Green Alternative Energy & Renewable Energy Resources

Green Alternative Energy & Renewable Energy Resources

What is green alternative energy?

Renewable energy is just that, an energy source that can be used over and over again, energy generated from natural resources from the world around us.

You are likely familiar with most of the renewable green energy resources, as these in recent years have enjoyed a sustained growth as we seek to find more power from natural energy resources in an effort to move on from the constant use of fossil fuels, which damage our global ecosystems.

The most common green alternative energy / natural energy resources are sunlight (solar), wind, rain, tides and geothermal heating. According to recent figures '06 approximately 18 percent of worldwide final energy was provided by natural energy renewables, around 13% of this natural energy came from biomass fuels (wood and natural matter). The next largest supply of natural alternative green energy came from hydroelectricity which was quickly followed by solar hot water and solar heating.

Certainly in recent years, great advancements and strides have been made to supply us with green renewable energy systems, which considerably lower the harm done to the planet and ultimately, every living organism that breathes upon it. Other strong, key renewables included geothermal energy (energy from under the surface of the earth), wind power (wind turbines), solar power (photo voltaic fuel cells) and finally, ocean energy (tidal power). Together these provided almost 1% of final energy global consumption.

Year on year, wind power is expanding at the rate of some 30 percent annually, helped in part by governments now seeing wind power as a good free alternative energy source. In 2006 the total output was one hundred GW and is now widely used throughout North America and Europe. In the same year, photovoltaic fuelcells produced some two thousand MW. Countries showing a keen interest in this green energy sector include Spain and Germany.

Solar thermal power stations or solar farms have become popular in the southern USA, particularly around Arizona and the Mojave Desert turning once desolate desert land into prime real estate and also in Europe, Spain, the largest of these produces 354 MW SEGS from the power plant in the Mojave. The biggest geothermal energy station is located in California. Drilling deep into the surface of the earth, natural energy can be tapped directly into from the natural heat of the earth. The geothermal power plant in California is known as The Geysers, it's capacity of renewable energy has been rated at approximately 750 MW.

Home to the Amazonian rainforest, Brazil in Soth America has one of the biggest renewable energy programs globally, their specialisation is the production of Ethanol natural fuel from sugarcane and ethanol now accounts for a full 18% of that countries automotive fuel needs. Ethanol fuel is also widely popular in the United States.

It's not only governments of countries though that are more than a little interested in forms of green alternative energy, or indeed for that matter, only very large corporations. Renewable power technology is also appealing to small off grid energy concerns especially in some remote, rural areas.

Take for example, Kenya. You may be surprised to learn that the population of Kenya has the highest number of  households with solar ownership. Each year, sales of solar energy kits in that country number some 30,000 solar kits in the 20 - 100 Watt range.

Not everyone is pleased with the sudden rise in renewable energy sources however - in the UK NIMBY commonly means, Not In My Back Yard and a small but significant number of people do not want to see costly and unsightly renewable energy farms spreading throughout the English countryside, in particular wind farms and biomass plants. Yet in the mainstream, the call for renewable energy resources is reaching a keen and receptive audience and the market and demand for green energy alternatives is growing year on year.

Climate change is of course one major concern for many that has resulted in this new green consciousness sweeping the world as well as high oil prices, individuals now demand cheaper and cleaner energy resources. Governments and major corporations finally, are responding to this new energy call for action and are pumping in hundreds of millions of dollars as green energy science takes hold. In todays market the green alternative energy sector is expected to do better than many other industry sectors in the world wide economic downturn.