Types Of Renewable Energies

Every day, there is more talk about renewable energies and how their use is key to ensuring the future of our planet. In this post, we are going to explain what is meant by renewable energy, its types, and its characteristics.

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Sun, wind, and water are the three elements that come to mind when we deal with the subject of renewable energies. However, the term is much broader and encompasses much more. What we are clear about is that they are the most sustainable alternative to those from fossil sources, such as coal and oil, and their derivatives. And they are also inexhaustible, unlike the latter.

What are Renewable Energies?

To begin with, we are going to define what renewable energies are. They are those energy sources based on the use of natural resources: the sun, wind, water, or plant or animal biomass. They are characterized by not using fossil fuels, but natural resources capable of unlimited renewal.

One of their strengths is that they have a very low environmental impact because, in addition to not using finite resources, they do not generate pollutants.

Renewable energies are also known as alternative energies or green energies.

What Characteristics Do Renewable Energies Have?

Let’s list them:

They help boost self-consumption

The use of renewable energies contributes to making houses much more self-sufficient in their electricity consumption. In the not too distant future, all the buildings constructed must have solar panels, biomass boilers, or recharging points for the electric car in their community garage; electricity self-consumption is much easier to achieve than we imagine. You can get more information on electrical self-consumption by visiting this page, or also by taking a look at our article on solar panels.

They are beneficial energies for the environment

We are constantly fighting against climate change and looking for new ways to take care of our environment and make it more sustainable. A very important step is the use of renewable energies or alternatives to traditional energies. They harm the environment through the waste they generate and that comes from their production.

They are free and inexhaustible natural resources

Renewable energies come from natural resources that are freely accessible and inexhaustible. We will always have water, wind, or sun with which to produce clean energy. On the other hand, the energy generated from fossil fuels (coal, oil, or gas) has limited resources and pollutes the environment.

Renewable Energy Can Reach Isolated Places

Renewable energies, by generating energy through natural sources, can be found anywhere in the world; with which, any corner of the world can generate its energy and be self-sufficient.

The Use Of Renewable Energies Is A Plus To Achieve Energy Independence

Everyone knows that the United States is very rich in natural resources necessary to generate clean energy that helps reduce CO2 emissions and climate change.

Faced with this paradigm, now more than ever we must use renewable energies to increase our energy independence, and not have to buy it from other countries that are dirty energies that pollute.

What Types of Renewable Energies Are There?

There are different types of renewable energy. We start from the basis that we can obtain energy in many ways, we just have to transform it, in this case, into electrical energy. In nature, we can find a variety of inexhaustible sources from which to extract energy. Next, we list the different types of renewable energies that exist:

Solar energy

Solar energy is that which we obtain from the sun. Through solar panels, solar radiation is absorbed and transformed into electricity that can be stored or fed into the electrical network. There is also thermoelectric solar energy, which is the one that uses solar radiation to heat a fluid (which can be water), until it generates steam, and activates a turbine that generates electricity. You can expand the information on solar energy in this post.

Wind energy

In the case of wind energy, the generation of electricity is carried out with the force of the wind. The windmills that are in the wind farms are connected to electricity generators that transform their blades into electrical energy. We also have an article where we expand the information on wind energy.

Hydraulic power

Hydraulic or hydroelectric energy is another of the best-known alternative energies. It uses the force of the water in its course to generate electrical energy and is normally produced in dams.

Biomass

This alternative energy is one of the most economical and ecological ways of generating electricity in a thermal power station. Biomass energy consists of the combustion of organic residues of animal and vegetable origin. With a biodegradable product, such as sawdust, bark, and everything that can go into the brown container, fuel can be pressed that lights the fire as tinder, coal being substitutable for this product and, on a large scale, it can be used for industrial production. of energy in a renewable way. If you want to know more about biomass energy visit our article about it.

Biogs

Biogas is alternative energy produced by biodegrading organic matter, using microorganisms, in specific devices without oxygen, thus generating a combustible gas that is used to produce electrical energy.

Sea Energy

Tidal or wave energy, depending on whether it takes advantage of the force of the tides or waves, is the production of energy (electricity) thanks to the force of the sea.

Geothermal energy

The alternative energy that is born in the heart of the earth, geothermal energy takes advantage of the high temperatures of deposits under the earth’s surface (normally volcanic) for the generation of energy through heat since they are usually found at 100 or 150 degrees Celsius. . It is an exciting topic on which we have also written an article expanding the information.

What are the challenges of renewable energies?

We are experiencing a time of energy transition that is characterized by the importance of the use of renewable energies, decarbonization, the use of less polluting fuels, solar panels in our homes, electricity storage systems, or the electric vehicle in our lives, among other things. One of our values as a company is precisely to include the energy transition at the heart of everything we do. You can visit our dedicated section on energy transition in the United States for further information.

Faced with this new scenario, it is necessary to modify our consumption patterns if we want to reach the goal of reducing CO2 emissions and creating a more environmentally sustainable environment.

Likewise, after the liberalization of the electricity company market in 2014, the energy market has taken a 180-degree turn. Now the consumer is the true protagonist and can choose between different energy contracting modalities or choose the energy marketer that best suits them. This has caused the need to digitize the network for greater transparency of consumption and billing.

Also, the construction of buildings has become much more sustainable with the incorporation of solar panels, energy efficiency elements, or even electric car recharging points.

In short, fighting climate change requires profound changes in our energy model and our behavior patterns, but it is already an unavoidable commitment for society.