Renewable Energy Resources - Your Ultimate Guide

Renewable Energy Resources - Your Ultimate Guide

The global battle with climate change and the resulting increase in oil prices have actually jumpstarted the awareness of governments all over the world about renewable energies. By the end of 2008, many nations have started legislating energy provisions that support research and development of renewable energy sources on a massive scale. Substantial incentives are now given to companies and individuals who take initiative with renewable energy resources. There are a plethora of these technologies that are being commercialized and are actually available to commercial markets.

Renewable energy resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat are naturally replenished and will never run out. This contrasts sharply with the energy sources like oil that we are currently dependent on. At the time this article was written, the world consumes 18% renewable energy and 13% of which comes from biomass. Hydroelectric power accounts for 3% while 1.3% comes from solar power. Geothermal energy, wind power, and oceanic energy accounts for .8% of renewable energy consumption worldwide.

Biofuels

Brazil is actually considered to be the world's largest producer and exporter of renewable energies. The primary source of their biofuel is ethanol fuel which is extracted from sugar cane. The United States surprisingly leads the world in production of ethanol, but it does not export it. Brazil produces almost as much ethanol and it does a lot of exporting to other countries. Today ethanol runs 18% of the country's automobiles and no "light vehicles" run on gasoline only. Brazil is home to 35,000 filling stations with at least one ethanol pump.

The US Congress has even enacted the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to make sure that the United States consumes at least 7.5 billion gallons of biofuels each year starting in 2012. Automotive manufacturers like GM, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler are assisting this effort by designing vehicles that run on higher levels of ethanol.

Wind Power

Wind energy only composes 1.3% of the consumed global electricity. However, its growth rate amounts to 30% annually. Wind farms across the globe now generate over 120,791 megawatts and the technology is proliferating like wild fire. Wind energy is the most popular in the United States and numerous European countries. Wind power is actually saving the world amost 2 million tons of CO2 emissions every year. That is serious and this will likely increase as the years pass. Wind power already accounts for 19% of electricity use in Denmark, 9% in Spain and Portugal and even 6% in Ireland and Germany.

Solar Thermal Power

Surprisingly, Kenya has the largest number of solar powered households in the world. There is an astonishing 30,000 small solar power systems sold every year in Kenya. Solar power helps the Kenyans have a consistent source of energy in a country that has a very primitive traditional power distribution structure.

Other renewable energy resources include photovoltaics that have reached 2,000 megawatts in 2006. This number is also expected to increase as the years progress. Photovoltaics are particularly popular in Germany and Spain. The US also uses a lot of geothermal power. The world's largest installation of geothermal power in California and it a plant call The Geysers. It produces up to 750 megawatts.

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