A source of energy which is immense and can’t be exhausted can be quoted as a renewable
source of energy for example Sun, Ocean or Wind. These are resources which are never
going to exhaust. These are always going to remain on the planet. We can say that these
will never run out or are an endless source of energy. Another term used for renewable
energy is “alternative energy”. Now you may ask why alternative energy? It is called
alternative energy to refer to the fact that these are alternative to the most commonly used
non sustainable resources like coal.
There are various renewable energy sources. The most popular renewable energy sources
currently are:
Solar energy
Wind energy
Hydro energy
Tidal energy
Geothermal energy
Biomass energy
Let us discuss some of them in detail.
Solar energy is nothing but sun energy converted into a source of energy which can be used
to create electricity and power. Now in a country like India sunlight is available in abundance.
During most times of the day we get plenty of sunlight. An interesting fact about solar energy
sunlight is that the amount of solar energy we can get in an hour is more than sufficient for
the planet’s total energy requirements. Now this fact makes us feel like solar energy should
be our go to renewable energy source but as interesting as it sounds it is tough to convert
sun energy into usable source of energy also the amount of solar energy that we can use
depends upon the time of the day and the season of the year, as well as the geographical
location.
Moving to Geothermal energy, to explain Geothermal Energy we can say that it is nothing
but energy that is harnessed by the natural heat below the earth’s surface. This way
geothermal energy can be used to heat homes directly or to generate electricity.
Now just like solar energy geothermal energy is also dependent upon the season of the year
and geographical location. In countries like India we can make use of geothermal energy
more than in countries such as Iceland due to the location and seasonal difference.
Next up is Hydro Energy. Talking about the most commercially developed renewable energy
sources we can say that hydro energy is one of the most commercially used. A lot of
countries have built dams and barriers or larger is the voice to create a controlled flow of
water that drives a turbine generating electricity. This energy source can often be more
reliable than solar or wind power (especially if it’s tidal rather than river) and also allows
electricity to be stored for use when demand reaches a peak. Like wind energy, in certain
situations hydro can be more viable as a commercial energy source (dependant on type and
compared to other sources of energy) but depending very much on the type of property, it
can be used for domestic, ‘off-grid’ generation.