Renewable energy is being invested in by many countries and is considered the future of the global energy industry. So what benefits does this energy source bring?
Currently, renewable energy is being widely used in developed and developing countries. As new, advanced technologies are increasingly developed, they help reduce costs significantly and open up a new era. A period of complete use of clean energy. Renewable energy is gradually replacing fossil fuels in the electricity industry.
The first advantage of renewable energy is that it is renewable, has extremely large reserves, and can be endless. Forms of energy such as sun, wind, geothermal, ocean waves, rain... are available and free to use, without fuel costs. Biomass energy also has large reserves and low fuel costs. Compared to traditional energy sources such as coal, oil, natural gas... which are increasingly depleted, only meeting human energy needs for about 50-70 more years, this advantage is a strength. outstanding.
Many data show that using renewable energy sources to produce electricity is much more efficient than using conventional energy. Conventional forms of energy to be converted into electricity will be burned through complex processes at thermal power plants but can never be converted 100%.
In fact, a large amount of heat after being generated will be dispersed and wasted. For example, in the UK, when producing electricity from gas, up to 54% of the heat is wasted in the electricity production process, the amount of electricity wasted in coal production is 66%, and in nuclear energy it is 65%. %... And in renewable energy, no energy is wasted in the process of generating electricity because even though it has lower efficiency, it is endless.
All forms of renewable energy are clean, environmentally friendly, and emit little carbon during the production and conversion process. Therefore, renewable energy is known as a solution to combat climate change, which is increasingly having a serious impact on human life, helping to protect the common ecosystem. Less impact on the natural environment, does not cause air pollution, does not increase global climate warming, greenhouse effect... is an advantage of renewable energy that people urgently need.
The third advantage of renewable energy is that it is abundant and can be widely exploited in all different regions on Earth. For example, with solar energy, people can exploit it anywhere, as long as there is sunlight there, and can be used to create heat for hot water, heating, and electricity thanks to the system. Solar power with solar panels... Or with wind energy, this energy source has been used for hundreds of years to move sailboats, hot air balloons, and make windmills for irrigation systems. ...or the current trend is to produce electricity from wind in many countries around the world.
In addition, depending on each form of renewable energy, it also has its own advantages, for example, wind energy takes up very little space; Using biomass energy from agricultural and industrial waste products helps reduce landfills for waste treatment. Developing crops to provide biomass energy also increases oxygen and reduces CO2 for the environment...
Besides, renewable energy also has some disadvantages such as: Lower stability compared to traditional energy sources due to impacts from nature. Solar energy can only be exploited during the day on days when the sun is present, but at night or on cloudy or rainy days, the system will not work.
Or with wind energy, wind turbines can only generate electricity at times when the wind speed is between 4-25 m/s. The wind speed must be at least 4 m/s for the wind turbines to start running smoothly and generating electricity, but if it exceeds 25 m/s, the turbines will stop operating to avoid damage in windy conditions. strong.
Requiring advanced technology and high costs are also disadvantages of renewable energy. To take advantage of renewable energy sources to generate electricity, advanced technology and investment costs are quite high. Currently, the cost of producing electricity from renewable energy is generally higher than the cost from fossil energy. However, the development of renewable energy in a global trend has helped reduce costs and increase efficiency, gradually improving this drawback.
According to Environment and Life Electronic Magazine