Renewable Energy: The Clean Facts

Renewable power is booming, as innovation brings down costs and starts to deliver on the promise of a clean energy future. American solar and wind generation are breaking records an being integrated into the national electricity grid without compromising reliability.

Wind turbines and a large solar panel in Palm Springs, California

This means that renewables are increasingly displacing fossil fuels in the power sector, offering the benefit of lower emissions of carbon and other types of pollution. But not all sources of energy marketed as “renewable” are beneficial to the environment. Biomass and large hydroelectric dams create difficult tradeoffs when considering the impact on wildlife, climate change, and other issues. Here’s what you should know about the different types of renewable energy sources and how you can use these emerging technologies at your own home.

What Is Renewable Energy?

Renewable energy, often referred to as clean energy, comes 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 usedfor 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.

Now that we have increasingly innovative and less-expensive ways to capture and retain wind and solar energy, renewables are becoming a more important power source, acing for more than one-eighth of U.S. generation. The expansion in renewables is also happening at scales large and small, rooftop solar panels on homes that can sell power back to the grid to giant offshore wind farms. Even some entire rural communities rely on renewable energy for heating and lighting.

Nonrenewable energy

Nonrenewable, or  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 crude oil that’s been around since prehistoric times.

 Coal mining

Nonrenewable energy sources are also typically found in specific parts of the world, making them more plentiful in some nations than others. By contrast, every ry has access to sunshine and wind. Prioritizing nonrenewable energy can alsoimprove national security by reducing a ry’s reliance on exports fossil fuel–rich nations.

Many nonrenewable energy sources can endanger the environment or human health. For example, oil drilling might require strip-mining Canada’s boreal forest, the technology associated with fracking can cause earthquakes and water pollution, and coal power plants foul the air. To top it off, all these

TYPES OF RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES

Solar Energy

Humans have been harnessing solar energy for thousands of years—to grow crops, stay warm, and dry foods. According tothe National Renewable Energy Laboratory, “more energy the sun falls on the earth in one hour than is used by everyone in the world in one year.” Today, we use the sun’s rays in many ways—to heat homes and businesses, to warm water, or power devices.

Solar panels on the rooftops of East Austin, Texas

Solar, or photovoltaic (PV), cells are made silicon or other materials that transform sunlight directly into electricity. Distributed solar systems generate electricity locally for homes and businesses, either through rooftop panels or community projects that power entire neighborhoods. Solar farms can generate power for thousands of homes, using mirrors to concentrate sunlight across acres of solar cells.

Solar energy systems don’t produce air pollutants or greenhouse gases, and as long as they are responsibly sited, most solar panels have few environmental impacts beyondthe manufacturing process.

Wind Energy

We’ve come a long way old-fashioned wind mills. Today, turbinesas tall as skyscrapers with turbines nearly as wide in diameter stand at attention around the world. Wind energy turns a turbine’s blades, which feeds an electric generator and produces electricity.

 The system of offshore wind turbines

Wind, which acs for a little more than 6 percent of U.S. generation, has become the cheapest energy source in many parts of the ry. Top wind power states include California, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Iowa, though turbines can be placed anywhere with high wind speeds—such as hilltops and open plains—or even offshore in open water.

Hydroelectric Power

Hydropower is the largest renewable energy source for electricity in the United States, though wind energy is soon expected to take over the lead. Hydropower relies on water—typically fast-moving water in a large river or rapidly descending water a high point—and converts the force of that water into electricity by spinning a generator’s turbine blades.

Hoover Dam - USA

Nationally and internationally, large hydroelectric plants—or mega-dams—are often considered to be nonrenewable energy. Mega-dams divert and reduce natural flows, restricting access for animal and human populations that rely on rivers. Small hydroelectric plants (an installed capacity below about 40 megawatts), carefully managed, do not tend to cause as much environmental damage, as they divert only a fraction of flow.

Biomass Energy 

Biomass is organic material that comes plants and animals, and includes crops, waste wood, and trees. When biomass is burned, the chemical energy is released as heat and can generate electricity with a steam turbine. 

 Biomass Energy 

Biomass is often mistakenly described as a clean, renewable fuel and a greener alternative to coal and other fossil fuels for producing electricity. However, recent science shows that many forms of biomass especially forests produce higher carbon emissions than fossil fuels. There are also negative consequences for biodiversity. Still, some forms of biomass energy could serve as a low-carbon option under the right circumstances. For example, sawdust and chips sawmills that would otherwise quickly decompose and release carbon can be a low-carbon energy source.

Geothermal Energy

The Svartsengi geothermal power plant near Grindavík, Iceland

If you’ve ever relaxed in a hot spring, you’ve used geothermal energy. The earth’s core is about as hot as the sun’s surface, due to the slow decay of radioactive particles in rocks at the center of the planet. Drilling deep wells brings very hot underground water to the surface as a hydrothermal resource, which is then pumped through a turbine to create electricity.

Geothermal plants typically have low emissions if they pump the steam and water they use back into the reservoir. There are ways to create geothermal plants where there are not underground reservoirs, but there are concerns that they may increase the risk of an earthquake in areas already considered geological hot spots.

Ocean

 Mining system tidal energy

Tidal and wave energy is still in a developmental phase, but the ocean will always be ruled by the moon’s gravity, which makes harnessing its power an attractive option. Some tidal energy approaches may harm wildlife, such as tidal barrages, which work much like dams and are located in an ocean bay or lagoon. Like tidal power, wave power relies on dam-like structures or ocean floor–anchored devices on or just below the water’s surface.

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE HOME

Solar Power

At a smaller scale, we can harness the sun’s rays to power the whole house—whether through PV cell panels or passive solar home design.Passive solar homes are designed to welcome in the sun through south-facing windows and then retain the warmth through concrete, bricks, tiles, and other materials that store heat. 

Some solar-powered homes generate more than enough electricity, allowing the homeowner to sell excess power back to the grid. Batteries are also an economically attractive way to store excess solar energy so that it can be used at night. Scientists are hard at work on new advances that blend form and function, such as solar skylights and roof shingles.

Geothermal Heat Pumps

Geothermal technology is a new take on a recognizable process—the coils at the back of your fridge are a mini heat pump, removing heat the interior to keep foods fresh and cool. In a home, geothermal or geoexchange pumps use the constant temperature of the earth (a few feet below the surface) to cool homes in summer and warm houses in winter—and even to heat water.

Geothermal systems can be initially expensive to install but typically pay off within 10 years. They are also quieter, have fewer maintenance issues, and last longer than traditional air conditioners.

Small Wind Systems

A backyard wind farm? Boats, ranchers, and even cell phone companies use small wind turbines regularly. Dealers now help site, install, and maintain wind turbines for homeowners, too—although some DIY enthusiasts are installing turbines themselves. Depending on your electricity needs, wind speeds, and zoning rules in your area, a wind turbine may reduce your reliance on the electrical grid.

Selling the Energy You Collect

Wind- and solar energy–powered homes can either stand alone or get connected to the larger electrical grid, as supplied by their power provider. Electric utilities in most states allow homeowners to only pay the difference between the grid-supplied electricity consumed and what they have produced—a process called net metering. If you make more electricity than you use, your provider may pay you retail price for that power.

Advocating for renewables, or using them in your home, can accelerate the transition toward a clean energy future. Even if you’re not yet able to install solar panels, you may be able to opt for electricity a clean energy source. (Contact your power company to ask if it offers that choice.) If renewable energy isn’t available through your utility, you can purchase renewable energy certificates to offset your use.

Source: https://www.nrdc.org/stories/renewable-energy-clean-facts

Images source: Internet