Kinds of Renewable Energy

Solar Energy

For billions of years, the sun has poured out huge amounts of energy in several forms, including light, heat, radio waves and even x-rays. The Earth, in orbit around the Sun, intercepts a very small part of the Sun’s immense output. On Earth, the direct sunlight is available from sunrise until sunset, except during solar eclipses. Solar collectors and modules are designed to capture some of the Sun’s energy and change it from radiation into more usable forms such as heat or electricity. In fact, sunlight is an excellent source of heat and electricity, the two most important forms of energy we consume. Solar energy is becoming increasingly popular for remote power needs such as telecommunication towers, agricultural applications (irrigation & pasture management), in tropical countries that are not connected to an electrical grid, for heating swimming pools and many other applications around the world.

Wind Energy

Wind energy is really just another form of solar energy. Sunlight falling on oceans and continents causes air to warm and rise, which in turns generates surface winds. The wind has been used by humans for thousands of years, first to carry ships across oceans and later to pump water and grind grain. More recently, wind has been harnessed as a clean, safe source of electricity.

Biomass Energy

The term “Biomass” refers to any form of plant or animal tissue. In the energy industry, biomass refers to wood, straw, biological waste products such as manure and other natural materials that contain stored energy. The energy stored in biomass can be released by burning the materials directly or by feeding it to micro-organisms that use it to make biogas, a form of natural gas. Energy from biomass is still used around the world, for everything from cooking and heating to generating electricity.

Moving Water

Humans have used water power to supply energy for almost as long as we’ve used wind. Archaeologists have discovered descriptions of water wheels used for grinding grain that date back to more than 3,000 years ago. Today, the energy of falling water is used mainly to drive electrical generators at hydroelectric dams. As long as snow and rainfall can fill the streams and rivers, moving water can be a renewable source of energy.

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Non-Renewable and Renewable Energy

Non-Renewable Energy

Much of our energy supply comes from coal, oil, natural gas or radioactive elements. They are considered as non-renewable energy because once they are removed from the ground and used, they are not immediately replaced. In fact, the world’s natural gas, crude oil and coal deposits took millions of years to form. Uranium, which is used for nuclear energy, has limited supply as well. Humans will have used up most of these deposits in less than 200 years. Once they are gone, non-renewable energy supplies cannot be replaced within human time scales.

Renewable Energy

Renewable energy on the other hand quickly replaces itself and is usually available in a never ending supply. Renewable energy comes from the natural flow of sunlight, wind or water around the Earth. With the help of special collectors, we can capture some of this energy and put it to use in our homes and business. As long as sunlight, water and wind continue to flow and trees and other plants continue to grow, we have access to a ready of supply of energy.

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Most Common Forms of Energy we use in our Daily Life

Energy is easily converted from one place to another. This is an important and very useful property, because we rarely produce energy using the same device or in the same form as what is needed for the task at hand. Since energy is often produced at some distance from its end use, we also need to transmit it from its source location to where it is needed. This is done by means of wires in the case of electricity or pipelines or tank trucks in the case of oil or natural gas. Not all forms of energy can be easily stored or transported. For instance, light is impossible to store directly. It has to be converted to some other form, such as chemical energy first.

The two most common forms of energy we use are heat and electricity. Heat is the energy of moving particles in any substance. The faster the particles move, the warmer the substance is. Electricity is the energy of electrons moving along a conductor like a copper electrical wire. Besides heat and electricity, we use many other forms of energy every day of our lives. The table below summarizes some of the more common forms of energy and how they are generated and where they are often used.

Forms of Energy	What is it?	How is it generated?	Where or how it is used?
Heat	The energy of moving particles (atoms & molecules) of solid, liquid or gas matter.	·  By burning fuels such as oil, natural gas, gasoline ·  By solar radiant coming from the sun which warms the air, water and ground ·  From nuclear energy ·  By the Earth’s core which can provide usable heat from ground sources ·  From electricity passing through a heating element	·  Heating air and water in homes and offices ·  Melting and shaping materials such as metal and plastic ·  Cooking ·  Transportation
Light	Radiant energy , in the form of photons	·  By the Sun ·  Using fluorescent and incandescent light bulbs ·  From Light Emitting Diodes ·  Lasers ·  By burning fuels such as wood and natural gas	·  Illuminating working and living spaces ·  Laser surgery ·  Communication and advertising ·  Data transmission for example on fiber optic network
Electricity	Energy of electrons moving through a conductor	·  By photovoltaic panels ·  By alternator or dynamo generators ·  From batteries ·  Using hydrogen fuels ·  From friction (static electricity)	·  Turning motors ·  Generating heat ·  Running computers ·  Communication systems and data transmission
Radio Waves	Electromagnetic energy	·   By radio transmitters ·   Microwave emitters	·  Cooking in microwave ovens ·  Voice communication(e.g. radio, TV, cell phones) ·  Radar navigation
Mechanical	The force of moving objects	·   Falling water at hydro electricity facilities ·   Motors ·   Springs and elastic bands	·  Automobiles, aircraft, other forms of transportation ·  Many home appliances and tools ·  Generating electricity
Sound	Vibrations passing through gaseous, liquid or solid materials	·   Using speakers ·   By vibrating surfaces	·  Musical instruments ·  Sonar navigation ·  Communication

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