Renewable Energy: Introduction

This lecture introduces the concept of renewable energy, covering its potential, current and future contributions to the energy supply, essential physics and chemistry for conversion and storage, technologies status, and various renewable power plants. It also discusses the order of magnitude understanding of solar energy, water turbine power, wind turbine size, ocean wave power, and geothermal energy conversion. The lecture emphasizes the importance of sustainability, efficient resource use, decarbonization of energy services, and increasing renewable energy utilization to transition to a sustainable energy economy.