When was renewable energy formed

Renewable energy is energy from sources that are naturally replenishing but flow-limited; renewable resources are virtually inexhaustible in duration but limited in the amount of energy that is available per unit of time.

Until the mids, wood was the source of nearly all of the nation's energy needs for heating, cooking, and lighting. From the late s until today, fossil fuels—coal, petroleum, and natural gas—have been the major sources of energy.

Hydropower and wood were the most used renewable energy resources until the s. Since then, the amounts of U. Total U.

In , renewable energy provided about Click to enlarge. Renewable energy can play an important role in U. Using renewable energy can help to reduce energy imports and reduce fossil fuel use, which is the largest source of U. The Reference case generally assumes that current laws and regulations that affect the energy sector, including laws that have end dates, remain unchanged throughout the projection period.

The potential effects of proposed legislation, regulations, or standards are not included in the AEO Renewable energy explained. Now that we have increasingly innovative and less-expensive ways to capture and retain wind and solar energy, renewables are becoming a more important power source, accounting for more than one-eighth of U. The expansion in renewables is also happening at scales large and small, from rooftop solar panels on homes that can sell power back to the grid to giant offshore wind farms.

Even some entire rural communities rely on renewable energy for heating and lighting. Nonrenewable sources of energy are only available in limited amounts and take a long time to replenish.

Nonrenewable energy sources are also typically found in specific parts of the world, making them more plentiful in some nations than others. By contrast, every country has access to sunshine and wind. Many nonrenewable energy sources can endanger the environment or human health. To top it off, all these activities contribute to global warming.

Humans have been harnessing solar energy for thousands of years—to grow crops, stay warm, and dry foods. Solar, or photovoltaic PV , cells are made from silicon or other materials that transform sunlight directly into electricity.

Distributed solar systems generate electricity locally for homes and businesses, either through rooftop panels or community projects that power entire neighborhoods. Solar farms can generate power for thousands of homes, using mirrors to concentrate sunlight across acres of solar cells. Solar supplies a little more than 1 percent of U.

But nearly a third of all new generating capacity came from solar in , second only to natural gas. Today, turbines as tall as skyscrapers —with turbines nearly as wide in diameter—stand at attention around the world. Wind, which accounts for a little more than 6 percent of U.

Top wind power states include California, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Iowa, though turbines can be placed anywhere with high wind speeds—such as hilltops and open plains—or even offshore in open water. Hydropower is the largest renewable energy source for electricity in the United States, though wind energy is soon expected to take over the lead. Nationally and internationally, large hydroelectric plants—or mega-dams—are often considered to be nonrenewable energy.

Mega-dams divert and reduce natural flows, restricting access for animal and human populations that rely on rivers. Small hydroelectric plants an installed capacity below about 40 megawatts , carefully managed, do not tend to cause as much environmental damage, as they divert only a fraction of flow.

Biomass is organic material that comes from plants and animals, and includes crops, waste wood, and trees. When biomass is burned, the chemical energy is released as heat and can generate electricity with a steam turbine. Biomass is often mistakenly described as a clean, renewable fuel and a greener alternative to coal and other fossil fuels for producing electricity.

However, recent science shows that many forms of biomass—especially from forests—produce higher carbon emissions than fossil fuels. Renewable energy sources are considered to be zero wind, solar, and water , low geothermal or neutral biomass with regard to greenhouse gas emissions during their operation. A neutral source has emissions that are balanced by the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed during the growing process.

Large conventional hydropower projects currently provide the majority of renewable electric power generation worldwide. With about 1, gigawatts GW of global capacity, hydropower produced an estimated 4, terawatt hours TWh of the roughly 26, TWh total global electricity in In , a much wetter than average year in the U.

Northwest, the United States generated 7. The Department of Energy has found that the untapped generation potential at existing U. Hydropower operational costs are relatively low, and hydropower generates little to no greenhouse gas emissions.

The main environmental impact is that a dam to create a reservoir or divert water to a hydropower plant changes the ecosystem and physical characteristic of the river. Waterpower captures the energy of flowing water in rivers, streams, and waves to generate electricity. As water travels downstream, it is channeled down through a pipe or other intake structure in a dam penstock.

The flowing water turns the blades of a turbine, generating electricity in the powerhouse, located at the base of the dam. Small hydropower projects, generally less than 10 megawatts MW , and micro-hydropower less than 1 MW are less costly to develop and have a lower environmental impact than large conventional hydropower projects.

In , the total amount of small hydro installed worldwide was 78 GW. China had the largest share at 54 percent. China, Italy, Japan, Norway and the United States are the top five small hydro countries by installed capacity.

Many countries have renewable energy targets that include the development of small hydro projects. Hydrokinetic electric power, including wave and tidal power, is a form of unconventional hydropower that captures energy from waves or currents and does not require dam construction. These technologies are in various stages of research, development, and deployment. By the end of , global capacity was about MW. Low-head hydro is a commercially available source of hydrokinetic electric power that has been used in farming areas for more than years.

Generally, the capacity of these devices is small, ranging from 1kW to kW. Pumped storage hydropower plants use inexpensive electricity typically overnight during periods of low demand to pump water from a lower-lying storage reservoir to a storage reservoir located above the power house for later use during periods of peak electricity demand.

Although economically viable, this strategy is not considered renewable since it uses more electricity than it generates. Wind was the second largest renewable energy source worldwide after hydropower for power generation.

Wind power produced more than 6 percent of global electricity in with GW of global capacity Capacity is indicative of the maximum amount of electricity that can be generated when the wind is blowing at sufficient levels for a turbine. Because the wind is not always blowing, wind farms do not always produce as much as their capacity. With around MW, China had the largest installed capacity of wind generation in The United States, with In , wind energy overtook hydropower for the largest share of renewable generation in the U.

Although people have harnessed the energy generated by the movement of air for hundreds of years, modern turbines reflect significant technological advances over early windmills and even over turbines from just 10 years ago. Generating electric power using wind turbines creates no greenhouse gases, but since a wind farm includes dozens or more turbines, widely-spaced, it requires thousands of acres of land.

However, most of the land in between turbines can still be utilized for farming or grazing. Average turbine size has been steadily increasing over the past 30 years. Today, new onshore turbines are typically in the range of 2 — 5 MW.

The largest production models, designed for off-shore use can generate 12 MW; some innovative turbine models under development are expected to generate more than 14 MW in offshore projects in the coming years. Due to higher costs and technology constraints, off-shore capacity, approximately GE, Vox, Solar energy resources are massive and widespread, and they can be harnessed anywhere that receives sunlight. A number of factors, including geographic location, time of day, and weather conditions, all affect the amount of energy that can be harnessed for electricity production or heating purposes.

Solar photovoltaics are the fastest growing electricity source. Solar hot water heaters, typically found on the roofs of homes and apartments, provide residential hot water by using a solar collector, which absorbs solar energy, that in turn heats a conductive fluid, and transfers the heat to a water tank. Modern collectors are designed to be functional even in cold climates and on overcast days. In , it was found that there are approximately , wind turbines in operation around the world. The photoelectric effect is best described as the emission of electrons when light is shined upon certain materials.

Einstein would win a Nobel Prize for Physics in , awarded especially for his work in solar energy. That said, one Edmond Becquerel actually discovered the effect back in , when experimenting with the effect of light and how it interacts with electrolytic cells.

Now you can understand how protective these inventor-types can be when it comes to their work…. This was the first instance of renewable energy making a splash on a large, commercial scale. People began to take notice. This Colorado landmark was built to control the water-flow along the Colorado River and to provide Southern California and Arizona with a steady water supply. At the time, it was the largest hydroelectric facility in the US.

Over 5, workers were employed during the five years it took to build, and at full capacity it can hold enough water to cover the state of Connecticut 10 feet deep. The Vanguard 1 launched on St.