Renewable energy is defined as energy sources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale and renewable energy technologies have been emerged from the industrial revolution in the first generation, at the end of the 19th century and include hydropower, biomass combustion and geothermal power and heat. Second-generation technologies include solar heating and cooling. Third-generation technologies are still under development and include advanced biomass gasification, bio refinery technologies, concentrating solar thermal power, hot dry rock geothermal energy and ocean energy. Sustainable energy is energy that is consumed at insignificant rates and should meet the future generation needs without compromising. Not all renewable energy is sustainable. The organizing principle for sustainability is sustainable development, which includes the four interconnected domains: ecology, economics, politics and culture.

Related Societies: European Wind Energy Association, Global Wind Energy Council, World Wind Energy Association, World Council for Renewable Energy, American Wind Energy Association, Citizen Partnerships for Offshore Wind (CPOW)