All about green electricity

Green electricity is electricity produced from sources which do not negatively impact upon the earth and its climate. There are now a variety of clean alternatives to the usual nuclear, coal and gas burning production methods, and forward-thinking governments are keen to invest in these growing, and essential, industries. Of course, all energy production has some impact, but some methods are far cleaner than others. Here we take a look at the alternatives currently on offer.

Wind power - Wind is a clean and renewable energy resource, which is thankfully in plentiful supply in the UK! Wind energy is one of the world's fastest growing energy industries as it is relatively easy to harness wind power and turn it into electricity with the aid of turbines. Improvements to wind power technology means that turbines now operate more efficiently, and more quietly than ever.

Solar power - You might think that the cloudy skies of Great Britain would rule us out as a future solar powered nation, but the fact is that many parts of the UK already use solar power to great effect. Cloudy weather doesn't black out solar rays, so the good news is that Britain can benefit from the sun's power too.

Hydro power - At present hydro power accounts for about 1% of the UK's electricity, but the future could see an increase in the supply and demand for this clean energy source as new small scale hydro plans are being drawn up for potential use.

Wave power - As an island in the northern hemisphere, we are lucky to have wave power all around us. Wave power devices are being heavily invested in right now and with the level of research that is currently happening, we could see wave power providing a significant part of our electricity supply in the not so distant future.

Tidal power - The great thing bout tidal power is its reliability. There's no need to pray for sunny, or windy weather, as the tides come and go like clockwork. There are two ways to harness this power, one is to store water behind a barrage built across an estuary as the tide rises, releasing this water though turbines as the tide drops. The other is to use specially designed marine turbines which act as wind turbines, only underwater.

Geothermal - You may well have seen on nature programmes, or been lucky enough to visit yourself, geothermal spas set amongst freezing cold backdrops. The steam rising from pools surrounded by ice is caused by hot water which is being constantly heated by geothermal rocks from deep underground. By capturing the steam thrown out by these geothermal rocks, steam turbines can produce electricity directly.

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