Other Ways to Produce Energy Than Solar Panels

Solar energy is a renewable source of energy that involves the conversion of power derived from the sun to generate usable sources of electricity like heat and electricity. This source of energy is used for a variety of applications like heating homes, pools and businesses, and for the generation of electricity. However, there are other sources of energy, both renewable and nonrenewable.

Biofuels

• Biofuels work in an opposite manner to fossil fuels because unlike fossil fuels, they are not derived from organisms that died millions of years ago. Biofuels are derived from three sources: non-edible plant materials, edible starches and sugars and algae and other types of microbes. This type of energy source is renewable because the sources can be regrown.

Coal

• Coal is a nonrenewable source of energy that is derived from fossils. It is an important source of energy because, according to Chevron, coal is used to produce 27 percent of the worldwide energy and 45 percent of the electricity used in the United States. However, this source of energy has some serious drawbacks. Not only is it a nonrenewable source of energy, it also is the greatest source of greenhouse emissions.

Natural Gas

• Natural gas is one of the cleanest sources of conventional energy because it produces very little greenhouse emissions. This type of energy is also derived from fossils and is used to produce 23 percent of the world's energy, according to Chevron. This is a nonrenewable source of energy.

Wind Power

• As its name suggests, wind energy is a type of energy that is derived from the wind. Wind turbines convert kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical power, which can be used to perform tasks like pumping water or grinding grain. The mechanical power can be converted to electrical power through the use of a generator to produce electricity for homes and businesses. This type of power is renewable and environmentally friendly.

Hydropower

• Hydropower is a type of energy derived from water. The water on Earth is constantly in motion in a process known as the water cycle. The water cycle is the movement of the water as it evaporates from seas, oceans, lakes and ponds, and eventually falls to the Earth as rain, only for the process to be repeated again. Moving water contains energy that can be harnessed in facilities like hydroelectric dams for energy production.

Nuclear Energy

• Nuclear power is derived from a process known as fission where uranium atoms are split to release energy that can be used to produce steam. The steam is used to produce energy through a turbine. The Environmental Protection Agency states that 19 percent of the energy used in the United States is derived from nuclear energy. This is a nonrenewable source of energy.