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With a key federal tax incentive about to expire, the U.S. installed a 5.5 gigawatts of wind power in December to cap off a year that saw a record 13.2 gigawatts of wind energy come online, according to a report released Friday by research firm Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The U.S. now boasts a total of 60 gigawatts of wind energy, accounting for 6% of the nation’s total generating capacity. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, wind power prices have dropped more than 21% since 2010. Falling prices and the looming expiration of the production tax credit, which pays a premium for wind energy, unleashed a wind farm building boom last year. “It’s clear that the economics, aided by the PTC, drove wind growth in 2012,” Amy Grace, a wind analyst with Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said in a statement. “Eleven gigawatts of capacity was built in states without any near-term state mandated demand.

The wind power boom has benefited consumers in regions where wind development is fastest, contributing to a 40 percent wholesale power-price plunge since 2008

U.S. wind installations have risen 10-fold since 2003 to 60,007 megawatts,

Sea waves have associated a form of renewable energy which can be captured by using a hydro mechanical device that in turn drives an electrical generator to produce electrical energy.

On a global scale, approximately 15,000 MW of new PV installations have been added during 2010, amounting the entire PV capacity to almost 40,000 MW.

Potential

Wave energy resources are best between 30º and 60º latitude in both hemispheres, and the potential tends to be the greatest on western coasts

While no commercial wave or tidal projects have yet been developed in the United States, several projects are planned for the near future, including projects in the Northwest

A quick search on TreeHugger shows that ' solar power ' most often occurs in connection with producing electricity and only secondarily in connection with solar water heaters

Compared to electrically heated Water , Solar Water Heating is 57% of the internal rate of return, the scientists found

Solar PV (photovoltaic) was first discovered in 1839 by French scientist Edmond Becquerel. Over the next 100 years, there were other discoveries and inventions, including several discoveries by Albert Einstein, who received a Nobel Prize for his theories on the photovoltaic effect in 1921.

Solar PV (photovoltaic) was first discovered in 1839 by French scientist Edmond Becquerel. Over the next 100 years, there were other discoveries and inventions, including several discoveries by Albert Einstein, who received a Nobel Prize for his theories on the photovoltaic effect in 1921.

For hundreds of years mankind has been making use of the energy and power generated by wind. Whether it has been to travel the world, manufacture products, or in the modern age to generate electricity, wind has provided the means. And while there have been dozens of different methods over the years, new technology is still being invented to make even further use of this ancient power source.

Windmills were one of the second most widespread uses of wind energy. The variety of uses that windmills were put to included grinding grain, as well as pumping water, up until the industrial revolution where the windmill was mostly replaced by the steam engine.

Wind energy is a pollution-free, infinitely sustainable form of energy. It doesn’t use fuel; it doesn’t produce greenhouse gasses and it doesn’t produce toxic or radioactive waste.

wave power is one of the most researched areas of renewable energy.

Wave power results from the transport of energy by ocean surface waves and its capture into systems that can be therefore used for useful applications

Some of these applications include electricity generation, the pumping of water, or water desalination.

When we look at what is available today in solar equipment it has come a long way  but still needs a long way to go.

Harnessing wave energy comes without the emission of harmful green house gases. This is the main motivation factor behind further development of this way of power generation.

Like with most green energy sources, wave power is also renewable. Since this energy source ultimately comes from the heat energy that is emitted from the sun, it will not disappear for some time – in fact, several billion years or as long time it takes for the sun to burn out.

The energy density is typically around 30-40 kW for every meter (2.2 feet) of wave along the shore. As we go further into the ocean 100kW for every meter is not uncommon.

The fuel cell will compete with many other energy­ conversion devices, including the gas turbine in your city's power plant, the gasoline engine in your car and the battery in your laptop. Combustion engines like the turbine and the gasoline engine burn fuels and use the pressure created by the expansion of the gases to do mechanical work. Batteries convert chemical energy back into electrical energy when needed. Fuel cells should do both tasks more efficiently.

This initiative, supported by legislation in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 2005) and the Advanced Energy Initiative of 2006, aims to develop hydrogen, fuel cell and infrastructure technologies to make fuel-cell vehicles practical and cost-effective by 2020

Why are governments, private businesses and academic institutions collaborating to develop and produce them? Fuel cells generate electrical power quietly and efficiently, without pollution. Unlike power

that use fossil fuels, the by-products from an operating fuel cell are heat and water

Hydrogen Hydrogen can be produced domestically through electrolysis (the process of splitting the hydrogen and oxygen particles apart in a water molecule). When used in automobiles, a hydrogen-powered car will emit only water vapor from its tailpipe. Hydrogen vehicles use fuel cells as their source of power, and currently this technology is too expensive for most consumers. If the costs of fuel cell technology and hydrogen production can decrease, hydrogen may become one of the most environmentally friendly and sustainable sources of energy available.