Understanding the pros and cons of generating and selling green power enables engineers to make better renewable energy choices.
Steven Eich, PE, LEED AP, and Morris Toporek, PE
The green building industry, concern over global warming, and the rising cost of fossil fuels have driven recent interest in renewable energy, making relevant products and systems more readily available and easier to use. Unlike finite energy sources like fossil fuels, renewable sources like solar, wind, biogas, biomass, and geothermal are for the most part inexhaustible, provided they are used at the rate at which they are naturally replenished.
As the renewable energy industry has grown, a new submarket has developed: the buying and selling of green power. Green power can be purchased and sold in different ways. Depending on the state, local electric utilities may offer green power options directly from its grid. Some areas even allow the buyer to choose from competitive suppliers. Renewable energy certificates (RECs), which represent a unit of renewable energy equal to 1 MWh, may be an option as well.
Sources of renewable energy currently being used
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