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.

Some people still imagine windmills as the ornate ones found in the Netherlands, or the small wind pumps on farmland, but wind power technology has come a long way. Today, massive windmills, better known as wind turbines can generate millions of watts of electric energy, and smaller ones can be used at home as a substitute to grid-tied power.

Solar Power:

The sun is the most readily available form of energy there is, so we should be using it to a larger extent. And as technology advances, households are provided with a number of ways to harness the power of the sun. These ways include solar electricity, solar heaters, solar dryers and solar cookers.

Passive solar design, solar power and solar heating are some of the the best ways to reduce your power consumption at home – these systems need very little upkeep, and they are also great for the environment. Solar cooking is a healthy alternative to using an oven or stove – the food is cooked slowly so more minerals and vitamins are retained, and no electric power is needed. This makes it ideal for camping and outdoor cooking in the summer months.

Water Power:

Like the ancient windmills, the power of the water was once used to grind flour or to power machines for irrigation.

But nowadays, hydro energy is mainly harnessed in hydro-electric dams to power nearby cities. How it works is the dam channels water through large turbines, that cause them to spin and generate power. The most popular hydro-electric dam is the Hoover Dam, that produces power for Las Vegas. Hydro power is very widely used, and produces over 90% of all renewable energy.

Many environmentalists and socialists are against hydro-electric dams, since they affect the natural forna and flora and can cause the forced removal of entire cities.

Geothermal (Volcanic) Power:

It is normally in volcanic areas where you will find geothermal power being used. In places like Iceland, hot, molten lava is close to the surface, that heats large bodies of water and creates steam for geothermal electricity.

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…

Well, this concludes our brief overview of the 4 main types of renewable energy. You can find out more in-depth information on each type by reading our other articles or browsing our website in the link below.

The cost of maintaining your household can be staggering. One of the larger expenses for any home is of course the cost of electricity. Many people find themselves budgeting carefully for this expense and trying as hard as possible to conserve energy to keep pace with the increasing cost of energy.

Some of your monthly bills can’t really be adjusted. Your phone bill, your internet access and of course housing are usually not elastic. There are areas where you can cut costs, but these are not generally among them.

Electricity is one bill which you can save on, however. You can use the best conservation methods, unplugging unused appliance and the like, but there’s only so much money you can save this way and of course, if the people you live with aren’t also diligent about these things, you may be frustrating yourself quite literally over a few pennies.

The answer isn’t necessarily to use less electricity, but to get it from clean, renewable alternative energy technologies. You can reduce the amount of power you buy from your local utility company and you may even be able to replace all of this electricity with power you can generate yourself!

Solar and wind are the most popular alternative energy technologies. You probably know the basics about solar power already. It’s a great non-polluting energy source. Wind power is something you’ve probably not really considered for your home, thinking you’d need a huge wind farm in order to get the electrical power your home needs.

It’s actually a lot simpler than all that. With just a couple of wind turbines installed on your rooftop, you can save a lot of money on your energy costs. Wind turbines are easy to build and you can get the materials cheaply online or locally at junkyards and other sources.

On windy days, your rooftop wind turbines can provide for much of your energy needs and will save you a lot of money on your energy bills over the long run. The more turbines you build, the more you’ll save on your electricity bill.

Wind turbines generate electricity from the kinetic energy of the wind turning their rotors. Unlike solar panels, a wind turbine continues to generate power even at night, which can be stored and used as needed.

These wind turbines aren’t suitable for all households most specifically the homes in urban areas, but for other people, they remain as more cost effective alternatives since the materials that are required are cheap and accessible making wind electricity more reliable for people on tight budgets.