rainwater can be used as clean energy sources for micro-hydraulic power plants.
Retention of rainwater by these buildings will also contribute to reducing flooding in
urban areas.
Clean energy should be extracted based on local conditions. Appropriate hybrid
use of different types of power plant is preferable to obtain a sufficient amount of
clean energy. If each family tries to use a combination of clean energy types, their
home can be a “smart house,” and if every family in a village tries to have a smart
house, their village could be called a “smart village.” Furthermore, if every family,
every company, every school, and every part of a city tries to use clean energy
sources, the city becomes a “smart city.” Based on such efforts by every person and
every part of society, a low-carbon society can be realized in the future.
12.5.2 Future Challenges
The fundamental performance of a new type of windmill power system and microhydraulic power systems have been confirmed experimentally. Electric power generation using solar panels has already been developed, and its applications are
expanding. The micro-hydraulic power systems have a wide variety of applications,
such as tidal phenomena, narrow rivers, small dams, and drainage water streams in
buildings. Annual variation in wind is dependent on local geographical features. The
feasibility of harnessing solar energy also depends on geographical features and
artificial constructions such as houses and tall buildings. The volume and speed of
water flow in rivers vary depending on location, such as in mountains and rural areas.
There are many tall buildings in urban areas, and high volumes of used water are
discharged from these.
The most preferable method to generate clean energy should be selected considering local conditions, and several different effective methods should be combined
as hybrid types of power generation plants in many cases. Each power generation
system has both advantages and disadvantages. If different methods are successfully
combined, one can obtain sufficient output of clean energy. During the night, solar
energy plants cannot generate power. Windmill power plants can only generate
energy when the wind is blowing. Effective combination of different power generation systems can provide sufficient electric power when individual power sources
are not available.
However, in some cases, there may be no suitable generation method if inconvenient conditions are superimposed. In order to solve this problem, we recommend
preparation of an additional artificial generation method combined with various
types of natural clean energy, as shown in Fig. 12.21. Among the various types of
fossil fuels, CO 2 emissions are lowest for liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel. Thus, for
an artificial power generation system, an energy plant using LNG is preferable from
the viewpoint of CO 2 reduction. Power can be generated by consuming LNG when
clean energy sources are not available due to inappropriate conditions.
236
T. Sakai et al.
Retention of rainwater by these buildings will also contribute to reducing flooding in
urban areas.
Clean energy should be extracted based on local conditions. Appropriate hybrid
use of different types of power plant is preferable to obtain a sufficient amount of
clean energy. If each family tries to use a combination of clean energy types, their
home can be a “smart house,” and if every family in a village tries to have a smart
house, their village could be called a “smart village.” Furthermore, if every family,
every company, every school, and every part of a city tries to use clean energy
sources, the city becomes a “smart city.” Based on such efforts by every person and
every part of society, a low-carbon society can be realized in the future.
12.5.2 Future Challenges
The fundamental performance of a new type of windmill power system and microhydraulic power systems have been confirmed experimentally. Electric power generation using solar panels has already been developed, and its applications are
expanding. The micro-hydraulic power systems have a wide variety of applications,
such as tidal phenomena, narrow rivers, small dams, and drainage water streams in
buildings. Annual variation in wind is dependent on local geographical features. The
feasibility of harnessing solar energy also depends on geographical features and
artificial constructions such as houses and tall buildings. The volume and speed of
water flow in rivers vary depending on location, such as in mountains and rural areas.
There are many tall buildings in urban areas, and high volumes of used water are
discharged from these.
The most preferable method to generate clean energy should be selected considering local conditions, and several different effective methods should be combined
as hybrid types of power generation plants in many cases. Each power generation
system has both advantages and disadvantages. If different methods are successfully
combined, one can obtain sufficient output of clean energy. During the night, solar
energy plants cannot generate power. Windmill power plants can only generate
energy when the wind is blowing. Effective combination of different power generation systems can provide sufficient electric power when individual power sources
are not available.
However, in some cases, there may be no suitable generation method if inconvenient conditions are superimposed. In order to solve this problem, we recommend
preparation of an additional artificial generation method combined with various
types of natural clean energy, as shown in Fig. 12.21. Among the various types of
fossil fuels, CO 2 emissions are lowest for liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel. Thus, for
an artificial power generation system, an energy plant using LNG is preferable from
the viewpoint of CO 2 reduction. Power can be generated by consuming LNG when
clean energy sources are not available due to inappropriate conditions.
236
T. Sakai et al.