Renewable Energy (RE) is now making a noticeable impact especially in the lives
of rural masses. Simultaneously though, its use for urban and semi-urban applications
is also growing by the day. The Indian RE programme was amongst the first few such
programmes to shape up globally. Since then, it has assumed respectable market leadership
position in a few areas moreso in wind energy and solar energy.
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight,
wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable (naturally replenished).
In 2006, about 18% of global final energy consumption came from renewable, with
13% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3% from
hydroelectricity. New renewable (small hydro, modern biomass, wind, solar, geothermal,
and biofuels) accounted for another 2.4% and are growing very rapidly.[1] The share
of renewable in electricity generation is around 18%, with 15% of global electricity
coming from hydroelectricity and 3.4% from new renewable
Main forms of renewable energy
• Wind power • Hydropower • Solar energy •
Biofuel • Geothermal energy
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