Other Sources of Renewable Energy

Besides solar, geothermal and biomass energies there are several other sources of renewable energy such as wind power and hydropower which are being exploited or have good potential to be used in the future. Unstable prices of fossil fuels, increasing demand for energy and global warming have forced governments to act and to support renewable and pollution-free energy sources. Much has been done already but there is still a lot more to do. There are many possibilities, and existing technology, available to exploit the natural resources such as wind and water as sources of energy.

Hydropower, an energy obtained from moving water was used in ancient times, while hydroelectric plants today use rivers and streams to generate electricity. Besides exploiting the motion of rivers there is a lot of unexploited potential in tides and waves. Unfortunately, hydropower produces only about 3% of world's electricity, while the majority of hydroelectricity derives from industrial hydroelectric plants which sell their electricity to the public electricity network what means that the consumer is dependent from the prices set by electrical enterprises. Industrial hydroelectric plants usually represent great environmental concerns because of disruption of river's or stream's ecosystem, while small hydroelectric plants which might generate enough electricity for one household are not equally accessible to everyone either because of absence of river or stream either because of legal restrictions.

Tidal and wave power, which can be used for generating electricity, is practically unexploited for commercial purposes.

Wind power has been used for propelling ships and to turn windmills since the ancient times. The late 20th century saw the rediscovery of its potentials and the emergence of first modern wind turbines for generating electricity. Today wind power represents about 1%of world's production of electricity but its usage is still growing. However, as with hydropower, the greatest obstacle in wider exploitation of wind power is the amount of wind available and finding suitable locations for turbines.