We use energy every day - to power our homes, turn on the lights, power our cars, and much more. When we turn on the lights, that energy can either come from a renewable or nonrenewable energy source. Ready to learn more about renewable energy and the benefits of renewable energy? Read on to learn more!
Nonrenewable Energy Sources
There are two different types of energy categories - renewable and nonrenewable energy. Nonrenewable energy is coal, oil, and gas - which are fuel sources that are finite and do not replenish at the rate at which they are used. These are also called fossil fuels since these energy sources were formed from buried and fossilized remains of animals and plants from millions of years ago. It takes millions of years to produce fossil fuels, and once they are used, there’s no way of making more. To create energy from nonrenewable sources, these fuel sources must be burned, which releases harmful greenhouse gas emissions into the air.
Renewable energy comes from a source that is infinite, and that source is not diminished when utilized to produce electricity. Wind, solar, and hydropower are all renewable energy sources. When the sunlight hits a solar panel and creates electricity, that same sunlight can be used to create solar energy on your neighbor's solar panels or solar panels hundreds of miles away. The amount of sunlight that hits the Earth every day is massive - in just one hour, the amount of sunlight that hits the Earth is more than what the world uses in one year!
A Look at Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. These are naturally occurring chemical gases that are found in the atmosphere. Although naturally occurring, these gases are also released into the atmosphere when we burn nonrenewable energy sources to produce energy.
Carbon dioxide is emitted the most out of all other greenhouse gases. It accounts for 76% of all human-caused emissions and stays in the atmosphere for a very long time. One hundred years after carbon dioxide is emitted, 40% of it still remains in the atmosphere. Methane is another greenhouse gas that accounts for just 16% of greenhouse gases generated by humans, but its impact is 25 times that of carbon dioxide.
Benefits of Renewable Energy
Now that we’ve covered what renewable energy is, let’s take a look at the many different benefits that renewable energy offers to our planet, communities, and ourselves.
1. Reduced Emissions
One of the major benefits of using renewable energy is that it does not produce any air-polluting emissions to generate energy. Solar, wind, and hydropower all generate energy from the sun, wind, or water, therefore, no emissions are required to generate and create electricity. This leads us to our next benefit…
2. Creates a Cleaner, Healthier Environment
Since renewable energy does not cause air-polluting emissions, this creates a cleaner, healthier environment locally and planet-wide. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that 89% of global emissions are from fossil fuels and industry. Using renewable energy over fossil fuels leads to fewer emissions and pollution. Harvard’s School of Public Health reports that burning fossil fuels, “creates climate change and releases pollutants that lead to early death, heart attacks, respiratory disorders, stroke, exacerbation of asthma, and absenteeism at school and work.” By using renewable energy, emissions are reduced and public health is increased.
3. Lowers Your Carbon Footprint
From an individual viewpoint, if you’re looking to reduce your own carbon footprint, removing fossil fuels from your life will significantly reduce your carbon footprint. Going solar, switching to an electric vehicle or taking public transportation, and switching to electric appliances all reduce your use of fossil fuels and your individual carbon footprint as well.
4. Renewable Energy is a Renewable and Infinite Resource
In addition to the effects that fossil fuels have on climate change, we only have a limited supply left. According to World Counts, in 2018 there were 1.73 trillion barrels of oil left in the world - this will last approximately 50 more years, as we average using 95 million barrels of oil per day. We have until the latter half of the 2060s until the oil reserves in the world run out, but before then we’d need to extract oil in harder-to-reach areas and places around the world, oftentimes located in fragile ecosystems. Beginning to expedite our transition to renewable energy not only makes an impact on our climate but doing so now will alleviate pressures later as oil reserves dry up.
5. Renewable Energy Creates Jobs
Renewable energy provides stable, high-impact jobs. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the second projected fastest-growing occupation in the USA will be wind turbine service technicians, with a 68% increase in job growth from 2020 to 2030. The fifth projected fastest-growing occupation will be solar installers, seeing an increase of 52% in job growth.
According to the Interstate Renewable Energy Council’s National Solar Jobs Census in 2020, there were approximately 230,000 solar industry employees across the country. The solar industry is currently on a trajectory for reaching 400,000 solar jobs by 2030 and will need to reach 900,000 employees by 2035 to reach President Biben’s 100% clean electricity goal.
6. Environmental Justice
Since renewable energy does not create air pollution to produce electricity, it creates a healthier environment. On the other hand, burning fossil fuels sends harmful emissions into the atmosphere, which tend to live and linger in neighborhoods and areas nearby power plants and other polluting industries. Multiple studies have found that pollution from power plants and industries greatly affects communities of color to a greater extent.
The Associated Press found that “black Americans are 79 percent more likely than whites to live in neighborhoods where industrial pollution is suspected of posing the greatest health danger.” In addition, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People found that 68% of black Americans reside near a power plant fueled by coal. The Clean Air Task Force also found that “While more than half of the U.S. population (51 percent) lives in areas with unhealthy levels of ozone, Hispanics are 51 percent more likely to live in counties with unhealthy levels of ozone than are non-Hispanic whites.” This leads to environmental justice issues where communities of color are facing more pollution and air quality issues.
7. Saves Money
For individuals, nonprofits, and businesses, going solar can lead to savings on their electricity bills. Additionally, switching from a gas-powered vehicle to an electric vehicle can also save you money. According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, charging an electric vehicle is $14,500 cheaper than fueling a gas vehicle over a 15-year timespan.
8. No Dependence on Foreign Oil
Renewable energy reduces our dependence on foreign oil since we can generate renewable energy locally or regionally within the United States, and we don’t have to rely on foreign oil to meet our energy needs.
How is Clean Energy a Solution to Global Warming?
Renewable energy is very important, as it’s one of the greatest tools that we have in our fight against climate change. We already have the technology in place for the widespread adoption of renewable energy around the world, making it an energy source that can be rapidly deployed worldwide.
Currently, 80% of the world’s energy comes from fossil fuels. Even though we’ve only been using fossil fuels on a large scale since the late 1880s, during that time we’ve seen the world’s temperature rise by 1-degree celsius due to the greenhouse effect. Any warming that rises above 1.5-degrees celsius would cause further risks of extreme weather events, rising sea levels as well as warming temperatures, biodiversity loss, and drastic public health issues worldwide.
What is the Importance of Renewable Energy Resources?
Replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy can help curb climate change implications and ensure that we have a safe, healthy planet to live on now and for future generations to come. Since renewable energy is a limitless resource, we are able to harness the power of the sun through solar, utilize wind to make energy through turbines, use waves and dams to produce hydropower, and more. All of these sources are renewable sources that allow us to meet our energy needs without the negative side effects of burning fossil fuels.
