electricity , and that percentage continues to grow. The following graphic breaks down the shares of total electricity production in among the types of renewable power:. In , annual U. renewable energy generation surpassed coal for the first time in history.

The United States is a resource-rich country with enough renewable energy resources to generate more than times the amount of electricity Americans use each year. Learn more about renewable energy potential in the United States. Subscribe to stay up to date on the latest clean energy news from EERE.

The U. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy EERE has three core divisions: Renewable Energy, Sustainable Transportation and Fuels, and Buildings and Industry.

The Renewable Energy pillar comprises four technology offices:. Every American can advocate for renewable energy by becoming a Clean Energy Champion. Both small and large actions make a difference. Join the movement. EERE offers funding for renewable energy research and development, as well as programs that support the siting of renewable energy , connection of renewable energy to the grid , and community-led energy projects.

Find open funding opportunities and learn how to apply for funding. Department of Energy's 17 national laboratories conduct research and help bring renewable energy technologies to market. Homeowners and renters can use clean energy at home by buying green power, installing renewable energy systems to generate electricity, or using renewable resources for water and space heating and cooling.

Visit Energy Saver to learn more about the use of renewable energy at home. You may be eligible for federal and state tax credits if you install a renewable energy system in your home.

Visit ENERGY STAR to learn about federal renewable energy tax credits for homeowners. For information on state incentives, visit the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency. EERE is dedicated to building a clean energy economy, which means millions of new jobs in construction, manufacturing, and many other industries.

Learn more about job opportunities in renewable energy:. What Is Renewable Energy? How Does Renewable Energy Work? Bioenergy Geothermal Energy Hydrogen and Other Renewable Fuels Hydropower Marine Energy Solar Energy Wind Energy.

Myth Busting with EERE. Benefits of Renewable Energy. While green tech has become increasingly popular in the modern age, elements of these business practices have been in use since the Industrial Revolution.

Beginning in the early 19th century, scientists began to observe the ecological impacts of coal-burning industrial plants, and manufacturers have sought to reduce their negative environmental externalities by altering production processes to produce less soot or waste byproducts. In the United States, one of the most important milestones was the Second World War.

In order to reduce consumption and waste, more than , volunteers began collecting metal, paper, rubber, and other materials for the war effort. Following the war, scientists like Rachel Carson began warning of the consequences of chemical pesticides, while doctors abroad reported mysterious illnesses associated with nuclear radiation.

Many point to this era as the genesis of the ecological movement, which sought to preserve ecosystems and resources while raising awareness of the consequences of runaway technology. Government bodies slowly recognized the importance of protecting environmental resources.

Curbside recycling programs became common over the following decades, raising awareness about household waste. The Environmental Protection Agency, established in , set firm requirements on pollution and waste and established mandates for coal scrubbers and other clean technologies.

In the United States, the first major recycling program was launched during World War II. Nearly half a million volunteers pitched in, recycling tens of thousands of tons of waste to help the war effort.

Green technology is a broad category that encompasses several forms of environmental remediation. While climate change and carbon emissions are now considered among the most pressing global issues, there are also many efforts to address local environmental hazards.

Some seek to protect specific ecosystems or endangered species. Others seek to conserve scarce natural resources by finding more sustainable alternatives.

In order to provide a viable alternative to fossil fuels, many businesses are seeking to engineer alternative sources of energy that do not generate atmospheric carbon. Solar and wind power are now among the most inexpensive sources of energy , and solar panels are affordable to U.

homeowners at a consumer scale. Other alternatives, such as geothermal and tidal energy, have yet to be deployed at scale. Nearly a third of U.

greenhouse gas emissions are released by transportation activities, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Many manufacturers are exploring ways to reduce automotive emissions, either by designing more fuel-efficient engines or shifting to electrical power.

However, electric vehicles require a host of innovations in other spheres, such as high-capacity rechargeable batteries and charging infrastructure. In addition, the benefits of electric vehicles are limited by the fact that many power grids still rely on fossil fuels.

Farming and livestock have a substantial environmental footprint, from the high costs of land and water usage to the ecological consequences of pesticides, fertilizers, and animal waste.

As a result, there are many opportunities for green technology in the area of agriculture. For example, organic farming techniques can reduce the damage due to soil exhaustion, innovations in cattle feed can reduce methane emissions, and meat substitutes can reduce the consumption of livestock.

Recycling seeks to conserve scarce resources by reusing materials or finding sustainable substitutes. While plastic, glass, paper, and metal waste are the most familiar forms of recycling, more sophisticated operations can be used to recover expensive raw materials from e-waste or automobile parts.

Carbon capture refers to a group of experimental technologies that seek to remove and sequester greenhouse gases, either at the point of combustion or from the atmosphere.

This technology has been heavily promoted by the fossil fuel industry, although it has yet to deliver on those expectations. The largest carbon capture facility can absorb 4, tons of carbon dioxide per year, a minuscule amount compared to annual emissions.

The amount of new energy capacity that comes from wind and solar power. While green tech is a broad and hard-to-define category, some types of green technology have experienced wide adoption. Several countries have launched initiatives to eliminate single-use plastics, a goal that would require sizeable investments in alternatives, such as paper substitutes, bioplastics, or recycling technologies.

Renewable energy is another frontier for green tech adoption, with fossil fuels recognized as a significant driver for climate change. While green technologies have the shared goal of preserving biodiversity and conserving the earth's resources, there are few ways to do so without affecting the environment in other ways.

In some cases, reducing environmental costs in one area means causing adverse impacts in another. For example, the batteries in electric vehicles rely on lithium, an element that is often strip-mined from South American rain forests.

Hydroelectric dams have low carbon emissions, but high impacts on the salmon and other species that rely on those waterways. Green energy devices such as solar panels and wind turbines require a host of rare minerals, that can only be extracted by diesel-powered mining machinery.

This does not necessarily mean that green technology is a lost cause, but it does require careful accounting to ensure that the benefits outweigh the costs.

The cheapest form of alternative energy is solar power, according to the International Energy Agency. In its World Outlook Report, the Agency found that photovoltaic solar energy is "consistently cheaper than new coal- or gas-fired power plants in most countries, and solar projects now offer some of the lowest-cost electricity ever seen.

The easiest way to invest in green tech is to buy stock in companies that are making major bets on environmentally-friendly technologies. Investors can attempt to identify individual stocks, or simply invest in a mutual fund, index fund, or another instrument that seeks to reflect the broader market for environmental investments.

The advantage to the latter approach is that the investor will gain diversified exposure to the green tech industry, rather than the fortunes of a single company. Nuclear power is a deeply controversial subject, and many scientists have disputed its benefits.

Although nuclear power derived from fission can provide reliable, inexpensive electricity without greenhouse gases, it also produces highly radioactive waste that must be stored for thousands of years. Some activists have argued that nuclear power can never be safely generated, and a number of high-profile accidents—notably at Chernobyl and Fukushima—have highlighted these concerns.

However, it should also be noted that the combined death toll from nuclear accidents is far lower than the annual fatalities from fossil fuel pollution.

The White House. Northeast Recycling Council. Environmental Protection Agency. Bloomberg Green. The Guardian. Energy Information Administration. Electricity Generating Capacity in United Nations Environment Programme.

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or Information Services and Technology IST at Renewable Energy Technologies Earn a Certificate Courses for everyone 7. Fully online. Ladders three series and two additional courses into a certificate.

Fast-track your path into the job market. Earn a Certificate in Renewable Energy Technologies. EXERM The sug­gest­ed but not required order of com­ple­tion is: EXERM , EXERM , EXERM , EXERM , EXERM , EXERM , EXERM Course planner schedule-at-a-glance.

No pre­req­ui­sites. Work­ing expe­ri­ence in a relat­ed area is rec­om­mend­ed but not required. It is also rec­om­mend­ed that par­tic­i­pants have com­plet­ed high school and are pro­fi­cient in English.

Program Plan. Apply for Your Credential To qualify for program completion you are required to submit a request to obtain your credential. Lad­ders three series and two addi­tion­al cours­es into a certificate.

Tuition and Funding Assistance. Tuition is paid on a course-by-course basis as you reg­is­ter for your classes. Cours­es are GST-exempt. Eli­gi­ble for the Cana­da-Alber­ta Job Grant.

Bursaries and funding opportunities. Ready to start this program? Updates via email ×. Receive occasional updates about: Select All. You may also be interested in Related credentials: Renewable Energy Essentials. Select a course today Series info. Solar Energy Development and Design. Wind Energy Development and Design.

Cart is empty explore our course catalogue. Essential technologies such as battery storage systems allow energy from renewables, like solar and wind, to be stored and released when people, communities and businesses need power.

They help to increase energy system flexibility due to their unique capability to quickly absorb, hold and re-inject electricity, says the International Renewable Energy Agency. Moreover, when paired with renewable generators, battery storage technologies can provide reliable and cheaper electricity in isolated grids and to off-grid communities in remote locations.

A robust supply of renewable energy components and raw materials is essential. More widespread access to all the key components and materials - from the minerals needed to produce wind turbines and electricity networks, to electric vehicles - will be key. It will take significant international coordination to expand and diversify manufacturing capacity globally.

While global cooperation and coordination is critical, domestic policy frameworks must urgently be reformed to streamline and fast-track renewable energy projects and catalyze private sector investments. Technology, capacity and funds for renewable energy transition exist, but there needs to be policies and processes in place to reduce market risk and enable and incentivize investments - including through streamlining the planning, permitting and regulatory processes, and preventing bottlenecks and red tape.

This could include allocating space to enable large-scale build-outs in special Renewable Energy Zones. Clear and robust policies, transparent processes, public support and the availability of modern energy transmission systems are key to accelerating the uptake of wind and solar energy technologies.

Fossil fuel subsidies are both inefficient and inequitable. Across developing countries, about half of the public resources spent to support fossil fuel consumption benefits the richest 20 percent of the population, according to the IMF.

Shifting subsidies from fossil fuels to renewable energy not only cuts emissions, it also contributes to the sustainable economic growth, job creation, better public health and more equality, particularly for the poor and most vulnerable communities around the world.

Not nearly as high as yearly fossil fuel subsidies, this investment will pay off. The funding is there - what is needed is commitment and accountability, particularly from the global financial systems, including multilateral development banks and other public and private financial institutions, that must align their lending portfolios towards accelerating the renewable energy transition.

What is renewable energy and why does it matter? Learn more about why the shift to renewables is our only hope for a brighter and safer world. Derived from natural resources that are abundant and continuously replenished, renewable energy is key to a safer, cleaner, and sustainable world.

Explore common sources of renewable energy here. Skip to main content.