Green Energy Basics
Green Energy, also referred to as alternative or renewable energy, comes from renewable energy sources that are non-polluting, environmental-friendly and constantly replenishing. Currently, the majority of the world’s power needs are overwhelmingly met through the burning of fossil fuels which have caused extensive environmental damage by being sources of air, soil and water pollutants. As the use of green energy increases, the amount of environmental degradation associated with power generation will greatly decrease.
Up until the industrial revolution human society functioned largely on the amount of energy delivered to the earth from the sun each day-mainly by using and consuming living plants (and other animals who consumed these plants) that had converted the sun’s solar energy into a digestible food. With the invention of electricity and modern transportation as well as increases in population and building, our energy demands greatly increased. Available technologies at the turn of the last century led us on a path to consume the Earth’s stored and limited resources in the form of coal, oil and gas to meet these demands – without consideration of their effect on our environment. However, with today’s technologies we can create unlimited energy without having to depend on current destructive and limited fossil fuels as our energy sources.
These new technologies to produce clean, renewable energy are: solar energy, wind power, hydropower, bioenergy, and geothermal energy.
- Solar energy is radiant light and heat that comes from the sun. Solar energy provides electrical generation by means of heat engines or photovoltaics, from small scale installations on home rooftops, to large scale utility power generation. Even smaller units can be used to power outdoor lights or recharge batteries. Solar energy can also be used directly to heat water for a wide variety of uses, from heating water for use in homes, to commercial under-floor heating or space heating in large buildings.
- Wind energy is created when the sun’s heat generates wind which is then captured with wind turbines. These are most often used on large utility scale arrays, but smaller turbines are now also available for homes in areas with reliable wind.
- Hydropower electricity is generated from the force or energy of moving water. Traditionally this energy has been generated by dams on our rivers powering turbines, but because of environmental concerns, this method is becoming less ideal. Now research is focused on capturing ocean energy from three main sources; ocean tides, ocean waves, and temperature variations between the ocean surfaces and the ocean depths. All of these energy sources can be harnessed to generate electricity. Water is also used as a store of energy, by pumping it uphill during times of low demand, and then releasing it to power turbines during high demand.
- Bioenergy is a form of renewable energy that is derived from biological sources. Biomass comes from the organic matter of plants. It is used as fuel for transport, to generate electricity, or to produce chemicals. When biomass is used in any of these forms it is called bioenergy. Until recently, food products such as corn and soy were the primary sources of bioenergy. Now, new research in non-food crops as well as algae is showing great promise as carbon neutral sources of energy.
- Geothermal Energy is generated from the heat stored within the Earth. When the Earth’s internal heat is harnessed to generate electric power or as a heating source, this is called geothermal energy.
