We explain what energy sources are, how they are classified and the difference between renewable and non-renewable energy sources.
What are energy sources?
The energy sources are natural phenomena capable of generating Energy usable for economic or biophysical uses. These sources can be varied, physical or chemical. They generally involve human intervention to transform and redirect their energy, to dispose of it at will, mainly in the form of electricity, movement or heat.
Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but only transformed. At universe, is essential to start, sustain or stop certain processes, including that of the life.
Endless reactions systems and all of the living creatures We require energy to exist, which we obtain from different sources: food (chemical energy), the Sun (solar energy), the electromagnetism (electromagnetic energy), etc., releasing in return other forms of energy, such as caloric, the kinetics, etc.
But in the case of the energy sources of the planet EarthMost of these are natural processes whose own dynamics can be exploited or replicated by humanity. Depending on the case, they usually have very different characteristics, such as their renewability, their environmental impact and his efficiency (amount of energy generated).
According to their origin, these energy sources can be classified into:
- Primary. When they come directly from a natural phenomenon and have not been transformed or intervened by the humanityHow are the sunlight, the wind, etc.
- High schools. When they are the result of some process of intentional transformation of a primary energy source, such as the electric power, chemical energy, etc.
Another important classification is the one that distinguishes between renewable Y Non-renewable, and that we will see below separately.
Renewable energy sources
Renewable energy sources, or simply renewable energies, are those whose use and consumption it does not significantly decrease its reserves within a foreseeable timescale.
In other words, their natural replenishment dynamics are fast enough to replenish what is consumed, or else they do not generate any change long-term in the natural mechanism that produces them.
Renewable energies tend to have a lower environmental impact than non-renewable ones, which does not mean that they are totally clean or ecological energies. But at the same time, they are not usually as efficient, that is, they do not usually produce the same amount of energy as non-renewable ones.
Examples of renewable energy sources are hydroelectric energy, Seawater energy, wave energy, wind power, solar energy, etc.
Non-renewable energy sources
Non-renewable energy sources are those whose exploitation substantially reduces their reserves. As a result, they may become scarce in the not too distant future, preventing their continued and sustained exploitation.
On the other hand, these types of energies tend to have a greater environmental impact and greater energy effectiveness than its renewable variants, so they are largely responsible for the ecological damage that humanity has caused to the planet since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
Examples of non-renewable energy sources are the Petroleum and its many derivatives (gasoline, diesel, kerosene, etc.), the natural gas, mineral coal, metals heavy radioactive, etc.