Citizens Action Coalition Education Fund

"To many people, the most familiar forms of renewable energy are the wind and the sun. But biomass (plant material and animal waste) supplies almost 15 times as much energy in the United States as wind and solar power combined – and has the potential to supply much more." Biomass "is the oldest source of renewable energy known to humans, used since our ancestors learned the secret of fire."

"Heat from the earth can be used as an energy source in many ways, from large and complex power stations to small and relatively simple pumping systems. This heat energy, know as geothermal energy, can be found almost anywhere – as far away as remote deep wells in Indonesia and as close as the dirt in our backyards.

"Water is currently the leading renewable energy source used by electric utilities to generate electric power. Hydroelectric plants operate where suitable waterways are available; many of the best of these sites have already been developed. Generating electricity using water has several advantages. The major advantage is that water is a source of cheap power.

The harnessing of water was the only widely used renewable electricity technology before the 1980s. Hydropower is still one of the most significant sources of renewable energy, producing 20% of the world’s electricity and 10% of that of the United States. "The 1973 oil crisis awoke the country to its vulnerability through dependence on foreign oil.

"In the broadest sense, solar energy supports all life on Earth and is the basis for almost every form of energy we use. The sun makes plants grow, which can be burned as 'biomass' fuel or, if left to rot in swamps and compressed underground for millions of years, in the form of coal and oil. Heat from the sun causes temperature differences between areas, producing wind that can power turbines.

More and more states are adopting renewable portfolio standards (RPS), also known as renewable electricity standards (RES). These standards require utilities to provide increasing amounts of electricity to consumers from renewable energy resources, like wind, solar and biomass.

"Wind power is both old and new. From the sailing ships of the ancient Greeks, to the grain mills of pre-industrial Holland, to the latest high-tech wind turbines rising over the Minnesota prairie, humans have used the power of the wind for millennia." During the late 1800s and early 1900s, American farmers harnessed the power of wind to pump water.