What is Renewable?

Renewable Resources

A natural resource is a renewable resource if it is replaced by natural processes and if replenished with the passage of time. Renewable resources are parts of our natural environment and form our eco-system.
Renewable resources are endangered by industrial developments and growth. They must be carefully managed to avoid exceeding the natural world's capacity to replenish them. A life cycle assessment provides a systematic means of evaluating renewability. This is a matter of sustainability in the natural environment.
Solar radiation, tides, winds, geothermal, biomass and other natural elements are renewable resources of energy now called renewable energies.
Gasoline, coal, natural gas, diesel, minerals like copper, and other commodities derived from fossil fuels are non-renewable. Unlike fossil fuels, coal, and oil, renewable resource can have a sustainable yield because it can decrease the amount of emission of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Green Energy

Green energy is energy that is produced in a manner that has less of a negative impact to the environment than energy sources like fossil fuels, which are often produced with harmful side effects. “Greener” types of energy that often come to mind are solar, wind, geothermal and hydro energy. There are several more, even including nuclear energy, that is sometimes considered a green energy source because of its lower waste output relative to energy sources such as coal or oil.
The goal of green energy is generally to create power with as little pollution as possible produced as a by-product. Every form of energy collection will result in some pollution, but those that are green are known to cause less than those that are not. Most people who advocate greener sources of energy claim that the result of worldwide use of green energy will result in the ability to preserve the planet for a longer time. Greenhouse gases, a by-product of traditional sources of energy such as fossil fuels are thought to be causing global warming, or the process of the Earth heating up at an accelerated pace.
It is not completely necessary for green energy sources to come from places like solar or wind fields, which are examples of green “power plants.” A green energy source can be a building that is designed in a way that it keeps itself cool in the daytime and heated in the night through its architectural design rather than having an air-conditioning or a heating system. The conservation of energy through architectural design becomes, itself, a green energy source.
Similarly, many sources of green energy can come directly from the area in which the energy is needed rather than from an outside source. A residence, for example, can be covered with solar panels for the purpose of collecting energy to be used for electricity. When utilized properly, surplus energy is often produced in this manner, which can be sent back through the local power grid and used at other destinations.
One of the goals of green energy technology is to take existing fossil fuel energy technology and clean it up so it is produced more cleanly. One such case is that of clean coal technology, where scientists are trying to find ways to extract energy from coal and other fossil fuels without all of the harmful side effects. The success of such these types of green energy depend upon the ability to extract harmful by-products from fossil fuels while not only being energy efficient, but by being cost efficient as well.

Renewable energy

Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable (naturally replenished). In 2008, about 19% of global final energy consumption came from renewables, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.2% from hydroelectricity. New renewables (small hydro, modern biomass, wind, solar, geothermal, and biofuels) accounted for another 2.7% and are growing very rapidly. The share of renewables in electricity generation is around 18%, with 15% of global electricity coming from hydroelectricity and 3% from new renewables.

Wind power is growing at the rate of 30% annually, with a worldwide installed capacity of 158 gigawatts (GW) in 2009, and is widely used in Europe, Asia, and the United States. At the end of 2009, cumulative global photovoltaic (PV) installations surpassed 21 GW and 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 megawatt (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% of the country's automotive fuel. Ethanol fuel is also widely available in the USA.
While many renewable energy projects are large-scale, renewable technologies are also suited to rural and remote areas, where energy is often crucial in human development. Globally, an estimated 3 million households get power from small solar PV systems. Micro-hydro systems configured into village-scale or county-scale mini-grids serve many areas.[13] More than 30 million rural households get lighting and cooking from biogas made in household-scale digesters. Biomass cookstoves are used by 160 million households.
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 helped the industry weather the global financial crisis better than many other sectors.