What are the Sources of Renewable Energy?
For so many years people have been burning fossil fuels like gas, coal and oil for energy, but now sources of fossil fuels are running out – and they create pollution when they are burned too. People are now realizing that we need to find sources of renewable energy. These types of sources include solar, wind and marine energy.
One of the most used and commonly known sources of renewable energy is solar power. Everyday the sun generates a vast amount of energy and that sunlight can be utilized to convert into electricity using various technologies. It can be absorbed in solar collectors. These are the heat-absorbing panels that you see on many rooftops. The way these solar collectors work is that they harness solar energy and turn it to heat energy. Water is warmed by the heat energy and then stored in tanks. Solar collectors are being used to heat the water in your home as well as to heat swimming pool. Both uses take advantage of the same technologies.
Wind power is another major sources of renewable energy. The energy contained in the wind comes indirectly from the sun, that is the sun heats the surface of the atmosphere which causes the wind to blow. Wind power is preferred to the use of fossil fuels as it does not generate any greenhouse gases and it is an abundant resource. Wind energy is not a new initiative. Wind power was initially used to generate electricity by the ancient Egyptians and by the beginning of the 20th century wind power was widely used in Europe, in particular Denmark. But it was the introduction of cheap oil and gas that ruined the wind power industry. It is only at this time that people are becoming interested in wind power once again because of the issues with pollution and green house gas emissions.
Scientists are working at developing technologies that extract energy/power from the tides and the waves. Marine energy is thus another of the main renewable energy sources. As an energy source it is sustainable and has very little impact on the environment. Using water to generate energy is a relatively new idea and there are no commercial wave energy devices on the market at the moment. However, there is some technology that is being used and trialled. One example that is producing power on the Scottish island of Islay is an equipment called a LIMPET. There are always new technologies being developed. Look out for any new development in marine energy technology next time you pick up the newspaper or an environmental magazine.
Geothermal energy is the last in the renewable energy sources that is going to be mentioned in this article. The easiest method to take advantage of geothermal energy is by salt water and steam that is trapped in the many layers of rock below the earth’s core. Natural hot springs are the most common form of geothermal energy that has been utilized in the past centuries. However, geothermal heat pumps are the new “it“ energy product. Although geothermal energy is sustainable, it is not readily available. This is due to the fact that not everybody lives by a geothermal reservoir and that often the technology is far too expensive. It’s nice we have the option though.
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