What are the types of green energy?
Green energy is a sustainable source of energy that is not harmful, both to the environment and human health. In fact, green energy is generated from naturally renewable sources such as sun, wind, water, geology and plants.
At present the cost of fuel is increasing due to continuously increasing population of the world and parallel to this, there is a continuous decrease in the conventional fuel reserves. In our current climate, we have started searching for alternative sources of energy. Green energy with immense potential for the future is becoming a necessity today.
In the last three decades, many types of research and developments have taken place in the field of green energy. Many of the latest green technologies have been invented, which are enough to reduce people’s dependencies on traditional energy sources like coal, oil and natural gas. It is now slowly becoming clear that green energy sources can prove to be a better alternative than fossil fuels.
Here are some of the best inventions of green energy which the world is looking forward to:
Solar Geysers and Cookers - It's been quite a time now when they were launched and are very common in the market, especially in the hospitality industry like hotels, restaurants, hospitals, hostels etc. They run on the simple working principle of creating heat from the sunlight by capturing it at one point using the mirrors or lenses.
Solar Power Plants - It is a trending technology where people are using solar energy for creating electrical power. The conversion of sunlight into electricity is done using Photovoltaics, also known as PV. The best part of this energy is that it is renewable, clean, inexpensive and can be harnessed almost everywhere in the world.
Geothermal Power Plants - The solar energy that stores in the groundwater inside the earth and the radioactive decay of minerals present till the core of the earth produces lots of heat energy. This energy is captured by geothermal power plants. These geothermal power plants convert it into steam and generate electric energy which is called Geothermal Power.
Hydroelectric Power Plants - These plants generate hydroelectricity. The kinetic energy of the falling water at dams is converted into mechanical energy by big turbines. And this mechanical energy is then converted into electrical energy using the generators. As it is fueled by water, it is also a very clean fuel source with no pollution at all.
Wind Turbines - The energy in the wind turns huge fan like propeller blades installed on high poles in the open areas. These blades are connected to the shafts at the bottom of the poles which create electric energy when the shaft rotates, based on the principle of electromagnetic induction.
Tidal Stream Generators - The technology is very similar to the wind turbines, except they are below the water instead above the land. The tides move the turbines and their kinetic energy is converted into electrical energy using generators.
Wave Power Plants - Wind creates waves on the surface of the ocean. These waves contain tremendous energy. Hi-tech devices are used to capture this energy and convert it into electric energy.
Biofuels - It is produced by biomass, such as plants or algae or animal waste. Ethanol and methanol are created from wood, grass and other inedible parts of the plants using the technology of fermentation. Biohydrogen and other algae-based fuels can be created algae breaking down in the water.