Renewable energies are considered the future of energy and, in fact, they are already very present today. Every day it is more urgent to invest in green, ecological or environmentally friendly energies that allow us to reduce the impact of climate change, which we have accelerated through our activities, among which the extraction and use of non-renewable energies stand out.
For this reason, and to generate greater awareness about the need to invest in sustainability, in this article by EcologíaVerde, carried out in collaboration with Tech, we tell you everything about renewable energies, their advantages and disadvantages . Tech is a digital university that offers us a variety of courses, masters, postgraduate degrees and specializations, including the University Courses in Renewable Energies . If you are interested in training in this interesting topic of renewable energies, do not hesitate to learn about these courses and continue reading this summary.
What are renewable energies?
Energy is classified into two large groups: renewable energy and non-renewable energy. The former, renewable energy , is sometimes also called clean energy, that is, energy that originates from clean, inexhaustible resources that are generated naturally, such as hydraulic, solar or wind energy , and that, generally, can pollute less during the process than energy obtained from non-renewable resources.
While the latter, non-renewable energies , are conventional energies and although they also come from nature, they come from limited natural resources and their extraction is increasingly complicated, such as fossil fuels (oil, coal or gas) or nuclear fuels.
In summary, we can say that renewable energies are those obtained from the use of inexhaustible natural resources, such as the sun, wind or water. If you want to expand this information, we recommend reading these other articles about What are renewable energies and examples and about the Differences between renewable and non-renewable energies with examples .
Advantages of renewable energy
Now that you know what renewable energies are, it’s time to talk about the advantages of using them.
They respect the environment more
The main benefit of investing in renewable energies is, without a doubt, that most of them do not produce emissions of CO2 or other harmful gases, that is, gases that produce a greater greenhouse effect or polluting emissions for the atmosphere, as occurs with fossil fuels. Thanks to renewable energies, the environment is better protected, because they are more sustainable and reduce pollution that can have consequences both for our environment and for our own health.
They are unlimited energies
If there is one thing that characterizes renewable energies, it is precisely because they are renewable and unlimited, that is, in principle, they do not run out . We can always use them to continue producing energy without fear of running out of natural resources, as happens with fossil fuels, for example.
They are safer
Renewable energies, in addition to being environmentally friendly, are generally also much safer, since they do not generate waste during their operation and do not produce polluting emissions that are harmful to health.
They facilitate autonomy
We are talking about economic independence and even self-consumption. With renewable energies, external dependence is reduced because production from the natural resources of the area can boost the economy of each region . In this way, not only are the country’s resources used, but it is also possible to develop our own technologies and even be able to produce energy from our own homes, for example, through the installation of solar panels.
They create jobs
Renewable energy can create many more jobs than conventional energy. Taking into account the projection of demand and the implementation of this type of energy that should occur in the medium term, it is estimated that these energies can create up to five times more jobs than non-renewable energy.
Disadvantages of renewable energy
There is no doubt that renewable energy has more advantages than disadvantages, however, there are some drawbacks to consider.
Some of them do pollute
As is well known, there is nothing that does not pollute at all, since everything has a result when it is created, used or destroyed, which leads to the production of gases or other elements. Therefore, it is true that renewable energies also cause pollution; specifically, and as an example, we can say that the construction of the facilities to produce these energies from renewable natural resources pollutes. However, this is a much lower pollution than that produced in general by non-renewable energies.
Energy supply is irregular
Since obtaining renewable energy depends 100% on inexhaustible or renewable natural elements, when optimal conditions are not met, energy production stops . Everything depends on atmospheric phenomena and these are not controllable. For example, in the case of wind energy, wind is needed to produce energy or, in the case of solar energy, a fairly sunny area is needed, which cannot always be the case. In this sense, there are energy storage methods that try to store large amounts of energy to supply the network when environmental conditions are not the most suitable.
Resources are not equal depending on the geographical area
One of the major problems with renewable energy is that not all regions have equal natural resources , so not everyone has access to the same amount or type of energy. This is a developing field with a long way to go that will require adaptations to allow everyone to have access to it.
They require investment and space
Renewable energies face great challenges, such as the installation of solar panels or energy storage and the trend towards sustainable habits, such as the use of electric cars. Raising environmental awareness is essential to be able to invest in this type of energy, but it also requires a significant investment that not all users, a priori, can afford. Although this type of energy is profitable in the long term, at the beginning it requires a significant financial outlay, in addition to needing a large space that can negatively affect the visual impact.
You have already learned more about the advantages and disadvantages of renewable energies, we encourage you to read this other article on the Importance of renewable energies .
