There's a lot of buzz these days about 'renewable energy', and with Germany's recent decision to close down their nuclear plants by 2012, activists are talking about moving to completely 'renewable energy'. But, why is it called that? What is actually being renewed?
Learn English – Why is it called ‘renewable energy’
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Orenda
The force of human will, in opposition to fate or destiny, to affect the world.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/orenda
a supernatural force believed by the Iroquois Indians to be present, in varying degrees, in all objects or persons, and to be the spiritual force by which human accomplishment is attained or accounted for.http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/orenda
extraordinary invisible power believed by the Iroquois Indians to pervade in varying degrees all animate and inanimate natural objects as a transmissible spiritual energy capable of being exerted according to the will of its possessorhttp://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=orenda
a supernatural, divine force within every human being. Always omnipresent. It empowers people to change the world in a positive, loving way. It is the energy that effects change in One's own life. "That inspirational speaker lifted me up so much with her 'orenda'. She made me feel that energy within myself to change the world for the better, through changing myself."http://io9.com/5905257/10-untranslatable-words-and-when-youll-want-to-use-them
the invocation of the power of human will to change the world around us. It is set up to be the opposing force to fate or destiny. If powerful forces beyond your control are trying to force you one way, orenda is a kind of voiced summoning of personal strength to change fate.http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/orenda
invisible magic power believed by the Iroquois to pervade all natural objects as a spiritual energy.
Also see Google results for "orenda definition"
It is a less common usage but a valid one. It is the second meanging listed in the American Heritage Dictionary. This usage appears to be from the 18th century:
Devolve:
To degenerate or deteriorate gradually:
- After several hours the discussion had devolved into a shouting match.
(AHD)
to degenerate through a gradual change or evolution:
- The scene devolved into chaos.
(M-W)
The de- in devolve is a clue to its meaning. When things devolve, they deteriorate, degenerate, fall apart, go to the dogs, and generally end up worse When a classroom gets loud and rowdy, a teacher might say the class has devolved.
There is another, less negative, meaning of devolve. You can devolve responsibilities: for example, the U.S. government could devolve a certain responsibility to the states. The non-negative meaning of devolve is kind of like passing things on in a will. If I devolve something to you, you inherit it.
(Vocabulary.com)
(intransitive) To degenerate; to break down. [from 18th c.]
- A discussion about politics may devolve into a shouting match.
(Wiktionary)
Best Answer
Renewable energy is energy made from a renewable resource. A renewable resource is one which will (or can easily be made to) reappear given ordinary processes that will run pretty much unchanged for millions of years.
Thus, copper is not a renewable resource because we mine it from the ground and don't put it back where we got it; wood is a renewable resource because trees will just grow again (as long as we don't let all the topsoil wash off).
Hydroelectric power is renewable because rain keeps falling in catchment areas. Nuclear power is not renewable because radioactive isotopes don't appear in the ground again.
It is entirely possible to exhaust a renewable resource: you can cut down all your trees, empty out your reservoir, etc.. What makes them renewable is not that they're inexhaustable, but that they'll be back. (At least given some sensible precautions.)