Renewable energy sources emit low or zero greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil fuel combustion, leading to a healthier natural environment.
Renewable energy technologies, however, can only produce power intermittently; that is to say that sun doesn’t shine at night and winds may not blow strongly everywhere. Therefore, distribution networks must be established effectively for them.
Solar Photovoltaics
Solar energy is an eco-friendly form of renewable energy that can be harnessed to generate electricity. Relying less on fossil fuels – which have significant environmental ramifications – allows us to harness solar’s power more sustainably.
Solar power uses photovoltaic (PV) cells to convert sunlight to electricity, then sends this direct current through an inverter for further conversion to an alternating current that can power equipment and appliances.
Companies can install PV systems at their facilities to generate electricity that they can sell back into the grid or enter into corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs) with solar plant operators. Companies may also utilize storage technologies to increase efficiency and stability of renewable energies; innovations in advanced PV technology focus on materials which increase energy conversion while simultaneously decreasing space requirements while supporting sustainable practices through recycling or the use of alternative materials.
Wind Energy
Wind energy is an eco-friendly energy solution that produces electricity without producing greenhouse gases or other air pollutants, providing power for homes and businesses globally.
Wind energy can be harnessed with turbines. As wind gusts pass by, these rotating devices spin and produce electricity by turning a generator.
Some dairy farms in Michigan are using wind power to power their operations, with one such farm using eight wind turbines on its property to generate electricity for powering its operations.
Solar and wind power can be intermittent, producing only during certain weather conditions. To make their production more reliable and constant, renewable and conventional energy sources must often be combined together for faster response to meteorological changes; this technology is known as grid-connected system.
Hydro Power
Humans have for millennia harnessed the energy contained within moving water to generate electricity and hydropower is now one of the biggest renewable sources in both the US and globally.
Hydropower technology utilizes dams to transform water’s potential energy into mechanical energy that turns a turbine that generates electricity. Unlike fossil fuels which emit harmful pollution into the air, hydropower does not cause adverse health impacts due to emission.
Recently developed innovations in hydro power include pumped storage technology that acts as utility-scale grid storage technology. More cost-effective than batteries and with greater stability, security, and sustainability than others. Furthermore, it can store energy from other renewables like solar PV to integrate them into the electricity system – making pumped storage an exciting new trend in renewables research and development. Furthermore, green hydrogen storage offers another avenue of research and development; using this technology we can store excess wind or solar generated power until needed later on.
Geothermal Energy
Earth harbors vast stores of heat energy beneath its surface, which we can tap with enhanced geothermal systems (EGS). By taking advantage of newer technology such as enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), we can access this heat energy on an unprecedented scale.
Electrical energy can be generated using geothermal energy in various power plants. Dry steam plants, the oldest form, draw hot water from underground and use it to generate electricity; other varieties like binary and flash plants use heated water from geothermal energy to generate steam for turbines before passing it through a fluid with lower boiling point that turns it back into liquid form – thus driving another turbine.
Geothermal energy provides the ideal complement to wind and solar, being both renewable and inexhaustible. Furthermore, geothermal provides baseload power 24/7 as it follows other renewables in case they experience fluctuations due to weather or other factors – making the vision of a 100% renewable world closer than ever.
