{"id":238,"date":"2022-11-22T12:44:21","date_gmt":"2022-11-22T18:44:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chariot2020prd.wpengine.com\/?p=238"},"modified":"2026-03-31T22:17:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T22:17:08","slug":"what-is-green-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/blog\/what-is-green-energy\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Green Energy?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>If you\u2019re an electricity consumer who wants to reduce their <a href=\"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/chariot-university\/carbon-footprint\/\">carbon footprint<\/a> and make more environmentally conscious decisions, you\u2019ll probably choose a green plan when signing up for electricity. Before you do that, though, it\u2019s important you know <em>exactly<\/em> what green energy is. For instance, even though all green power is renewable, not all renewable energy is considered green. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To help you make smarter, more informed decisions about choosing a green electricity plan for your home, it\u2019s important to develop a working understanding of green and renewable energy. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Difference Between Green and Renewable Energy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While many people commonly equate the two, green energy is technically a subsection of renewable energy. The distinctions are pretty clear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Renewable energy<\/em> distinguishes itself from \u201cconventional\u201d power because it can be renewed, and it\u2019s inexhaustible. Conventional power is produced from fossil fuels that exist in finite amounts, including coal, oil, and natural gas, while renewable energy can be easily restored over a short period of time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, similar to conventional power, some <a href=\"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/chariot-university\/renewable-energy-sources\/\">sources of renewable energy<\/a> can and do have environmental impacts. For example, hydroelectric systems can impact bodies of water, the land around them, and the species that reside in them. <em>Green energy<\/em>, as defined by the EPA, includes electricity derived from sources such as solar, geothermal, wind, biomass, biogas, and other low-impact hydroelectric systems. Green power is considered the most beneficial electricity supply, as it provides the greatest benefits to the environment and with little to no impact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Different Kinds of Green Energy<br><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Like conventional energy, we can obtain green energy from a variety of sources, including: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/chariot-university\/what-is-solar-energy\/\">Solar<\/a>: Energy derived from solar cells that absorb the sun\u2019s energy, which causes a chemical reaction to generate electricity<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Wind: Energy derived from a wind-powered rotor that turns a generator to produce electricity<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Biomass: Energy derived from burning waste, such as wood, garbage, and manure. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Geothermal: Energy derived from the Earth\u2019s natural heating and cooling process<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Biogas: Energy derived from the decomposition of animal waste and manure. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Low-impact hydropower: Energy derived from bodies of water, such as lakes, rivers, and waterfalls. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Benefits of Green Energy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While conventional energy is often described as \u201cdirty\u201d because creating it produces greenhouse gases, green energy is considered \u201cclean\u201d as it represents energy sources that emit little or no emissions when creating electricity. The three chief benefits for increasing the production of green energy in the electricity marketplace include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Reducing <a href=\"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/chariot-university\/greenhouse-gases\/\">greenhouse gas emissions <\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lowering your carbon footprint<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Increasing the development of additional renewable energy resources and programs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Future of America is Green <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The transition to clean energy is happening now, and Texas retail electricity providers (REPs) like Chariot Energy are leading the way. They help the public transition to this new way of thinking by providing education and incentives showcasing the efficacy and reliability of renewable energy resources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/ieefa.org\/ieefa-u-s-april-is-shaping-up-to-be-momentous-in-transition-from-coal-to-renewables\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">report<\/a> by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/energyexplained\/electricity\/electricity-in-the-us.php\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">U.S. renewable energy<\/a> sector generated produced more electricity than coal-fired plants did in April 2019. As coal use for electricity generation continues to dwindle, it\u2019s being replaced by greener and cleaner options. These include natural gas, currently America\u2019s largest source of power, and hydropower, which produced approximately 7 percent of total U.S. electricity in 2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Currently, renewable energy creates nearly 20 percent of all U.S. electricity. In comparison, coal produced approximately 27 percent of U.S. electricity in 2018. That\u2019s only a 7 percent difference \u2013 and it continues to shrink! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you purchase a green electricity plan from a company like Chariot, you\u2019re helping the Texas energy industry continue its shift to renewable energy. This lowers greenhouse gas emissions, supports the development of renewable energy infrastructure, and sends a message to both generators and REPs that the future of electricity in the United States is, indeed, green. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re an electricity consumer who wants to reduce their carbon footprint and make more environmentally conscious decisions, you\u2019ll probably choose a green plan when signing up for electricity. Before you do that, though, it\u2019s important you know exactly what green energy is. For instance, even though all green power is renewable, not all renewable [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":21581,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[36,48],"class_list":["post-238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-renewable-energy","tag-green-electricity","tag-renewable-energy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chariotenergy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}