As the world’s energy supplies dwindle, it is our duty to start producing renewable energy on a larger scale.

So far we are able to produce 4 types of renewable energy: hydro energy, wind energy, solar energy, and geothermal energy.

Wind Power:

Wind turbines have been around for millennia, further back than the birth of Christ. Over the years they have been used to pump water, drag boats and grind flour. But at the turn of the industrial revolution, wind turbines were made to produce electricity.

You may still see windmills as those small wind pumps dotted all over farms, or the large ones in the Netherlands, but the technology has really evolved. Now the wind is harnessed with large wind turbines to produce thousands of kilowatts of electricity, and can even be scaled right down to produce power for a single household.

Solar Power:

Sunlight is the most abundant form of energy we have available, so there is no excuse for us not using more of it. But thanks to extensive research and development, we can make use of the sun in various ways - solar heating and passive solar design, solar electric power, and solar cooking and solar drying.

Solar water heating, solar electricity, and passive solar design are some the simplest and cost-effective ways to reduce your conventional energy use. They do not need much maintenance, and are really environmentally friendly. With solar cooking, no gas or electricity is needed, just some good sunshine. making it very popular for campers and travelers alike. Also, the food is cooked at a muhc lowere temperature, which helps to stop vital nutrients from being lost.

Water Power:

Like windmills, hydro energy used to be used in ancient machines to grind flour or transport water in aqueducts for irrigation.

Today hydro power is used in dams to produce electricity for households and businesses. Hydro-electric power is generate on a large scale where dammed up water is channeled through turbines, which spins a dynamo as it gushes through. The best example of hydro-electric power would be the Hoover Dam, which was built to provide electricity to Las Vegas. In fact hydro-electric power is efficient is popular nowadays that it accounts for over 90% of the worlds renewable energy.

The have been numerous concerns with building dams for hydro-power. They can lead to the extinction of various plant and animals, and entire villages and communities have to relocate when dammed up rivers flood their land.

Geothermal (Volcanic) Power:

Geothermal power is typically produced in areas with ongoing volcanic activity, where magma is relatively close to the surface. One such area is Iceland, where a large proportion of its power is produced from volcanic geysers.

Where this lava comes into contact with water, it super heats it and causes large volumes of steam to burst to the surface through geysers. The pressure from this steam is diverted and passed through turbines to generate electricity. Once the steam has passed through it is sometimes cooled, turned back into water, which is then pumped back into the geyser to make more steam. This makes it everlasting cycle…

Now that you have read this brief outline of the various types of renewable energy, you can learn more about each type by visiting our website in one of the links below.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Share This