Renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

is generally defined as energy that comes from

resources ''Resource'' refers to all the materials available in our environment which are Technology, technologically accessible, Economics, economically feasible and Culture, culturally Sustainability, sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and want ...

which are naturally replenished on a human timescale, such as

sunlight Sunlight is the portion of the electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by the Sun (i.e. solar radiation) and received by the Earth, in particular the visible spectrum, visible light perceptible to the human eye as well as invisible infrare ...

wind Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heatin ...

rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...

tides Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

waves United States Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve), better known as the WAVES (for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), was the women's branch of the United States Naval Reserve during World War II. It was established on July 21, 1942, ...

, and geothermal heat.Omar Ellabban, Haitham Abu-Rub, Frede Blaabjerg, ''Renewable energy resources: Current status, future prospects and their enabling technology''.

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews ''Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research on sustainable energy. It is published in 12 issues per year by Elsevier and the editor-in-chief is Aoife M. Foley (Queen's University Belfast). Ac ...

39, (2014), 748–764, p 749, . Renewable energy replaces conventional fuels in four distinct areas:

electricity generation Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For electric utility, utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its Electricity delivery, delivery (Electric power transm ...

, air and water heating/cooling,

motor fuel A motor fuel is a fuel that is used to provide power to the engine of motor vehicles — typically a heat engine that produces thermal energy via oxidative combustion of liquid or gaseous fuel and then converts the heat into mechanical energy ...

s, and rural (off-grid) energy services.REN21 (2010)
Renewables 2010 Global Status Report
p. 15. Based on REN21's 2014 report, renewables contributed 19 percent to our

global energy consumption World energy supply and consumption refers to the global supply of World energy resources, energy resources and its Energy consumption, consumption. The system of global energy supply consists of the energy development, Refineries, refinement, a ...

and 22 percent to our electricity generation in 2012 and 2013, respectively. These are lists about renewable energy: * Index of solar energy articles *

List of books about renewable energy This is a bibliography of renewable energy. Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable (naturally replenished). About 16% of global final energy co ...

* List of concentrating solar thermal power companies *

List of countries by electricity production from renewable sources A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, bu ...

List of energy storage projects This is a list of energy storage power plants worldwide, other than pumped hydro storage. Many individual energy storage plants augment electrical grids by capturing excess electrical energy during periods of low demand and storing it in other ...

* Lists of environmental topics * List of geothermal power stations * List of hydroelectric power stations *

List of largest hydroelectric power stations This article provides a list of the largest hydroelectric power stations by generating capacity. Only plants with capacity larger than 3,000 MW are listed. The Three Gorges Dam in Hubei, China, has the world's largest instantaneous generating cap ...

List of offshore wind farms This article lists the largest offshore wind farms that are currently operational rated by nameplate capacity. It also lists the largest offshore wind farms currently under construction, the largest proposed offshore wind farms, and offshore ...

* Lists of offshore wind farms by country * Lists of offshore wind farms by water area *

List of onshore wind farms This is a list of the largest onshore wind farms that are currently operational, rated by generating Nameplate capacity, capacity. Also listed are onshore wind farms with notability other than size, and largest proposed projects. Largest oper ...

List of onshore wind farms in the United Kingdom This is a list of some onshore wind farms (more than one turbine) in the UK. This information is gathered from multiple Internet sources, primarily the UK Wind Energy Database from RenewableUK (formerly BWEA) and The Wind Power's database. The ...

* List of people associated with renewable energy * List of photovoltaics companies *

List of photovoltaic power stations The following is a list of photovoltaic power stations that are larger than 500 megawatts (MW) in current net capacity.Note that nominal power may be AC or DC, depending on the plant, and therefore any totals quoted are hybrid. SeAC-DC conundru ...

List of pioneering solar buildings The following buildings are of significance in pioneering the use of solar powered building design: * MIT Solar House #1, Massachusetts, United States ( Hoyt C. Hottel & others, 1939) * Howard Sloan House, Glenview, Illinois, United States ( G ...

* List of renewable energy organizations * List of renewable energy topics by country * List of rooftop photovoltaic installations * List of solar car teams * List of solar powered products *

List of solar thermal power stations This is a list of the largest facilities generating electricity through the use of solar thermal power, specifically concentrated solar power. Operational Under construction Announced Cancelled Decommissioned * Eurelios ...

* List of U.S. states by electricity production from renewable sources *

Lists of wind farms by country Lists of wind farms include: *List of onshore wind farms *List of offshore wind farms __NOTOC__ Wind farms by country * List of wind farms in Australia * List of wind farms in Canada * List of wind farms in China * List of wind farms in Denma ...

* List of wind farms in Australia * List of wind farms in Canada * List of wind farms in Iran * List of wind farms in Romania * List of wind farms in Sweden * List of wind farms in the United States * List of wind turbine manufacturers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:renewable energy topics

See also

References