Types of Renewable Energy
WHAT ARE MY CHOICES OF RENEWALBE ENERGY?
Hydropower is the largest source of
renewable energy. This renewable source
of energy provides 10% of the nation’s electricity. As of now, there are 77,000 Megawatts of hydropower, enough to
provide 35 million homes with energy.
Converting flowing water into usable energy produces hydropower. Most of this water comes from rivers and is
released through turbines to produce energy.
Although this power source does not release pollution, it can possibly
harm fish and wildlife, displace people, and alter the quality of water. Better technology is trying to reduce the
loss of aquatic life, but the problem with this technology is that it is highly
expensive and takes a long time to build.
Did you
know…? Renewable energy technology is
improving considerably. Energy prices
have dropped; new vehicles with advanced fuel systems and alternative fuels
(such as Ethanol) are being introduced and are a way to better technological
advancements.
Biomass/Bioenergy
Biomass makes up
about 7,000 Megawatts of renewable electricity. Biomass fuels stem from industrial processing, such as forestry
and wood products, agriculture and wood products, and construction and
transportation. Biomass can replace
coal in power plants because it produces less sulfur dioxide than coal.
Mill operations
seem to be the main source of biomass energy in the U.S. Europe, on the other hand, draws its main
source of bioenergy from urban wood waste.
Third world countries make timber their main source of bioenergy.
According from
statistics from the International Energy Agency, 11% of the world derives its
energy from biomass. Developing
countries use about 35%, while the poorest ones use roughly 90%.
One way to convert
biomass into usable energy is through gasification—converting biomass to gas
and burning it in a gas turbine.
Geothermal Energy
Geothermal energy is capable of producing
about 2,800 Megawatts of energy per year, or roughly .2% of the energy in the
U.S. Geothermal energy is produced from
naturally occurring steam and hot water from under the Earth’s surface. The steam rotates a turbine, which in turn
powers an electric generator. Also, hot
water can be used to directly heat buildings.
The downside to geothermal energy is that land sites are very hard to
find and extremely rare. A positive
fact is that geothermal energy is very cost effective and reliable.
Wind Energy
Wind energy
produces about 2,500 Megawatts of energy, and generates a mere .1% of our
electricity. The wind rotates blades
around a hub, which is connected to the main shaft. The main shaft spins a generator. The size of turbines is determined by how much energy is needed. Small wind turbines are usually used for
homes, farms and ranches. Other ways to
use wind energy include grinding grain and pumping water.
Wind is classed in
categories of 1 through 7, with 7 being the highest and 1 being the
lowest. A good wind source that has a
class of 3 or higher is the east coast and along the Appalachian Mountains. North Dakota is an excellent wind source.
The disadvantages
of wind energy are that again, the technology is very expensive, the machinery
is known to be noisy, birds have been killed by running into the turbines, and
the wind might not be present at certain times throughout the year.
Photovoltaics (PV) Cells
PV cells produce electricity from
sunlight. Materials used in computer
chips are similar to materials used in PV cells. These materials absorb sunlight, which frees the electrons from
their atoms and allows them to generate electricity.
PV cells are great
because they don’t require high maintenance, are very reliable, and don’t
produce pollutants.
Although it is
better to use renewable energy, we still have to use some type of fossil
fuels. We can, however, make the best
choices, by using natural gas for water heating and power appliance, which not
only is better for the environment, but costs less as well.
The downside to
this power resource is that it costs more than other energy sources and tends
to work effectively only when the sun is shining.