Types Of Renewable Energy Available Today
As the world reaches its energy crisis we need to reduce our dependence on non-renewable energy sources, and start generating renewable energy on a massive scale.
Currently there are 4 major types of renewable energy available at our disposal: solar energy, wind energy, hydro energy, and geothermal energy.
Wind Power:
Wind turbines have been around for millennia, further back than the birth of Christ. Over the years they have been used to pump water, drag boats and grind flour. But at the turn of the industrial revolution, wind turbines were made to produce electricity.
Some people still imagine windmills as the ornate ones found in the Netherlands, or the small wind pumps on farmland, but wind power technology has come a long way. Today, massive windmills, better known as wind turbines can generate millions of watts of electric energy, and smaller ones can be used at home as a substitute to grid-tied power.
Solar Power:
If it were not for the sun we would not have wind, and better yet, we would not have solar energy - the most abundant renewable energy source we have. Although we should be harnessing more of it, technology has enabled us to use the sun’s power in a variety of ways - solar power, solar water heating, solar cooking, passive solar design, and solar drying.
Solar water heating, solar electricity, and passive solar design are some the simplest and cost-effective ways to reduce your conventional energy use. They do not need much maintenance, and are really environmentally friendly. With solar cooking, no gas or electricity is needed, just some good sunshine. making it very popular for campers and travelers alike. Also, the food is cooked at a much lower temperature, which helps to stop vital nutrients from being lost.
Hydro Energy:
Initially hydro or water power was used industrially in rivers and waterfalls to power waterwheels that would then be used to move water for irrigation or grind flour.
In modern times the power of water is mainly used in to generate hydro-electricity. This is mainly done is large dams, where water is stored and released through small channels. The force of the water through these channels is extremely strong and capable of spinning large turbines, that then generate electric power. An example would be the Hoover Dam that is used primarily to supply Las Vegas with electricity. Over 90% of our renewable energy is generated with hydro-electric dams.
There have been some social and environmental concerns about building dams for hydroelectricity since entire village and communities are flooded by the dam, and the walls prevent certain species of fish from swimming upstream to spawn.
Geothermal (Volcanic) Power:
Most of the time Geothermal energy is harnessed in volcanic regions, where molten lava is rather close to the earth’s surface. An good example would be in Iceland, an extremely volcanic island that generates a lot of its power in this way.
How geothermal energy basically works is the lava heats a lot of underground water, creating geysers with hot steam. The pressure from the steam is used to spin turbines and generate power. Power plants are usually built right over these geysers, where they reuse the water by pumping it underground to produce more steam. And so the process continues…
This brings us to the end of the various types of renewable energy explored. To find more in-depth information on each source, you can visit our website at DIY-Renewable-Energy dot com.
