WHAT IS RENEWABLE ENERGY

Renewable energy refers to energy resources that occur naturally and repeatedly in the environment and can be harnessed for human benefit. Renewable energy resources are constantly being replenished and will never run out. Sources of renewable energy systems include solar, wind, wave, biomass and geothermal energy.  

Renewable energy encompasses many different types of technology at different stages of development and commercialization, from the burning of wood for heat in the residential sector (traditional and low-technology) to wind-generated electricity (widespread and technically proven) to processes such as biomass gasification for electricity generation (still under development although some plants are operating).

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Renewable energy is important because of the benefits it provides:

Environmental: Renewable energy technologies are clean sources of energy that have a lower environmental impact than conventional energy technologies.

Energy for future generations: Renewable energy will not run out. Therefore, future generations will also benefit from them.

Energy security: With the unpredictable price of crude oil and dwindling coal supplies, South Africa stands to benefit by decreasing its dependence on these energy sources.

General:

Renewable energy has lately been receiving a lot of attention all over the world, in particular, from the media, government policy makers, energy industry, environmental and other interest groups. However, despite expectations and many efforts by governments to promote and subsidise the use of renewable energy resources, renewables still face high entry barriers in energy markets. There are many reasons for this, but the most important barrier in many cases appears to be the perceived poor economics of renewables compared to fossil fuels. This is often due to the traditional pricing structures, which do not internalise social and environmental costs and other externalities of energy provision and use. There also are financial and institutional barriers related to the typically small size of renewable installations, etc [1].