Tag Archives: renewable energy

Powered by Wind and Solar Energy

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Did you know the U.S. State Department gets energy from both wind and solar farms?  The Department works to make facilities and operations both in the U.S. and in embassies and consulates around the world more environmentally-friendly.  That means efforts to operate more sustainability, implement recycling and waste management systems, reduce water usage, reduce emissions, and to use renewable energy.

Below are photos taken at the wind and solar farms from which the State Department gets energy!

Wind turbine at the wind farm from which the U.S. State Department gets energy.

Wind turbine at the wind farm from which the U.S. State Department gets energy.

 

Wind turbines at the wind farm from which the U.S. State Department gets energy

Solar panels at the solar farm from which the U.S. State Department get energy.

 

 

Harnessing the Power of the Sun: Saudi Arabia Builds Massive Solar Farm

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This post was written by Katherine Cunningham, an intern at the U.S. Department of State and currently a senior at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She majors in International Affairs with a concentration in International Environmental Resources.

“Saudi Arabia is located in the Sun Belt, where the returns from solar plants would be the greatest” (Picture and caption from Michael Urban/AFP)

“Saudi Arabia is located in the Sun Belt, where the returns from solar plants would be the greatest” (Picture and caption from Michael Urban/AFP)

As the world confronts climate change, countries are turning to alternative energy sources, such as solar panels and wind turbines, to reduce greenhouse gas output. These two alternative energy sources are renewable, which means the source will always be available in the future. This is in contrast to nonrenewable sources, such as oil and gas, of which there is a definite or finite amount on the Earth’s surface.

Saudi Arabia is one country that is pursuing a renewable energy program and recently completed a solar farm project in its capital Riyadh. As a country known for its large oil reserves, this is a very impressive project. According to RenewableEnergyWorld.com, Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil producer, and 80 percent of its exports and revenue come from the production and sale of hydrocarbon resources. Saudi Arabia is also the largest oil consumer in the Middle East, and if it doesn’t reduce its energy demand, it could become an oil importer by 2030. Therefore, as a country that receives some of the most intense sunlight in the world, Saudi Arabia is diversifying its energy sources by utilizing the power of the sun. According to the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, D.C., Saudi Arabia receives about 105 trillion kilowatt hours of sunlight a day which equates roughly to 10 billion barrels of crude oil in energy terms.

“Saudi Arabia Embracing Sustainable Development” (Picture and caption from: GFI Media)

“Saudi Arabia Embracing Sustainable Development” (Picture and caption from: GFI Media)

Solar panels, made up of photovoltaic cells, are a renewable energy source that work by using light energy from the sun to generate electricity. The Saudi Arabian solar farm located in Riyadh consists of 12,684 solar panels and was completed in early 2013. By 2032, Saudi Arabia hopes to produce 16 gigawatts (GW) of solar power (photovoltaic) and 25 GW of concentrated solar power, allowing the country to reduce domestic consumption of oil, decrease its release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and even export electricity to countries in Europe. You can learn more about Saudi Arabia’s plan to export electricity here.

It is clear that the Saudi Arabian government is excited about their solar energy initiatives. At a recent talk held at the Center for Strategic & International Studies on April 30th, 2013, Saudi Minister of Oil Al-Naimi recognized the importance of solar energy when he said “we hope solar energy will help meet a growing share of our electricity needs – and even help us create a thriving solar industry and expertise in the Kingdom.”

How will Saudi Arabia’s investment in renewable energy, specifically solar power, benefit the country beyond the reasons listed above? Consider that the electricity will be used for water desalination and agriculture, as well as to power water pumps, refrigerators, air conditioners, heaters, and communications equipment. Would a renewable energy project work in your country? If so, what type of project would be best?

This entry reflects the author’s personal judgments and does not represent the views of the United States Government or the Department of State.

Geothermal Energy

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Recently we discussed the three most prominent forms of renewable energy: wind, hydro, and solar. Anoth

er alternative that is growing in popularity around the world is geothermal energy.

Geothermal energy methods (Courtesy of Department of Energy)

Geothermal energy methods (Courtesy of Department of Energy)

Geothermal energy is thermal energy that is both generated by and stored in the Earth. Simply put, it is the heat from the Earth and can come from everything from hot water (like hot springs) to hot rocks a few miles underground. When you hear “geothermal energy” in relation to renewable energy, people are usually talking about geothermal electricity, which is electricity generated by that geothermal energy, or heat.

To learn more about how energy from the Earth is turned into a source of electricity, check out this helpful site. Geothermal is especially popular in areas that are volcanically active, such as Iceland and New Zealand, where there is an abundance of very hot rock and water underground due to the volcanoes.

Renewable Energy

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0″ height=”400″ />The three main forms of renewable energy are wind, solar, and water. While geothermal and biofuel are two up and coming renewable technologies, but this post will focus on the three largest and most popular forms.

So what is renewable energy? It is energy that is created from natural resources (sunlight, wind, rain, etc.), and the “renewable” part means it naturally replenishes itself. Fossil fuels like oil and gas, which are the most commonly used forms of energy right now, are non-renewable. There are only so much of them in the world, and one day they will run out; unlike renewable energy sources, fossil fuels take millions of years to form and thus cannot be easily or quickly replenished.

Wind power refers to the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy like electricity. The most common large-scale wind power is created by wind turbines or windmills. One common criticism of wind power as a large-scale source of energy is that wind can be variable (sometimes it is not windy enough to generate a lot of power), which can also make it more suitable for certain areas than others. To learn more about wind energy, check out the website of the Global Wind Energy Council. There is information on the science of wind turbines, new technologies, and statistics, among other things.

Solar energy converts sunlight into electricity, either directly through photovoltaics or indirectly through concentrated solar power. You may have seen solar panels on the tops of buildings. To learn how solar cells work (you may have used a solar power-charged calculator or cell phone charger), check out this site.

Hydropower (water power) is power that comes from the energy of falling water, and is commonly used as a term to describe the conversion of that energy from falling water into electricity. Hydropower can rely on a dam to harness power, or capture the kinetic energy in rivers or streams without needing dams. For more information on hydropower, explore the National Geographic page on the topic.

Does your community use any of these renewables? Do you have a preference?