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Portal:Renewable energy

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Introduction

Renewable energy (or green energy) is energy from renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind power, and hydropower. Bioenergy and geothermal power are also significant in some countries. Some also consider nuclear power a renewable power source, although this is controversial. Renewable energy installations can be large or small and are suited for both urban and rural areas. Renewable energy is often deployed together with further electrification. This has several benefits: electricity can move heat and vehicles efficiently and is clean at the point of consumption. Variable renewable energy sources are those that have a fluctuating nature, such as wind power and solar power. In contrast, controllable renewable energy sources include dammed hydroelectricity, bioenergy, or geothermal power. Renewable energy systems have rapidly become more efficient and cheaper over the past 30 years. A large majority of worldwide newly installed electricity capacity is now renewable. Renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, have seen significant cost reductions over the past decade, making them more competitive with traditional fossil fuels. In most countries, photovoltaic solar or onshore wind are the cheapest new-build electricity. From 2011 to 2021, renewable energy grew from 20% to 28% of global electricity supply. Power from the sun and wind accounted for most of this increase, growing from a combined 2% to 10%. Use of fossil energy shrank from 68% to 62%. In 2022, renewables accounted for 30% of global electricity generation and are projected to reach over 42% by 2028. Many countries already have renewables contributing more than 20% of their total energy supply, with some generating over half or even all their electricity from renewable sources.

The main motivation to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources is to slow and eventually stop climate change, which is widely agreed to be caused mostly by greenhouse gas emissions. In general, renewable energy sources cause much lower emissions than fossil fuels. The International Energy Agency estimates that to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, 90% of global electricity generation will need to be produced from renewable sources. Renewables also cause much less air pollution than fossil fuels, improving public health, and are less noisy.

The deployment of renewable energy still faces obstacles, especially fossil fuel subsidies, lobbying by incumbent power providers, and local opposition to the use of land for renewable installations. Like all mining, the extraction of minerals required for many renewable energy technologies also results in environmental damage. In addition, although most renewable energy sources are sustainable, some are not. (Full article...)

Aditya is a solar-powered ferry operating between Vaikkom and Thavanakkadavu in the Indian state of Kerala. The boat was inaugurated by Kerala Chief Minister Sri. Pinarayi Vijayan and Central Cabinet Minister for Power, Renewable Energy, Sri. Piyush Goyal on 12 January 2017.

It is India's first solar-powered ferry and was the largest solar-powered boat in India until Indra_(boat) was launched in 2023 The vessel was designed and built by Navalt Solar and Electric Boats in Kochi, India. Navalt is a technology joint venture firm between Navgathi Marine Design and Constructions, Alternative Energies (France) and EVE Systems (France).

In August 2020, MarineLink reported that by the end of the year the Kerala state would replace the three diesel ferries operating the same route with solar ones, mentioning that Aditya costs about US$79 per month compared to US$2867 for diesel-powered ones. In three years the Aditya has saved more than 100,000 liters of diesel. The State Water Transport Department of the Government of Kerala also decided to replace all of its 48 diesel ferries with solar ones. (Full article...)

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  •  "Ethanol creates U.S. jobs, cleans the air, strengthens national security – and best of all, it is here right now. Every day, ethanol producers are developing technological improvements to increase efficiency, reduce water use, and boost the amount of energy derived from corn kernels or from cellulosic biomass. Ethanol is not a 'someday' fuel. It is the renewable, clean-burning alternative we have to gasoline today."
"Moreover, advancements in ethanol production are quickly opening the door for the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol and other advanced biofuels."

Ethanol is Here Today Renewable Energy World, 19 August 2010.

Main topics

Renewable energy sources

General

Renewable energy commercialization · Smart grid · Timeline of sustainable energy research 2020–present

Renewable energy by country

List of countries by electricity production from renewable sources

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Solar cookers use sunlight as energy source for outdoor cooking.

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Chu in 2014

Steven Chu FREng ForMemRS HonFInstP (born February 28, 1948) is an American physicist and former government official. He is a Nobel laureate and was the 12th U.S. secretary of energy. He is currently the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Physics and Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford University. He is known for his research at the University of California, Berkeley, and his research at Bell Laboratories and Stanford University regarding the cooling and trapping of atoms with laser light, for which he shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics with Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and William Daniel Phillips.[ambiguous]

Chu served as U.S. Secretary of Energy under the administration of President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013. At the time of his appointment as Energy Secretary, Chu was a professor of physics and molecular and cellular biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where his research was concerned primarily with the study of biological systems at the single molecule level. Chu resigned as energy secretary on April 22, 2013. He returned to Stanford as Professor of Physics and Professor of Molecular & Cellular Physiology. (Full article...)

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... that the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) to promote widespread and increased adoption and sustainable use of all forms or renewable energy was founded in 2009 ? Acting as the global voice for renewable energies, IRENA will facilitate access to all relevant renewable energy information.

IRENA's founding reflects a growing consensus among governments around the world on the need to speed up the commercialization of renewable energy worldwide. IRENA provides advice and support to governments on renewable energy policy, capacity building, and technology transfer. IRENA will also co-ordinate with existing renewable energy organizations, such as REN21.

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The following are images from various renewable energy-related articles on Wikipedia.

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