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Alternative energy, renewable energy, green energy - all these terms and more get tossed around a lot these days. Just what is alternative energy?

Most energy today is used as fuel to generate electricity, provide heat or run internal combustion engines. Fossils fuels - coal, oil and natural gas provide the vast majority of it.

This wasn't always the case. In the not too distant past, animals provided transportation and water mills powered small industries.

A windmill by a ranch house is an icon of the American west because thousands of windmills were used to provide power to pump water before electricity was available.

Early in the 20th century nearly 1/3rd of homes in Florida used solar hot water. The availability of cheap electricity in the 1940's changed that. At one point electric companies were even giving away hot water heaters to encourage consumption.

On the stage of human history, the dominance of fossil fuels has been very brief and very recent. As it becomes harder and more expensive to meet our energy needs with fossil fuel, we're returning to other ways of obtaining power.

So the current definition of alternative energy is: energy from a source other than the burning of fossil fuels (again coal, oil and its derivatives and natural gas).

While many people automatically assume that alternative energy sources are renewable, that isn't necessarily so. For example, burning peat for heat is an alternative energy, but it is neither clean nor renewable.

However most sources of alternative energy are renewable as well as better for the environment than fossil fuel. That is why there is such interest in these types of energy these days.

The alternative sources people most commonly think of are solar power, wind power and hydropower. However, researchers are eagerly exploring other innovative sources as well. These include things such geothermal, biomass and tidal power.

In the not too distant future we can expect that these forms of energy will no longer be "alternative" but instead be our dominate sources.

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