Energy: Green, Clean and Renewable

Photo by Singkham from Pexels

If you don’t like squandering your hard-earned money on energy, you don’t need. Or, if you want to cut your energy bills while improving your business‘ working environment and meeting your customer’s environmental expectations, you may want to switch to green energy. 

How Efficient Is It?

The efficiency of green energy is slightly dependent on the location. However, it’s easy to create a fast and efficient energy solution if you have the right conditions. 

But, we can compare the different energy types by analysing their complete cycle. Doing this will include the following steps:

  • Assessing the total energy used to create the green energy resource
  • figuring out how much energy can be translated into electricity
  • Sny environmental clearing required to generate the energy solution

As of now, wind farms are seen as the most efficient source of free energy because it requires less refining and processing compared to the production of solar panels. 

Also, technological advances in composites technology and testing have improved the life span of such equipment; therefore, wind turbines‘ Levelised Energy Cost (LOC) are better. 

Green energy also does not need too much additional energy expenditure after being built because this equipment uses a readily renewable source of power. According to recent data, the total efficiency for coal is about 29% of its original energy value, while wind power offers a return of around 164% on its initial energy input. 

Renewable energy sources are ranked as follows, but this may still change as developments continue for each type:

  • wind power
  • geothermal power
  • hydropower
  • nuclear power
  • solar power

Green energy can replace fossil fuels in the future, but it may require various means to achieve it. For example, geothermal energy is adequate when geothermal heat is abundant. In contrast, some locations may better suit other resources such as wind energy and solar power in different geographic areas. 

By bringing together multiple green energy sources, there will be a significant reduction in climate change. But, at the same time, it will help improve the environment to have a more sustainable future. 

Researchers will always compare the economic viability of green energy to fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are not renewable resources. Thus, the cost of using this type of resource to generate power will only increase with scarcity. 

So, as more fossil fuels become more expensive, the cost of greener energy sources will continue to fall. So, what are the other gains of going green?

It’s Good For The Environment

There’s a difference between green, clean and renewable energy. Furthermore, not all renewable energy is green or clean such as biomass energy. So let’s take a look at the nuances of each one. 

Green energy comes from organic resources such as the sun. Clean energy is those that do not discharge pollutants into the air. Renewable energy comes from steadily being replenished sources, such as hydropower, solar energy, or wind power. 

Green energy is vital for the environment because it replaces the adverse effects of fossil fuels. In addition, green energy is often renewable and clean. Therefore, they emit few to no greenhouse gases. 

When you consider the complete life cycle of a green energy source, they still release far fewer greenhouse gases than fossil fuels. And air pollutants. So green energy is not just good for our planet, but it’s also better for the health of people and animals. 

It’s Financially Competitive

Green energy leads to stable energy prices. Why? Because unlike fossil fuels such as gas and coal, which are not infinite resources, green energy is renewable. 

In addition, it is not affected by geopolitical crises, price spikes and supply chain disruptions. It’s also a low-cost solution for the energy needs in many parts of the world. So as green energy becomes accessible, the costs of installing it will continue to lessen. 

It Creates More Jobs

Green energy also serves the communities by employing more people in the area. According to research, renewable energy created 11 million jobs worldwide in 2018, and this number is set to grow as more countries strive to meet pollution targets such as net-zero. 

When local energy is produced through available sources like solar and wind power, the energy infrastructure becomes more flexible and less dependent on centralised sources that usually lead to disruption and less resilient to extreme changes in weather.

If you plan on shifting to renewable energy technologies, you can take advantage of the financial support offered. As of now, the Government operates two incentives to encourage businesses to install certain technologies and at the same time receive an income for the electricity or heat they provide:

  • Feed-in tariffs (FiTs)
  • Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)

The FiTs scheme supports businesses that generate low-carbon electricity, usually 5MW or less in total installed capacity. 

The technologies eligible under this scheme include the following

  • solar photovoltaic
  • wind
  • hydro
  • micro combined heat and power (CHP)
  • anaerobic digestion (AD)

However, installations need to be registered and verified with a licensed supplier or Ofgem to be eligible. Then the supplier will pay you a generation tariff for any electricity generated where applicable. Any surplus electricity exported to the grid and export tariff will be administered. 

The RHI, on the other hand, supports businesses that use renewable energy to heat their buildings. Your business will receive a quarterly tariff payment for every kWh of renewable heat it produces by joining this scheme. This will usually apply for 20 years. 

The Green Deal

It’s an initiative by the Government to help people improve their property’s energy efficiency. If your business is currently based at your home property, this can provide finance for installing energy efficiency measures such as the following:

  • new boiler for heating
  • draught-proofing
  • double glazed windows by Bristol double glazing
  • loft, cavity wall insulation
  • renewable energy technologies, solar panels or wind turbines

These measures can reduce your energy expenditure, and you can repay the finance cost for these through your energy bills. 

Final Thoughts

One of the top ways to mitigate energy costs over the long term is implementing energy-efficient measures. So, using green, clean and renewable energy sources will help you save more on money and energy and reduce your carbon footprint, help save the environment, and improve your brand image. 

Even with technology and social media, SMEs still need all the support and information on how they can use green energy and make the switch possible. So you need to have someone who can fully assist you with all the details. 

So, if you are looking for someone to help you out, you can go ahead and check out Utility Bidder for more information.