Traditional vs Renewable vs Green Energy

 

Traditional energy is energy that is generated by the traditional method of burning some type of fuel. Ever since the steam engine, energy has been created by burning coal or gasoline to heat water. That water then generates steam, and that steam turns a turbine. The turbine then moves a magnetic field which creates electricity.

 

Coal burning plants and gasoline engines are the primary methods of energy generation in most countries. Although these sources generate plenty of energy, they can also introduce harmful polluntants into the air. These polluntants are beleived to have negative effects on the enviroment. Inorder to combat these effects, many countries have started to produce pollutant free energy called clean energy or green energy. This clean energy is produced by using non-burning methods to generate electricity, thus minimizing pollutants. An example is wind energy, which uses the natural energy of wind to rotate the wind turbines which rotate the generator. Another example is solar energy, which uses natural sunlight to heat up the steam needed to rotate the turbines. In both cases, pollutants are minimized compared to traditional methods. However, clean energy is often much more expensive to generate and less efficient than traditional methods. This has hindered its integration into societies.

 

Another problem with energy resources like coal is that it depletes quickly and regenerates slowly. When humans run out of coal, they will no longer be able to generate the needed electricity. So this has lead to development of renewable energy sources, which are sources that regenerate quickly compared to a human timescale. For example, burning plants that regrow every year is renewable compared to coal which takes thousands of years to form. Conveniently, renewable energy sources are usually clean sources as well. For example, wind energy is both a clean and renewable energy source since wind regenerates every day. Likewise with solar energy. Again, renewable energy sources are less used than traditional sources because of the expenses associated with them.