Renewable Energy Technologies

Prior to the industrial revolution, the energy economy was largely decentralized and based on renewable sources. Technologies of the 19th and 20th centries led to a huge increase in energy usage, and an almost complete reliance on fossil fuels controlled by a few large corporations. Now, emerging energy technologies offer the potential of creating an energy future which is renewable, distributed, and largely free of the externalities that characterize the petroleum era.

• Heating from sunlight
  • Passive solar heating methods
  • Active solar heating methods
• Electricity generation from sunlight
  • Sunlight-to-electricity methods
    • Photovoltaics
    • Concentrating photovoltaics
  • Sunlight-to-heat-to-electricity methods
    • Concentrating solar-thermal plants
• Electricity generation from wind
  • Ground-mounted wind-to-electricitiy methods
  • Lofted wind-to-electricity methods