Green Energy
The Eco Future is Now
The energy transformation brings terms such as clean energy, renewable energy or green energy. Although they are often used synonymously, the truth is that they do not mean the same thing.
The energy crisis and climate change lead the media to flood their pages and broadcast hours with terms such as clean energy, renewable energy or green energy. In many cases, these concepts are used as synonyms, although the truth is that they do not mean the same thing. To begin with, all clean energies are renewable, but not all renewable energies are clean or, in other words, all green energies are renewable, but not all renewables are green. Let's go by parts.
The purpose of initiatives such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to complete an energy transformation of the world that reduces pollution and CO2 emissions, thus combating global warming. However, the reality is that today there is no way to obtain usable energy on a large scale that is harmless from an environmental point of view, and that can replace oil and gas.
Difference between clean and
renewable energy
Clean energy is energy whose extraction and generation processes have very little or no impact on the environment, that is, it does not emit (or hardly any) emissions of greenhouse gases, such as CO2. For its part, renewable energy is that which comes from inexhaustible natural resources such as the sun or the wind, among others, although in some cases it can pollute by generating waste in its production or use.
What is green Energy?
Green energy has to be clean, coming from 100% renewable and inexhaustible sources and also sustainable, without harming the environment.
Solar Energy
Solar energy, both thermal (thermal solar) and photovoltaic, is clean because it is obtained through natural and inexhaustible resources, it does not pollute and has a low environmental impact. It is also renewable, since the Sun is a natural and inexhaustible (and intermittent) resource on a human scale. Thus, solar is a green energy.
Wind power
Wind and mini-wind energy (onshore or offshore) is clean as it is obtained from the power of the wind, a natural and inexhaustible resource. The kinetic energy of the wind obtained from wind turbines is transformed into wind energy. It is also a renewable energy and, therefore, a green energy.
Geothermal energy
Geothermal energy is obtained from the Earth's interior heat through geothermal heat pumps, capable of capturing and distributing it in the home. Clean, renewable and green.
Biomass
Biomass produces electricity and fuel from the combustion of organic matter (inexhaustible natural sources), producing heat and electricity. If methanization (anaerobic fermentation of organic waste) is chosen, biogas is produced. Of course, combustion emits greenhouse gases, so there are those who do not consider it 100% green energy.
Hydraulics
Hydraulic or hydroelectric energy, which uses the power of water to produce electricity, is renewable, but according to some experts it can only be considered green energy if the plant exceeds 10 MW of installed power. "Large hydraulic power that exceeds that power is renewable, but it has a significant impact on its river environment, it poses important effects on the environment, which are difficult to accept and quite irreversible," says Juan José Coble Castro, doctor of industrial engineering and director of the Master in Renewable Energies. and Energy Efficiency of the Nebrija University, in a BBVA sustainability article.
Green Hydrogen
Green hydrogen is based on the generation of hydrogen through a chemical process known as electrolysis. However, it is only considered green energy if the electricity needed to obtain it comes from clean sources, without carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere.
