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Geothermal Electricity Production This geothermal power plant generates electricity for the Imperial Valley in California. Geothermal power plants use steam produced from reservoirs of hot water found a few miles or more below the Earth's surface to produce electricity. The steam rotates a turbine that activates a generator, which produces electricity.

Energy from the Sun The sun has produced energy for billions of years.  Solar energy is the sun’s rays (solar radiation) that reach the Earth. This energy can be converted into other forms of energy, such as heat and electricity.

Photovoltaic (PV devices) or “solar cells” change sunlight directly into electricity. Individual PV cells are grouped into panels and arrays of panels that can be used in a wide range of applications ranging from single small cells that charge calculator and watch batteries, to systems that power single homes, to large power plants covering many acres.

Solar energy systems do not produce air pollutants or carbon-dioxide

Geothermal Basics What Is Geothermal Energy? The word geothermal comes from the Greek words geo (earth) and therme (heat). So, geothermal energy is heat from within the Earth. We can recover this heat as steam or hot water and use it to heat buildings or generate electricity. Geothermal energy is a renewable energy source because the heat is continuously produced inside the Earth.

Geothermal energy is generated in the Earth's core. Temperatures hotter than the sun's surface are continuously produced inside the Earth by the slow decay of radioactive particles, a process that happens in all rocks. The Earth has a number of different layers:

Where Geothermal Energy is Found The ring of fire goes around the edges of the Pacific. The map shows that volcanic activity occurs around the Pacific rim.Source: National Energy Education Development Project (Public Domain) Naturally occurring large areas of hydrothermal resources are called geothermal reservoirs. Most geothermal reservoirs are deep underground with no visible clues showing above ground. But geothermal energy sometimes finds its way to the surface in the form of: Volcanoes and fumaroles (holes where volcanic gases are released) Hot springs Geysers

We have been harnessing the wind's energy for hundreds of years. From old Holland to farms in the United States, windmills have been used for pumping water or grinding grain. Today, the windmill's modern equivalent - a wind turbine - can use the wind's energy to generate electricity.

Wind turbines, like windmills, are mounted on a tower to capture the most energy. At 100 feet (30 meters) or more aboveground, they can take advantage of the faster and less turbulent wind. Turbines catch the wind's energy with their propeller-like blades. Usually, two or three blades are mounted on a shaft to form a rotor.

A blade acts much like an airplane wing. When the wind blows, a pocket of low-pressure air forms on the downwind side of the blade. The low-pressure air pocket then pulls the blade toward it, causing the rotor to turn. This is called lift. The force of the lift is actually much stronger than the wind's force against the front side of the blade, which is called drag. The combination of lift and drag causes the rotor to spin like a propeller, and the turning shaft spins a generator to make electricity.

 The process of converting wind energy to electric energy uses a wind turbine. The wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in the wind into mechanical power. The mechanical power can be used for many things. In the past this meant pumping water, creating ventilation, or grinding food sources. While these things still occur, wind power is also used to generate electricity.      The wind turbine is a tall shaft with several horizontal rectangular blades attached to it. These blades are often covered with stiff material or ratting material. When turned they push against the air, causing pressure, and turning the inner shaft. This shaft connects to a generator which then creates energy.

What is U.S. electricity generation by energy source? In 2012, the United States generated about 4,054 billion kilowatthours of electricity.  About 68% of the electricity generated was from fossil fuel (coal, natural gas, and petroleum), with 37% attributed from coal. Energy sources and percent share of  total electricity generation in 2012 were:  Coal 37% Natural Gas 30% Nuclear 19% Hydropower 7% Other Renewable 5% Biomass 1.42% Geothermal 0.41% Solar 0.11% Wind 3.46% Petroleum 1% Other Gases < 1%

3,816,000 Gigawatts of Electricity is used in the United states each year

The conversion technologies from hydrothermal fluids to electricity include flash steam, dry steam, and binary-cycle power plants. Each geothermal electric system is made up of several key components including a: Production well Turbine Generator Injection well. Dry steam power plants are the simplest and oldest design, upon which the two other systems are based. They use a geothermal production well that produces fluid heated by the natural heat of the earth. The steam goes directly to a turbine, which drives a generator that produces electricity. The fluid then goes into an injection well, which is a well that is specifically drilled for the safe disposal of the geothermal fluids.

ofuels can be derived from almost any type of "biomass," a broad term that refers to living or recently alive biological material. Because biomass is produced on a short time scale, it is considered a renewable resource. I will describe types of biofuels—ethanol, biodiesel, syngas, bio-hydrogen, biogas, and solid biofuel—and their use. I'll also identify the crops and wastes being used to produce biofuels, and some issues surrounding biofuel production. How are biofuels being used? Biofuels are already used to supply a small fraction of our energy needs, with significant opportunities to expand their use as infrastructure is developed. In addition to ethanol and biodiesel for transportation, biofuels are currently used for power production, heating and cooling of buildings, and the thermal needs of industry. Biomass is today the largest non-hydroelectric renewable source for electricity produced in the U.S. Most of this is produced in pulp and paper mills, which often generate electricity by burning wood chips, bark, or the sludges and "liquors" that are byproducts of the paper-making process. At the same time, they recover waste heat from electricity generation to meet the thermal needs of the mill. This highly efficient combination is referred to as combined heat and power (CHP) or cogeneration. The electricity generated may be used onsite and/or supplied to the local utility for distribution to the public.

Wind is created when the sun hits the earth. The air above water and the air above the ground heat at different rates. Since the air above the ground heats faster, the warm air from the ground hits the atmosphere first. It then is pushed out toward the sea. As the air heads toward the sea, it gets colder and sinks back down to the sea level. This creates a current pushing the sea air toward the land in the form of wind. The stronger the sun's energy on the land and water, the faster the wind will circulate.

As the gearbox turns, it feeds the RPM into the generator, which transfers the energy into usable electrical energy and stores it. Large cables are attached to the generator that feed the electrical currents from the generators of all the wind turbines on the farm into one electrical storage area. The energy can then be transported through power lines around the area for commercial and home usage.

What are photovoltaics? The word comes from “photo” (light) and “voltaic” (energy produced by a chemical reaction). Photovoltaic technology refers to the conversion of light into energy at the atomic level. Certain materials, such as silicon, cadmium, and selenium, have the ability to absorb light photons and release electrons. Solar photovoltaic technology harnesses these freed electrons and uses their electric current as DC electricity (NASA 2002). Fully powered by the sun, solar photovoltaics are a free, clean, and renewable source of energy that can be used independently of or in conjunction with conventional grid energy. Unlike solar thermal systems, solar energy panels require little maintenance, necessitate no moving parts, and last for 30-40 years.

idal turbines are very much like an underwater windmill where the blades are driven by consistent, fast-moving currents.  The submerged rotors harness the power of the tidal streams to drive generators, which in turn produce electricity. Water is 832 times denser than air so consequently tidal turbine rotors can be are much smaller than wind turbine rotors generate equivalent  amounts of electricity, and they can be deployed much closer together. Devices that harness tidal stream energy present a unique set of engineering challenges in terms of design, installation and maintenance. During operation, the force of the tidal flow in Strangford Lough is equivalent to a 345 mph wind generating a 100 tonnes of thrust on the rotors. The unique SeaGen design allows capture of the maximum amount of tidal energy whilst keeping maintenance and connectivity costs low.

Tidal turbines are very much like an underwater windmill where the blades are driven by consistent, fast-moving currents.  The submerged rotors harness the power of the tidal streams to drive generators, which in turn produce electricity. Water is 832 times denser than air so consequently tidal turbine rotors are much smaller than wind turbine rotors generate equivalent  amounts of electricity, and they can be deployed much closer together. Devices that harness tidal stream energy present a unique set of engineering challenges in terms of design, installation and maintenance. During operation, the force of the tidal flow in Strangford Lough is equivalent to a 345 mph wind generating a 100 tonnes of thrust on the rotors.

Most of the wind energy produced  for power needs comes from wind farms, great big windmill type contraptions produce electricity because as the wind blows it turns the blades on a shaft, which powers a generator.

Wind energy is mechanical energy, the rotating movement of the blades of the windmill produces electricity through a generator. The wind is formed by the heating and cooling effects of the suns rays, the air rotates in high and low pressure which generates wind. Depending  on the type of wind pressure that is generated,whether it is a cool breeze on your face, different capacity of the strength of wind is formed in different parts of the world, this power goes to producing an effective source of untapped energy, for use by us in the form of heating and lighting.

Wind is a clean source of renewable energy that produces no air or water pollution.

Wind is the movement of air from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure. In fact, wind exists because the sun unevenly heats the surface of the Earth. As hot air rises, cooler air moves in to fill the void. As long as the sun shines, the wind will blow. And as long as the wind blows, people will harness it to power their lives.

The wind spins the blades, which turn a shaft connected to a generator that produces electricity. Other turbines work the same way, but the turbine is on a vertical axis and the blades look like a giant egg beater.

just over 843,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity were provided by solar power. The vast majority of that, more than 666,500 kWh, were produced in California. Roughly 14 percent of the total renewable energy generated in the U.S. in 2008 was solar energy. And remember that these numbers continue to grow each year. The solar industry has been growing on an average of 30-40 percent each year, and as the industry grows, so will the amount of clean, renewable power it puts out. Interested in Home Solar Energy? Fill in your details below and certified solar contractors will give you FREE estimates. What type of Solar Energy services are you interested in? * Please Select Solar Electrical Solar Thermal First Name * Last Name * Zipcode *

The EIA states that just over 843,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity were provided by solar power. The vast majority of that, more than 666,500 kWh, were produced in California. Roughly 14 percent of the total renewable energy generated in the U.S. in 2008 was solar energy. And remember that these numbers continue to grow each year. The solar industry has been growing on an average of 30-40 percent each year, and as the industry grows, so will the amount of clean, renewable power it puts out.

Electric generators are essentially coils of electric conductors, usually copper wire, that are tightly wound onto a metal core and are mounted to spin around inside an array of large magnets