Renewable Energy Sources

What is Renewable Energy?

Renewable energy is the energy that is derived from the earth. It is obtained from resources that Mother Nature keeps on replacing continuously, like wind, water and sunshine. Renewable energy is also called ‘Clean Energy’ or ‘Green Power’ because it does not harm the environment by causing pollution.

So, why don’t we use renewable energy for all of our needs?
Well, we cannot possibly store up wind and sunshine. Another reason for using fossil fuels like petroleum, coal and natural gas is that they are much cheaper.

Top 6 Renewable Sources of Energy

1. Wind

Wind is used to turn the blades of a windmill. These blades spin a turbine placed inside a generator to produce electricity.

2. Biomass

Biomass refers to organic matter that has stored energy through the process of photosynthesis. Biomass mainly includes plant material and animal waste and is the oldest source of renewable energy. The stored solar energy in biomass is converted to electricity, biofuel, and heat.

3. Solar

We mainly use solar energy for storing the electricity gathered from the rays of the sun. Some other uses of solar energy are heating water and air in households and commercial set-ups. Any structure like buildings, signals, electricity poles that have the shiny solar panels on its roof are using the solar energy.

4. Water

The water from a dam is used to spin the turbines inside the generator which further produces hydroelectricity. This kind of electrical power is produced when gravitational force is applied on flowing water.

5. Tidal power

Tidal power is a form of hydropower in which the immense energy of the flowing tides is converted into electricity.

6. Geothermal

The heat and steam that comes out of volcanoes and geysers contain a great deal of heat energy. We can recover this heat energy to heat buildings or generate electricity.

3 Interesting facts about Renewable Energy

1. In 200 B.C., the Chinese and Arabs used windmills to pump water and grind grain.
2. One wind turbine can produce enough electricity to light up almost 300 homes.
3. The amount of sunlight that falls on the earth’s surface every hour is enough to cater to the world energy demand for an entire year.

 For more environment related articles and videos, visit: Environment for Kids category.