Hydropower:
Water's usability to generate electricity is tremendous since the
kinetic energy of flowing water is amply used to produce
hydroelectricity such as to rotate turbines. It's a form of renewable
energy where it contributes to less pollution of environment and
consumption of fossil fuels. In the United States there are
approximately more than 5,000 dams that are used to produce
hydroelectricity contributing to 9% of the nation's electricity.
Hydropower doesn't require a large dam to produce electricity but a
small canal is enough is channel the river water to rotate the turbine.
However, only large projects are able to produce on-demand electricity
which unfortunately is the limitation for small projects. Dams producing
hydroelectricity also offer other forms of recreation such as habitat
for aquatic animals and destructive flooding downstream.
Tidal energy also called Tidal power is a renewable source of energy
and a form of hydropower used to generate electricity using the energy
of the tides. Though not widely used to generate electricity, it can be
called as the energy resource of the future with the current rate of
depletion of non-renewable resources. High costs and limited
availability have kept tidal energy from being utilized to its full
potential. Tidal power is generated through Tidal stream generator,
Tidal barrage and Dynamic tidal power.
Wave power is the transport of energy on ocean wave to carry out
multiple jobs like electricity generation, water desalination and
pumping of water into reservoirs. Wave power is not currently used on a
commercial scale though the first wave farm was opened in Portugal in
2008.
Geothermal Energy:
Geothermal energy is the thermal energy generated and stored in the
earth that verifies the temperature of the matter. This clean and
sustainable type of energy is found in shallow hot ground water, hot
rocks a few miles beneath the earth's surface and in the molten magma if
we go deeper. Geothermal energy produces few emissions and is
consistently available for use. Technologies that make geothermal energy
usable include geothermal heat pumps which take advantage of the warm
ground temperature and use it to cool or heat buildings. Another use is
for bathing as medium of hot water as it provides heat directly and also
contains medicinal skin properties. Geothermal power plants convert
hydrothermal fluids like hot water or steam accessed from deep wells to
drive a turbine which then produces electricity.
Wind Energy:
Particularly in seabed, hilly areas and seashores, wind is easily
available and hence it is less expensive source of energy. By utilizing
the momentum and transferring it to rotor blades, energy can be produced
from wind. The process of producing energy from this source does not
create any type of pollution but the maintenance can produce negligible
amount of water or air pollution. The usage of windmills or wind
turbines to produce energy is constrained to installing them in windy
areas where wind flows with high speed as otherwise wind cannot be
utilized to produce energy. To generate energy, humans have been
harnessing the wind since ages. But today's modern wind turbines
continue to become more productive and powerful as they supply energy to
hundreds of homes than the windmills used in old days which were good
enough to produce energy only for small jobs like fetching water from
sea or grinding grains.
Solar Energy:
The sun is the most important source of energy. The sun rays can be
used as a mean of producing the energy. Photovoltaic cells possessing
the characteristic of converting heat to energy are used to generate
electricity. When sun rays strike the surface of these photovoltaic
cells, electric current is produced. This device is also less expensive
as it is made up of silicon which is one of the most abundant elements
on earth. The only limitation of using solar energy or solar panels or
photovoltaic cells is that they can produce electric current only in the
day, when bright sunlight is available in abundance. Installing
photovoltaic cells or solar panels hence cannot produce energy in rainy
or snowy seasons.
Biomass Energy:
Biomass power is the electricity generated from biomass and is
obtained from wood, crops, harvest residues, urban refuse and industrial
wastes known as biomass. It is one of the important sources of
renewable energy and serves as an essential part of waste management
process. Pulp and paper industries in United States are prominent
generators of biomass. Obtaining power from biomass substances is more
cost-effective than that of obtaining it from wind using wind turbines
or windmills or any other source as it requires less investment. Crops,
woody plants, grass absorb carbon dioxide during their growth and emit
same amount of carbon dioxide when processed to generate electricity.
This recycling of atmospheric carbon may reduce global warming.
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