The technology around renewable energy is becoming more and more available. Just a few years ago it was quite expensive to buy the necessary equipment
The technology around renewable energy is becoming more and more available. Just a few years ago it was quite expensive to buy the necessary equipment to take advantage of that type of energy source. Now the price of hardware is significantly less. There are several types of renewable energy that are available.
Most of the renewable energy comes in one way or another from the energy of the Sun. These include hydroelectric power which is generated when the Earth’s surface is heated. Then there is wind which is a result of warm air rising and like hydroelectric power, is a process generated by the sun heating the Earth’s surface.
When most people think of this type of energy, they think of solar which is a direct way of converting sunlight into energy with the use of panels. Some people may think that biomass is something different but actually, it’s just simply sunlight that’s been stored inside of living plants. There are a couple of renewable energy sources that are not generated directly by the Sun and these include geothermal energy which is created out of radioactive decay and tidal energy which is generated by the gravity on the Earth.
Solar Energy
There are actually several ways that the energy from the Sun can be collected directly but the most commonly known is through solar collectors. These are the solar panels that you see on the top of a house and sometimes there are solar farms that have ground-mounted solar panels. Some of the other ways in which this type of energy can be collected include doing so with solar water are solar attic fans but those technologies are not yet developed enough to produce enough power. For that reason, you will likely see panels being used for this form of renewable energy.
Wind Power
Wind is the next renewable energy source that most people are familiar with. Some of us have even seen the big windmill farms of super tall windmills all lined up row after row. The technology on these has advanced substantially to the point where this energy source does power a small percentage of the US power needs. The Sun causes a temperature change to the Earth and this creates atmospheric changes that cause wind.
For this technology to work the windmills have to be fairly high in the air where the majority of wind is and either the blade has to turn quite fast or internal mechanisms have to turn fast enough to create the electricity. The newest technology has internal mechanisms so that the outside blades may only barely turn a little but the internal mechanisms spin a lot and generate electricity.
Hydroelectric Power
This particular power source is not a hundred percent renewable but it is produced from the oceans and sunlight. Hydroelectric dams exist in many parts of the world and currently produces a percentage of those countries electricity. At this time, most of the locations that can make use of these dams already exists.
Biomass Power
Similar to the way solar panels work, living plants can also store energy from the Sun. The process of creating biomass is the extraction of that energy that is stored in plants. Although burning trees or wood with a biomass boiler is not generally thought of as renewable energy this is one of the ways in which to take advantage of the energy stored in plants. Some of the modern methods of using biomass include the generation of methane as well as the production of alcohol that can be used to generate electricity at a power plant or it can be used to fuel an automobile.
Geothermal Energy
The Earth has a certain amount of radioactive decay that seeps out. This happens everywhere but in some locations, it happens at a rate that is high enough that you can generate electricity from it. The technology involved for doing this is still limited as well as the areas that excrete enough of this radiation decay. Another type of geothermal energy is what happens with soil. Everywhere around the world, the soil stays very close to a constant temperature. This is a form of energy storage that happens in the Earth.
Making use of this energy with heat pumps is a way to reduce the need for additional power. The effective use of this effect would significantly lower the power needs of homes and commercial buildings. It can’t produce additional electricity but it can reduce the need for it.
Tidal Power
Energy can be produced from the natural tidal movement of the oceans. It is a form of hydropower that comes from the ocean’s tides. The technology to take advantage of this type of energy is here but it has not yet been developed to the point where it is commonly used. Even so, it has the potential to generate a great deal of electricity needed on Earth.
Wave Power
This type of energy comes from electric generators that are put on the surface of the ocean. The ocean generates waves and as these waves go across the generators and it produces electricity. The electricity generated from this source is usually used by power plants. The amount of energy that is generated is determined by the height of the wave as well as its speed and density.
The technology involved in using renewable energy has come a long way. The cost of the hardware necessary to generate electricity from renewable sources has come down. Even so, in many ways, we are at the very beginning of using this renewable energy. The dependence on oil has reached a precipice and the human race is in great need up switching to renewable sources of energy.
Burning trees, coal, and oil is causing a great deal of damage to the Earth. There really isn’t a need to continue doing so when we know how to harness energy that is completely renewable and doesn’t hurt the Earth in any way. If you haven’t considered using renewable energy you should really think about looking further into it and if possible begin making use of it.
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