GC: n

CT: Green energy is defined as energy generated from renewable resources through licensable and environmentally and socially responsible developments. … Green energy generation results in low or no emissions of greenhouse gases, sulphur oxides and local air pollutants.

S: TERMIUMPLUS (BC Hydro – http://www.bchydro.com)

N: 1. green (adj): Old English grene “green, young, immature, raw,” earlier groeni, from Proto-Germanic gronja- (cognates: Old Saxon grani, Old Frisian grene, Old Norse grænn, Danish grøn, Dutch groen, Old High German gruoni, German grün), from PIE root ghre- “grow” (see grass), through sense of “color of living plants.”
energy (n): 1590s, “force of expression,” from Middle French énergie (16c.), from Late Latin energia, from Greek energeia “activity, action, operation,” from energos “active, working,” from en “at” + ergon “work, that which is wrought; business; action”.
Used by Aristotle with a sense of “actuality, reality, existence” (opposed to “potential”) but this was misunderstood in Late Latin and afterward as “force of expression,” as the power which calls up realistic mental pictures. Broader meaning of “power” in English is first recorded 1660s. Scientific use is from 1807. Energy crisis first attested 1970.
2. Not to be confused with “clean energy”, which refers to energy that has little or no impact on the environment but that is not necessarily renewable.
3. Renewable energy and green power — what’s the difference?
In short, not all sources of power generation have the same environmental benefits and costs.
Green power is a subset of renewable energy (Graph 1) and represents those renewable energy resources and technologies that provide the highest environmental benefit. EPA defines green power as electricity produced from solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, eligible biomass, and low-impact small hydroelectric sources. Customers often buy green power for avoided environmental impacts and its greenhouse gas reduction benefits.

S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=green+energy&searchmode=none; http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=energy&searchmode=none (last access: 1 February 2015). 2. TERMIUM PLUS (last access: 1 February 2015). 3. http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/gpmarket/ (last access: 1 February 2015).

SYN: 1. soft energy. 2. green power.

S: 1. GDT (last access: 1 February 2015). 2. EPA – http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/gpmarket/ (last access: 1 February 2015).

CR: autotroph, energy, grey energy, renewable energy.