There’s no doubt that the production of energy is something that mankind is heavily dependent upon. This is the main reason why fossil fuels have been so prevalent when it comes to the production of energy despite their obvious carbon footprint. Humanity’s continued efforts to produce energy has been leaving the planet in a worse and worse state, and while the planet is in no danger of truly suffering from the harmful effects of pollution and its ilk, we have no such luck.
This is why it’s essential to find ways of producing renewable energy that won’t leave a carbon footprint behind, and in some ways, we’ve actually been quite successful. After all, this isn’t necessarily something that would benefit only the planet – it’s to make sure that we still have a clean and green environment when the times comes for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren to enjoy the world we live in.
Starting with kinetic energy
For this list, we’re going to start with one of the more modern and revolutionary means of producing energy without a carbon footprint – kinetic energy. In a nutshell, this energy is produced through the movement of our own bodies – see this one designer who is taking power from our veins.
This honestly comes as a surprise when you consider that we haven’t thought to make use of it until recently. To show just how simple yet revolutionary this is, one of the simplest ways of gathering kinetic energy is through the installation of special sidewalks and pathways.
It’s almost mind-blowing how we didn’t think to do this a long time ago, considering the fact that sidewalks gather a great deal of energy throughout the day, every single day, as people simply walk on by.
It doesn’t stop at sidewalks either. In the same vein, the installation of dance floors is another great means of gathering kinetic energy. This is an incredible way of developing and producing renewable energy with barely anyone making an effort to do so. While it does take a good deal of movement to gather kinetic energy, it’ll be happening without any of us even knowing. And we’d be helping erase the carbon footprint bit by bit.
Making good use of hydropower
No matter where you live, there’s a very big chance that you have flowing water somewhere on your property. This is hydropower! Even if you don’t, you might have thought to add it simply for aesthetics’ sake.
However, what if you were told that this could be a great way of gathering energy? For example, utilising a wind turbine along with the constant flow of water in order to gather renewable energy for very little effort. With this kind of energy, you could be powering home appliances!
There’s a very good reason why many individuals and companies make use of hydropower as a source of energy production – because it’s easy and it’s clean. While it isn’t an obscure and newfound energy production source like kinetic energy might be, it’s still a surprise just how easily you could make use of it. You don’t have to be a powerful corporation after all; the only thing you need is a source of flowing water in order to make full use of it. Not only will it help you save money on electricity, it’ll also help reduce your carbon footprint.
Harnessing the wind
When it comes to making good use of hydropower, you’ll need a wind turbine to help gather the energy of flowing water. Or go visit the windcatchers of Yazd. However, why do they call it a wind turbine to begin with? This is mainly due to the fact that its primary source of energy is supposed to be the wind. For individuals who happen to have very large estates, it’s more than possible to build large wind turbines and have them work like a charm with no other effort involved. After all, it’s using the power of the wind to move the turbines and generate energy.
If you have an estate large enough to place more than one large wind turbine, you won’t have to worry about paying for electricity anytime soon. As an added bonus, your carbon footprint will be reduced significantly, because wind is a renewable power source that is as clean as you can possibly get.
Solar power
We would be remiss not to talk about one of the most popular means of clean and renewable energy production; solar energy. Having gained traction and popularity over the years, you’ll find many homeowners who gather solar energy through panels that absorb the heat of the sun and transform it into usable energy to power home appliances. Even if you haven’t yet experienced how solar panels work, chances are you’ve at least owned a calculator that uses the power of the sun via a small panel to work. It’s become so popular that some homeowners have even replaced much of their roof with solar shingles, which is an excellent option for anyone who’s serious about harnessing solar energy to power their home.
While some might argue that solar power is an imperfect method because it’s only effective when the sun is out, solar panels have evolved over the years to make more out of less and less solar energy. This means that anyone who has enough panels and uses solar shingles on their roof could enjoy an entire night of free and renewable energy provided that the sun shines during the day.
To conclude, there are many different ways of gathering energy without necessarily raising your carbon footprint. As these methods grow more in popularity and technology continues to evolve to better harness them, perhaps it’s no stretch to say that we’ll eventually use these methods exclusively. This will no doubt lead to a much greener and healthier world to live in.
