Renewable Energy 101

Renewable energy or green power means energy generated by the sun, the wind, the earth and the water. Renewable energy resources are solar, wind (which are unlimited supply), geothermal, biomass and biofuels (which are constantly renewing). These sources of energy do not rely on nuclear reaction or fossil fuels such as natural gas, coal or oil.

Fossil fuel is nonrenewable energy; it is produced by limited resources like coal, oil and natural gas. In future these resources will become too expensive or it will damage environment which is hard to retrieve. In oppose to this renewable energy resources like solar and wind are constantly available and it will never run out. We have been using renewable energy from a very long time ago. We used wood, (one form of biomass energy) which supplied up to 85-90% of our energy need.

When the word renewable energy comes we picture an image or big wind turbine or large solar panels. It is false assumption that we need large area to generate energy from these sources. The fact is that we can generate the energy to power our home or business in urban areas. We do not need large area to install solar panels or wind turbines. The only thing needed is natural resource of sunlight.

The renewable energy technologies include solar power, wind power, hydroelectricity, micro hydro, biomass and biofuels. These renewable energy technologies are often criticized for being unreliable. It is an urban myth that these technologies will not provide enough electricity to power a typical home. The growing market for solar gadgets and wind technologies is saying truth.