What is Green Energy?

What do you picture in your mind when someone mentions "green energy"? Miles and miles of windmills on rolling green hills or in a frozen wasteland in the Arctic or the solar panels occasionally seen on the roofs of houses? You may think of green energy as undeveloped and expensive to obtain and not a viable option to consider. The truth is green is not a new concept and does not have to cost a lot of money.

A renewable energy source that is safe for the environment and does not emit harmful emissions is considered green energy. These energy sources include more than just wind or solar energy; they also include hydroelectric and geothermal power. Let us look at these sources of energy and why they are considered green energy.

Solar energy may be the most well known up and coming green energy solution, but the technology is still in the development stage. While visions of a future where all buildings are wrapped in solar collecting material may not be too far away (in fact that technology does exist now) solar is still thought of as being inefficient, expensive and complicated to maintain. While that may have been the case some ten years ago, solar is rapidly growing out of its awkward adolescent years and developing into a hugely viable green energy option.

Wind power has been here for a long time. To most people energy is electric. Energy is the force that helps make electric or provides another service we need. In the past windmills were used for other tasks other than producing electric such as pumping water. The wind turbines today are very effective in providing power and do not require a lot of maintenance to keep them working well. A perfect place for these wind turbines to work well is in the wind belt, such as in Texas where they have the biggest wind farm in the country. It features miles of windmills to provide clean energy for Texas residents.

Geothermal energy comes from below the ground where the temperature remains constant, for instance if we tap into an area underground where the temperature stays at sixty five degrees and pipe this air into homes and buildings we would have climate control without the use of traditional energy sources. Many places have volcanoes underneath the ground that build up steam. This type of geothermal energy could be used globally.

Hydroelectric energy can also be considered green, but only is some situations. Small-scale hydroelectric stations do not require significant changes to the landscape and ecological balances around the water source so they are considered green. Larger outfits however require the flooding of massive amounts of area to provide a large enough reservoir to provide sufficient water volume so they leave a lasting and detrimental impact on the earth, making them not green.

There are other types of green energy as well, but none of those technologies are developed to the point of being implemented. However, when connected to the conventional power grid, green sources of energy can supplement our reliance on other, dirtier energy sources, gradually helping us make less of an impact on the delicate balances of our planet.

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