RenewablePembroke.org
Why renewable?
91.8% of Pembrokians voted for renewable energy, what does renewable energy mean? The idea of renewable energy can be a challenging topic to comprehend, Renewable Pembroke wants the collective Pembroke community to understand their rights for clean and sustainable energy, starting with some overarching information to start the education.
What is Renewable Energy?
Renewable energy uses energy sources that are not "used up". For example, solar power from the sun is renewable as we won't "use up" all the sunlight from the sun. Examples of non-renewable energy sources include fossil fuels like coal and oil. Once we use or burn these resources, they are gone forever.
Climate Change + Renewable
Climate change refers to the long-term changes in global temperatures and other characteristics of the atmosphere. Climate has changed throughout Earth's long history, but this time it's different. Human activity is causing worldwide temperatures to rise higher and faster than any time we know of in the past.
Why is Renewable Energy important?
Much of the world relies on non-renewable energy to heat their homes, power their electronic devices, and power their cars. Once these energy sources are used up, they will be gone forever. Developing technologies that can efficiently use renewable energy sources is critical to our future.
Renewable Energy Benefits
Environmental and economic benefits of using renewable energy include:
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Generating energy that produces no greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels and reduces some types of air pollution
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Diversifying energy supply and reducing dependence on imported fuels
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Creating economic development and jobs in manufacturing, installation, and more
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Types of Natural Energy
Wind Power - Large wind turbines generate electricity from the power of the wind.
Solar Energy - The rays from the sun can help to heat a building or a pool. They can also be turned into electricity using solar cells.
Hydropower - Water from a dam or a river can be used to spin turbines and generate electricity.
Wave and Tidal Power - This new technology is working on ways to harness the vast power of the ocean's waves and tides.
Geothermal Energy - Heat from inside the Earth can be used to heat homes and buildings with heat pumps. Steam from inside the Earth can also be used to generate electricity.
Biomass Energy - Plants gather energy from the sun by photosynthesis. We can harness this energy by burning plants such as trees as well as creating fuel from plants such as ethanol and biodiesel. Even gas from trash and manure can be used to create energy.