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Renewable Energy Choices

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Renewable Energy Choices

This lens is about renewable energy sources and choices. Renewable energy comes in many forms including solar, geothermal, wind and hydroelectric. Renewable energy is energy is energy generated from natural resources.This lens is feature all of these and more.

Photo: English Wind Turbine responsible for generating electricity for up to 1,500 homes

Solar energy is energy derived from the heat and light from the sun. Solar energy can be harnessed by the use of photovoltaic cells or heat engines. The home picture here used something called seasonal thermal storage in order to be heated the whole year through.

Photo:house with solar power

Solar Energy

Types of Solar Technology

There are two broad categories of solar technology, passive and active. Which type you have depends on the method of capture. Active solar technology uses photovoltaic panels and solar thermal collectors. These use electrical or mechanical equipment to capture sunlight.

A passive solar technique would be building a house in a direction where it is oriented to the sun, and using thermal mass or some type of solar dispersing properties to utilize the sun's heat.

Photo: experimental solar power plant- used to generate electricity at night and in cloudy weather

Concentrating Solar Energy

Systems that concentrate solar power are quickly becoming a source of renewable energy.

Giant voltaic array

Largest Photovoltaic power plant in North America in Nellis Air Force Base Nevada

Solar Dishes

Large Solar concentrators in Shenandoah Georgia

Obama at a Solar Crop Talk

President Obama talking to an audience at the DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center in Florida. This center consists of over 90,000 Sun Power solar panels on 180 acres. It produces about 42,000 megawatts of electricity per year.

Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy is power which can be derived from heat in the ground. Some of this heat comes from the original formation of earth, some from solar energy that has been absorbed and some from radioactive decay. This type of energy is efficient, reliable and friendly to the environment, and could at some point be used for up to 90% of needed fuel. Unfortunately, at this time, most geothermal power plants lie near the earth's tectonic plates, where energy can be harnessed near earthquakes. This is slowly changing.

Photo:geothermal hot spots near tectonic plates

Geothermal Energy Potential

The smaller number inside the circle shows the current use, the larger number outside shows the greater possibility of use. So, in the US we are using about 1/10 of what we could be using.

Phtoto:geothermal energy potential

Wind Energy

Wind Power is the conversion of wind into usable energy. This can be obtained through the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. A wind turbine is a rotating machine which takes the kinetic energy from wind and turns it into mechanical energy.

Photo: A row of wind turbines

Wind Power

Wind Power is increasing by about 30% every year. It is used mostly in Europe and the United States. Wind is converted into useful energy with the use of wind turbines, which can be used to produce electricity.

Photo:wind resources and transmission lines

Pumped Storage Plant

A pumped storage plant is used to store wind energy during periods of high winds, so that it can be used in times of no or little wind. This storing capacity increases the economic value of wind and is important because in certain geographical regions wind speeds don't necessarily keep up with energy needs.

Photo : pumped storage plant

Wind Power

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Renewable Energy

Biomass or Biofuel

Biomass or biofuel is material which is gotten from recently living organisms. In this photo is an example of a very simplistic method of getting biomass from the combustion of wood. Other examples of biomass are manure, crop residue and waste from gardens.

Biomass Program

Biomass is a clean, renewable energy source which can be cost effective and energy efficient. Check out the link below to learn a little more.

Link to the US Department of Energy

Biomass Energy Link: This link is to the US Department of Energy which details the use of biomass for energy.

Biofuel

Biofuel is a liquid, solid or gas which is derived from former living material such as plants or something else of plant origin. For the most part, biofuel is used to power vehicles, heat homes and for cooking.

Photo:used vegetable oil is a possibility to be used for auto fuel

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is generated by the flow of water which is flowing due to gravitational force. At the current time, hydroelectricity is the most widely used form of renewable energy.

It has accounted for 88% of renewable energy sources at this time. It is a clean method of energy production as it has no discernible waste. Most hydroelectric power comes from water from a dam, as pictured here.

Water Turbine

Dam water drives a hydraulic turbine and electrical generator as pictured here in order to produce hydroelectric power. The turbine helps to regulate the flow of water, increasing it when more energy is needed, decreases it when less is needed, and thus returning water into storage.

Fusion of Deuterium and Tritium for Power

Deuterium has one proton (positive charge) and one neutron ( no charge) and Tritium has one proton and two neutrons. When they come together they form an unstable compound with two protons and three neutrons. This compound then breaks down into Helium and a high energy neutron, which produces heat.

Renewable Energy Statistics for 2008

Renewable Energy Sources by 2020

And A Few More Great Items and Ideas

The Renewable Energy Handbook:
A Guide to Rural Energy Independence, Off-Grid and Sustainable Living