What is Green Electricity?
Green electricity is power that comes from renewable energy sources. These include solar, wind, geothermal and low impact hydro.
The energy produced by these resources will continue to be available as long as the sun shines, the wind blows and the water flows. That means green energy is also sustainable.
Solar
Solar power generates clean, renewable electricity by converting sunlight into direct current (DC) through photovoltaic cells. It then runs through your electric panel to be transformed into alternating current (AC) and used by appliances throughout your home. You continue to be connected to the traditional energy grid, so on cloudy days and overnight your solar shingles or panels may not produce enough energy to meet your needs; however, you can draw additional electricity from the grid in those times. This system of bi-directional flow is known as net metering.
The amount of sunshine varies across the country and even across states. This explains why solar energy is only a small percentage of our nation’s overall electricity generation, yet it’s an important part of the solution to climate change.
One advantage of solar power is that it produces no greenhouse gas emissions, unlike fossil fuels, when generating energy. This makes it green electricity a good choice for those concerned about climate change.
There are many options to help people go green with solar, including low-interest energy efficiency and renewable energy loans, property assessed clean energy (PACE) loans, and power purchase agreements or solar leases. In addition, community solar is a great option for those who want to support clean energy but aren’t able to install a system at their homes.
Wind
Wind power is a renewable, clean energy source that produces zero greenhouse gas emissions and can be used in any region with sufficient wind currents. It is also an affordable energy solution that provides jobs worldwide, both at construction and maintenance stages.
Wind energy is generated through a turbine that converts the kinetic energy of air currents into mechanical and electrical energy. This electricity is then sent to the national grid via underground cables, where it can be distributed to homes, businesses and other recipients.
The National Audubon Society, a major environmental organization, is in favour of wind energy as long as it is properly sited to minimize the impact on birds and wildlife habitats. In addition, wind farms are typically built on land that was previously cultivated for agriculture or as pasture.
Like other types of renewables, wind energy is an environmentally friendly, cost-effective and mature technology that can be used in a variety of settings. However, some issues still need to be addressed. For example, solutions are needed to prevent the accumulation of ice on turbine blades, which can decrease efficiency and cause wear and tear.
Another issue with wind energy is its intermittency, which means that the wind doesn’t always blow. In order to mitigate this, wind turbines are often paired with battery storage systems that can save electricity for times when the wind is not blowing.
Hydropower
Hydropower is the world’s largest source of renewable energy today, and it’s also one of the most reliable and economical. It helps to decrease fossil fuel use, and mitigates climate change by reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
What is more, unlike other power sources that require constant replenishment of raw materials, hydropower’s supply is unlimited in the long run. It can be generated in many places, including developing countries, where the technology is crucial for meeting net zero targets, allowing them to produce their own energy in a more self-sufficient manner and reduce dependence on external energy imports.
Another advantage is that hydropower doesn’t take any water from the environment, and the plant only uses flowing water to generate electricity – not water for mining or processing, so it has a very low environmental footprint. Moreover, it provides other vital services, such as flood control, irrigation and water distribution.
Some hydropower plants have built-in energy storage, which makes them huge “batteries” for the planet, storing the surplus electricity they produce during periods of high demand. This is called pumped storage hydropower, and it works like a green rechargeable battery by pumping water from a lower reservoir uphill to an upper reservoir when demand is high, then releasing the water back down to generate power when electricity is needed.
Electric vehicles
Electric vehicles (EVs) are the key technology for decarbonising road transport, which currently accounts for more than 15% of global energy-related emissions. Research has shown that if all cars were electric, CO2 emissions could be cut by up to 12% globally.
EVs can be recharged using electricity that High voltage 10Kw LiFePO4 battery is generated by renewable sources. This can be done by switching to a pay as you go green electricity provider or by utilising smart charging systems that enable drivers to choose when they are going to charge their car so that it can be done at times when the power grid is using more renewables.
By enabling drivers to use renewable energy for charging their cars, it means that the impact of reducing carbon dioxide emissions from EVs gets maximised. In addition, by ensuring that vehicles are charged at home or at work – rather than at public EV charging stations – the electricity used is even more likely to be green.
EVs can be made even more environmentally friendly by opting for a battery swap model, where the vehicle’s existing batteries are replaced with new ones after the originals have reached the end of their life. The new batteries are then powered by a combination of wind and solar. Emissions associated with EV manufacturing, driving and end-of-life are estimated to be lower than those for gasoline vehicles (source: Argonne National Laboratory’s GREET 2 2021). This includes the GHG emissions associated with producing the battery and a 300 mile EV drive range.