A Beginner's Guide to Green Energy

A Beginner’s Guide to Green Energy

Green energy, or green power as it’s often referred to, is a way of harnessing natural processes to create energy in a manner that is sustainable for the environment. This typically includes wind power, solar power, hydropower, geothermal energy, biomass, and biofuels. An electric company in New York, for example, might utilize one or several of these renewable sources to power homes and businesses while reducing environmental impact. Read more to discover the particulars of the most popular green energy processes.

Wind Power

Wind power entails the conversion of wind energy by wind turbines into a more easily used form, such as electricity or mechanical energy. The most common application of wind power is done at large-scale wind farms, but more and more, residential units are coming into play and are responsible for supplying appliances to whole houses with power. The field of wind power is showing a lot of promise in general: a 2009 study reported that a network of 2.5-megawatt wind turbines in rural areas operating at solely 20 percent of their rated capacity could supply 40 times the global energy expenditure. Not only are wind farms incredibly efficient, they also have one of the smallest impacts on the environment of all energy sources.

Solar Power

Currently the most common manifestation of green energy, solar power utilizes photovoltaic cells, which capture sunlight and turn it into electricity. Solar energy can also cook food, heat buildings and houses and provide natural lighting. Due to its inexpensive and straightforward nature, solar power is becoming incredibly popular in both residential and commercial capacities. It also has an incredibly low energy cost of four-20 cents per kWh for solar thermal energy and five-35 cents per kWh for solar photovoltaic energy.

Hydropower

Hydropower, or hydroelectric power as it is also called, uses the earth’s natural water cycle (including the processes of evaporation, rainfall, tides and the forces that accompany water rushing through a dam). This green energy source is especially popular in rural areas, or areas in which the utilization of other energy sources is not viable. Small-scale hydropower systems can be set up in lakes or streams with little to no effect on fish migration, another iteration of the source’s environmental friendliness. Most of these systems use wheels to generate energy, rather than dams or major water diversions.  

Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy practices take advantage of the thermal energy under the earth’s crust, which emanates from both the original creation of the world and the radioactive decay of minerals. Geothermal energy is derived in a number of ways for a number of purposes: residential needs are often met with a geothermal heat pump, whereas geothermal power plants are usually utilized for commercial purposes.

Biomass and Biofuels

While traditional methods of burning biofuels (examples include ethanol and biodiesel) and biomass (wood waste, sawdust, agricultural waste, etc) lead to such environmental atrocities as air pollution and the release of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and VOCs; research is being conducted to find alternative ways of harnessing these resources in a more environmentally friendly way.

Join the movement towards a sustainable future with City Power and Gas. As your trusted electric and gas company in New York, we provide eco-friendly energy solutions that benefit both you and the environment. Make the switch now and start saving on your energy bills while contributing to a cleaner, greener planet.