Solar power can be harnessed either done either through the photovoltaic cells which convert light into electric current, or by converting the sun's heat into electricity. Most people today are familiar with photovoltaic cells which recharge our watches, calculators, street lamps, and sometimes our hot water. On a larger scale, these cells are being used to power homes and commercial buildings off the grid. Solar energy doesn't pollute, can be scaled to meet almost any need, and can be harnessed all over Australia.
Wind can be converted into electricity using wind turbines which create an electrical current as the blade rotates a generator. Wind turbines are mounted on a towers approximately 100 feet (30 meters) tall and connected to the national grid to power homes. Wind energy is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions when it displaces fossil-fuel-derived electricity . Australia is a great place for future wind farm generation with much of the coastline exposed to consistent wind patterns.
Biomass is the term used to describe the generation of energy from organically based sources such as landfill gas, sewage gas and bagasse (sugar cane waste). Energy stored in plants or animals can be captured by decomposition, combustion, or gasification. Burning a renewable resource like plant matter instead of a non-renewable resource like fossil fuels such as coal has a net greenhouse benefit. If plant matter is left to decay in landfill sites it produces methane gas which is 21 times worse than the carbon dioxide produced from burning it.
Most hydroelectric power comes from the energy of dammed water driving a water turbine and generator and produces no waste or carbon dioxide (CO2). Pumped storage hydroelectricity produces electricity to supply high peak demands by moving water between reservoirs at different elevations. At times of low electrical demand, excess electricity is used to pump water into the higher reservoir. When there is higher demand, water is released back into the lower reservoir through a turbine. Pumped storage schemes currently provide the only economic large-scale grid energy storage and improve the amount that can be provided to the base load demanded by households and business.