Types and Benefits of Replenishable Energy
The typical energy resources currently in use include non-renewable sources that will not last forever. In fact, we have already used up a large percentage of the earth’s non-replenishing resources. This is having a profound destructive effect on not only our economy, but the environment. However, recent research has increased the interest in lower-cost renewable energy resources that do not harm the earth’s environment. These resources include solar, wind, organic matter, geothermal, and water.
The sun is directly and indirectly responsible for four of our renewable energy options, but the most obvious is solar energy. Solar energy produces electricity from the sun and is used in business, industry, and the home. It can power our lights, heat our water, cool our homes, and produce the electricity we need to run our appliances and gadgets. While just about any area of the world can benefit from solar energy, it is most useful in those parts of the world with high sun exposure for the majority of the year.
Driven by the heat of the sun, the wind’s energy is captured by windmills, or wind turbines, and distributed for agricultural, industrial, and residential purposes. Sun and wind cause the evaporation of water. This produces precipitation, which flows into the world’s rivers. We can capture its energy through the use of hydroelectric power plants.
Another type of renewable energy is biomass. Energy from biomass comes from organic matter, which grows and develops from sun and water. The bioenergy we receive from biomass makes fuels, chemicals, and electricity we can use to survive and assist all life on earth. Bioenergy, or life energy, is a resource that continues to renew year after year.
Renewable energy is not always connected to the sun. We can use energy that is created from the earth’s heat to heat and cool our homes and other buildings. This source is geothermal energy. Geothermal energy is also a reliable source for the production of electricity.
Our earth is made up of seven continents, which are surrounded by oceans, which provide two important sources of energy. Tides and wind create waves. Tidal energy is renewable, and wave energy is consistently renewable with wind, water, and tides. That is not all there is! The difference in temperature of ocean water from the icy cold depths to the shallower, warmer water that has been heated by the sun is also a source of energy.
People have consumed and continue to consume precious, non-renewable energy resources. Our energy consumption is not only stripping the earth of its natural resources, it puts toxic particles into our air and water, which hurts all life on earth. We can stop hurting our environment by switching over to renewable types of energy.
Renewable energy can provide job security and put money back into local economies. This is because careers in renewable energy are built around maintaining an endless resource, rather than producing from energies that will run out. Money spent on renewable energy sources and investments in earth-friendly energy puts money into the local economy. Rather than boosting the economies of people across the world, we can lend a hand to our local economies.
As residents of the earth, we not only have a responsibility to our planet, we have a personal stake in its survival. We can either gorge on energy that cannot renew and leaves the world in ever-worsening shape, or we can choose to get our power from all of the types of renewable energy. For the sake of future generations, we need to stop hurting our earth and start healing it.
At dumpsterrentalmilwaukeewi.org we have been serious about green initiatives including recycling and sustainable energy whenever opportunity presents itself.
