Types of renewable energy and how does each works?

Answer 1

Hydropower

Hydropower is the largest source of renewable energy.Converting flowing water into usable energy produces hydropower. Most of this water comes from rivers and is released through turbines to produce energy. Although this power source does not release pollution, it can possibly harm fish and wildlife, displace people, and alter the quality of water. Better technology is trying to reduce the loss of aquatic life, but the problem with this technology is that it is highly expensive and takes a long time to build.

Biomass/Bioenergy

Biomass makes up about 7,000 Megawatts of renewable electricity. Biomass fuels stem from industrial processing, such as forestry and wood products, agriculture and wood products, and construction and transportation. Biomass can replace coal in power plants because it produces less sulfur dioxide than coal.

Mill operations seem to be the main source of biomass energy in the U.S. Europe, on the other hand, draws its main source of bioenergy from urban wood waste. Third world countries make timber their main source of bioenergy.

According from statistics from the International Energy Agency, 11% of the world derives its energy from biomass. Developing countries use about 35%, while the poorest ones use roughly 90%.

One way to convert biomass into usable energy is through gasification-converting biomass to gas and burning it in a gas turbine.

Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy is capable of producing about 2,800 Megawatts of energy per year, or roughly .2% of the energy in the U.S. Geothermal energy is produced from naturally occurring steam and hot water from under the Earth's surface. The steam rotates a turbine, which in turn powers an electric generator. Also, hot water can be used to directly heat buildings. The downside to geothermal energy is that land sites are very hard to find and extremely rare. A positive fact is that geothermal energy is very cost effective and reliable.

Wind Energy

The wind rotates blades around a hub, which is connected to the main shaft. The main shaft spins a generator. The size of turbines is determined by how much energy is needed. Small wind turbines are usually used for homes, farms and ranches. Other ways to use wind energy include grinding grain and pumping water.

Wind is classed in categories of 1 through 7, with 7 being the highest and 1 being the lowest. A good wind source that has a class of 3 or higher is the east coast and along the Appalachian Mountains. North Dakota is an excellent wind source.

The disadvantages of wind energy are that again, the technology is very expensive, the machinery is known to be noisy, birds have been killed by running into the turbines, and the wind might not be present at certain times throughout the year.

Photovoltaics (PV) Cells

PV cells produce electricity from sunlight. Materials used in computer chips are similar to materials used in PV cells. These materials absorb sunlight, which frees the electrons from their atoms and allows them to generate electricity.

PV cells are great because they don't require high maintenance, are very reliable, and don't produce pollutants.

Although it is better to use renewable energy, we still have to use some type of fossil fuels. We can, however, make the best choices, by using natural gas for water heating and power appliance, which not only is better for the environment, but costs less as well.

The downside to this power resource is that it costs more than other energy sources and tends to work effectively only when the sun is shining.