For many years people have been burning fossil fuels like coal and gas for energy, but now sources of fossil fuels are depleting – and they create pollution when they are burned too. People are now starting to realize that we have to find sources of renewable energy. These various types of sources include solar, wind and marine energy.
One of the most used and well-known sources of renewable energy is solar power. Everyday the sun generates a vast amount of energy and that sunlight can be utilized and converted into electricity using different 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 turn it to heat energy. Water is heated by the heat energy and then stored in tanks. Solar collectors are used to heat the water in your home as well as to heat swimming pool. Both uses take advantage of the same technologies.
Wind power is another major 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 which causes the wind to blow. Wind power is preferable to the use of fossil fuels because it doesn’t generate any greenhouse gases and it is an abundant resource. Wind energy is not a new initiative. Wind power was originally used to generate electricity by the ancient Egyptians and by the beginning of the 20th century wind power was widely used in Europe, in particular Denmark. However it was the introduction of cheap oil and gas that ruined the wind power industry. It is only now that people are getting interested in wind power once again due to 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 therefore another of the main renewable energy sources. As an energy source it is sustainable and has very little effect on the environment. Using water for energy is a relatively new idea and there are no commercial wave energy equipment on the market at this point of time. But, there is some technology that is being applied and trialled. One example that is producing power on the Scottish island of Islay is an equipment known as LIMPET. More and more technologies are being developed all the time. Watch out for any new innovations in marine energy technology next time you pick up the newspaper or an environmental magazine.
Geothermal energy is the last in the renewable energy sources that will be talked about in this article. The easiest method 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 common 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 readily available. This is due to the fact that not everybody lives by a geothermal reservoir and that often the technology is far too expensive. But it is still good to have this as an option.
