Related topics: energy , fossil fuels , electricity , solar power , megawatt
Renewable energy
hideRenewable energy is energy generated from natural resources—such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat—which are renewable (naturally replenished). In 2006, about 18% of global final energy consumption came from renewables, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, such as wood-burning. Hydroelectricity was the next largest renewable source, providing 3% of global energy consumption and 15% of global electricity generation.
Wind power is growing at the rate of 30 percent annually, with a worldwide installed capacity of 121,000 megawatts (MW) in 2008, and is widely used in European countries and the United States. The annual manufacturing output of the photovoltaics industry reached 6,900 MW in 2008, and photovoltaic (PV) power stations are popular in Germany and Spain. Solar thermal power stations operate in the USA and Spain, and the largest of these is the 354 MW SEGS power plant in the Mojave Desert. The world's largest geothermal power installation is The Geysers in California, with a rated capacity of 750 MW. Brazil has one of the largest renewable energy programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from sugar cane, and ethanol now provides 18 percent of the country's automotive fuel. Ethanol fuel is also widely available in the USA. While most renewable energy projects and production is large-scale, renewable technologies are also suited to small off-grid applications, sometimes in rural and remote areas, where energy is often crucial in human development. Kenya has the world's highest household solar ownership rate with roughly 30,000 small (20–100 watt) solar power systems sold per year.
Some renewable energy technologies are criticised for being intermittent or unsightly, yet the renewable energy market continues to grow. Climate change concerns coupled with high oil prices, peak oil and increasing government support are driving increasing renewable energy legislation, incentives and commercialization. New government spending, regulation, and policies should help the industry weather the 2009 economic crisis better than many other sectors.
For more information about Renewable energy, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with renewable energy
Using nanoparticles to increase the effiiciency of thin film solar cells
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Jun 12, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (19) |
8
Germany is one of the leading countries when it comes to efforts related to renewable energy sources. Therefore, it is no surprise that the Institute of Condensed Matter and Solid State Optics at Friedrich-Schiller-Universität ...
Easing Atmospheric CO2 Levels Using Nanotubes and Sunlight
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Feb 16, 2009 |
4 / 5 (23) |
32
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at The Pennsylvania State University have determined a way to use arrays of nanotubes in a solar-based process to convert carbon dioxide and water into methane and other hydrocarbon ...
Obama unveils historic power grid reform
Oct 27, 2009 |
3.9 / 5 (14) |
1
President Barack Obama Tuesday announced the largest modernization of the US electricity grid in history, in a 3.4-billion-dollar bid to launch a new era of renewable energy consumption.
Algae may be secret weapon in climate change war
Oct 22, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (8) |
4
Driven by fluctuations in oil prices, and seduced by the prospect of easing climate change, experts are ramping up efforts to squeeze fuel out of a promising new organism: pond scum.
How a Solar-Hydrogen Economy Could Supply the World's Energy Needs
Aug 24, 2009 |
4.1 / 5 (48) |
67
(PhysOrg.com) -- As the world's oil supply continues to dry out every day, the question of what will replace oil and other fossil fuels is becoming more and more urgent. According to the World Coal Institute, ...
5 Feasible Renewable Energy Sources
May 08, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (42) |
24
(PhysOrg.com) -- President Barack Obama has made no secret of his desire to develop a "green economy" that includes renewable energy projects meant to benefit the environment. He has said that part of the economic recovery in ...
Chicago Installs Solar Powered Charging Station for Electric Vehicles
Apr 10, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (60) |
30
(PhysOrg.com) -- One of the biggest arguments that some have made against plug-in electric vehicles is that they still promote the use of fossil fuels. When you have to plug in a car for a charge, the electricity ...
Water heaters put solar energy within reach
Jan 21, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (11) |
4
Andrei Mitran of Cary says he has no desire to live "off the grid." But when choosing a replacement for his 18-year-old hot water heater, the computer programmer says he decided to look into purchasing a solar unit.
Blood Enzyme Could Help Realize Clean Coal
Dec 03, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (6) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- An enzyme in our blood that enables our lungs to exhale carbon dioxide could be the key to isolating carbon dioxide emissions from coal plants in order to store them safely underground. A ...
NREL Uncovers Clean Energy Leaders State by State
Nov 24, 2009 |
3.4 / 5 (5) |
2
(PhysOrg.com) -- That California and Texas still lead the United States in generating renewable energy probably is no surprise. But, NREL's 2009 State of the States report shows that several smaller states ...
Harnessing the power of salt, Norway tries osmotic power
Nov 23, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (6) |
4
After wind, sun, currents and tides, a company is preparing to make clean electricity by harnessing another natural phenomenon, the energy-unleashing encounter of freshwater and seawater.
Liquid battery big enough for the electric grid?
Nov 19, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (7) |
3
(PhysOrg.com) -- There's one major drawback to most proposed renewable-energy sources: their variability. The sun doesn't shine at night, the wind doesn’t always blow, and tides, waves and currents fluctuate. ...
Largest solar panel plant in US rises in Fla.
Oct 24, 2009 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
11
(AP) -- Greg Bove steps into his pickup truck and drives down a sandy path to where the future of Florida's renewable energy plans begin: Acres of open land filled with solar panels that will soon power thousands ...
Fungal map of mutations key to increasing enzyme production for bioenergy use
Sep 02, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- In half a century, one fungus has gone from being the bane of the Army quartermasters' existence in the Pacific to industry staple and someday, as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's mission ...
Germany's biggest solar park inaugurated
Aug 20, 2009 |
3.7 / 5 (6) |
3
Germany's largest solar park, and the world's second biggest, was inaugurated on Thursday on the site of a former Soviet military training ground in the east of the country.
