What Are Renewable Energy Sources?
Renewable energy is energy from natural sources that follow a cyclical model and can be reused or replenished quicker than they can be consumed.
Read more for the advantages and disadvantages of there renewable energy sources mentioned in the article.
Examples of Renewable Energy
Solar Energy: Energy generated through the absorption of radiant light and heat from the sun
Geothermal Energy: This is energy produced from steam and heat, that is found underneath the earth’s surface. This is used to generate electricity.
Wind Power: Wind Power harnesses the use of wind to spin turbines. This creates kinetic energy that can generate electricity
Hydropower: This is the use of falling or fast-running water, by converting gravitational potential or kinetic energy from a water source to produce energy
Biomass: Biomass energy is generated or produced by living or once-living organisms. Biomass materials are burned to produce electricity such as corn and soy.
Renewable energy sources are used as alternatives to replace fossil fuels as they are considered greener and more eco-friendly alternatives because they don’t involve the burning of fossil fuels.
What Is Wrong With Burning Fossil Fuels?
Burning fossil fuels is at the centre of our climate crisis, as a result of the pollutants that are produced when burning fossil fuels. The main greenhouse gases are:
- Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
- Nitrous Oxide (N2O)
- Methane (CH4)
- Water Vapour (H2O)
- Ozone (O3)
- Fluorinated gases: Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) Perfluorocarbon (PFCs), Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6), and Nitrogen Trifluoride (NF3)
Although Particulate Matter (PM2.5 and PM10) are not greenhouse gases, they are also produced from burning fossil fuels and are well-documented in aggravating cardiorespiratory illnesses. If you want to find out more about the impacts of pollution on our health.
What Are Greenhouse Gases?
Greenhouse gases are heat-trapping gases that prevent the heat from leaving the atmosphere, causing the greenhouse effect, otherwise known as Global Warming.
Global Warming
Global Warming is a phenomenon that has led to increasing global temperature trends year by year. This is responsible for a variety of different environmental issues such as:
- Melting of the Ice Caps, causes the sea level to rise.
- The increase in the severity of tropical storms is due to the altering of the weather conditions.
- Shortage in the food supply and water scarcity, due to heavy droughts in certain areas of the world
- Increase in floods, due to the rise in sea level, as well as the increase in severity of tropical storms
- Increase in global health problems from the inhalation of pollutants and casualties from natural disasters
- Loss of Species, due to extreme weather and forest fires. Some species can adapt elsewhere, while others die trying.
- Increase in forest fires, due to dryness of land and weather conditions
How can renewable energy sources reduce global warming?
These eco-friendly alternatives produce significantly fewer greenhouse gases if any. These renewable energy sources do not rely on any scarce resources, meaning we can use these indefinitely as sources of energy.
As a result of International Agreements from the past and present such as The Kyoto Protocol (1997), the Paris Agreement (2015) and COP26 (2021). Many countries across the world have instilled in their future plans a push for the use of renewable energy sources and the decline of fossil fuels.
For example, The UK has made a Net Zero Carbon plan by 2050. This means that the UK as a country has set a target that negates the volume of greenhouse gases produced, produced by human activity.
“Today, the UK today is already a world scale leader in offshore wind energy, as we pride ourselves on up to 40% renewable energy in our country’s electricity balance. Further investment in making the UK the world leader in low-cost green energy production will fuel growth while keeping costs and emissions in check.”
Mike Hughes, Zone President, Schneider Electric UK & Ireland
Conclusion
The use of fossil fuels as a source of energy is declining as the collectivity of the human race increases their use of renewable energy and decreases their use of fossil fuels. This is a global effort to reduce any further impact on our health, our environment, and biodiversity.
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