Sources of Renewable Energy
With gas and oil prices climbing uncontrollably, sources of renewable energy are becoming more attractive to countries and industries around the globe. There has been a new sense of conservation in recent years, not only because of the cost of gas. Environmentalists have long championed the need for creating and utilizing renewable energy, and the idea is gaining popular support as debate increases around climate change and global warming. Countries and industries are investing in researching sources of renewable energy.
Several sources of renewable energy are provided by natural resources such as sun, water, wind, even tides and geothermal heat. If they can be naturally replenished, they are renewable. The growing popularity of renewable energy is evident in the statistics. In 2008, about 19 % of the global energy consumption came from renewable sources. Some countries, including Iceland and Paraguay, get 100 % of their power from renewable energy.
What are Some Sources of Renewable Energy
Electricity and heat that is generated by wind, ocean hydropower, solar, geothermal, biofuel and hydrogen sources often comes from large-scale projects, such as sprawling wind farms in the Mojave Desert. Conventional fuels such as oil, gas and coal can be replaced in key areas such as the generation of power, hot water, space heating, and transport fuels.
Wind also has several sources of renewable energy. Wind turbines are generated by airflow. Wind farms are most successful in areas of high winds, such as offshore and in high altitude areas. Hydropower captures and uses the energy found in water, such as rainfall and reservoirs. Water is about 800 times denser than air, so the power potential is nearly unlimited. Solar energy comes from the sun, through solar radiation. Different solar technologies are able to capture and distribute energy in efficient ways. Biomass is a renewable energy source that comes from plants, and harnesses the photosynthesis process that allows a plant to capture the sun’s energy. Geothermal energy involves using the natural heat that occurs inside the earth. Power plants extract geothermal energy from the earth’s core.
Wind power has emerged as one of the most popular technologies, making its sources of renewable energy a leading industry right now. More capacity for wind power generation increased in 2009 than any other renewable technology. All sources of renewable energy investments have grown in the last five years. International scientists have put together a plan to power 100 % of the world’s energy from renewable sources by the year 2030. It is an ambitious goal, and supported by many people eager to develop new ways of providing heating and other power sources to people in developed and developing nations alike. It is promising that renewable energy fuels are getting cheaper, while fossil fuels are getting more expensive. This will only increase the incentive to use them in the future.
Cost Savings With Sources of Renewable Energy
The idea of using renewable energy is becoming more attractive to business and corporate markets. Global revenues for these technologies grew from $76 billion in 2007 to $115 billion in 2008. In the past, using environmentally friendly methods and products seemed to force businesses and households to incur a cost. However, it seems now that using sources of renewable energy is not only efficient, but cost-effective as well.
