Investing in renewable energy in Spain is booming. The energy sector in general, after the geopolitical crisis, which was caused by the war between Ukraine and Russia , has led the European Union to focus its sights on the sector.
Invest in renewable energy Spain
Goals:
- Depend less on other countries, diversifying energy supply providers.
- Promote the production of renewable energies, taking advantage of strategic places such as Spain on the way to energy efficiency.
- Promote participation in renewables.
The response of the European Union has been clear, increased investment to avoid depending on Russia for oil and gas.
The European Union will invest 300,000 million until 2030. Of these, only 12,000 million will be allocated to oil and gas, the remaining 288,000 million will be invested in clean energy.
The final objective is that in the year 2050 the electricity consumed in Europe that comes from renewable energies represents 66%
On the other hand, the Spanish government has budgeted spending in the sector at 6,900 million euros, being pioneers in investment in renewable energies.
What are renewable energies
- Wind energy : it is obtained from the wind.
- Solar energy : whose origin is the sun. The main technologies are solar photovoltaic (uses sunlight) and solar thermal (uses heat from the sun).
- Hydraulic or hydroelectric energy: the energy that is obtained from fresh water currents of rivers or waterfalls of reservoirs.
- Biomass and biogas : the energy that is extracted from organic matter.
- Geothermal energy: the energy obtained from the interior of the Earth.
- Tidal energy: the energy that is obtained from the tides.
- Wave energy or wave energy: the energy obtained from waves.
- Bioethanol : organic fuel suitable for the automotive industry and for use in the home.
- Biodiesel : organic automotive fuel obtained from vegetable oils and methanol.
Wind power
Wind energy is that which is obtained from the wind. How does the process work?
With the movement of the blades caused by the waves of the wind, this causes kinetic energy, which is converted into electricity when transformed in the generator.
The object that is used to generate the electricity is called a wind turbine, they do all the magic. They are the “windmills” that we usually see when we go down the road.
Solar energy
In Spain the sun is king, which is why currently the area of most explored renewables is photovoltaic panel plants. How does it work?
The solar panels are made up of so-called solar cells, in the front part the charge is negative and in the rear part the charge is positive. The latter are responsible for transforming solar radiation into electricity. How does it happen? The voltage generated by the positive and negative charge, when in contact with radiation, produces electrical energy.
Hydraulic or hydroelectric power
Hydraulic or hydroelectric energy is that which is obtained from freshwater streams from rivers or waterfalls from reservoirs. The kinetic energy that moves the water causes it to pass through a turbine, which produces electricity through generators.
Biomass and biogas
It comes from organic matter. The types of biomass can be divided into 3:
- natural biomass (nature’s own)
- residual biomass (waste produced by humans)
- produced biomass (crops that are grown exclusively to generate energy)
To transform it, 2 methods are used: thermochemical (uses heat to produce energy) and biochemical (decomposition of matter that produces biogas).
Geothermal energy
It is produced by the heat of the Earth. It is a geographically limited energy and that the energy production plants must be located near the heat source. This energy can be obtained from solids (rocks) or from liquids (hot waters underground).
Seawater energy
Tidal energy is generated by the movement of the sea (tides).
All this as a consequence of gravity. When the Moon and Earth line up they produce high tides and low tides.
This involves the movement of a large volume of water. And we can take advantage of it to transform it into energy. Two ways: using tidal dams or tidal generators.
Wave energy
It is the one that takes place by the movement of the waves. How is electricity produced? Through a system of buoys that collect the movement of the wave and send it to the turbines that are at the bottom of the sea. The latter are responsible for transforming that movement into energy.
Bioethanol
Bioethanol or ethyl alcohol comes from the distillation of carbohydrates such as plants that contain a high degree of sugar. As well as barley, sugar cane, beets, etc. It is commonly used in homes for fireplaces and as fuel for cars.
Biodiesel
Biodiesel is a fuel obtained from the mixture of vegetable oils with methanol. Its main advantage is that it is much more biodegradable than those of fossil origin (gasoline).
As you can see, there are several ways to obtain energy. You can choose between the one you think you will get the most return on investing. I leave you this article on the reasons why investing in renewable energy is a good option, here .
