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Solar vs. climate change

Millie HennickSeptember 21, 2018 1095 0

Solar vs. climate change

The perils of climate change are providing the impetus for renewable energy technologies. Solar panels and wind turbines are a frequently common sight. But why? What are the benefits of renewable energies—and how do they enhance our health, environment, and economy?

This article explores the many positive impacts of clean energy, including the advantages of wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, and biomass.

Less global warming through renewables

Our atmosphere is overloaded with carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases resulting from human activity. These gases act like a blanket, trapping warmth. The result is a network of significant and harmful impacts, from stronger, more frequent storms, to drought, sea level rise, and extinction of various species of animals and plants.

Approximately 29 percent of global warming emissions come from the generation of electricity in the U.S. Most of those emissions come from fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas.

Improved public health with solar

Fossil fuel use contributes massively to human health problems. Pollution emitted by coal and natural gas plants is linked with breathing problems, neurological damage, heart attacks, cancer, premature death, and a host of other serious health issues. The pollution affects everyone: one Harvard University study estimated the life-cycle costs and public health effects of coal to be an estimated $74.6 billion every year. That’s equivalent to 4.36 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity produced—about one-third of the average electricity rate for the average US home.

Many negative health impacts originate from air and water pollution that clean energy technologies just don’t produce. Wind, solar, and hydroelectric systems generate electricity with no air pollution emissions. Geothermal and biomass systems emit some air pollutants, though total air emissions are much lower than those of coal and natural gas-fired power plants.

Solar and wind energy require no water to operate and thus do not pollute water resources or stretch supplies by competing with agriculture, drinking water, or other important water demands. In contrast, fossil fuels can have a significant influence on water resources: both coal mining and natural gas drilling can pollute sources of drinking water, and all thermal power plants, including those powered by coal, gas, and oil, withdraw and consume water for cooling.

Inexhaustible energy of solar

Solar energy's future is now. Sunny skies, strong winds, abundant plant matter, heat from the earth, and fast-moving water can each provide a huge and constantly replenished supply of energy. A relatively small portion of US electricity currently comes from these sources, but that could change soon: studies have repeatedly shown that renewable energy can provide a significant share of future electricity needs, even after accounting for potential restrictions.

Renewable facilities require upfront investment to construct and, they can then operate at a very low or no cost (for most clean energy technologies, the “fuel” is free). As a consequence, renewable energy prices can be relatively stable over time. One of the least attractive features of fossil fuels is their price volatility. It can be very frustrating to be controlled by an oil-rich nation intent on price gouging.

Using more renewable energy can reduce the prices of and demand for natural gas and coal by increasing competition and diversifying our energy supplies. And an expanded reliance on renewable energy can help protect consumers when fossil fuel prices spike.

Reliability and resilience of solar power

Wind and solar energy sources are less vulnerable to large-scale failure because they are distributed and modular. Distributed systems are spread out over a large geographical area, so a severe weather event in one location will not necessarily cut off power to an entire area. Modular systems are composed of numerous individual wind turbines or solar arrays. In situations where some of the equipment in the system is damaged, the rest can typically continue to operate without interruption.

For more information relating to going solar, don't forget to visit our solar blog section for more handy guides and articles.

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