “catching” sun energy is called passive.

• Through the year the surface of the earth in Lithuania receives 1000 k. Wh/m 2 of sun energy. • More than 80 percent of this energy reaches us during the period of 6 months (from April to September). • Practically, in nowadays the energy of sun can be used for thermal purposes in setting the sun collectors for warming up the water, in setting sun collectors for drying the agricultural products and in installing room heating using sun energy systems.

The average family uses approximately 2000 k. Wh of energy. This this approximate amount of energy per square meter reflected by the Sun per year. So theoretically the house could supply itself enough with the Sun energy.

Although not everything is so simple. . . • The Sun usually shines on summers when houses need little additional heating. And in winters when there is lack of heat, the Sun shines only for a few hours per day. • The heat is needed all year round. Firstly, we need hot water for washing the dishes, for the showers and bathrooms – we can get it when we construct the sun collector. • In today’s conditions there is no encouragement and support to use sun collectors for heating the water, that is why it is not worth it (or it is very expensive).

There are only few systems of heating the water using sun collectors installed in Lithuania. Their general area is about 100 m 2 • The factory “Plumbing accessories” produces sun collectors on the basis of stamped steel radiotators. The average price of such collector is about 300 Lt/m 2, energetic effectiveness – about 250 -290 k. Wh/m 2 per season. It buys off in about 12 years time.

Recently there wrap sun collectors created and started to use for drying the agricultural products • Their energetic seasonal efficiency – up tp 200 Wh/m 2 • They buy off in 1 -2 years time • General area of collectors for drying agricultural products is about 180 m 2 • Such collectors can be used by small farmers (Varėnos region, Panaros village)

The sun collector as a matter of fact is simply a black box made of glass with tubes for water circulation.

• Usually sun collector is put on the roof of the house, best side is South • A part of the water heated by the sun flows into the tank and later it circulates in spiral details, giving the heat to the water around it. • The engine pumps the water back on the roof where after heating by the sun it flows back to the tank. This way the permanent circulations takes place.

• 4 -6 person family needs about 10 m 2 of sun collector; • It would produce warm water in april – september, this means for a half a year; • In winter the sun shine is too weak, that is why the collector is turned off.

Preliminary findings show that using the passive sun energy systems of heating the buildings and in the case of convenient location and orientation of the building, there is possible reduction of heating cost up to 20 percent.

WIND ENERGY

Wind has it’s huge amounts of unused potential energy • The humanity used wind power to mill the grain and pump the water for hundreds of years. Few wind mills of the old construction remained. • Today electricity is produced by wind turbines which similarly to old wind mills have wings • The diameter of modern wind turbine can reach up to 100 meters.

The wings of some of the wind turbines remind of plane propeler, others look like giant mixer. But they have one thing in common – the movement of the wing is transmitted to the axis, connected to the generator of electricity. Horizontal axis Vertical ašis

The manufacturing of big wind generators is still very expensive. But small wind turbines can be installed in gardens and houses in the remote areas in order the wires could be possible to connect to the main electricity lines.

• Wind power plant (even big ones) make very little amount of energy comparing to water power plants, nuclear power plants and plants which burn fuel (coal, gas and oil). The power plant of average size could be replaced by few hundreds of wind power plants. • The huge amount of wind power plants with high towers should be built on the hills or windy places. This would ruin the landscape and disturb the work of radio and TV transmitters. • That is why the suggestion is to build wind power plants in the open sees far away from the coast. So for now it is quite difficult for wind power plants to compete with other sources of energy such as power plants, which burn organic or nuclear fuel.

Bioenergy is the energy which comes from the trees, straws or canes. The When sun shines the oxygen and carbohydrates are produced with the help of the dioxide found in the water and air. This process is called photosynthesis – it produces more energy than humanity consumes. sun energy is necessary for all the plants.

• Till the beginning of the XX century the wood and coal were the most important sources of energy in the whole world. The houses were heated with the wood. Considering the needs of the rapidly growing industry, in the XIX century the coal was begun to dig. • The old fashioned manner of burning the fire in open space in order to get heat is not efficient, because a great part of the energy burning wood produces is given away for heating the surrounding air. That is why the heating boiler was created – it used the heat much more effectively.

• Bioenergy can be obtained from all of the tree. The energy hides not only in the trunk, but also in the roots, branches and even very small branches. The chips can be made of it – they are very easy to burn. • There are researches conducted to test crushed wood (wood powder) – it is sprayed to the boiler in the same way as liquid fuel. • If all the wooden trash was used as a fuel, it would be possible to save much liquid fuel.

Using of biomass for producing energy in Lithuania The notion biomass is very wide. It is: • The wood, it’s trash after preparing and recycling; • The agricultural products and it’s trash (grains, straw, etc. ) • The trash of animal breeding (the muck of animals and birds) • The organic trash from food manufacturing; • The organic materials found in the dump of drain pipes; • The organic remainings of municipal economy trash.

Energetic plants • The attention to this kind of plants grew stronger during recent years in Lithuania. • The energetic plants were started to grow. Different kinds of fast growing plants were tried. Mostly suitable are different kinds of willows and wickers. • The trees are planted very densely. As the trees grow they are cut once every two years with the help of the machines and chopped. This way the biofuel is made. • The energy received from 1 ha equals energy of 5 -6 m 3 liquid fuel.

Different plants accumulate sun energy differently:

When talking about the energy produced by agricultural trash it is necessary to metnion straws. • The straw for bigger boilers was began to use in 1996 in Lithuania – it happened in Pasvalio region, Narteikių agricultural school (according to the PHARE program). The boiler burining the straws with the power of 1 MW was installed and was started to use. • Later there were 4 smaller 470 k. W boilers installed in Pasvalio region Grūžių, Vaškų and Latvėnų towns. There was economic benefit of installing those boilers, because much more expensive heater fuel was replaced by much cheaper fuel of the straws.

Biological gases • The resources of organic materials, used for obtaining biological gases, are constantly accumulating and renewing in the agricultural production. These are animal muck and the organic trash of recycled food. But effective it’s reproccessing is possible only in huge objects of production. • Today there are 3 biogas power plants working in Lithuania with general power of 2, 1 MW: • 1, 5 MW power plant, recycling the production trash of “Sema” spirit factory in Panevėžys; • 0, 3 MW power plant recycling the trash of city cleaning devices in Utena; • 0, 3 MW power plant recycling pigs’ muck in “Vyčios” agricultural company in Kaunas region.

The usage of earth (geothermal) energy

• Earth energy – one of the kinds of renewable energies. It is used in Vilnius and Klaipėda in private sector from water horizons, occuring not too deep (up to 100 m).

Obtaining resources of earth energy is connected to hot rocks, hot underground water, low temperature underground and soil water, soil.

The usage of earth energy can be various: • To meet the needs of centralized and individual consumers; • To transform earth energy into heat or electricity; • To use complexively the recourses of hydrosphere in the area of health promotion, recreation and medical treatment; • In agriculture – gardening, fish breeding, recycling of plants, drying of the hay and grain, etc. • In the industry – for example, drying fishes, wood, fruits, vegetables, etc. • For melting the snow on the roads, airport landing tracks, etc.

Geothermal energy can be obtained in the West of Lithuania from hot dry rocks of 100 -145 o. C of temperature

The usage of the geothermal energy • In Vydmantų gardening farm (1989) there were 2 mining holes drilled into the water horizon, water of 74 o. C obtained. • Vilkaviškio balneological geothermal project - The adjustment of earth energy not only for heating purposes, but also for medical treatment and strengthening health • Baisogalos geothermal project – covering the need for heat and experimental implementation (reprocessing of the flax, drying wood and grains, scalding the milk, breeding the fish, etc. )

• The renewable energy today is seen as the remedy for all the problems – climate change, pollution, lack of energy, energy dependence from mineral oil. • But the main financial investments are still oriented towards traditional gain of energy – thermal power plants and nuclear power plants. What reasons cause this?

Complex of reasons • Subjective – natural resistance of producers of traditional energy (unwillingness to loose so far so good business – it is the business of oil, gas, coal, atomic industry and organizations dividing central energy through division networks) • Objective – all the structure of energetics is based on centralized supply, the engines are adjusted for petrol and diesel, thermal boilers burn excavation fuel. It is horrible and inert worldwide monster in terms of technical and financial amounts.

The weaknesses and problems of renewable energy • The attempts to adjust renewable energetics to contemporary infrastructure, refusing decentralization (a possibility to choose the provider of energy) • Large amount of money is given for maintenance of centralized energetic system; • The requirement for the renewable energetic is it to be cheaper at once (the billions given to the infrastructure of traditional infrastructure are not considered)

If all the planned investments were directed towards renewable energetics Lithuania would be sufficient with the energy and we would have secondary benefits, that is new workplaces, the science and researches would recover. We only have to expect wise decisions from our politics and clerks.

Thank you for your attention