Renewables are non-depletable sources of energy because they are naturally replenished on a time scale which is compatible with human life. This can take place through physical processes, such as the use of natural elements like the sunlight, wind and water motion and geothermal heat, or through chemical processes such as the use of waste and residue from various types of biomasses, household waste, agricultural and food industry processing. In the latter cases, it means consuming organic substances by putting the carbon back into circulation that those same substances had accumulated only a few years earlier, i.e. without altering the global natural balance of the carbon dioxide and without increasing its concentration in the atmosphere.
The decarbonization challenge places renewable energy at the center of all the strategies aimed to fulfill the world energy demand but contemporarily cutting emissions both from the energy production operations and from the use of energy products by the customers. The EU target is to improve the efficiency and the environmental impact of the energy products and processes by 2050 whilst at the same time contributing to achieve Goal 7 of the United Nations 2030 Agenda: to facilitate universal access to affordable and cleaner energy.
