What is Renewable Energy—Explained

Over the centuries, energy has become a necessity rather than as a luxury to mankind.

After the discovery of electricity, different energy specialists and scientists as well started to use the Earth’s natural resources to generate energy. They have started digging the Earth’s crust and used coals and others that have potentials in producing power. They have also explored the sea, and used natural gas deposits and converting it into different forms of fuels to power not only our homes but also other structures and inventions as well.

As the population of the world increases and the development of technology as well is inevitable, there will come a time that we will be returning back to the primitive era before electricity was discovered. We will be using fire once again to light our homes and there will be no more televisions, game consoles, automobiles, cruise ships, airplanes, mobile phones, computers, digital audio and video players, and other similar technologies.

Coals, natural gas, and fuels are only limited resources. Energy specialists and advocates work in hand to find other alternatives to these limited energy resources.

Fortunately, we are now enjoying the benefits of these alternative energy resources. We enjoy bathing in a hot spring instead of heating the water in our swimming pool. We are not worrying about blackouts or high monthly electricity bills because of our solar power system. These are just some of the benefits that we derived from harnessing the power around us—almost unlimited, clean, and renewable energy.

This article will discuss what renewable energy is and its different forms in a way that a common people will understand. We will stay away from the technicalities concerns of such energy. This will provide each of us better understanding about the enhancement of renewable energy and its role in the near future.

Renewable Energy: An Overview

Renewable energy is also called an alternative energy source which replenishes itself naturally. In other words, it is similar to the energy sources we are using today in a sense that they are all came from the Earth’s national resources. However, coals and natural gas are considered to be non-renewables because these are consumed at a rapid rate than they are replenished. Studies show that these fossil fuels replenish itself by hundreds of years.

What is the impact of this renewable energy? Mostly, it is considered to be more on environmental impact. It is pollution free because there are no harmful chemical reactions when a renewable energy is transformed to electricity. It is relatively true, since the production of electricity from coal and natural gas requires burning, which results to harmful emissions that cause different harmful effects in our atmosphere as well as in water and land.

Common Renewable Energy Sources

• Wind- electricity is produced from strong winds. It rotates turbines (windmills) placed on tall towers. This form of renewable energy is one of the rapidly-growing resources worldwide and free from any kind of pollution.

• Solar- sunlight is directly converted either to electricity or heat through the use of photovoltaic applications which contains semiconductors. It can also be used to create steam to run a turbine or a generator.

• Biomass- this includes the burning of different organic matters (plants, woods, and agricultural wastes) to produce electricity. Burning of such matters is not causing the global warming phenomenon.

• Water- river flows and high-cliff falls are used to rotate turbines to generate electricity.

• Geothermal- energy is produced through drilling and tapping into hot spring or surfaces that lies beneath the Earth’s surface and transforming it into electricity.

The Future of Renewable Energy

As the depletion of Earth’s fossil fuel supply increases, many areas are now starting to harness renewable energy sources. For instance, in California, 12 percent of their electrical power is produced from renewable energy. Other European countries are also making efficient ways on the production of this renewable energy.

Because of these moves, do not wonder if the car that you will use in the near future will be powered by the sun. Renewable energy will be our power after some time.