Renewable energy is generated from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which can be naturally replenished. In 2006, about 18% of global final energy consumption came from renewables, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, such as wood-burning and 3% from hydroelectricity.
People walk on the Moiry dam near Grimentz in Switzerland. Hydroelectric power accounts for about 58% of Switzerland's electricity production.
From the Himalayas to the Andes, faster-melting glaciers spell short-term opportunities -- and long-term risks -- for hydroelectric power and the engineering and construction industries it drives.
People watch the release of excess water from a hydroelectric power station near the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.
Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric power station, opened in 1967, is one of the largest power stations in Russia.
A worker is seen at the top of a power-generating windmill turbine in a wind farm in Fruges, near Saint Omer, northern France.
The wind farm, which has 70 power-generating 2 megawatt windmill turbines, is capable of producing 140 megawatts of green energy. That is enough to power some 150 000 households.
Bathers at the Blue Lagoon hot springs swim in hot mineral waters amid a chilly wind as a thermal electricity plant looms in the background.
Iceland has taken advantage of its natural hot mineral-rich water caused by volcanic activity, to heat and provide electricity to most homes around the capital Reykjavik, and power its aluminum smelter.
Workers restore the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station near the Siberian village of Cheryomushki, about 520 km (323 miles) south of Krasnoyarsk.
The power station has halted power production after the August 17, 2009 accident when a turbine room in the station flooded, killing more than 70 people and causing billions of roubles of damage.
An aerial view of Russia's largest Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station on the Yenisei River in the Siberian Khakassia region.
It is the largest power plant in Russia and the sixth-largest hydroelectric plant in the world, by average power generation.
Wind turbines operate at the newly-built Capital Wind Farm near Tarago, about 35 kilometres (22 miles) north of Canberra.
The Capital Wind Farm will generate enough power to keep 60,000 homes going.The giant wind towers are built to withstand huge wind gusts of up to 210 kilometres per hour.
The new PS20 solar plant at "Solucar" solar park in Sanlucar La Mayor, near Seville.
The solar thermal power plant uses mirrors to concentrate the sun's rays onto towers where they produce steam to drive a turbine, producing electricity. The plant produces enough energy to supply 10,000 households, and prevents the emission of about 12,000 tons of CO2 a year.
A technician poses for the media as he checks the voltage at a solar panel of the Lieberose solar farm, which is the world's second biggest solar power plant and Germany's biggest, with an area of 162 hectares (equivalent to more than 210 football fields) in Turnow-Preilack, about 150 km (93 miles) southeast of Berlin.
A Masaai herdsman looks after his cattle near the power-generating wind turbines at the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) station in Ngong hills, southwest of Kenya's capital Nairobi.
Kenya plans to add 2,000 megawatts of more environmentally-friendly energy by 2013 by investing $7-$8 billion. KenGen is setting up some wind turbines and a private company is planning a 300 MW wind farm in Kenya's northeastern region by 2012. Kenya has the world's highest household solar ownership rate with roughly 30,000 small (20-100 watt) solar power systems sold per year.
An Indian village woman gathers dried cow dung cakes in the Teliarganj area on the outskirts of Allahabad.
Cow dung cakes are a major source of domestic fuel for rural households and an environment friendly alternative to firewood in the village areas in many parts of India. In recent times, dung is collected and used as biogas which is used to generate electricity and heat. The gas is a rich source of methane and is used in rural areas of India to provide a renewable, stable and environment friendly source of electricity.
Wind turbines are seen in Wuzhong, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.
China's renewable energy strategy through 2050 envisions renewable energy making up one-third of its energy consumption by then.
Source: Reuters, India Syndicate