In 1981, the United Nations Conference on New and Renewable Energy defined new energy as: On the basis of new technologies and new materials, the traditional renewable energy is modernized development and utilization, and the limited resources and environmental pollution of fossil energy are replaced with inexhaustible renewable energy, focusing on the development of solar energy, wind energy, biomass energy, tidal energy, geothermal energy, hydrogen energy and nuclear energy (atomic energy).

New energy generally refers to the renewable energy developed and utilized on the basis of new technologies, including solar energy, biomass energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, wave energy, ocean current energy and tidal energy, as well as the thermal cycle between the ocean surface and the deep; In addition, there are hydrogen energy \ methane \ alcohol \ methanol and so on.
Generally speaking, conventional energy refers to the energy that is technically mature and has been used on a large scale, while new energy usually refers to the energy that has not been used on a large scale and is being actively researched and developed. Therefore, coal, oil, natural gas and large and medium-sized hydropower are regarded as conventional energy, while solar energy, wind energy, modern biomass energy, geothermal energy, ocean energy and hydrogen energy are used as new energy. With the progress of technology and the establishment of the concept of sustainable development, the industrial and domestic organic waste, which has been regarded as garbage in the past, has been re-recognized as a material for energy resource utilization and has been in-depth research and development and utilization. Therefore, the resource utilization of waste can also be regarded as a form of new energy technology.
The energy resources that have recently been developed and utilized by human beings and need to be further studied and developed are called new energy. Compared with conventional energy, new energy has different contents in different historical periods and scientific and technological levels. In today's society, new energy usually refers to solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, hydrogen energy and so on.
According to the category can be divided into: solar energy, wind energy, biomass energy, hydrogen energy, geothermal energy, ocean energy, small hydropower, chemical energy (such as ether-based fuel), nuclear energy, etc.
distinction
Raw coal, crude oil, natural gas, hydropower, nuclear energy and other energy sources are called conventional energy. With the limitation of conventional energy and the increasingly prominent environmental problems, new energy with environmental protection and renewable characteristics has been paid more and more attention by all countries.
Conventional energy and new energy are two relative concepts, and some new energy has been widely used for many years with the maturity of utilization technology and the reduction of exploitation costs, that is, it should be regarded as conventional energy.