Development and deployment of alternative energy forms have become foremost concerns over the past few years. While various forms of green energy have been around for decades, most nations worldwide committed to lowering carbon emissions after signing the 2016 Paris climate agreement.
More recent warnings have been issued by the UN Intergovernmental Climate Change Panel regarding the catastrophic climate impact if the global temperature increase isn’t limited to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius. Consequently, people and businesses worldwide are looking for ways to change how energy is sourced. But what are these different types of alternative energy?
With so much talk about clean, green, sustainable, and renewable energy, the terms are used interchangeably by climate activists, news channels, and even companies. But did you know that all the terms don’t really share the same meaning? While the names are linked closely, experts at the innovative energy solution provider, CNPS, want you to understand the minor differences that set them apart.
How Green Energy Offers a Multitude of Environmental Benefits
As a subset of renewable energy, green energy represents generation sources with minimal environmental footprint. These include heat, wind, water, and sunlight, along with specific forms of biomass and low-impact hydroelectric sources. All emit relatively small amounts of pollution in the form of chemical contaminants, radiation, and greenhouse gases.
Besides reversing climate change, it doesn’t threaten animal or plant species with habitat loss, extinction, or population reduction. Moreover, most green energy sources are also less expensive than their fossil fuel counterparts. For example, wind and solar are now relatively cheaper than coal-powered grids in nearly 47% of regions worldwide. In addition, green energy vastly improves the quality of air and water while also conserving many precious natural resources.
What You Need to Know About the Unlimited Power Source: Renewable Energy
Electricity produced from natural sources that don’t run out or replenish quickly is considered renewable. But renewable energy is theoretically exhaustible. However, since minimal resources are used, it’s a viable energy source over the long term.
While most people think of wind and solar only when the term renewable energy is mentioned, it also comprises many other forms of generation, including geothermal, hydro, and biomass. Wood chips, logs, sugarcane, corn, and other things are renewable because regrowth can replace them when burned for fuel. But increased deforestation to tackle widespread wood burning can make wood fuel sustainable in the near future.
Although renewable solutions use natural resources, they still impact the environment. For example, large-scale hydropower plants have a significant environmental impact due to their effects on marine life, land, and deforestation. Despite the challenges, hydropower utilizes a renewable source to create energy without carbon emissions, which makes it far better for the environment than traditional fossil fuels.
Clean Energy—Zero Emissions? Yes. Renewable? Not Always.
Clean energy refers to electricity that doesn’t create any greenhouse gases during production. However, it doesn’t necessarily make it renewable. Negligible pollution emissions in the form of radiation, carbon dioxide, and chemical contaminants mean clean energy should cause minimal to no impact on the environment.
Nuclear energy and many forms of bio-gas are regarded as clean energy, even though all aren’t always entirely renewable. While the energy from burning fossil fuels isn’t clean, wind turbines can also cause problems for birds, so they still have some negative impacts on the environment. But the benefits outweigh the negatives when it comes to clean energy sources. And in cases such as landfill gas capture and biofuel, clean energy can solve multiple problems simultaneously.
Why Switch to Sustainable Energy Solutions
Crude oil or petroleum takes millions of years to form with the dramatic pressure and heat beneath the earth’s surface compacts ancient organic matter into carbon-rich liquid, sustainable sources. Natural gas and coal formations are pretty much the same. The planet doesn’t continually produce more coal, petroleum, or natural gas, so once all of it has been extracted from beneath the earth’s surface, it’ll be gone.
Sustainable energy simply means energy that automatically renews itself. It’s a viable energy source that can benefit generations. Humans can’t deplete stores of wind or solar energy as the planet’s rotation will keep generating wind, and the sun will keep producing light for as long as it exists.
Currently, wind farms and solar parks generate sustainable energy around the world. Geothermal and tidal energy is also sustainable since the interaction of the earth and moon will always produce tides. The earth’s mantle will also always give off heat that can be accessed in regions of tectonic and volcanic activity.
Presently, China’s total geothermal power generation is an astounding 27 megawatts. As the transition towards geothermal energy crystallizes in many regions of China and the rest of the world, we’re on the precipice of a clean energy transformation.
As the Chinese government emphasizes the importance of developing and leveraging sustainable energy, many companies and corporations have followed suit. Understanding the impact of unsustainable and rapidly depleting fossil fuels, many oil and gas companies are switching to renewable energy solutions.
CNPS is helping individuals and companies streamline innovative energy solutions that have a positive environmental impact. By using cleaner forms of energy, reducing consumption, and rethinking the way scarce resources are used and extracted, we can create a truly sustainable future.
Get in touch to learn why our sustainable energy solutions are trusted by companies across the globe. We’re a leading energy solutions company that offers high-quality renewable energy solutions, including geothermal solutions and non-metallic solutions.
These include fiberglass pipe systems, composite pipes, fiberglass tanks, and oilfield service equipment. We also offer OCTG pipe and EOR technology solutions, among other oil and gas equipment and services.
Give us a call to discuss everything about tailored renewable energy solutions that will help you gain an edge while playing your part in protecting the environment.
