Green Energy - Solar Energy

Any form of energy which does not involve any significant negative impact on the environment can be termed as Green Energy. In other words the energy which can be generated and/or consumed without any negative effect on the ecological balance is called the green energy.

The electrical energy or the electricity produced from solar energy, geothermal energy, biomass, wind, and water sources (hydroelectricity) is known as Green Power.

The technology of deriving energy from sun, wind and biomass comes under the second generation technologies and among all the solar energy technology is becoming the first choice in India.

Solar energy technology can be subdivided in to two categories:

• Active Solar Technology and
• Passive Solar Technology

  

  Active Solar Technology 
  courtesy:freedigitalphoto

  
  

Active Solar Technology is used to convert the solar energy in to heat or electricity by using mechanical, electrical or electronic equipment while the Passive Solar Technology does not involve use of the electrical or mechanical equipment. 

Passive solar building design(source: wikipedia)

Passive solar technology makes use of the inherent thermodynamic properties of the system or materials and does not require external energy sources to operate. If a building is designed using passive solar technique its windows, walls, and floors are designed to collect, store, and provide the solar energy in winters and reject the same in summers.

Types of Green Energy

The green energy is nothing but the renewable energy and its resources such as solar and wind energy are the valuable gifts of the nature to the mankind which are pollution free and constantly replenished and will never get exhausted.

Sun is the greatest source of the most of the types of renewable energy either directly or indirectly.

The main types of the renewable energy are :

• Solar Energy                                                             
• Wind Energy
• Hydroelectric Energy
• Bio Energy
• Geo Thermal Energy (Earth's Internal Heat)

The International Energy Agency has estimated that the solar power could provide "a third of the global final energy demand after 2060, while CO2 emissions would be reduced to very low levels."

Hydrogen gas which is present in many organic compounds and water as well can also be used as a source of energy. Though it doesn't occur freely and naturally as a gas and always found in the combined state. Hydrogen, when separated from its combined state can be burned as fuel or converted to electricity.

The world's first fuel-cell boat HYDRA used an AFC system with net output of 6.5 kW . Iceland wants to convert its huge fishing fleet to use fuel cells to provide auxiliary power by 2015 and to provide primary power in all its boats. Amsterdam recently introduced its first fuel-cell-powered boat that ferries people around the city's famous and beautiful canals.

Energy Needs of The World

As we know that the development is an eternal process which has its own demands and one of which is the consumption of energy. Because of growing needs of the mankind the demand and the consumption of energy is also increasing thereby exhausting the conventional  resources of energy day by day.  

By 2030, the total energy demand both commercial and residential is expected to rise by about 25 percent. This rise is mainly contributed by the developing nations like India and China, where economy is expanding and a large number of people are migrating away from rural areas to the urban areas or relatively more developed cities. 

The question is that whether the resources on our earth are sufficient and eco friendly. Today, the energy sector accounts for almost 2/3rd of all the greenhouse gas emissions. The growing energy needs will certainly have irreversible impacts on the climate of earth if we do not start using the clean and green energy sources which are free from carbon di oxide gas.

Due to the increased consumption of electricity because of the industrial development it has become a great challenge to meet the heightened demand of electricity simultaneously maintaining the green house emissions at it's lowest level. The  electricity production is highly dependent on the use of the fossil fuels and is the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions.

Reducing the use of carbon in the production of electricity will result in around 41% reductions of emissions which is much more than the transport and industrial sectors. It lays the foundation of the importance of producing  electricity by largely using  the CO₂-free energy resources like renewable energy and nuclear power.