7 Types of Renewable Energy: The Future of Energy

To begin with, here is going to define what renewable energies are. They are those energy sources based on the use of natural resources: the sun, wind, water or plant or animal biomass. They are characterized by not using fossil fuels, but natural resources capable of unlimited renewal. One of their strengths is that they have a very low environmental impact, because in addition to not using finite resources, they do not generate pollutants. Renewable energies are also known as alternative energies or green energies. Some suppliers, like CHINT new energy, endeavors to create a sustainable life for human beings.

Characteristics do renewable energies

• They help to promote self-consumption: The use of renewable energies contributes to making houses much more self-sufficient in their electricity consumption. In the not too distant future, all constructed buildings will have to have their own solar panels, biomass boilers or charging points for the electric car in their community garage; electrical self-consumption is much easier to achieve than we imagine. 
• They are beneficial energies for the environment: We are constantly fighting against climate change and looking for new ways to take care of our environment and make it more sustainable. A very important step is the use of renewable energies or alternatives to traditional energies. These damage the environment through the waste they generate and that come from their own production.
• They are free and inexhaustible natural resources: Renewable energies come from free and inexhaustible natural resources. We will always have water, wind or sun with which to produce clean energy. In contrast, the energy generated from fossil fuels (coal, oil or gas) has limited resources and is polluting for the environment.
• Renewable energies can reach isolated places: Renewable energies, by generating energy through natural sources, can be found anywhere in the world; with which, any corner of the world can generate its own energy and be self-sufficient.

• The use of renewable energies is a plus to achieve energy independence: Everyone knows that Spain is not a country where fossil fuels such as coal or oil and their derivatives, gas, abound; but it is very rich in natural resources necessary to generate clean energy that help reduce CO2 emissions and climate change.

Faced with this paradigm, now more than ever we must use renewable energy to increase our energy independence, and not have to buy it from other countries, which are also dirty energies that pollute.

What types of renewable energies exist?

There are different types of renewable energy. We start from the basis that we can obtain energy in many ways, we just have to transform it, in this case, into electrical energy. In nature we can find a variety of inexhaustible sources from which to extract energy. Next, we list the different types of renewable energies that exist:

1. Solar energy

Solar energy is that which we obtain from the sun. Solar radiation is absorbed through solar panels and transformed into electricity that can be stored or fed into the electrical grid. There is also thermoelectric solar energy, which is one that uses solar radiation to heat a fluid (which can be water), until it generates steam, and drives a turbine that generates electricity. You can expand the information on solar energy in this post .

2. Wind power

In the case of wind energy, electricity generation is carried out with the force of the wind. The windmills that are in the wind farms are connected to electricity generators that transform into electrical energy the wind turns their blades. 

3. Hydroelectric power

Hydropower or hydraulic is one of the best known alternative energies. It uses the force of water in its course to generate electrical energy and is normally produced in dams.

4. Biomass

This alternative energy is one of the most economical and ecological ways of generating electrical energy in a thermal power plant. Biomass energy consists of the combustion of organic waste of animal and vegetable origin. With biodegradable product, such as sawdust, bark and everything that can go “to the brown container”, a fuel can be pressed that ignites the fire like tinder.

5. Biogas

Biogas is an alternative energy produced by biodegrading organic matter, using microorganisms, in specific devices without oxygen, thus generating a combustible gas that is used to produce electrical energy.

6. Sea energy

The tidal or wave power depending on whether it takes advantage of the force of the tides or the waves, is the production of energy (electrical) thanks to the force of the sea.

7. Geothermal energy

The alternative energy that is born in the heart of the earth, geothermal energy is one that takes advantage of the high temperatures of reservoirs under the earth’s surface (usually volcanic) for the generation of energy through heat since they are usually found at 100 or 150 degrees centigrade. It is an exciting topic on which we have also written an article expanding the information.

What are the challenges of renewable energy?

We are living in a time of energy transition that is characterized by the importance of the use of renewable energies, decarbonization, the use of less polluting fuels, solar panels in our homes, electricity storage systems, or including the electric vehicle in our lives, among other things. One of our values as a company is precisely to include the energy transition at the heart of everything we do. 

Faced with this new scenario, it is absolutely necessary to modify our consumption patterns if we want to achieve the objective of reducing CO2 emissions and making a more environmentally sustainable environment.

Likewise, after the liberalization of the electricity companies market in 2014, the energy market has turned 180 degrees. Now the consumer is the true protagonist and can choose between different types of energy contracting or choose the energy marketer that suits him best. This has made it necessary to digitize the network for greater transparency of consumption and bills.

Also, the construction of buildings has become much more sustainable with the incorporation of solar panels, energy efficiency elements or even electric car charging points.

In short, fighting climate change requires profound changes in our energy model and in our behavior patterns, but it is already an unavoidable commitment for society.

If you are concerned about climate change, a good way to stop its progress is by investing in green energy. By reducing CO2 emissions, we will be able to stop global warming.