You may be surprised when you learn about all the types of renewable energy that are available to us today. While renewable energy was once considered a new concept, using nature’s energy to provide energy for your home has been utilized for heating, illumination, transportation, water heating, and much more. Wind has power boomed to power sailboats to ply the great seas and wind mills to grind grain. All of these sources of energy can be found throughout the world.
There are many types of renewable energy sources including geothermal, solar, hydropower, biomass, tidal, wave, ocean thermal, and large hydroelectric dams. Geothermal power plants use the heat from the earth’s molten core, which is then converted to electricity. Solar panels use photovoltaic cells to absorb sunlight and convert it directly into energy. Biofuels are fuel derived from plant life such as corn and switchgrasses, which can be used in place of petroleum products. These types of technologies have been proposed as solutions to the growing problem of greenhouse gas emissions, but they are still a long way off from being commonplace.
As mentioned above, the major challenge to overcome for the average person is the cost of implementing these types of technologies. There are a few solutions to this issue, however, ranging from traditional technologies that use fossil fuels sources to more recently developed technologies that tap into geothermal or solar energy sources. The former is quite expensive, while the latter provides a clean and renewable source of energy. For those who are interested in purchasing a new power plant or using other forms of renewable energy installation, there are many advantages to using renewable energy sources. Among them include the avoidance of detrimental impacts to the environment and to the economy.
One of the biggest reasons why it is so difficult to implement renewable energy sources at a large scale is the fact that the costs involved are quite high. Fossil fuels and other nonrenewable resources are very valuable and once used, they are very difficult if not impossible to replace. Another major barrier to renewable technology is that it is very difficult to turn nonrenewable resources into a renewable form. One example that is being worked on is to make hydrogen from water. Once the technology is perfected, it will be very possible to create your own hydrogen fuel cell car.
The problem with some forms of alternative energy like geothermal or solar power is that they do not provide a continuous supply. Fossil fuels on the other hand, as we all know, are extremely reliable and provide a steady flow of energy. So even if you have a cloudy day or if the wind suddenly decides to stop blowing in your area, you can count on your fossil fuel source to keep you warm. Solar systems on the other hand only work during daylight hours and are only really useful during summer months in Northern climates, although great strides have been made to improve this.
The world needs to reduce dependence on fossil fuel resources. Instead of focusing so much on meeting our energy needs at home and in the workplace, we should be concentrating on developing better ways to use the sunlight that comes our way. Using sunlight to produce electricity means that we don’t need to rely on fossil fuels to do it. And we don’t need to burn up our natural resources either, since there are many solar energy resources that are available for us.
It seems that there are two sides to the story when it comes to the debate over the environment and climate change. There are those who believe that the current methods of producing renewable energy are best suited for the purpose of keeping the environment clean while there are those who think that it is time for a radical change and that we should shift completely to clean and renewable sources of energy. But what are the sources of renewable energy? There are many but among the best ones currently are solar energy and wind energy.