What are the Types of Renewable Energy?

For so many years people have been burning fossil fuels such as coal and gas for energy, but now sources of fossil fuels are running out – and they create pollution to the environment when they are burned too. People are now starting to realize that we need to find sources of renewable energy. These various types of sources include solar, wind and marine energy.

One of the most widely used and commonly known sources of renewable energy is solar power. Everyday the sun produces a large 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 absorb solar energy and convert it to heat energy. Water is heated by the heat energy and then stored in water tanks. Solar collectors are used to heat the water in your house as well as to heat swimming pool. Both uses take advantage of the same technologies.

Wind power is another main sources of renewable energy. The energy produced by the wind comes indirectly from the sun, that is the sun heats the surface of the atmosphere and causes the wind to blow. Wind power is preferable to the use of fossil fuels because it doesn’t produce any greenhouse gases and it is an abundant resource.  Wind energy is not a new initiative. Wind power was initially being used to generate electricity by the ancient Egyptians and by the beginning of the 20th century wind power was used extensively in Europe, in particular Denmark.  But it was the introduction of cheap oil and gas that ruined the wind power industry. It is only now that people are becoming interested in wind power again because of the issues with pollution and green house gas emissions.

Scientists are looking at developing technologies that extract energy/power from the waves and the tides. Marine energy is thus another of the main sources of renewable energy. As an energy source it is sustainable and has very little effect 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 this point of time. But, 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. Watch 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 sources of renewable energy that will be talked about in this article. The simplest way 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 popularized form of geothermal energy that has been used in the past centuries. But, geothermal heat pumps are the new “it“ energy product.  Although geothermal energy is sustainable, it is not widely available. This is due to the fact that not everybody stays by a geothermal reservoir and that often the technology is far too expensive. It’s nice we have the option though.

Originally posted 2010-08-31 20:18:31. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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