INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN COMPUTER APPLICATIONS AND ROBOTICS www.ijrcar.com Vol.3 Issue 9, Pg.: 15-22 September 2015 P. Manikandan & Dr. S. P. Umayal Page 15 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN COMPUTER APPLICATIONS AND ROBOTICS ISSN 2320-7345 A REVIEW ON THE VARIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES 1 P. Manikandan, 2 Dr. S. P. Umayal 1 Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Sree Sowdambika College of Engineering Aruppukottai, India 2 Professor and HOD, Ultra College of Engineering for Women, Madurai, India Abstract: – This paper deals with the various environmental impacts of renewable energy technologies. Usually all the energy sources have some impact on our environment. Usage of fossil fuels results in serious greenhouse effect and environmental pollution, which have a great influence in the world. Hence it is important to understand the environmental impacts associated with producing power from renewable sources. In this paper the various Environmental Impacts of wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and hydropower was discussed. This paper would be helpful for the Diploma and UG students to understand the various environmental impacts of Renewable Energy System (RES) also they can get idea how to minimise the various Environmental Impacts of Renewable Energy Technologies. Keywords: Wind, Solar, Geothermal, Biomass, Solar, RES 1. INTRODUCTION Renewable energy resources include the sun, wind, moving water such as rivers and tides, and earth’s core heat - along with a little human ingenuity these resources are used to produce usable energy in the form of electricity or heat. The most common definition is that renewable energy is from an energy resource that is replaced by a natural process at a rate that is equal to or faster than the rate at which that resource is being consumed. Renewable energy is a subset of sustainable energy. 1.1 Solar Sunlight, or solar energy, can directly heat and light homes and commercial buildings, be harnessed for generating electricity, hot water heating, solar cooling, and a variety of commercial and industrial uses. 1.2 Wind The heating and cooling of the Earth by the sun also creates the wind which can be converted into energy by spinning the blades of wind turbines, the modern day wind mills. Wind turbines today range from small to enormous in size, allowing electricity production from home use to an industrial scale.