Sources of Energy

Energy, in Physics, the capacity for doing work. It may exist in potential, kinetic, thermal, electrical, chemical, nuclear or other various forms. There are, moreover, heat and work, energy in the process of transfer from one body to another.

Normally these can be broken down into renewable and non-renewable energy sources.

Renewable Energy

A renewable energy source is any natural sources  that can replace it quickly and dependably. These energy sources are plentiful, sustainable, naturally replenished and good to the environment.

The major types of renewable energy are:

• Solar energy from the Sun
• Wind energy
• Geothermal energy from the heat inside the earth
• Hydro-power from flowing water
• Ocean energy in the form of wave, tidal, current energy and ocean thermal energy
• Biomass from plants

Non-renewable Energy Source

A non-renewable energy source is a source with a limited supply that we can mine or extract from the earth, and it'll eventually run out.

These are formed over thousands of years from the buried remain of ancient sea plants animals that lived millions of years ago. Most of these energy sources are "dirty" fossil fuels, which are generally bad for the environment.

The major types of sources of non-renewable energy are: 

• Petroleum
• Hydrocarbon gas liquids
• Natural gas
• Coal
• Nuclear energy

Solar energy, radiation from the Sun capable of producing heat, causing chemical reactions, or generating electricity. The total amount of solar energy incident of Earth is vastly in excess of the world's current and anticipated energy requirements. If suitably harnessed, this highly diffused source has the potential to satisfy all future energy needs. In the 21st  century solar energy is expected to become increasingly attractive as a renewable energy source because of its inexhaustible supply and its non-polluting character, in stark contrast to the finite fossil fuels coal, petroleum and natural gas.

The Sun is an extremely powerful energy source and sunlight is by far the largest source of energy received by earth , but its intensity at Earth's surface is actually low. This is essentially because of the enormous radial spreading of radiation from the distant Sun. A relatively minor additional loss is due to Earth's atmosphere and clouds, which absorb or scatter as much as 54 percent of the incoming sunlight.The sunlight that reaches the ground consist of nearly 50 percent visible light, 45 percent infrared radiation, and smaller amounts of ultraviolet and other forms of electromagnetic radiation.

The potential for solar energy is enormous, since about 200,000 times the world's total daily electric-generating capacity is received by Earth everyday in the form of solar energy.But, due to lack of storage or limitation of storage we can't store this energy.