Green Renewable energy uses natural resources such as sunlight, wind, tides and geothermal heat, which are naturally replenished.
Solar Thermal – Solar Water Heating Collectors
Solar energy can be captured by solar panels. These panels absorb the energy from the sun and transfer it to heat water. Solar Power Solar water heating systems are the most popular form of solar energy used in the UK. The system is connected to the hot water system. Solar water heating systems can provide over half of a household’s hot water requirements over the year. There are 2 types of solar water heating collector: flat plate and evacuated tubes.
Solar Electricity – Photovoltaic (PV) Panels
Solar energy can be captured by solar panels. Photovoltaic (PV) or solar electric panels transform the solar radiation directly into electricity. PV or solar electric offer the ability to generate electricity in a clean, quiet and renewable way. The variety of applications for solar electric are numerous. Photovoltaic (PV) cells are used in simple applications e.g. calculators and watches and also for domestic and larger applications. Large PV systems can be integrated into buildings to generate electricity for export to the national grid.
Biomass – Wood fuel/pellets burning stoves/boilers
In order not to increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere it is important that the wood burned as a fuel comes from sustainable sources. This means that as trees are felled to be use as a fuel, more trees should be planted. That way, the carbon released during the combustion of the wood is reabsorbed by the new trees growing and the process is carbon neutral. Wood can be used as logs, wood chip and wood pellets in wood/pellet burning stoves or wood chip/pellet boilers for space and water heating.
Heat from the Sun – Ground Source Heat Pumps
When the sun shines on the ground its heat energy is absorbed. Ground source heat pumps extract this energy, to use for space heating. So strictly speaking, the energy source that is used for ground source heat pumps is the sun and not the heat from the earth.
Wind Power – Wind Turbines
The power of wind has been used for many years to produce mechanical power for milling grain and pumping water. In recent times wind turbine technology harness wind to generate electricity. The electricity is then exported either to the grid for use locally or to power a stand alone application. This renewable source of energy has great potential in both onshore and offshore wind farms. Wind power is one of the cleanest and safest of all the renewable commercial methods of generating electricity.
Hydropower – Water Wheels
The energy potential of moving water has been harnessed for thousands of years, originally using water wheels to drive mills and machinery. Hydropower currently produces 2% of the UK electricity needs. Whilst most of this comes from large dam projects installed many years ago, there is still an untapped small hydropower potential in certain parts of the UK.
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