Mercedes Mullins
Fossil fuels are called dirty energy sources because they come at a high environmental cost. They are also finite resources. In contrast, renewable energy sources are abundant, produce little to no harmful emissions, and are replenished by nature. Examples of renewable energy sources include solar, wind, water, geothermal, biomass, and nuclear. Many countries are working to increase their use of renewable energy to reduce carbon emissions and address the climate crisis.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Definition | Energy resources that are not fossil fuels |
| Types | Renewable, alternative |
| Examples of renewable sources | Sunlight, wind, water, organic waste, geothermal energy, hydropower, biomass, biofuels |
| Examples of alternative sources | Nuclear energy |
| Renewable sources characteristics | Natural, continuously replenished, little to no harmful emissions, cheaper than fossil fuels, plentiful |
| Advantages | Clean, accessible, affordable, sustainable, reliable, diversified economies, inclusive economic growth, new jobs, poverty alleviation |
| Disadvantages | Requires large swaths of land, may generate carbon emissions, may disrupt local ecosystems |
| Alternative sources characteristics | Not renewable, environmentally friendly |
| Advantages | Common, reduces carbon footprint |
| Disadvantages | Cannot be replenished within a human's lifetime, produces radioactive waste, toxic, limited expansion due to safety concerns |
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What You'll Learn
Solar energy
There are two main types of solar technology: passive solar and active solar. Passive solar techniques include designing buildings to optimise natural daylight, selecting materials with favourable thermal properties, and arranging spaces to encourage natural air circulation. Active solar techniques, on the other hand, involve the use of photovoltaic systems, concentrated solar power, and solar thermal collectors to convert sunlight into usable energy. Photovoltaic (PV) devices, in particular, generate electricity directly from sunlight through a natural electronic process occurring in semiconductor materials.
However, it's important to recognise that the potential solar energy available for human use is limited by factors such as geography, time variation, cloud cover, and available land. Nevertheless, solar energy remains a vital component of the global energy mix, with countries like the US possessing some of the richest solar resources.
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Wind energy
Fossil fuels are a major source of energy, but they are also a dirty energy source, contributing heavily to carbon emissions and environmental damage. As a result, many countries are looking to develop alternative energy sources to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels. One such alternative is wind energy, which is considered a form of renewable energy.
Wind power has been increasing globally due to concerns about the environmental impact of fossil fuels and the rising cost of petroleum. In 2022, wind energy contributed more than 7% of the world's electricity, with some countries, like Denmark, generating over 43% of their electricity from wind power. By 2024, wind power supplied over 8% of the world's electricity, with global installed wind power capacity exceeding 800 GW.
However, there are some considerations regarding wind energy. One challenge is the variability of wind, which requires additional energy storage or other dispatchable generation sources to ensure a reliable electricity supply. The location of wind farms and their impact on the landscape, environment, wildlife, and local communities are also important factors to address. Nevertheless, wind energy is an important part of the global transition towards cleaner and more sustainable energy sources.
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Hydropower
Hydroelectricity generation starts with converting either the potential energy of water that is present due to the site's elevation or the kinetic energy of moving water into electrical energy. Hydroelectric power plants vary in the way they harvest energy. One type involves a dam and a reservoir. The water in the reservoir is available on demand to be used to generate electricity by passing through channels that connect the dam to the reservoir. The water spins a turbine, which is connected to a generator that produces electricity. The other type is called a run-of-river plant, where the force of the river's current applies pressure on a turbine. The facilities may have a weir in the watercourse to divert water flow to hydro turbines.
Pumped-storage hydropower facilities are a type of hydroelectric storage system where water is pumped from a water source up to a storage reservoir at a higher elevation. The water is released from the upper reservoir to power hydro turbines located below the upper reservoir. They usually pump water to storage when electricity demand and generation costs are low and release the stored water to generate electricity during peak electricity demand periods when wholesale electricity prices are relatively high.
Despite the benefits of hydropower, there are some drawbacks. For instance, damming water to build reservoirs for hydropower floods valleys, disrupting local ecosystems and livelihoods.
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Geothermal energy
Fossil fuels are a major source of energy, but they are not the only option. Renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, are increasingly being adopted worldwide. One such renewable energy source that has been utilised for millennia is geothermal energy.
Geothermal resources are reservoirs of hot water that exist at varying temperatures and depths below the Earth's surface. Wells can be drilled into these reservoirs to extract steam and hot water, which can then be used for a variety of applications. The technology for electricity generation from geothermal reservoirs has been in use for over 100 years. The process involves utilising the natural or human-made permeability and fractures in the rocks to allow fluid to flow through and absorb heat. This heated fluid is then drawn up through wells to the Earth's surface, where it is converted to steam that drives turbines to produce electricity.
Geothermal power plants have several advantages over other energy sources. They release no greenhouse gases, have a smaller land footprint, and consume less water on average over their lifetime compared to conventional electricity-generation technologies. Additionally, geothermal energy provides a constant rate of power generation, unaffected by weather conditions.
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Nuclear energy
Nuclear power plants use nuclear fission to generate electricity. This process involves a neutron colliding with a uranium atom, causing it to split and release energy in the form of heat and radiation. This heat warms the reactor's cooling agent, typically water, to produce steam. The steam then spins turbines, activating an electric generator to create low-carbon electricity. Nuclear energy is considered a non-renewable energy source, as it uses uranium, a non-renewable fuel.
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Frequently asked questions
Renewable energy sources are derived from natural resources that are abundant and continuously replenished. Examples include solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, geothermal energy, and biomass.
Renewable energy sources produce little to no harmful emissions, helping to prevent further global warming and address the climate crisis. They are also in much more plentiful supply compared to fossil fuels and are now cheaper in most countries.
While renewable energy sources emit less carbon dioxide than fossil fuels, they are not entirely emission-free. For example, natural environments have to be cleared to create hydroelectric plants with dams, and the construction process often generates carbon emissions. Additionally, some renewable energy sources, such as biofuels, require large swaths of land and can generate more carbon emissions than fossil fuels.
