Renewable Energy is an important resource that will be critical for a clean energy future. There are so many various renewable energy sources, so this Science on the Sphere live program was put together to help put them into a global perspective. From the sun which shines every day, to the power of earth's interior, these datasets will help you understand that there are renewable energy options for every country on the globe. Once you recognize the global capacity for renewable technologies from sun, wind, water, biomass, and geothermal it will become clear that we do have a solution to our fossil fuel dilemma. The earth clearly provides abundant areas for renewable energy development. This live program will help educate on the beauty and abundance of renewable energy around the globe.
Solar energy is the most abundant energy resource on earth - 173,000 terawatts of solar energy strikes the Earth continuously. That's more than 10,000 times the world's total energy use.
Offshore wind has a resource potential of 4000 GW. That is four times the US's current total generation capacity for all technologies in use combined.
Geothermal power plants do not burn fuel to generate electricity, so the levels of air pollutants they emit are low. They release less than 1% of the carbon dioxide emissions released by a fossil fuel plant.
Our oceans are an incredible resource for generating renewable energy. Be it form wind-driven waves, to very predictable tide changes we are on the cusp of major technological breakthroughs in generating renewable energy from our oceans.
Bioenergy is a critical component to both national energy independence and fueling our liquid energy demands for a cleaner burning solutions to fossil fuels.