What Is Renewable Energy?
Renewable energy, often referred to asclean energy, comes from natural sources or processes that are constantly replenished. For example, sunlight or wind keep shining and blowing, even if their availability depends on time and weather.
While renewable energy is often thought of as a new technology, harnessing nature’s power has long been used for heating, transportation, lighting, and more. Wind has powered boats to sail the seas and windmills to grind grain. The sun has provided warmth during the day and helped kindle fires to last into the evening. But over the past 500 years or so, humans increasingly turned to cheaper, dirtier energy sources such as coal and fracked gas.
Dirty energy
Nonrenewable, or “dirty,” energy includes fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal. Nonrenewable sources of energy are only available in limited amounts and take a long time to replenish. When we pump gas at the station, we’re using a finite resource refined from crude oil that’s been around since prehistoric times.
Types of Renewable
Energy Sources
Solar Energy, Wind Energy, Hydroelectric Power , Biomass Energy , Geothermal Energy, Ocean
Renewable Energies
and Irrigation
Renewable energies are positioned as a good solution to fossil fuel depletion. For remote sites, where the grid is not available, renewable energies provide an excellent solution, since the energy sources are abundant (namely, solar radiation and wind).