In the era in which man depends more and more on energy to maintain his lifestyle, concern has arisen about the effects it is causing to the environment the exploitation of natural resources to obtain that energy.
Currently, there are two major sources of energy that move the world: non-renewable or fossil fuels and renewable energies.
The nonrenewable energy are
those obtained from combustion whose origin is the fossilization of organic matter formed over millions of years and whose processing produces fuels that, when transformed, through a series of processes, generate energy that serves human beings, such as, especially, oil, coal and natural gas.
Renewable energies are abundant and clean, they do not contribute to the greenhouse effect because they do not produce gases that are retained in the atmosphere, nor does it produce emissions that harm the environment such as CO2.
Every time more countries are exploring alternatives to obtain energy that have less impact on the environment. In many of them, so-called renewable energy is being used, obtained through natural sources that are inexhaustible, either because of the energy they contain or because they are regenerated by natural means.
What are renewable energies?
There is a list of renewable energies that are being used to replace the use of oil, gas and coal, and that they are considered cleaner for the environment.
Among those renewable energies are wind energy, hydraulic, geothermal, solar, tidal energy, biomass, biofuels, among others.
All these energies are present in nature and in unlimited quantities, they have little or no impact on nature and, if it exists, it can be reversible.
Knowing renewable energies
The eolic energy: it is the one that produces the action of the wind, through so-called wind turbines or mills, which use air currents and transform them into electricity. It is common to see images of wind farms in the sea to take better advantage of the force of the winds that occur in these spaces.
Hydraulic power: is renewable energy generated from the force of falling water, hence what hydroelectric plants use the water retained in reservoirs located at high altitudes. When the water falls activates the hydraulic turbines that pass the energy to an alternator which then converts it into electrical energy. This kind of clean energy has existed for hundreds of years, especially in rural areas where the passage of rivers is used, a small dam is built and the fall of the water moves a wheel that in turn activates a mill.
Geothermal energy: it is another type of renewable energy; it is little known and is located under the earth’s surface. This energy originates from inside the Earth and it is generated from the presence of volcanoes, fumaroles, hot springs and geysers. To generate this type of environmentally friendly energy land spaces that are not very extensive are used, and with proper management there is a minimal environmental impact and easy mitigation.
Solar energy: It is the one that comes from the sun through electromagnetic radiation; it is made up of light, heat, and ultraviolet rays. There are several ways to obtain solar energy:
- Solar thermal: which is based on heating a fluid from the energy of the sun, producing steam and then electrical energy. So, it can operate appliances such as solar cookers and heaters, stills, among others.
- Solar cells that use the photons of sunlight to affect the semiconductors, and from a physicochemical process to generate electric current.
- Photovoltaic energy, which is obtained by means of the well-known photovoltaic panels, that cause photons in sunlight to alter electrons and produce electricity. Thus, they take full advantage of all hours of daylight, produce and store solar energy.
The Seawater energy is another type of green energy that is produced from the movement of ocean currents and tides, which activate turbines that in turn move an alternator, a device that generates electrical energy.
This alternator is connected to a power plant located on land that then distributes the energy to population centers or industries.
This kind of energy take advantage of rivers that are deep, as well as mouths to the ocean and under the surface of these zones to use the marine currents.
Biomass energy: is the one uses organic matter as an energy source. This organic matter It can be animal or vegetable, and it can be composed of waste generated from agricultural activity, such as fruit shells, pruning and field cleaning remains, wood leftovers, bones of some fruits, among others.
Biofuels: they are also considered a type of renewable energy, since are extracted from the distillation of agricultural products, such as alcohols and their derivatives, and oils, which are obtained from oily seed crops, such as soybeans and sunflowers.
Who uses renewable energy?
Currently, many countries have developed actions to generate renewable energy and respond to the growing energy demand without affecting the environment. The list of countries that lead the production and consumption of renewable energy are:
Sweden, a country that has implemented renewable energy policies based on petroleum biomass, and whose consumption of clean energy is 53.8%.
Austria It is also a country whose government has worked for more than thirty years on the use of biomass energy, and it has reduced the use of fossil energy by 90%.
Finland has taken initiatives to decrease the production of greenhouse gases, and its consumption of clean energy is around 38.7%.
In In Latin America, some countries have made a commitment to stimulate the production and consumption of renewable energy. Chile is the leading country in the consumption of this type of energy in the region, through the use of solar panels.
It is followed by Argentina, where there are already entire populations that consume clean energy, Mexico, Peru, Panama, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica.