Clean energy is energy gained from sources that do not release air pollutants, while green energy is energy derived from natural sources. There is a subtle difference between these two energy types even though they are often spoken of as being the same.
Renewable energy is power generated from sources that are constantly being replenished. These renewable energy resources won’t run out, unlike fossil fuels and gas, and include wind and solar energy.
However, while most green energy sources are renewable, not all renewable energy sources are seen as being green. For example, hydropower is a renewable resource, but some would argue that it is not green, since the deforestation and industrialisation related to the building of hydro dams can damage the environment.
How Does it Work?
Clean energy works by producing power without having negative environmental impacts, such as the release of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. A lot of clean energy is also renewable, including wind power, some hydro resources and solar powered energy generation.
Why is it Important?
The most important aspect of clean energy are the environmental benefits as part of a global energy future. While clean, renewable resources also preserve the world’s natural resources, they also reduce the risk of environmental disasters, such as fuel spills or the problems associated with natural gas leaks. With fuel diversification, through different power plants using different energy sources, it is possible to create reliable power supplies to enhance energy security, ensuring there is enough to meet our demands.
Benefits
Clean energy provides a variety of environmental and economic benefits, including a reduction in air pollution. A diverse clean energy supply also reduces the dependence on imported fuels (and the associated financial and environmental costs this incurs).
Renewable clean energy also has inherent cost savings, as there is no need to extract and transport fuels, such as with oil or coal, as the resources replenish themselves naturally.
Other industrial benefits of a clean energy mix is the creation of jobs to develop, manufacture and install the clean energy resources of the future.
How Can Clean Energy Be Used?
Clean energy can be used for a variety of different applications, from electricity generation to heating water and more, depending on the source of the energy.
Solar energy can be used for heating and lighting buildings, generating electricity, heating water directly, cooling and more. Solar panels allow for energy from the sun to be collected and turned into electricity. Solar panels are frequently used for small electric tasks, such as charging batteries, while many people already use solar energy for small garden lanterns. However, this same clean energy technology can be scaled up to larger panels that are used to provide power for homes or other buildings or even installations of multiple solar panels, such as with a community solar panel array to power entire towns.
Water is another clean resource with some surprising applications. Most obvious are hydroelectric power plants, which take the flow of water from rivers, streams or lakes to create electricity. A less obvious use of water comes through municipal pipes in towns and cities. With lots of water running through pipes in homes each day, there is a move towards harnessing this energy to help meet domestic and other power needs. As generators become smaller and less expensive to build this use of municipal water is becoming closer to being a daily reality.
Wind power works by attaching a windmill to a generator which turns the turning of the windmill blades into power. This form of energy has been used for centuries to grind grain, pump water or perform other mechanical tasks, but is now being used more often to produce electricity. Onshore and offshore windfarms are becoming increasingly prevalent, but wind power can also be used on a much smaller scale to produce electricity, even to provide a source of power for recharging mobile telephones.
These examples of renewable sources can be added to by others, such as geothermal, biomass and tidal power, which also all have their own benefits and applications.
The Future of Clean Energy
The future of clean energy looks bright, with recent years showing that more renewable energy capacity has been installed globally than new fossil fuel and nuclear capacity combined. Renewable sources now make up over one-third of globally installed power capacity. As an example of this growth, Wednesday 10 June 2020 marked two months of the UK being powered purely by renewable energy for the first time ever.
As the world population continues to grow, there is an ever-increasing demand for energy and renewable sources are the answer to providing sustainable energy solutions, while also protecting the planet from climate change.
The take-up of clean energy is not just happening on a national level as cities and states are also crating policies to increase renewable energy use. In the United States, 29 states have set renewable energy portfolios to mandate that a certain percentage of energy consumed should come from renewable sources and over 100 cities around the world now use at least 70% renewable energy. As more cities drive towards becoming 100% renewable, corporations are also playing a part by purchasing record levels of renewable power.
Of course, due to fossil fuels being a finite resource, it makes sense that the future is renewable and so it is expected that renewable sources will continue to increase in number, driving down the cost too.
How Can Clean Energy Reduce Global Warming?
Humans have been using fossil fuels for over 150 years and, as their use increased, so did the release of the greenhouse gases that are produced when these fuels are burned. These greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere causing the temperature of the Earth to rise. This global warming is one symptom of climate change that has seen a rise in extreme weather events, shifting wildlife habitats and populations, rising sea levels and other impacts.
Because renewable energy sources don’t emit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, they do not contribute to global warming. These renewable sources mean that climate change is not being advanced, while measures such as reforestation can help to alleviate the damage already done to the climate, combining to reduce global warming.
Can Clean Energy Replace Fossil Fuels?
As mentioned above, humans have been using fossil fuels for decades, meaning that the switch to clean energy has been relatively recent. As a result, renewable energy sources are still seen as being unpredictable and do not yet meet our global power demands. This means that renewable energy is still being topped up with carbon-based energy sources.
However, it is believed that our energy needs can be balanced by the efficient storing of renewable energy so it can be used when the demand is present. A great deal of work is being done to improve the infrastructure and storage capabilities of clean energy, with experts saying that clean renewable energy could replace fossil fuels by 2050.
How Will Clean Energy Help Our Economy?
There are financial benefits related to clean energy, not least due to the creation of work to improve the infrastructure, manufacture clean energy solutions and install and maintain them. Renewable and clean energy are growth sectors as the world begins to move away from fossil fuels, meaning that more opportunities will arise in areas ranging from eMobility to power generation and storage.
The expertise that comes with developing these next generation power solutions can be of benefit of those that attain it, offering work and contracts to those who are slow to take up clean energy.
Of course, the financial implications of clean energy are just part of the story, since the real incentive behind clean energy is creating a better future for the planet. But, as fossil fuel use declines, so will the associated financial rewards, meaning that clean energy is not just good for the environment but it is a forward step for industry too