Renewable energy is also called ‘clean energy’ or ‘green energy’, and it is ‘environmentally-friendly’. This means it doesn’t pollute the environment nor add to global warming. One of the greatest threats to the environment and the ozone layer is non-renewable sources which required the burning of fossil fuels, such as oil, gas, and coal.
More and more people around the world are recognizing the advantages of renewable energy and businesses are in a race to invent, promote, and sell energy that is produced using clean energy technologies.
Non-renewable energy rely on sources that have to be extracted and refined and cannot be recreated. Once the source is depleted, it is gone forever. This is the reason oil and gas companies continue to explore the globe trying to find more deposits of oil and gas under land masses and beneath the oceans.
Eventually, non-renewable energy sources will become unsustainable. In the long run, countries will have to face that fact and find a way to produce and distribute affordable alternative sources of energy. It is inevitable.
Renewable energy sources are clean, environmentally friendly, are constantly being replenished naturally, and can never be depleted. No greenhouse gases are emitted when it is developed or used. These sources are solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and hydropower.
Unmistakeably, renewable energy is better for the environment and the ozone layer. However, businesses are running intp obstacles. The start-up costs are extremely high and as a result, the costs to an individual can be so high that converting from fossil fuels to renewable energy becomes a serious barrier to widespread use.
Other Sources
Every year more than one billion people on earth are affected by droughts and water shortage. These people usually inhabit areas that do not have flowing water and they do not have access to hydropower, the largest source of electricity.
Researchers around the world are exploring ways of harvesting water from the air by the use of metal-organic frameworks, fog harvesting machines and mesh towers.
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are porous, crystalline materials made from combining organic and inorganic materials together. MOFs have the ability to collect gases and water from the air and then this water can be collected in a chamber by using heat from sunlight.
Fog is suspended water vapour. Machines that can harvest water from fog are being developed using nylon netting to collect water droplets which are deposited in a collecting trough.
The Benefits
Countries are presented with multiple options for renewable energy: solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and hydropower. These sources reduce emissions that cause global warming, improve the health of populations, and reduce the need for water for cooling in industrial plants and factories that use fossil fuels.
The installation and distribution of renewable energy sources will provide employment for thousands of people in every country who are willing and able to convert.
How to make it happen
Governments have to have the will to enact policies that support renewable energy conversion and not be swayed by lobbyists of oil and gas companies. The technology is already available and what companies need is investment for projects.
Governments around the world can encourage people to invest and they can make loans and grants available to companies that can supply clean energy to populations and industries.
Questions:
- What is the difference between renewable and non-renewable energy sources?
- What is the benefit of renewable energy?
- What is one hindrance to producing renewable energy?
- Name 2 ways of harvesting water from the air.
- What needs to happen to make renewable energy available and affordable?
Answers:
- Non-renewable sources of energy will eventually be depleted and renewable energy sources are constantly being replenished naturally.
- Renewable energy does not pollute the environment and the ozone layer.
- The start-up costs for producing renewable energy is very high.
- Harvesting water from the air can be done by using MOFs and machines that collect water from fog.
- Governments have to enact policies, encourage investment, and make loans and grants available for start-up companies.
