As the world's energy supplies dwindle, it is our duty to start producing renewable energy on a larger scale.

As the world's energy supplies dwindle, it is our duty to start producing renewable energy on a larger scale.

To date there are four main types of renewable energy that we can produce: wind power, solar power, hydro power, and geothermic power.

Wind Energy:

Wind energy has been used for thousands of years. Initially windmills were built to tow boats, grind flour and pump water. But as industry developed, wind turbines were put into operation to generate electric power.

Some people still imagine windmills as the ornate ones found in the Netherlands, or the small wind pumps on farmland, but wind power technology has come a long way. Today, massive windmills, better known as wind turbines can generate millions of watts of electric energy, and smaller ones can be used at home as a substitute to grid-tied power.

Solar Energy:

If it were not for the sun we would not have wind, and better yet, we would not have solar energy - the most abundant renewable energy source we have. Although we should be harnessing more of it, technology has enabled us to use the sun's power in a variety of ways - solar power, solar water heating, solar cooking, passive solar design, and solar drying.

Solar water heating, solar electricity, and passive solar design are some the simplest and cost-effective ways to reduce your conventional energy use. They do not need much maintenance, and are really environmentally friendly. With solar cooking, no gas or electricity is needed, just some good sunshine. making it very popular for campers and travelers alike. Also, the food is cooked at a muhc lowere temperature, which helps to stop vital nutrients from being lost.

Water Power:

Like windmills, hydro energy used to be used in ancient machines to grind flour or transport water in aqueducts for irrigation.

In modern times the power of water is mainly used in to generate hydro-electricity. This is mainly done is large dams, where water is stored and released through small channels. The force of the water through these channels is extremely strong and capable of spinning large turbines, that then generate electric power. An example would be the Hoover Dam that is used primarily to supply Las Vegas with electricity. Over 90% of our renewable energy is generated with hydro-electric dams.

There have been some social and environmental concerns about building dams for hydroelectricity since entire village and communities are flooded by the dam, and the walls prevent certain species of fish from swimming upstream to spawn.

Geothermal Energy:

Most of the time Geothermal energy is harnessed in volcanic regions, where molten lava is rather close to the earth's surface. An good example would be in Iceland, an extremely volcanic island that generates a lot of its power in this way.

How geothermal energy basically works is the lava heats a lot of underground water, creating geysers with hot steam. The pressure from the steam is used to spin turbines and generate power. Power plants are usually built right over these geysers, where they reuse the water by pumping it underground to produce more steam. And so the process continues...

Well, this concludes our brief overview of the 4 main types of renewable energy. You can find out more in-depth information on each type by reading our other articles or browsing our website in the link below.