Types Of Renewable Energy Explored
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.
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