TYPES
RENEWABLE ENERGY TYPES
LET’S TAKE A DEEPER LOOK AT THE DIFFERENT WAYS OF GENERATING ENERGY. By: Chireez Fredericks
By supporting renewable energy and energy efficiency measures, The South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) suggests that South Africa will foster a greener economy. We learn more about the types that are currently being explored in the country. Go solar Solar energy is one of the most commonly used renewable energies as it is derived by capturing radiant energy from sunlight. This sunlight is then converted into heat, electricity, or hot water! Solar energy could render fossil fuels obsolete as one of the benefits of solar energy is that sunlight is functionally endless. According to Thomas Hugo, a sustainability engineer & energy modeller from Ecolution Consulting, although solar energy will save us money in the long run, there tends to be a significant upfront cost and it is an unrealistic expense for most households. For personal homes, homeowners also need to have ample sunlight and sufficient space to arrange their solar panels, and this in turn limits who can realistically adopt this technology at an individual level. Winding up Wind farms capture the energy of wind flow by using turbines and converting it into electricity. Investment in wind energy technology can also open new avenues for jobs and job training, as the turbines on farms need to be serviced and maintained to keep running. However, according to The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), wind energy often needs to be transported via transition lines which are very costly as wind farms tend to be built in rural or remote
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Science Stars Energy Issue | www.sciencestars.co.za
areas, far from the cities where the electricity is needed most. Although wind turbines produce very little pollution, they may threaten local wildlife like birds, which are sometimes killed when striking the arms of the turbine while flying. Hydro hero Dams are what people most associate hydroelectric power with. Water flows through the dam’s turbines to produce electricity known as “pumped-storage hydropower”. Although hydroelectric power does not pollute the air, it disrupts waterways and negatively affects the animals that live in them, changing water levels, currents and migration paths for many fish and other freshwater ecosystems. Heating up Geothermal heat is heat that is trapped beneath the earth’s crust from the formation of the earth 4.5 billion years ago, and its radioactive decay. We can produce geothermal energy by capturing this heat and making use of the steam that comes off the heated water that pumps below the surface, which then rises to the top of the earth surface and can be used to operate a turbine. Geothermal energy is not as common as other types of renewable energy sources, but it has a significant potential for energy supply. Cost plays a major role when it comes to the disadvantages of geothermal energy. Not only is it costly to build the infrastructure, another major concern is its vulnerability to earthquakes in certain regions of the world. Wave wonders Dr James Joubert, sustainability engineer & energy modeller at Ecolution Consulting, states that wave energy is, in essence,
