7 Reasons Why Renewable Energy Can Make A Difference
Renewable energy is a rapidly growing industry that can help transform our energy sector. It offers the world a variety of benefits that are in high demand already, and those demands will only grow each year.
And that’s exactly why renewable energy sources like solar and wind grow 15% annually. They are becoming more cost-effective than traditional sources, especially as the price of oil continues to climb.
While some elements might be obvious, there are a few that many people don’t realize, and we are going to cover them today.
Here are 7 reasons why renewable energy will make a difference around the world.
1. Renewable Energy Has No Emissions
It’s no secret that the world is trying to move away from fossil fuels, at least that’s what most nations state publically. To do that, they need to replace fossil fuels like oil and coal with renewable sources like solar and wind.
That’s because these types of energy do not produce any emissions.
To be clear in this context, emissions are greenhouse gases. The most common one is carbon dioxide. It is a by-product of just about everything. When you burn coal or oil, it is released into the atmosphere.
The more greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, the hotter it gets.
Renewable energy can change this because they release no greenhouse gases. Instead, they utilize the abundant and replenishing resources of our planet. Sunlight, wind, water flow, and more can all provide the same energy as oil without emitting toxic gases.
2. No Air Pollution
Now, greenhouse gases are not the only thing traditional fossil fuel energy sources release. They also release a myriad of harmful compounds into the air we breathe. These can be in a gaseous form or even appear as Particulate Matter (PM2.5).
That means any living creature within the vicinity of an emitter could be breathing in harmful chemicals.
And I’m sure you can guess that it is not a good thing. In fact, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution is linked to 7 million premature deaths every year. Renewable energy can help change that today.
Similar to how there are no emissions, renewables don’t release air pollution. In fact, they don’t really release anything at all other than energy. This can help improve the air quality around the world and lower the chances of respiratory diseases like Asthma.
3. Energy Independence
It’s no secret that natural resources like coal and oil don’t exist in every country. This leaves many nations at the mercy of oil-rich nations. In fact, the conflict in Ukraine has made it abundantly clear what happens when a major oil producer misbehaves.
Renewable energy fixes this by being available to all countries.
All counties have sunlight, all countries have wind, and there are other sources of energy they can access. Granted, sometimes the potential for these sources is less than ideal. But with proper planning and improving technology, that’s changing.
There are already a handful of countries that have transitioned to 100% renewable energy. The majority of nations agree to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, which means a lot more renewable energy and a lot less fossil fuel.
4. Price Stability
While the price of manufacturing renewable energy devices like solar panels and wind turbines is changing in a good way, once they go live, the energy they produce doesn’t fluctuate.
After all, they don’t actually require any fossil fuel. There is no price on sunlight, wind, or geothermal resources to make a monetary impact.
This means consumers won’t see their energy bills go up and electric car owners won’t deal with gas price fluctuations.
What this means is price stability, and that can make a huge difference for families living paycheck to paycheck. And since energy is a major price driver, it will not just affect the electricity bill. Instead, it’ll affect everything.
The cost of groceries, appliances, services, and everything else you can think of is somehow linked to the cost of energy – specifically oil. That’s why when oil prices rise, just about everything in the world does too.
If we ditch oil for renewables, that price fluctuation goes away.
5. Renewable Energy Is More Resilliant Than Fossil Fuels
Resilience and reliability are two different factors. Reliability refers to how good the energy source is at producing energy consistently, whereas resilience is how well the energy source produces under extreme circumstances like natural disasters.
In no uncertain terms, renewable energy is by far more resilient than traditional fossil fuel. And it’s for a very simple reason.
If a fossil fuel plant goes down, then it cannot produce energy. Whereas, renewable energy is installed in a modular system. This means that each part of the system is independent of one another.
In other words, if a few solar panels or wind turbines get destroyed in a hurricane, the rest of the system will still generate electricity. This is exactly why renewable energy is deployed in the wake of natural disasters like hurricanes.
6. Renewable Energy Is Reliable
Continuing this topic, renewable energy is reliable. Unfortunately, the reliability of renewable energy has come under attack. And while it is true that it is less reliable than traditional fossil fuels, it’s still incredibly reliable.
And in many cases, it is actually the most reliable form of energy.
For example, do you know what the most reliable forms of energy are? Well, it’s not oil or coal. It’s Nuclear energy (by a mile), followed by Hydropower. Yes, hydropower is renewable energy, and it is far more reliable than fossil fuels.
Even the more scrutinized wind and solar are beginning to be just as reliable, if not more than fossil fuels. At this point, the reliability is more of a myth that needs to be debunked. However, these things take time.
Think about this; when the world runs out of oil and coal, which it eventually will, then those power plants are useless. Whereas we’ll never run out of sunlight. Well, at least for the next 4.9 billion years.
If we do run out of sunlight, we’ll have much bigger problems than energy production.
7. Creates Jobs
When it comes to installing renewable energy either in mass or on a house-to-house basis, they are labor-intensive projects. That means you need to hire people to install and maintain these devices. Not to mention manufacturing plants to create them.
That means jobs are going to be in high demand, which pays very well on average.
In fact, just a solar panel installer has an average salary of around $60,000. And currently, the renewable energy industry has created over 12 million jobs globally.
Many countries rely on renewable energy’s job creation potential to recover after the 2020/2021 lockdowns.
There are tremendous growth opportunities in this field and it will contribute greatly to our job market in the industry. With constant innovations being made, that demand will only get higher over time.
Renewables Are Here To Stay
While some are still trying to fight the inevitable, renewable energy is here to stay. One day, it will be the most dominant form of energy the world uses. As we have discussed, the list of benefits behind renewables is vast and simply cannot be ignored.
On top of this, the industry is growing at a ridiculous rate. As the saying goes, once the genie is out of the bottle, you can’t put it back in. And at this point, nothing is going to slow down renewables.
They avoid so many issues that humans have grown accustomed to dealing with including on a geopolitical level.
What’s your experience with renewable energy? Do you think it will take over the industry?
Robert has been following and writing about environmental stories for years at GreenGeeks. He believes that highlighting environmentally friendly practices can help promote change in every household.
