Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
types of renewable energy - Coggle Diagram
types of renewable energy
solar energy
“actively” or “passively.”
Passive solar energy does not use any equipment.
Active solar energy uses special technology to capture the sun’s rays.
Advantages and Disadvantages
There are many advantages to using solar energy.
It can be expensive to install PV cells or build a building using passive solar technology.
Sunshine can also be hard to predict.
wind energy
Today, we capture the wind’s energy with wind turbines. Groups of wind turbines are known as wind farms.
Advantages and Disadvantages
great advantage of wind power is that it is a “clean” form of energy. Wind turbines do not burn fuel or emit any pollutants into the air. Wind energy can be very efficient.
Wind is not always a steady source of energy, however. Wind speed changes constantly, depending on the time of day, weather, and geographic location.
Wind turbines can also be dangerous for bats and birds.
geothermal energy
One way of using geothermal energy is with “geothermal heat pumps.”
Another way to use geothermal energy is with steam.
Advantages and Disadvantages
An advantage of geothermal energy is that it is clean. It does not require any fuel or emit any harmful pollutants into the air.
Geothermal energy is only avaiable in certain parts of the world. Another disadvantage of using geothermal energy is that in areas of the world where there is only dry heat underground, large quantities of freshwater are used to make steam.
biomass energy
Biomass is any material that comes from plants or microorganisms that were recently living. Plants create energy from the sun through photosynthesis. This energy is stored in the plants even after they die.
Trees, branches, scraps of bark, and recycled paper are common sources of biomass energy. Manure, garbage, and crops, such as corn, soy, and sugar cane, can also be used as biomass feedstocks. We get energy from biomass by burning it.
Advantages and Disadvantages
A major advantage of biomass is that it can be stored and then used when it is needed.
Growing crops for biofuels, however, requires large amounts of land and pesticides. Land could be used for food instead of biofuels.
Biomass energy can also be a non-renewable energy source. Biomass energy relies on biomass feedstocks—plants that are processed and burned to create electricity.
hydroelectric energy
Hydroelectric energy is made by flowing water. Most hydroelectric power plants are located on large dams, which control the flow of a river.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Hydroelectric energy is fairly inexpensive to harness.
Hydroelectric energy is also fairly reliable. Engineers control the flow of water through the dam, so the flow does not depend on the weather (the way solar and wind energies do).
hydroelectric power plants are damaging to the environment.
Hydroelectric power plants don’t work for a very long time: Some can only supply power for 20 or 30 years. Silt, or dirt from a riverbed, builds up behind the dam and slows the flow of water.
other renewable energy sources
Three of the most promising are tidal energy, wave energy, and algal (or algae) fuel.
Tidal energy harnesses the power of ocean tides to generate electricity. Some tidal energy projects use the moving tides to turn the blades of a turbine.
Wave energy harnesses waves from the ocean, lakes, or rivers. Some wave energy projects use the same equipment that tidal energy projects do—dams and standing turbines.
Algal fuel is a type of biomass energy that uses the unique chemicals in seaweed to create a clean and renewable biofuel.