What is green energy, and how can it be of benefit to a world in which many nations are suffering fuel shortages, while others are facing rising energy prices and the possibility that one day fossil fuel supplies may run out? The simple answer is that green energy is fuel which comes from non-exhaustible sources, sources will always be available to any nation which can develop the technology needed to take advantage of them. The challenge is to find ways of using these resources which are cost effective and practical.
The best known of all renewable energy sources is solar power, and this does indeed have the potential to power all of the industrial processes of the entire globe. The greatest challenge which the world will face in implementing this technology is that the industrial nations are located in parts of the world which do not experience unbroken sunlight and high temperatures. This means that the greatest potential for the use of solar power will be in locations where the investment needed for the development of the technology will not be forthcoming. Despite this, there is still a great potential for the use of solar power in northern countries.
Although solar energy has dominated the media, and is easily understood by the majority of the population, it is far from the only renewable technology which has the potential to change the world. Wind power is another energy source which alone can generate enough power to fuel an entire nation, and it is a technology which will work well in the climates of many industrial nations. Wind turbines can be erected on land, and also offshore by being set into the sea bed. Offshore installations are more expensive to construct, but they can generate a greater amount of power.
If you are wondering what is green energy going to do to improve the lives of people in developed countries who are facing constantly increasing energy bills, the truth is that this remains to be seen. The technologies which are needed to run renewable energy plants on a commercial scale are still being developed, and there will be a significant investment in construction needed before any serious benefit will be noticed by the end consumer. In the meantime, there are possibilities for renewable energy sources to be used in individual homes, to feed energy into the power grid.
The application of solar and wind power on a large scale is something which will need careful planning and construction, to prevent expensive mistakes being made. Solar constructions need to be in places where can utilize the greatest possible amount of heat from the sun, with or without the use of mirrors. They also need to be close enough to the communities which are going to use the electricity, to cut down on infrastructure expenses. Wind power installations will need to be erected onshore while the technology is perfected to allow them to be situated offshore.
Many people wondering what is green energy for are also wondering whether the appliances to create it could be constructed in their own home, giving them a degree of independence from energy companies. The answer at the moment is that this can happen in part, but it is not yet possible for a household with average usage to generate all of the electricity they need. There are many schemes throughout the world which allow people to have solar panels in their roof, to generate electricity, and most of these schemes will even give rebates to people who send electricity out into the grid system.
One of the greatest difficulties with renewable energy is that it will often generate more electricity when that is not needed than it will generate at times of high use. A classic example of this is wind power generating more power during a stormy night. To use renewable energy to best effect, we need to come up with an effective method of storage. The best we currently have is hydrogen, and this technology is being incorporated into vehicles, which are one of the best examples of a situation where the fuel needs to be stored until it is actually used. There are now commercially available vehicles which use hydrogen power.
To discover what is green energy going to be like in the future, it is best to carry out some simple research on the Internet. While are some sites which are purely speculative, and not really a good reflection of what is occurring in the world of energy research, there are many others which are highly accurate. Be especially wary of those which are making firm predictions for the future, as it is really not possible to say exactly how the future will evolve. What is certain is that the future will become increasingly clearer to those asking what is green energy.