Environmental Impact Assessment of Different Renewable Energy Resources

For a sustainable development of human civilization, a secure and sufficient energy supply is very crucial. Global energy demand is expected to grow substantially, which will lead to increased production of energy from various sources. Conventional energy sources (e.g., oil, coal, and natural gas) drive economic progress, but utilization of these sources produces significant amounts of greenhouse gases that are responsible for global warming and ozone layer depletion. Policy regulations, such as California's low carbon fuel standard and European Union's fuel quality directive, encourage energy generation from cleaner sources. Renewable energy sources (e.g., solar, wind, biomass, hydro, and geothermal) are cleaner and easily accessible compared to conventional sources of energy. The potential of renewable energy sources is enormous. Renewable energy sector is growing faster and providing sustainable energy services. In this chapter, environmental impact assessments of different renewable energy generation systems are reviewed.