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About Renewable Energy Resources: Wind, Solar, Geothermal, Biomass

Wind Energy

Wind power is the fastest growing energy resource in the world. Good wind areas, found on 6% of the land in the Western states, could supply more than five times the region's current electricity consumption. This emission-free resource is already being harnessed across the region, but at a fraction of its potential. Wind resources adequate to power commercial wind farms are very site specific. Relatively small differences in the average wind speed have major impacts on energy production.

Solar Energy

Solar energy is one of the most abundant natural forms of energy. Thousands of buildings across the West use passive solar design, solar hot water systems, photovoltaics, or other types of solar collectors to provide a portion of their energy. Electricity can be generated from the sun's light using photovoltaics or electricity can be generated with concentrating solar technologies—those that turn the sun's heat into electricity.

Geothermal Energy

The potential for geothermal energy—heat from the earth—is significant worldwide. It is estimated that the uppermost six miles of the Earth's crust contains many times the energy of all oil and gas resources in the world. In the US, geothermal is found almost entirely in the West. Geothermal is commonly used both for direct heating and cooling and to produce electricity. Geothermal heat pumps, which exchange heat between the earth and a home or business, are useful in most areas of the West and are not dependent on the same type of resources as largescale geothermal electricity production.

Biomass Energy

Biomass energy (or bioenergy) uses organic materials such as agricultural and forest residues, animal waste, and landfill gas (methane) to produce electricity. Biomass can be used in its solid form for heating applications or electricity generation, or it can be converted into liquid or gaseous fuels, e.g., turning corn into ethanol for gasoline. In many applications, biomass utilizes organic material that would otherwise be added to landfills or burned without capturing the embodied energy. Fast-growing, drought-resistant "energy crops" may become the biomass fuels of choice in the future. In the West their development is likely to be limited to less arid locales.

For more information, see NREL's Learning About Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency.