This post will act as a place to learn about different kinds of renewable energy technologies.

1. Solar:

Gets the energy from the sun. The more surface area, and the more advanced the solar panel, the more energy produced. Completely renewable with no known impact other than the manufacturing of the solar panels.

2. Wind:

Gets the energy from the wind. Not always reliable, and can sometimes fail if not maintained properly (as seen recently with the Texas power outages), but in the right place they can produce a lot of energy with minimal maintenance, with somewhat steep manufacturing prices.

3. Hydro Electric:

Gets energy from large bodies of water or flowing water that is used to turn turbines. Dams such as the hoover dam are examples of hydroelectric power, and harness controlled amounts of water stored about to create massive amounts of energy, but the building costs and maintenance on dams are extensive and pricey. If a dam were to fail, it could end up causing massive uncontrollable flooding to downstream towns, often leading to large amounts of lives being lost.

4. Tidal Energy:

Similar to hydro electric energy in that the energy is gained through the movement of water, but rather from the rising and lowering of tides. The energy is small in comparison to dams and such, but the energy is reliable and consistent.

5. Geothermal:

Gets the energy from heat stored in the earth. Depending on location the amount of energy that geothermal energy produces varies wildly, but it can be a large contributor to saving/producing energy. The basic principle is that heat stored in the earth can be used to heat your house rather than a traditional heater, saving a lot of energy, and depending on the location, you can sometimes also build turbines that harness steam coming from geothermal energy hot pockets to produce electricity.

6. Biomass Energy:

Turning left over plant material into fuel is better for the environment when compared to oil fuel due to the emissions being better, and the methods of acquiring the fuel being much more sustainable. The costs economically, and environmentally from biomass energy is negligible in comparison to energy gained from the oil industry.

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