Green Energy Revolution For Green Future
There are many resources on our planet Earth to produce energy. Some of these resources are used only for a single time, deposited in limited quantity, and are also harmful to the environment, on the other hand, some resources are used repeatedly without endangering the future and eco friendly. Let’s discuss the Energy. It is one of the most essential components of social and economic infrastructure. For the economy of a country, the demand for energy in all sectors is increasing day by day. It has very much important for the existence of mankind.
Traditional energy, otherwise known as ‘dirty energy’, is the energy that source comes from fossil fuels. There are three main fossil fuels that provide the vast amount of electricity in the world: coal, oil, and natural gas. These traditional sources of electricity are more abundant today because renewable resources have had higher costs throughout history.
Conventional Sources of Energy
When a source of Energy cannot be reused after using it once, we call them a conventional Source of Energy. The conventional Sources of Energy are fixed and harmful to the environment. It can be further categorized into two divisions, such as
1. Commercial sources of Energy ( such as coal, petroleum, nuclear energy, natural gas, etc.)
2. Non-commercial sources of Energy ( such as firewood, straw, dried dung, etc.)
Nonconventional sources of Energy:
These types of resources get renewed or replenished fast for that reason, it is also known as renewable energy or clean energy. Example: solar energy, wind energy, hydro energy, tidal energy, etc. Now we discuss the importance of the sources of Conventional Energy.
They are the main reason for the pollution. Because it is released carbon monoxide from polluters into the atmosphere. According to The International Energy Agency, only in 2018, did India emit 2,299 million tonnes of carbon monoxide. This report also said that India’s per capita emissions were about 40% of the global average and contributed 7% to the global carbon dioxide burden. Generating radioactive waste. We all know about the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster which happened in 2011. Recently Japanese government has decided to release radioactively contaminated water into the ocean. But the environmentalists warn that it should be harmful to ocean life. High startup cost. According to the government estimate, the cost may be about 50 to 70 crores INR for setting up a 10 MW thermal power unit. Whereas to set up a nuclear power plant, it is required ₹60,000 crores.
What is Green Energy?
Green energy is any energy type that is generated from natural resources, such as sunlight, wind or water. It often comes from renewable energy sources although there are some differences between renewable and green energy, which we will explore, below. The key to these energy resources is that they don’t harm the environment through factors such as releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. As a source of energy, green energy often comes from renewable energy technologies such as solar energy, wind power, geothermal energy, biomass and hydroelectric power. Each of these technologies works in different ways, whether that is by taking power from the sun, as with solar panels, or using wind turbines or the flow of water to generate energy.
In order to be deemed green energy, a resource cannot produce pollution, such as is found with fossil fuels. This means that not all sources used by the renewable energy industry are green. For example, power generation that burns organic material from sustainable forests may be renewable, but it is not necessarily green, due to the CO2 produced by the burning process itself. Green energy sources are usually naturally replenished, as opposed to fossil fuel sources like natural gas or coal, which can take millions of years to develop. Green sources also often avoid mining or drilling operations that can be damaging to ecosystems.
The six most common forms are as follows:
1. Solar Power
This common renewable, green energy source is usually produced using photovoltaic cells that capture sunlight and turn it into electricity. Solar power is also used to heat buildings and for hot water as well as for cooking and lighting. Solar power has now become affordable enough to be used for domestic purposes including garden lighting, although it is also used on a larger scale to power entire neighbourhoods.
2. Wind Power
Particularly suited to offshore and higher altitude sites, wind energy uses the power of the flow of air around the world to push turbines that then generate electricity.
3. Hydropower
Also known as hydroelectric power, this type of green energy uses the flow of water in rivers, streams, dams or elsewhere to produce energy. Hydropower can even work on a small scale using the flow of water through pipes in the home or can come from evaporation, rainfall or the tides in the oceans. Exactly how ‘green’ the following three types of green energy are is dependent on how they are created.
4. Geothermal Energy
This type of green power uses thermal energy that has been stored just under the earth’s crust. While this resource requires drilling to access, thereby calling the environmental impact into question, it is a huge resource once tapped into. Geothermal energy has been used for bathing in hot springs for thousands of years and this same resource can be used for steam to turn turbines and generate electricity. The energy stored in the United States alone is enough to produce 10 times as much electricity as coal currently can. While some nations, such as Iceland, have easy-to-access geothermal resources, it is a resource that is reliant on location for ease of use, and to be fully ‘green’ the drilling procedures need to be closely monitored.
5. Biomass
This renewable resource also needs to be carefully managed in order to be truly labelled as a ‘green energy’ source. Biomass power plants use wood waste, sawdust and combustible organic agricultural waste to create energy. While the burning of these materials releases greenhouse gas these emissions are still far lower than those from petroleum-based fuels.
6. Biofuels
Rather than burning biomass as mentioned above, these organic materials can be transformed into fuel such as ethanol and biodiesel. Having supplied just 2.7% of the world’s fuel for transport in 2010, the biofuels are estimated to have the capacity to meet over 25% of global transportation fuel demand by 2050.
Can It Be Economically Viable?
Understanding the economic viability of green energy requires a comparison with fossil fuels. The fact is that as easily-reached fossil resources begin to run out, the cost of this type of energy will only increase with scarcity. At the same time as fossil fuels become more expensive, the cost of greener energy sources is falling. Other factors also work in favour of green energy, such as the ability to produce relatively inexpensive localised energy solutions, such as solar farms. The interest, investment and development of green energy solutions is bringing costs down as we continue to build up our knowledge and are able to build on past breakthroughs. As a result, green energy can not only become economically viable but also the preferred option.
Green energy provides real benefits for the environment since the power comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind and water. Constantly replenished, these energy sources are the direct opposite of the unsustainable, carbon-emitting fossil fuels that have powered us for over a century. Creating energy with a zero-carbon footprint is a great stride to a more environmentally friendly future. If we can use it to meet our power, industrial and transportation needs, we will be able to greatly reduce our impact on the environment.
Future of Green Energy
Renewables are set to account for almost 95% of the increase in global power capacity through 2026, with solar PV alone providing more than half. The amount of renewable capacity added over the period of 2021 to 2026 is expected to be 50% higher than from 2015 to 2020. Renewable energy resources make up 26% of the world’s electricity today, but according to the IEA its share is expected to reach 30% by 2024. The resurgence follows a global slowdown in 2019, due to falling technology costs and rising environmental concerns.
Renewable energy in the future is predicted that by 2024, solar capacity in the world will grow by 600 gigawatts (GW), almost double the installed total electricity capacity of Japan. Overall, renewable electricity is predicted to grow by 1 200 GW by 2024, the equivalent of the total electricity capacity of the US. Industry experts predict that the US will double its solar installations to four million by 2023. In 2018, the UK had over one million solar panel installations, up by 2% from the previous year and Australia reached two million solar installations in the same year. A big reason for this increased uptake is the fall in prices to install the panels.
As a signatory of the Paris Agreement [28], Pakistan is also committed to increase the share of electricity generation from renewables. According to the RE policy released in 2019 [29], Pakistan is planning to increase the share of new RE technologies to 25% and 30% by 2025 and 2030, respectively.
