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During the first half of 2008, the United States, for the first time, generated more wind energy electricity than Germany, despite the fact that the smaller European country still has more turbines than we do. Germany has enough turbines to collect about 22,000 to 23,000 megawatts of power, while the United States has a capacity of about 18,000 megawatts,

hen a modern day person hears the term “solar energy” they often think about solar panels that are mounted on roofs in sunny neighborhoods. Find out how to slash your electric bill by 75% with little out of pocket expense. Although this is a part of solar energy, there is much more to it.

with $25 million set aside for low-income customers. An additional $100.8 million will be used to swap out water heaters powered by electricity.

NATIONALHawaii sets 'breakthrough' framework for new solar power

A wind turbine gathers energy from the wind through the mechanical rotation of its blades. This is mechanically generated energy from kinetic energy that is then turned into electrical energy.

Then we’ll present diagrams and discuss photovoltaic solar, solar hot water, and concentrated solar power. The easiest way to think about these is: am I using solar energy to heat water (solar hot water and CSP) or am I converting sunlight directly into electricity (photovoltaic cells)? Solar Energy Diagram #1 – Insolation

Wind Energy The answer is blowin’ in the wind How is man going to keep up with increasing energy demand while the amount of available fossil fuel diminishes? The answer could be wind power, the capturing of the energy contained in gusts of wind. What is wind Energy?

Man has been using wind energy for thousands of years. Windmills, sails and even kites are all devices designed to harness the awesome power produced when the wind blows. Even modern aircraft benefit from wind power. Pilots flying westward usually expend much effort trying to make sure they place themselves in the jet stream, the hundred mile per hour wind caused by the earth spinning. Now engineers are able to convert such power into electricity, pump it into grids and provide energy for homes.

The BLM manages 20.6 million acres of public lands with wind potential. The BLM has authorized 39 wind energy development projects, including connected-action projects that include electric transmission support authorizations, with a total approved capacity of 5,557 megawatts, enough to supply the power needs of over 1.5 million homes. 

For more than a decade, wind energy has been the fastest growing energy technology worldwide, achieving an annual growth rate of over 30%. In the United States, the current total installed capacity is over 60,000 megawatts of wind projects.

owa ranks 2nd in the nation for wind energy production as there are almost 2,900 utility scale wind turbines in Iowa.  This creates enough electricity to power 1,000,000 homes. Minnesota is fourth in the nation for wind energy production and Wisconsin is 19th.

Advantages of Tidal Energy1)  It is an inexhaustible source of energy. 2)  Tidal energy is environment friendly energy and doesn't produce greenhouse gases. 3)  As 71% of Earth’s surface is covered by water, there is scope to generate this energy on large scale. 4)  We can predict the rise and fall of tides as they follow cyclic fashion. 5) Efficiency of tidal power is far greater as compared to coal, solar or wind energy. Its efficiency is around 80%. 6)  Although cost of construction of tidal power is high but maintenance costs are relatively low. 7)  Tidal Energy doesn’t require any kind of fuel to run. 8)  The life of tidal energy power plant is very long. 9)  The energy density of tidal energy is relatively higher than other renewable energy sources.

Disadvantages of Tidal Energy 1)  Cost of construction of tidal power plant is high. 2)  There are very few ideal locations for construction of plant and they too are localized to coastal regions only. 3)  Intensity of sea waves is unpredictable and there can be damage to power generation units. 4)  Influences aquatic life adversely and can disrupt migration of fish. 5)  The actual generation is for a short period of time. The tides only happen twice a day so electricity can be produced only for that time. 6)  Frozen sea, low or weak tides, straight shorelines, low tidal rise or fall are some of the obstructions. 7)  This technology is still not cost effective and more technological advancements are required to make it commercially viable. 8)  Usually the places where tidal energy is produced are far away from the places where it is consumed. This transmission is expensive and difficult. Tidal Energy is thus a clean source of energy and doesn’t require much land or other resources as in harnessing energy from other sources. However, the energy generated is not much as high and low tides occur only twice a day and continuous energy production is not possible.

A 5,000-watt solar electric array on a roof that is 80% of an ideal site in terms of output, will generate about 4,800 kWh per year. Therefore, this solar energy will prevent 5,760 pounds of CO2 pollution from going into the atmosphere, every year.

If solar panels are manufactured using electricity from coal-burning plants, they indirectly emit greenhouse gas emissions. That makes them less clean than a panel that’s manufactured using renewable energy.

hexafluoride

The amount with in the earth’s surface contains 50,000 times more energy than all the oil and natural gas resources in the world.

To get that heat, water is pumped down an “injection well”. Then it filters through the cracks in the rocks where they are at a high temperature. The water then returns via the “recovery well” under pressure in the form of steam. That steam is captured and is used to drive electric generators.