What Is a Good Renewable Energy Source?

Renewable energy sources, such as sunshine and wind, are generated from non-finite or non-exhaustible natural resources on the planet. Essentially, renewable energy sources are an environmentally friendly alternative, unlike conventional fossil-fuel-based energy.

While harnessing nature’s power is generally considered an innovation, it has traditionally been utilized for warming, transporting, illuminating, and other purposes. For instance, the wind has propelled ships across the oceans and driven gears that crush cereals. 

Additionally, the sun’s warmth throughout the daytime has long assisted in lighting fires into the dark. However, people have increasingly resorted to dirty, economical energy sources like fracked gas or coal during the last five centuries or more.

Renewables are becoming a more significant power source now that we have more creative and less costly methods to collect and store wind and solar energy.

As the usage of renewable energy grows, green sources like wind, hydro, or solar hervey bay are becoming increasingly intelligent, more efficient, and safer. The features listed below are used to identify good renewable energy sources.

1. Energy Supply Mode Should Have A Flow System(Supported By Nature) and Safe Storage Forms

Fossil fuels are highly concentrated in chemical energy that is kept in carbon bonds. Oil, natural gases, and coal transported across distant locations in different forms can get compromised or lose any qualitative features. Furthermore, they have a lot of energy per unit of volume or mass, which is beneficial to the transportation industry as they can separate them into various elements or forms.

However, renewable energy systems are often drawn directly from natural sources like the sun’s radiation hitting the earth’s surface. Wind and solar energy are both flow systems, which means man must always utilize them in the manner that they are generated.

An external storage system of energy such as a battery must conserve energy when it is not in its flow state. For instance, solar and wind energy are plentiful at particular periods of each day; they are always conserved to cover when unavailable.

Also, biomass (for example, biofuels) is the storage of chemical energy with a considerably shorter life span than fossil fuels. They disintegrate in a short amount of time. 

On the other hand, hydroelectric power produced from waves is convertible to electricity, which powers the water cycle. It also has storage capabilities since water may be kept in a dam before being discharged.

2. The Form of Delivery of the Energy Source Should Be Safe

Most of the renewable energy sources (geothermal and tidal included) provide power to end-users as electricity. Given that electricity currently accounts for below 40% of the world’s total energy consumption (the remainder being mostly fossil fuels), a sustainable approach would need substantial changes during energy storage, production, and on its delivery networks.

The transportation industry, which uses more than a quarter of all energy, relies on liquid petroleum fuels. Considering man’s reliance on gasoline engines, transitioning away from crude oil would need a mix of sequentially expanded biofuels and electricity usage (hybrids, fuel cells, electric cars). 

Infrastructural modifications would be substantial as a result of such a shift. Electricity is an excellent form of renewable energy delivery mode as you can convert it into other energy states like light. At the same time, you can easily store and transmit it as most grids are already compatible with its form.

3. Harnessing More Power Density from the Energy Source Should Be Safe and Economical

Wikipedia defines power density as the quantity of power per unit volume (power transfer rate). Why should you be concerned with what seems to be a mundane technical concept? You should since this feature of energy supply affects our infrastructure and settlement patterns. In many respects, we may argue that modern cities are in part the result of fossil fuels’ HIGH power density.

The energy flow (watts) that can be collected or generated per unit land area via a specific energy source is the power density of the energy supply. Another way to think about energy consumption would be the quantity of energy used per unit of energy land area. A skyscraper, for example, should have a greater energy power consumptive density than a one-story home.

Watts are units of energy flow (power); thus, power density is the energy flow per unit land area (m2). Hydroelectric plants and wind farms have different power densities and energy-consuming sources(townhouses, blocks in the cities, etc.). Their entities also require varying power capacities.

That said, keep in mind that the power density of renewable energy facilities is considerably lower than that of fossil fuel facilities and that renewable energy supply is diffuse. However, there is no scarcity of renewable energy; scaling up its harnessing methods can increase power density without compromising the environment.

You can also read: Ways to Light Your Flagpole & Emergency and Standby Power Difference!