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Alternative energy seems to be all the rage today, but a lot of people have are unsure of what it is or have different definitions. I hope this article clears things up,

One way to look at it is to consider alternative energy an alternative to “standard” energy. Since the mid-1800s standard energy has pretty much meant fossil fuels – coal, oil and natural gas.

However our reliance on fossil fuels is relatively recent. It wasn’t that long ago that ships were powered by sales and horses move goods and people on land.

Dutch windmills are an icon of the country. Windows are also closely associated wit old ranches of the American West.

Many people are surprised to learn that producing solar hot water heating systems was a commercially profitable business in the latter part of the 19th century and early 20th century.

I think you can see that our dependence on fossil fuels is relatively recent. Rather than something completely new, using alternative energies is a return to an older practice.

With that background, here’s my working definition of alternative energy: energy from a source other than the burning of fossil fuels (again coal, oil and its derivatives and natural gas).

While many people automatically assume that alternative energy sources are renewable, that isn’t necessarily so. For example, burning peat for heat is an alternative energy, but it is neither clean nor renewable.

However most sources of alternative energy are renewable as well as better for the environment than fossil fuel. That is why there is such interest in these types of energy these days.

When people think about alternative energy solar panels and windmills are probably the most common things that come to mind. However there are many other forms of alternative energy are ready available (for example geothermal and biomass) and researchers are exploring some entirely new possibilities

I think we can safely expect that the use of all forms of alternative energy will increase until they become the new standard.