Renewable energy is also known as clean energy. It comes from natural sources that are constantly replenished. For example, sunlight or wind keep shining and blowing, even if their availability depends on time and weather.
Renewable energy is thought of as a new technology, harnessing nature’s power has long been used for heating, transportation, lighting, and much more. Wind energy has powered boats to sail the seas and windmills to grind grain. The sunlight has provided warmth during the day and helped fires to last into the evening. Although, over the past 500 years, we have increasingly turned to cheaper, dirtier energy sources such as coal and fracked gas.
Nowadays, we have increasingly innovative and less expensive ways to leverage solar and wind energy, this means renewables are becoming a more important power source, accounting for more than ⅛ of the total US population. This movement is happening at large and small scales, from commercial to residential projects. Even some entire rural communities rely on renewable energy for heating lighting.
Types of renewable energy sources:
- Solar: We have been leveraging solar energy for thousands of years! In order to grow crops, stay warm and dry foods. According to the NAtional Renewable Energy Laboratory, “more energy from the sun falls on the earth in one hour than is used by everyone in the world in one year.” As of now, we use the sun’s rays in many ways to heat homes and businesses to warm water or provide electricity.
Wind: We’ve come a very long way from old-fashioned wind mills. Today, turbines are as tall as skyscrapers, with turbines nearly as wide in diameter. Basically, the wind energy turns a turbine’s blades, which feed an electric generator and produces electricity.
Source: NRDC