What is Renewable Energy?
Renewable is not necessarily equivalent to "green energy" or "alternative energy", although we often use the terms interchangeably. Green energy more appropriately refers to energy from renewable sources that leave smaller environmental footprints than does conventional large-scale generation (Example: large scale hydro power is renewable, but because of some of the other environmental impacts it can cause, it would not necessarily be considered green energy. Micro or run-of-river hydro projects, with less environmental impacts, would be considered green energy). Alternative energy tends to be confined to non-petroleum based energy sources and could be either renewable or non-renewable (e.g., nuclear, oil sands, coal, solar, and tidal). |
Renewable energy is a broad term that refers to sources of energy that are non-fossil-fuel based or carbon neutral. Unlike non-renewable energy sources which take millions of years to form (like fossil fuels or nuclear power), renewable resources must be replaceable within our lifetimes. Renewable sources of energy include wind, solar, ocean (tidal, wave, or offshore wind), biomass (using material from living things such as plant material, animal material or bacteria as energy - wood, ethanol, methanol, biogas (e.g. from landfills), biodiesel), earth energy (geothermal and ground-source), and hydro. It applies to all end-uses including electricity, heat and transportation.