El Chaar 2010 Renewable Energy

Renewable Energy 35 (2010) 570–575

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Renewable Energy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Nourishing green minds in the land of oil Lana El Chaar*, Lisa A. Lamont Petroleum Institute, Electrical Engineering Department, P.O. Box: 2533, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history: Received 28 June 2009 Accepted 2 August 2009 Available online 4 September 2009

Climate change, global warming and the increasing in oil price are issues that concern everyone lately. Renewable energy is the solution for a safe and efficient environment for the new generations. Renewable energy sources are sustainable and are zero carbon emission. In order to deploy these sources efficiently, expertise in this field must be provided. This is accomplished by educating the young generations to all related issues regarding these sources and the related technologies. This paper describes the experience of introducing renewable energy in the curriculum for undergraduate students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the steps taken to enhance the learning process. It only represents the first stage of implementing green energy education into an engineering technology program and highlights the impact of this experience on the students with respect to the environment and the community. Such experience is an example that can be followed in order to promote renewable energy technologies and to develop the expertise in this field in a country that has just started to embrace renewable energy. Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Renewable energy Education Solar Wind United Arab Emirates

1. Introduction The United Arab Emirates (UAE) located in the Middle East is a country rich in oil and natural gas. Through this reserve and with foreign investment the Emirates have become highly prosperous. Established in 1971 with the bonding of seven emirates (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Quiwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah), the UAE has since evolved into a modern, high-income nation but is still developing to the level of other Western Countries. The region has gained acclaim as an oil and gas producing nation with its main industrial focus on hydro-carbons production as both the Gulf’s third larger producer with capacity in excess of 2.7 million barrel per day of oil and the fifth largest proven oil reserves in the region. Although the major focus of the UAE is in this energy rich sector, the non-oil sectors are also growing (18.6% in 2006), however, this developing country has yet to fully embrace the world wide phenomenon of renewable energy. Although still dependent on oil revenue and with future plans announced for increase in oil production capacity, UAE officials are initiating measures to address environmental concerns. This is due to the increase in growth population and industrial expansion which required an increase in energy demand. It is obvious that the UAE has an insatiable appetite for energy. UAE power demand is among the largest in the region due to financial and tourist projects

as well as a growing population. According to Global Insight [1], UAE has added 24% electricity-generating capacity at an annual rate over the last 30 years. Fig. 1 shows how the electricity generation and consumption has increased rapidly over a 10-year period from 1994. The U.A.E. has especially high energy demand to maintain a luxurious life of air-conditioning, chilled swimming pools and even an indoor ski slope. To meet this demand, the UAE must boost its electricity generation capacity by as much as 60% over the next three to five years. This will lead into an increase in carbon dioxide emissions. The UAE has been singled out as one of the world’s highest per capita emitters of carbon monoxide and other greenhouse gases (Table 1) [2]. However, the UAE is only the most serious among Persian Gulf oil-producing countries whose thirst for electrical power has spawned efforts to find other sources of energy to save high value fossil fuels for export. For environmental protection and awareness purposes and based on the Kyoto Protocol which aims to stabilize the content of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a sustainable level, the UAE Government is continuously looking to invest in new projects based on development and promotion of renewable energy and resource sustainability.

2. Renewable energy development in the UAE * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ971 502752277; fax: þ971 26075200. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (L. El Chaar), [email protected] (L.A. Lamont). 0960-1481/$ – see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.renene.2009.08.015

An enormous benefit of ‘‘green’’ power is its impact on air quality and other aspects of the environment. Abu Dhabi and Dubai

L. El Chaar, L.A. Lamont / Renewable Energy 35 (2010) 570–575

Fig. 1. UAE’s electricity generation and consumption, 1994–2004 [1].

are both laying the ground work for the UAE future in the renewable energy field. Masdar [3], Abu Dhabi’s government-owned renewable energy development body, has ambitious plans for solar, biomass, wind, and other renewable energy projects. ‘‘We realize that the world energy markets are diversifying, so we need to diversify too,’’ said Sultan A. al-Jaber, chief executive of the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, the government arm that manages the Masdar Initiative. ‘‘We see the growth of renewable energy as an opportunity, not as a problem.’’ In addition, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority launched a pilot project using wind energy to supplement conventional energy sources. Although these initiatives are positive moves toward sustainability the economics of implementing such technologies in this regions is still a major issue. The UAE government subsidies electricity tariffs and hence policymakers in the UAE will need to make some challenging decisions if these alternative energy sources are to be available on a commercially viable basis. After addressing financial issues, the lack of renewable energy knowledge must be tackled not only on the general public level but also for the future engineering graduates. A good role model to implement these energy sources into the UAE would be developed in countries such as Germany, France or USA. Germany in particular has tackled this issue previously by integrating these technologies domestically and in industry and developing educational experimental tools in the renewable energy

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area. In addition several programs have been initiated to raise awareness regarding global warming and necessary solutions for saving the environment. Part of this government plan was to encourage universities to offer degrees with specialization in renewable energy and sub specialty in any of the technologies being used. This is reducing the serious shortage of skilled professional, with experience in renewables. Due to the infancy of deploying sustainable energy technologies in the UAE development of man power was not an initial concern however this will need to be resolved to allow the rapid growth of this new energy industry. This trend reflects the needs of qualified designers, installers, policy analysis, scientist, engineers, teachers and researchers otherwise renewables may be adversely affected. As the UAE is only starting to develop sustainable energy in this region, such topic has not quite reached the university level as a required course, hence, academia is responding. It seems that there is a surge of interest in academia to scratch the alternative energy itch, similar to the development of energy and environmental engineering previously. Hence, forward thinking educators in the country realized the necessity and responsibility to educate the future generations of young engineers to understand the importance of renewable sources and become capable of designing, implementing and operating sustainable energy based projects. What is needed is not just technical expertise, but rather competence combined with a broader understanding of the policies, economics as well as the institutional aspects of energy. Integrating renewable energy in the educational system helps produce engineers with enough basic knowledge to work and excel in developing the suggested projects. For decades, engineering curricula have always been tailored according to both industrial and social needs. However, there has been a serious lack of and need to increase educational efforts regarding renewable energy and this has been underscored by the lack of programs at the secondary, post-secondary, institutional and national levels [4]. Thus to fulfill this current educational gap, teaching resources and a subsequent plans of actions are necessary components to successfully integrate renewable energy concepts into mainstream engineering and technology courses. Several US and European universities have acquired such modification in their undergraduate engineering curricula accordingly by adding courses related to renewable technologies, developing projects that can assist in educating students in all aspects of sustainability. In the US, the Energy-Smart program was launched in 1998 to promote energy education where

Table 1 CO2 emission per capita per year per country [2].

CO2 Emissions per 1000 people per capita per year per country

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Qatar

United Arab Emirates

Kuwait

Bahrain

United States

Luxembourg

Trinidad and Tobago

Australia

Canada

Singapore

40.6735

28.213

25.0499

20.0253

19.4839

17.977

16.8278

16.5444

15.8941

13.8137

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Table 2 Objectives and outcomes. Course #:

CEE 395

Course name: Objectives:

Energy engineering 1. Understand and analyze energy conversion and utilization 2. Develop the students’ ability to apply specific procedures and techniques to analyze energy conversion 3. Understand the environmental consequences of energy conversion and how renewable energy can reduce air pollution and global climate change.

Measurable outcomes:

1. Students have a qualitative knowledge of the main sources and the means by which the sources can be exploited for energy generation.(Qualitative analysis) 2. Students have a quantitative understanding of the energy generating potential of renewable energy sources and can perform analyses of energy conversion from these sources, and determine analytically the power requirements, power output, and efficiency (Quantitative Analysis) 3. Student can identify and locate relevant information sources on energy conversion elements and assess the quality of the information and the information source. (Lifelong learning) 4. Students can produce written and oral analyses of problems relating to energy conversion that are clear, concise and elegant. (Communication and team work)

Fig. 3. Graphical representation of the results of the outcome (0-not completed, 1-below average, 2-average, 3-above average).

Energy is one of the most fundamental matters of our universe. It is one of the most important inputs to industrial applications and

production settings, and thus a key for engineers and technologists to understand. The concept of Energy and its transformation is extremely useful in explaining and predicting most natural phenomena [6]. One form of energy can often be readily transformed into another with the help of a device. Recognizing the importance of such technologies and the consequences of integration in the curriculum in a suitable way, the goal was to initiate such programs carefully in a well designed manner, for an efficient and successful outcome. The mission of any respectable engineering school is to develop first class engineers and leaders in their field and empower them with the best engineering tools and expose them to the latest technologies. Modern society relies on stable, readily available energy supplies. Alternative energy is an increasingly important component of the new energy mix. Anyone can easily see that the world is leaning toward renewable energy sources and in this region, solar and wind energies are the next generation sources to come after oil and gas. After an extensive search and readings of how this could be implemented, the first step toward integrating such technologies in the curriculum was attending few workshops in the United States (US) on renewable energy to seek the most efficient method for introducing these topics in the core of the electrical engineering program. Since our target was to teach such technologies to the largest number of students possible, and since these are energy sources, then it made a great sense to integrate these topics into the energy engineering course. The course

Fig. 2. Reasons students’ highlight for taking the course.

Fig. 4. Presentation on extraction of silicon, microsol international FZE [7].

the initiatives focused on improving learning and teaching environments, reducing energy consumption and costs, increasing use of clean energy, increasing energy awareness among students, and providing instructional material to teach students on the importance of energy conservation and efficiency through hands on lessons [5]. The UAE will adapt this strategy in the future but it is vital currently that they start to gain the knowledge of this immediately hence the objective of this paper. Through a variety of methods such as senior design projects, research activities and energy conversion courses, alternative energy resources and emerging technologies can be introduced to the next generation. It is imperative to educate those students who will be the leaders and decision makers of the future. 3. Objectives and outcomes of integrating renewable energy education

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Fig. 5. 12.5 MW photovoltaic power plant at the vine farm erlasee.

outlined in Table 2 covers energy conversion and utilization. The course also touches upon the environmental consequences of energy conversion and how renewable energy can reduce air pollution and global climate change. The students’ excitement to learn about these energy conversion methods, in particular, renewable energy, was a key to the success of this course. Fig. 2 highlights the response of a survey the students undertook questioning the reasons for enrolling in this course. The history of renewable energy, climate change, CO2 emissions was introduced and all types of renewable sources were explained to some extent. However a greater emphasis on both wind and solar energy sources took place since they were declared as the two most potential sources for this region. The most important issue is not only that such material was covered for the first time, but the method deployed was innovative also for this region. The course as a whole was not only based on regular lecturing using power point slides, but new tools were used such as field trips, seminars and team presentations. Prior to reaching these topics, students teamed in groups to search, understand, write a report, and present at the end of the semester about one of the technologies available and their possible practical implementation in the UAE. Fig. 3 graphically represents the students’ level of fulfilling the objectives and outcomes of this course described in Table 2.

Fig. 7. Activities that students participated in after completion of the course.

The reason behind this was to invite technical expertise to give presentations related to the topics covered throughout the course on a weekly basis. Attending and reporting each seminar was a necessary task based on the course requirements (Fig. 4). Moreover, four volunteered field trips were organized, three locally and one internationally. These visits took place during the weekends to avoid class cancellation or missing classes. The Local companies visited are Emirates transformer & Switchgear limited (transformer manufacturing company [8]), Dubal (Dubai Aluminum [9]) and Microsol International FZE [7]. During these trips, students were exposed to details that help them relate the practical side to the theory taught in class. The willingness to learn, the excitement to see the real engineering and the dedication of the students made these trips so fruitful. What they wanted to see is how these are being used practically. Solar energy is not deployed yet on a large scale in the UAE and only one wind turbine was installed in Sir Baniyas Island for investigation purposes only.

4. Methodology Before the semester started, attempts to contact industries, dealing with equipment related to the material taught, were made.

Fig. 6. Courses students would like to be offered in the future.

Fig. 8. Student’s presentation during the workshop.

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Fig. 9. Percentage of students undertaking a renewable energy internship.

Contacts with some companies in Germany and Spain were established. Most of the students showed great interests in traveling to learn more about these technologies. Germany was the choice. Lahmeyer International [10], a leading consulting Company in Renewable Energy in Germany, was contacted to organize such a trip where solar and wind energy technologies were the topics of interests. In order to promote such technologies, Lahmeyer organized a full one week schedule were site visits for both solar and wind technologies took place (Fig. 5). Not only that, but they also partially sponsored this trip and have dedicated one of their engineers to accompany the group in all visits. In addition to industrial and plant visits [11], a trip to Kassel University took place where applied research laboratories (ISET) [12] were visited. The trip took place during spring break. Even though this trip was not mandatory, 80% of the class attended. The willingness to learn more was unlimited. This trip was extremely beneficial to all. It developed a great interest in such technologies and it had developed intentions within the students and willingness to raise awareness about global warming and climate change as soon as they go back to the UAE. The students were amazed about the German government initiatives to promote such technologies knowing that the amount of sunshine is much smaller than that in the UAE. At the end of this trip, the students requested to take more courses in renewable energy to cover more details in both wind and solar (Fig. 6). 5. Unexpected impact on students The outcomes of this course were completed to a high standard (Fig. 3), but this was not the only benefits that the students experienced. After the course ended, students were keen to impact their knowledge of renewable energy to others and this was undertaken as shown in Fig. 7. Some decided to go to schools to raise awareness about the environment and discuss the global warming and the technologies applied to help save the environment. Others were instrumental in organizing the first workshop on solar energy in the UAE which invited speakers from different countries to talk about and promote solar energy. The students were a key part of this workshop sharing and expanding knowledge with the attendees (Fig. 8). Companies that participated in the workshop commented on the impact of the course saying ‘‘the students’ enthusiasm is exciting’’ and ‘‘it is nice to see the next generation is getting actively involved in saving the world’’. Many companies were so impressed with the students’ interest that they have offered them summer internship (Fig. 9) as well as possible full time employment (Fig. 10). The students received excellent reviews after the internship from the companies. ‘‘If all your students have the knowledge that Basel, an electrical engineering junior student, acquired prior to working with us, Dubal will be more than happy to host more students for internship’’ said Mr. Al Madani [9]. The success of this course was not only measured by outcome assessment and assignments, but also, by the interest in the topics and the willingness of the students to learn further.

Fig. 10. Students development after graduation.

This was really a remarkable experience. The addition of all these tools enhanced the learning process like an invitation to the new generation to be more involved in their community by helping protect the environment. The outcome of such experience exceeded by far the expectations and showed the thirst of the students to learn and work toward developing the country by using the latest technologies as well as providing a safe environment to the future generations. This modified course has impacted not only on the community because of knowledge transferred from the students but also in companies based in the region as they can see the next generation interested and excited about sustainability.

6. Conclusion It is a fact that for quite some time, conventional sources of energy will remain dominant especially that sustainable sources are still more expensive for energy production compared to traditional sources. However, Global warming as well as climate changes have raised great concerns for whole mankind. Several developed countries have started to enhance the use of renewable energy and have set up plans in order to move more and more toward such technologies. One of the most important factors for this country’s development is the production of expert engineers in these areas. Countries under development like the UAE are steering toward such technologies and it is our role as educators to produce engineers who have at least the basic knowledge in designing or maintaining such technology. To date, most universities in the region have not yet introduced or integrated this discipline in their curriculum. However the experience described above definitely showed that student always strive to learn more about the latest in technology. This experience has shed a light on several issues and has enhanced the students’ awareness about the environment they live in and how to make it more secure for their future. This methodology applied above was so successful that it is being implemented in other courses. Further activities will include local field trips as well as scheduled weekly seminar presentations by industrial engineers to enhance the learning of our students in helping to save the world by learning how to reduce carbon foot print and how to implement renewables. However, the ultimate goal remains to educate, train and inspire the new generations to become future leaders that are properly rehearsed on matters of energy [13]

References [1] Energy Information Administration, http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/UAE/ Background.html; July 2007. [2] http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/env_co2_emi_percap-environmentco2-emissions,per-capita; June 2009. [3] Masdar Initiative, http://www.masdar.ae.

L. El Chaar, L.A. Lamont / Renewable Energy 35 (2010) 570–575 [4] Gowami DY. Present status of solar energy education. In: Proceedings of the 2001 American society for engineering education annual conference & exhibition session 1433. [5] DOE Energy Smart Schools. at, http://www.odod.state.oh.us/cdd/oee/doe_ energysmart_schools.htm; June 2009. [6] Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki; June 2009. [7] Microsol International FZE, solar cell manufacturing company with a plant capacity of 45 MW, http://www.microsolinternational.com; January 2009. [8] Emirates Transformers and Switchgears Limited, http://www.emiratestra nsformer.com; March 2009.

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[9] Dubal, Dubai Aluminum, http://www.dubal.ae. [10] Lahmeyer International, Independent consulting engineering company in Frankfurt, http://www.lahmeyer.de/e/index.html; June 2009. [11] Solarstrom SAG, http://wwww.solarstrompark.de; June 2008. [12] Institut fur Solare Energieversorgungstechnik (ISET), http://www.iset. uni-kassel.de/pls/w3isetdad/www_iset_new.main_page; June 2008. [13] Tamm G. ‘‘Renewable energy education of future army leaders at the united states military academy’’. In: Proceedings of the 2008 American society for engineering education annual conference & exhibition session, AC-2008-2203.