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Renewable energy is simply any energy source that can be replaced. Trees are a renewable energy source because you can plant more trees. Therefore anything that you can grow, like corn, cane, and other vegetable matter that can be turned into fuel, is a renewable energy source. Animal fat is another renewable energy source.

Oil is created over a period of millions of years and therefore isn't considered a renewable source. The primary energy source for the earth is the sun. The sun, in one way or another, creates all other sources of energy. The sun is not renewable and is actually going to run out of gas at some time in the far distant future. We can't replace the sun's energy. Nevertheless, it is a source of energy that will last for billions of years.

Water is a renewable energy source in that it is constantly in motion, evaporating into the sky and then coming down as rain, hail, sleet, or snow. As it flows down rivers, it can be harnessed for energy without depleting the total amount of water. Wind cannot be replenished but is a constant source of energy simply by doing what it does.

Most energy sources are not renewable because it has taken nature millions of years to produce it. Geothermal energy depends on the heat beneath the surface boiling underground water and sending it to the surface. The earth is cooling, as is the sun, and this source will not last forever. Things like uranium are like oil in that it took millions of years to produce it and there is a finite amount in the ground.

The fact is, there are not that many renewable sources of energy and we need to start taking conservation seriously so that we can stretch whatever resources we have as far into the future as possible.

Learn more about this author, Bob Trowbridge.
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