Renewable Energy
Introduction
Renewable development represents that economic development
which ensures the fulfilment of the present generation's needs wihout
comprising the possibility of fulfilling the future generation's
requirements. It defines a process of change in which harnessing
the resources, orienting the investments, developing technologies
and changing institutions are harmonious, and enhance, both the
present potential for fulfilling the human needs, and the future
one.
Renewable energy refers to the energy derived from
a large spectrum of resources, all having the capacity for renewal,
for instance hydraulic, solar, wind, geothermal energy and biomass
(domestic, municipal, industrial and agricultural waste).
These energy sources can be used to generate electrical
energy in all fields of activity, thermal energy necessary for industrial
processes and space heating, and produce fuels necessary for transport.
Energy technologies based on renewable resources generate
a relatively small amount of waste or poolutants that contribute
to acid rain, urban smog, or could cause health problems and do
not require additional costs for the depollution of the environment
or waste storage.
The following figure presents the structure of world energy consumption
in 2005.
The use of renewable energy is essential to mankind's
development. Students must think of alternative energy solutions
and develop their own way of thinking concerning renewable energies
and their way of utilization.
|
