An introduction to renewable energy for businesses
An introductory guide to the advantages and potential drawbacks of different types of renewable energy.
As more and more companies become aware of the threats posed by the climate crisis, opting for more sustainable operations and processes becomes crucial for protecting the future of our environment. One means to help reduce pollution is the use of renewable energy.
In this article, we explain what renewable energy is, the different types currently in use, the benefits of opting for renewable energy sources over traditional non-renewable energy, and the potential challenges businesses can face on the path to sustainability.
What is renewable energy?
Renewable energy is energy that can be reused or replenished, rather than expensed all at once. It’s a plentiful, non-exhaustive type of energy that we can derive in various forms from the natural environment.
This type of energy is often associated with discussions on climate change and global warming, as producing and using renewable energy is more environmentally friendly than burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas. These non-renewable energy sources pollute the environment with harmful greenhouse gas emissions, whereas renewable sources can address the climate crisis because they emit fewer greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere.
Types of renewable energy
Renewable resources can’t be depleted by anthropogenic use, and therefore provide reliable and long-term viability for sustainable development.
Solar energy
Solar energy is the most abundant energy resource, according to the United Nations (UN), capable of being harnessed in almost all weather conditions. Solar energy is captured around 10,000 times greater than the rate at which we consume it, making it an incredibly reliable source.
It’s captured using panels on top of buildings, house roofs, and in fields. It converts sunlight into electrical energy, delivering heat, cooking, lighting, and electric power. These panels can withstand approximately 30 years of consistent use before needing to be replaced, which isn’t too costly compared to other sources of renewable energy.
The UN claims that every country is capable of sourcing solar energy, though with mixed success depending on the hours of sunlight available in any given day.
Wind energy
Wind energy is gathered from large wind turbines, which can be built both onshore (located on land) and offshore in the sea or large freshwater areas such as lakes. Leveraged as a renewable energy source for over 7,000 years, this source of energy continues to inspire technological advances to maximize its capture.
Wind spinning the turbines allows kinetic energy to be captured and transformed into electricity. The UN reports that the majority of the world has huge potential to utilize wind energy, with offshore, remote areas often reaping the most benefits from higher wind speeds.
Though a very reliable and increasingly cost-effective source of energy, wind turbines can disrupt the landscape and harm or kill thousands of flying animals every year.
Hydropower
Currently the largest source of renewable energy, hydropower harnesses the energy from moving water like reservoirs, rivers, and — less commonly — oceans. Reservoirs can utilize energy from stored and flowing water, providing drinking water, water for irrigation, flood control, drought control, and navigation services.
Because it’s reliant on rainfall, hydropower can be negatively affected by droughts and other repercussions of climate change. Small-scale hydropower facilities are often perceived as more environmentally friendly, as larger infrastructures, like dams, can damage ecosystems.
Geothermal energy
Relied upon for more than a century, geothermal energy is found from the Earth’s interior, with the heat from reservoirs and wells extracted and converted into energy. This energy can be sourced from hydrothermal reservoirs and enhanced geothermal systems. Once extracted to the surface, various temperatures of liquids can be transferred into electricity.
Geothermal energy is a constant source of energy without the risk of inconsistency like solar and wind resources, which rely on the weather to function optimally.
Bioenergy
Bioenergy, or biomass, is generated from materials like wood, charcoal, manure and municipal solid waste, and biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. This type of energy is most often used and needed in poorer rural areas, for cooking, lighting, and heating.
Similar to burning fossil fuels, capturing bioenergy generates greenhouse gas emissions and is sometimes linked to deforestation, so is often discouraged or limited in its usage.
Benefits of renewable energy
Renewable energy carries a host of benefits, both for humans and the environment.
1. It won’t run out
Renewable energy is a non-exhaustive resource, with various reliable forms of energy capable of being extracted in all regions of the world. It leverages technology directly from the environment (the sun, wind, water, minerals, natural gases) and therefore can’t run out completely as fossil fuel resources can.
2. Less maintenance required
Compared to fuel generators and other facilities that rely on fossil fuels to operate, many renewable energy systems can function without much human intervention. Solar panels and wind turbines have few moving parts and don’t rely on dangerous fuel sources to continue to work. Less maintenance required equates to more time and money saved overall.
3. It saves money
Not only does less human intervention correspond with saving money on employees and saving time fixing faults, renewable energy sources can save governments even more money long-term on operational costs. Companies can make significant savings by using technology and natural processes in the environment rather than fuel to produce their energy.
Being able to generate local energy with solar, wind, and hydropower systems, for example, also saves countries money by reducing the need to import energy. Trade can reap geo-political conflicts, social instability, and unobtainable pricing wars.
4. It’s better for the environment
Arguably the most important benefit is that renewable energy is better for the environment than non-renewable energy. Unlike burning gases, renewable energy generates lower greenhouse gas emissions. These gases increase the planet’s overall temperature, harming the environment and the health of humans, animals, and plants.
Renewable energy, on the other hand, utilizes the natural resources we already have, resulting in a more positive impact on the planet and a smaller carbon footprint.
Drawbacks of renewable energy
As with all things, there are some potential drawbacks of renewable energy:
- Installing renewable energy systems, storages, and technologies can be more expensive initially
- Some renewable energy resources aren’t available for use all around the world due to unpredictable weather patterns, different landscapes, and governmental funding
- Despite reducing overall carbon emissions, renewable resources can’t be considered 100% ‘green’ or clean, mostly due to how the technologies are manufactured and transported at the beginning of their lifecycle
- Renewable energy requires strong supply chain connections to distribute the energy everywhere it’s needed. These networks usually use non-renewable energy, offsetting the benefits of renewable energy for a while
It’s important to note that, as our climate becomes increasingly under threat, these disadvantages don’t outweigh the potential for environmental protection from opting for renewable energy over non-renewable sources.
The future of energy
As the world becomes more and more knowledgeable of the consequences of non-renewable energy — from fossil fuel emissions, increasing temperatures leading to melting sea levels, unpredictable weather, increased natural disasters, biodiversity loss, and all the other risks of climate change — renewable energy is being brought into the spotlight.
More than just “going green”, renewable energy opens up various opportunities for improvement, creating jobs in this growing sector, expanding energy access in developing countries, lowering energy bills, and making electricity access more resilient and reliable. Wind and solar sources, in particular, have set new records for generating electricity.
While renewable energy does still have its own drawbacks, transitioning to renewable energy in personal, corporate, and governmental contexts ultimately saves money, time, the environment, and human health, promoting a more sustainable future. As the technologies for harnessing and using renewable energy continues to develop and improve, these benefits are due to only increase.
Do your part to protect the climate
Protecting the climate is a global responsibility. Corporate businesses and personal households alike must play their part to reduce waste and pollution.
Explore our resources to see how this can be achieved to promote a better and more sustainable future for everyone.
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