What is Renewable Energy?

Avista supports the use of renewable resources and has long shown leadership in energy production from renewables. Currently, there are five main types of renewable energy. Here’s how they work:

• Wind. Wind power is the world’s fastest growing renewable energy resource. Wind spins the turbine blades to generate emission-free electricity.
• Hydroelectric. Hydropower is clean, efficient, and reliable. Dams guide water to drive turbines and a generator to create electricity. About half of Avista’s power is generated from hydro.
• Geothermal. This technology produces electricity from hydrothermal resources. There are two types of geothermal, steam and binary. Steam uses very hot water resources while binary utilizes lower temperature resources with a heat exchanger.
• Biomass. Byproducts are converted into biogas through the natural process of anaerobic digestion. The gas is then burned to create electricity. Byproducts, like wood waste at Avista’s Kettle Falls, Washington, facility, may also be burned directly to generate steam to produce electricity. Biomass generation emissions are significantly lower than fossil fuel-generated forms of energy.
• Solar. Energy from the sun is captured and converted to electricity with photovoltaic cells. This inexhaustible source of energy does not produce carbon dioxide emissions but remains a more expensive form of renewable energy.

To learn more about renewable energy, visit the links below:

• National Renewable Energy Laboratory
• DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Site