by Maddi May

Created on: June 29, 2008

Renewable energy is basically energy that can be replaced easily. Renewable energy successfully uses natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain tides and geothermal heat.

There are many different types of renewable energy technologies that we use today, ranging from wind power to solar power. Wind power is the conversion between wind energy and then changing into electricity. It is made when the wind drives a wind turbine causing them to spin, therefore generating electricity. This is a good source because there will always be wind even though it is unpredictable.

Another renewable energy resource is hydroelectric power. This type of energy is made from water and we use it to make electricity. A good place to do this is on top of a mountain so that the water can get at its fastest speed, so that when it reaches the station it will turn the turbines. A disadvantage of this is that, in some countries there are not any mountains, this means that the water will not generate enough velocity (speed) to power the turbines.

Solar energy is yet another example of renewable energy. We use energy direct from the sun to do this. The solar cells in the sun transfer energy from the sunlight and heat to electronic energy. There are advantages and disadvantages of this resource. For instance an advantage is that the sun it is not harming the earth to use up some energy from the sun as it is eco-friendly. A disadvantage is that there is an irregular pattern to the amount of sunlight for example during the night there is no sunlight so there won't be enough solar cells to be radiated to transfer in to electricity. This has become the most popular worldly renewable energy resource.

Tidal power is made when the tides are converted into useful energy resources like electricity. This has not yet as such become a worldly source. This is a good form of an energy resource because there will always be sea so there will always be tides. A disadvantage however is that sometimes the waves are not large enough to produce any electricity.
Geothermal energy is another great energy resource. It is generated by the storage of the heat beneath the Earths surface. Geothermal power supplies less than 1% of the Earths energy.

Finally Biomass is too a fantastic supply of energy. It is formed when plants Biomass refers to living and recently dead biological material that can be used as fuel or for industrial production. Most commonly, biomass refers to plant matter grown for use as biofuel.

Renewable energy is a must if we want our standard of living to continue being high. This means that w should not use non renewable energy. This is using non-renewable fuels such as coil oil and gas. These can also be known as fossil fuels as they were formed by fossils. These cannot be replaced as they take millions of years to replace. People should definitely use more renewable energy as it is more economically friendly and can help save the planet.

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