The key with these energy resources are that they don’t harm the environment through factors such as releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
In order to be deemed green energy, a resource cannot produce pollution, such as is found with fossil fuels.
This means that not all sources used by the renewable energy industry are green.
For example, power generation that burns organic material from sustainable forests may be renewable, but it is not necessarily green, due to the CO2 produced by the burning process itself.
Green energy sources are usually naturally replenished, as opposed to fossil fuel sources like natural gas or coal, which can take millions of years to develop.
Green sources also often avoid mining or drilling operations that can be damaging to eco-systems.
Green energy is that which comes from natural sources, such as the sun.
Renewable energy comes from sources that are constantly being replenished, such as hydropower, wind power or solar energy.
Renewable energy is often seen as being the same, but there is still some debate around this.
For example, can a hydroelectric dam which may divert waterways and impact the local environment really be called ‘green?’
However, a source such as wind power is renewable, green and clean – since it comes from an environmentally-friendly, self-replenishing and non-polluting source.
