Types Of Energy Sources- Explained!!!

Look around and observe; you will find out that our world is a huge ball of energy source that is gifted to humans in many ways and forms of energy sources, each source functions to carry out powering the world in return.

Do you know what types of energy sources are most commonly used, and which resources are said to be the need of future energy demand?

To solve your query, we came up with a handy guide mentioning all the most common power sources, categorized based on their source and nature.

Each one has its specific positive and negative aspects, with limitations of usage. So what’s keeping you waiting?

Let’s get through the guide to learn more about energy sources and the types required for powering the daily modern energy needs.

Types Of Energy Sources:

Energy resources are classified into primary and secondary energy sources.

The primary ones are the natural energy source, meeting the world’s demand for power by generating the secondary source.

These primary sources are further classified into renewable/infinite and nonrenewable/finite energy sources.

Energy sources like solar, hydro, geothermal, nuclear, tidal, and wind are renewable energy sources.

In contrast, the daily use of fossil fuels, like petroleum, oil, natural gas, and coal, comes under a finite, nonrenewable energy source that is non-pure compared to the infinite pure ones.

Energy Sources And Types:

We live around various energy sources classified based on primary and secondary sources.

Primary Energy Source:

The primary ones are truly nature gifts and are found in their original form without any change like solar energy, wind energy, fossil fuels, tidal energy, etc.

You can classify primary energy sources into; renewable and nonrenewable based on their reserve quantity.

Secondary Energy Source:

While using the primary source to generate another form of energy refers to a secondary source of energy. Humans convert solar or hydro to generate secondary energy like electricity.

Renewable Energy Source:

Renewable energy sources are those primary sources that provide sustainable, free-sourced, plentiful energy that is used to generate various forms of secondary energy.

A renewable source is eco-friendly and is the ultimate solution to deal with the needs of future power demand, as these sources are available throughout life.

Following are the renewable sources our nature has gifted us, which need to be more evolved to fulfill the modern-day power demand.

Solar Energy:

Power Source – Sunlight:

Solar energy is one of the plentiful primary renewable energy sources currently being used as energy sources for electricity generation.

Solar panels capture and convert heat energy to electrical energy using photovoltaic cells or solar cells installed in your home, offices, or for industrial purposes to power up devices, gadgets and machinery.

This innovative power source is used to manufacture solar generators that power up devices in power outage conditions.

Solar Energy costs you for the panels, but once the panel has been purchased, the energy will be free of cost, unlike paying electricity bills each month, but the installation is single time and costly.

It also requires storing because, at certain times, sun rays can’t reach with high intensity due to weather conditions.

Scientists are still searching to make the source easily usable and available as it can handle the power demand more than required.

Wind Energy:

Power Source- High-Speed Winds:

Turbine utilizes wind power to make themselves run, generating electricity for power usage.

Wind energy is another primary renewable energy source capable of generating electricity to power up the machine.

Still, this source costs more for installing large wind turbines and requires high wind speed to operate them.

Commonly, high wind speeds are not available everywhere, and all the time, there are specific places; you can take the example of the UK, where high winds are most common, which leads it to be the world’s 6th wind-power-generating country.

Certain wind farms in local areas are also becoming popular choices in certain areas to meet the power demand.

Hydro Energy:

Power Source – Water:

Another valuable natural renewable Source includes the hydropower that nature has gifted us through pressure water, capable of generating electricity.

That electricity is supplied to your homes, offices, industries, and every place for daily work.

This source requires installing hydro plants that can last for almost 100 years and utilizing water to turn large generator turbine blades for generating electricity that is further supplied.

For these plants, dams are considered a good option, but constructing dams and plants is too costly, and it can only happen with a large investment in demand.

Through the rainwater, the dams refill back, which is why hydropower is a renewable source that regains its strength.

Biomass Energy:

Power Source – Organic Matter:

Biomass is among the types of energy sources that have been commonly used since older times, 100 years back as a power source, and still may be for some far-flung areas requiring electricity.

Compared to hydro, wind, or solar energy, biomass energy requires a sustainable organic matter of living organisms for generating energy by running steam turbines leading to electricity generation, heating, and running transport units.

Biomass energy comes under the category of a renewable source until the organic matter is sustainable and provided in bulk.

The limitation of this power source is it’s not eco-friendly and may produce a high carbon footprint unfavorable to humans, animals, and plant life.

Nonrenewable Energy Sources:

The second type of primary source includes nonrenewable or non-pure energy resources, another nature-gifted power source. Still, these are hard to find and made usable with refining and distillation.

With mining and proper digging, you get to the main source. But it occurs in the desired quantity per location in different parts of the earth and has taken millions of years to build the resource.

Besides the primary Renewable Sources, we mostly rely on nonrenewable sources for power generation.

Their use is not favorable to the environment, and their use still increases daily, leading to various non-favorable environmental changes.

Because of that, there is a chance that within several decades there may be a scarcity of these resources because they take high time to build up, and we utilize it at a faster rate than their formation.

Fossil Fuels:

Nonrenewable sources are combined named fossil fuels used to generate secondary power sources for powering the world.

• Petroleum
• Natural gas
• Coal

Petroleum:

Petroleum is a finite, nonrenewable natural source obtained from the earth’s underground surface with deep digging.

The form of energy is a crude mixture that needs purification and separation. Different-grade products are obtained in pure form through distillation at different temperatures.

Each type of oil is obtained from specific petroleum in transport, generators, medicine (glycerin), and various other manufacturing units.

With advances, cars and machinery are enhanced, leading to high fuel utilization and making the finite source a limited one for upcoming generations.

They are good at power generation but are truly hazardous for your environment and eliminate a high amount of CO2, leading to greenhouse effects and ozone damage.

Natural Gas:

Natural gas is the second finite fossil fuel from nature and comes under the natural nonrenewable power source category.

The use of natural gas is not limited to the home for cooking and heat, but different industries and transport utilize it as a power source.

In the current situation where Power outages are most often, natural gas is the best source to have opted for gas-fueled generators and devices for generating electricity and meeting the daily power demand.

Natural gas is low in price compared to petroleum sources, so most automobile users nowadays favor using natural gas for running vehicles.

Coal:

You might have used coal for carrying out BBQ parties in your yard, but guess what? Its usage is far behind that.

It is a finite fossil fuel of nonrenewable nature that take millions of years to make coal from buried organic matter like trees, leaves, and bark and, once depleted, can never be quickly regained.

The use of coal isn’t limited to electricity generation but is also used for generating heat and utilization in the steel industry.

Coal is also the cause of air pollution, leading to severe environmental change, and bad to hear that if the source is continuously used at the same pace, then it won’t be that far in the 2100s as the chance of scarcity gets enhanced.

Conclusion:

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