Renewable energy is generally defined as energy that comes from

resources Resource refers to all the materials available in our environment which are technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and wants. Resources can broadly be classified upon their av ...

which are naturally replenished on a human timescale, such as sunlight,

wind Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few ho ...

rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water ...

, tides,

waves Waves most often refers to: *Waves, oscillations accompanied by a transfer of energy that travel through space or mass. *Wind waves, surface waves that occur on the free surface of bodies of water. Waves may also refer to: Music *Waves (band) ...

, and

geothermal heat Geothermal heating is the direct use of geothermal energy for some heating applications. Humans have taken advantage of geothermal heat this way since the Paleolithic era. Approximately seventy countries made direct use of a total of 270 PJ of ...

.Omar Ellabban, Haitham Abu-Rub, Frede Blaabjerg, ''Renewable energy resources: Current status, future prospects and their enabling technology.

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews ''Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research on sustainable energy. It is published in 12 issues per year by Elsevier and the editor-in-chief is Aoife M. Foley (Queen's University Belfast). Ac ...

39, (2014), 748–764, p 749, . Renewable energy replaces conventional fuels in four distinct areas:

electricity generation Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery ( transmission, distribution, etc.) to end users or its s ...

, air and water heating/cooling,

motor fuel An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power g ...

s, and rural (off-grid) energy services.REN21 (2010)
Renewables 2010 Global Status Report
p. 15. Based on

REN21 REN21 (Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century) is a think tank and a multistakeholder governance group which is focused on renewable energy policy. REN21's goal is to facilitate policy development, knowledge exchange, and joint ac ...

's 2014 report, renewables contributed 19 percent to our

global energy consumption Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

and 22 percent to our electricity generation in 2012 and 2013, respectively. These are lists about renewable energy: *

Index of solar energy articles This is a list of solar energy topics. A * Air mass coefficient * Artificial photosynthesis B * BP Solar * BrightSource Energy * Building-integrated photovoltaics C * Carbon nanotubes in photovoltaics * Central solar heating plant * Commu ...

* List of books about renewable energy *

List of concentrating solar thermal power companies This is a list of concentrating solar thermal power (CSTP) companies. The CSTP industry finished a first round of new construction during 2006/7, a resurgence after more than 15 years of commercial dormancy. The CSTP industry saw many new entra ...

List of countries by electricity production from renewable sources This article is a list of countries and territories by electricity generation from renewable sources every year. Note that most countries import and/or export electricity, so the percentage figure do not reflect the percentage of consumption tha ...

List of energy storage projects This is a list of energy storage power plants worldwide, other than pumped hydro storage. Many individual energy storage plants augment electrical grids by capturing excess electrical energy during periods of low demand and storing it in o ...

* Lists of environmental topics *

List of geothermal power stations This is a list of operational geothermal power stations with a current installed capacity of at least 10 MW. The Geysers in California, United States is the largest geothermal power station in the world with a nameplate capacity Nameplate ...

List of hydroelectric power stations The following are lists of hydroelectric power stations based on the four methods of hydroelectric generation: * List of conventional hydroelectric power stations, hydroelectric generation through conventional dams * List of pumped-storage hydroe ...

List of largest hydroelectric power stations This article provides a list of the largest hydroelectric power stations by generating capacity. Only plants with capacity larger than 3,000 MW are listed. The Three Gorges Dam in Hubei, China, has the world's largest instantaneous generating cap ...

List of offshore wind farms This article lists the largest offshore wind farms that are currently operational rated by nameplate capacity. It also lists the largest offshore wind farms currently under construction, the largest proposed offshore wind farms, and offshore w ...

Lists of offshore wind farms by country The largest offshore wind power facilities are listed at List of offshore wind farms. By country * List of offshore wind farms in China * List of offshore wind farms in Denmark * List of offshore wind farms in Germany * List of offshore wind f ...

Lists of offshore wind farms by water area The largest offshore wind power facilities are listed at List of offshore wind farms. By country * List of offshore wind farms in China * List of offshore wind farms in Denmark * List of offshore wind farms in Germany * List of offshore wind ...

List of onshore wind farms This is a list of the largest onshore wind farms that are currently operational, rated by generating capacity. Also listed are onshore wind farms with notability other than size, and largest proposed projects. Largest operational onshore wind ...

List of onshore wind farms in the United Kingdom This is a list of some onshore wind farms (more than 1 turbine) in the UK. This information is gathered from multiple Internet sources, primarily the UK Wind Energy Database from RenewableUK (formerly BWEA) and The Wind Power's database. The n ...

* List of people associated with renewable energy *

List of photovoltaics companies This is a list of notable photovoltaics (PV) companies. Grid-connected solar photovoltaics (PV) is the fastest growing energy technology in the world, growing from a cumulative installed capacity of 7.7 GW in 2007, to 320 GW in 2016. In 2016 ...

List of photovoltaic power stations The following is a list of photovoltaic power stations that are larger than 300 megawatts (MW) in current net capacity.Note that nominal power may be AC or DC, depending on the plant, and therefore any totals quoted are hybrid. SeAC-DC conundru ...

List of pioneering solar buildings The following buildings are of significance in pioneering the use of solar powered building design: * MIT Solar House #1, Massachusetts, United States ( Hoyt C. Hottel & others, 1939) * Howard Sloan House, Glenview, Illinois, United States (Geo ...

List of renewable energy organizations This is a list of notable renewable energy organizations: Associations Bioenergy * World Bioenergy Association * Biomass Thermal Energy Council (BTEC) * Pellet Fuels Institute Geothermal energy * Geothermal Energy Association * Geothermal R ...

List of renewable energy topics by country This is a list of renewable energy topics by country and territory. These links can be used to compare developments in renewable energy in different countries and territories and to help and encourage new writers to participate in writing about ...

List of rooftop photovoltaic installations A rooftop solar power system, or rooftop PV system, is a photovoltaic (PV) system that has its electricity-generating solar panels mounted on the rooftop of a residential or commercial building or structure. The various components of such a syste ...

List of solar car teams This is a list of solar car racing teams. Australia Belgium Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Denmark France Germany Greece India Iran Italy Jordan Japan Indonesia Malaysia Morocco The Netherlands Pakista ...

* List of solar powered products *

List of solar thermal power stations This is a list of the largest facilities generating electricity through the use of solar thermal power, specifically concentrated solar power. Operational Under construction Announced Cancelled Decommissioned * Eurelios p ...

* List of U.S. states by electricity production from renewable sources *

Lists of wind farms by country Lists of wind farms include: *List of onshore wind farms *List of offshore wind farms Wind farms by country * List of wind farms in Australia * List of wind farms in Canada * List of wind farms in China * List of wind farms in Denmark * Lis ...

List of wind farms in Australia This is a list of wind farms in Australia, with a generating capacity of more than 50 MW, which are operating, under construction, or for which planning approval has been received. Operating Under construction Large wind farms approved and und ...

List of wind farms in Canada This is a list of operational wind farms in Canada with a capacity of at least 100 MW. The name of the wind farm is the name used by the energy company when referring to the farm. The Centennial Wind Power Facility in Saskatchewan was the first ...

List of wind farms in Iran By 2012, Iran had roughly 400 power plant units. By the end of 2013, Iran had a total installed electricity generation capacity of 70,000 MW, which had been increased from 90 MW in 1948, and 7024 MW in 1978. It is planned to add more than 5,000 MW ...

List of wind farms in Romania As of 2013, there was an installed capacity of 2,599 megawatts (MW) of wind power in Romania, up from the 7 MW installed capacity in 2007. Until December 2010, Romania added around 440 MW to its installed wind capacity from two wind ...

List of wind farms in Sweden A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...

List of wind farms in the United States This is a list of large wind farms in the United States. Many of the wind farms in the United States are located in the Great Plains. Onshore wind farms Listed are wind farms with a generating capacity of at least 150 megawatts (MW) or any ...

List of wind turbine manufacturers This is a list of notable wind turbine manufacturers and businesses that manufacture major wind turbine components. Small wind turbine manufacturers * Bornay (Spain) * Enessere (Italy) * Hi-VAWT (Taiwan) * quietrevolution (United Kingdo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:renewable energy topics

See also

References