Perpetual Resources

Perpetual resources are those elements that can be used by man to satisfy certain needs, and that cannot be exhausted. Perpetual resources are natural renewable resources: they are provided by nature without human intervention and they are renewable because they regenerate after it utilization. Examples of perpetual resources are:

• Wind energy.
• Solar energy.
• Geothermal Energy

Although the amount of perpetual resources available to mankind is enormous, actually there are cheaper alternatives to produce energy available. Most of the electricity comes from other kind of resources, like fossil fuels. But the future of perpetual resources to produce electricity is promising: new scientific discoveries and technology developments are allowing to reduce the costs of producing usable energy for mankind.

Saying that a natural resource is perpetual, doesn't mean that it utilization doesn't have an impact on the ecosystem. For example, a wind turbines park can have a very negative effect on the ecosystem of the region where it is placed. The direct generation of electricity or other forms of energy from perpetual resources doesn't generate carbon dioxide emissions, but CO2 emissions can be generated indirectly, for example, to build a solar panel or a wind turbine.

Wind is caused by heat from the energy of the sun. Wind doesn't decrease when used.

By using wind turbines, the wind can be used to produce electricity. The share of wind electricity is 2.6%, but it is much higher is some countries that have locations with constant wind and beneficial economical terms, like Denmark and Portugal (5.3% and 4.6% share of wind energy consumption) ¹⁾

The radiation of the sun can be utilized to heat water, which in turn can be used to produce electricity (solar thermal electricity) or as domestic or industrial hot water; and to produce electricity directly (solar photovoltaic electricity).

To produce solar thermal electricity, the sun energy is concentrated by the utilization of an element, like a mirror, and then used to heat water. The heated water is used to drive a turbine that outputs electrical current.

To produce solar photovoltaic electricity, a panel containing solar photovoltaic cells is used to convert the radiation into electricity.

Like wind, there are places where the radiation of the sun is higher and thus more suitable for the installation of solar power plants. Countries like Cyprus and Spain, are producing a lot of energy from the sun. (3.2%, 2.3% share of solar energy in total consumption respectively ²⁾)

Geothermal energy is derived from the natural heat of the earth. It doesn't decrease when used. The heat from the earth can be used in some specific geographical places where hot water or streams are near the surface. This energy can be used to generate electricity or as hot water for residential or industrial usage.