Renewable energy

Introduction - Efforts to reduce pollutants and greenhouse gases are a primary focus in today's culture. Our current rate of fossil fuel usage will shortly lead to an energy crisis. We therefore need to better exploit current renewable energy technology and also work on new ways to extract energy from renewable sources as a matter of urgency.
So what are some of the alternatives?

Wind Power - Harnesses the power of the wind to propel the blades of wind turbines which is converted into electrical current by means of a generator.
There is no pollution however consistent wind is needed for continuous power generation, wind turbines are noisy and if winds are too high the National Grid may not cope.

Water Power - There are several forms of hydroelectricity generation currently in use or development however harnessing the power of moving water has an incredibly long history.

Hydropower is the world's No.1 source of renewable energy. It does not produce pollution and is the most efficient way to generate electricity. Modern hydro turbines can convert as much as 90% of the available energy into electricity.

Solar Power - Can work in many ways the most common way is through the use of photovoltaic (PV) technology, which directly transforms sunlight into electricity.

When exposed to the photons found within sunlight, some electrons of the photovoltaic solar cells are knocked loose. These loose electrons create an electrical current which can be harnessed for electrical needs.

Of course solar power can only be gathered during daylight, however energy can be stored.

Nuclear Power - Is the power created from controlled nuclear reactions. The power source is the heat generated by a controlled nuclear fission chain reaction. The reaction involves uranium or plutonium being hit by a neutron and splitting.

Although nuclear power generation only results in relatively low amounts of CO2 being produced the radioactive wastes generated have considerable associated disposal issues.

Geothermal Power - Is energy in the form of the heat from the Earth. It's clean and sustainable. Resources of geothermal energy range from the shallow ground to hot water and hot rock found a few miles beneath the Earth's surface.

Although not used for electricity generation geothermal energy systems are increasingly used to deliver forced air space heating through ductwork and a heat exchanger. They can also be reversed to extract heat in the summer.

Conclusion - Energy generation from renewable sources is the way towards a low carbon economy. However, there has been a reported a 12% drop in renewable energy production between April and June which will reopen the discussions about the £1 billion support the industry itself receives from the taxpayers each year.