5 Facts about Renewable Energy
Renewable energy is a saving grace for humanity. It is looking to breathe new life into the planet and save it for generations to come. That is of course if we use enough of it. The old excuse for not using renewable energy was that it was just too expensive for use in everyday life. Well, that excuse is one of the past as renewable energy has become as cheap as ever!
Well since you are here you probably know what renewable energy is, but for those of you living under a giant rock- renewable energies are basically self-sustaining energy source that requires no external energy sources to create or move them other than the ones we have at hand naturally.
Renewable energies have come a long way since they once started. Popular or mainstream sources have picked it up and now are bringing them to the public. Here are some facts you might find interesting about renewable energies!
5. There is so Much!
The greatest thing about renewable energy is that there is so much of it! Anywhere our planet or even a distant star might produce an indefinite amount of energy, renewable energy has sprung up. Well, indefinite is a bit of a stretch but the main thing is that we do not have to burn obscene amounts of oil or fossil fuels to get just a tiny smidge of energy.
So let us try and narrow down the most well-known renewable energies on the planet. There is solar, wind, thermal, geothermal, biofuel, wave energy, and hydroelectric and the list continues to grow every day. So theoretically, a country can fully rely on a number of renewable energy sources to completely meet its energy demands.
A large number of renewable energies is exactly what has prompted many countries to go 100% renewable.
4. In some cases it is Cheaper!
The dollar-to-energy rate is significantly less compared to conventional methods of energy generation. For example, on average some wind farms or wind turbines will cost about $0.06 per kWh but this price is said to go dive further down to $0.04 per kWh. Solar power as well has gone down to $0.10 per kWh and is also set for a major decrease. Compare these prices with the $0.05-$0.17 you would normally have to pay for conventional energy.
.What is amazing is that a single wind turbine can generate electricity for up to 1400 homes. In fact, China has been installing 2 wind turbines every hour! In fact, they make so much energy that their old grids are physically incapable of handling the amounts of energy produced. They actually have to turn their wind turbines off for about 15 percent of the year so that they do not overload their grids.
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3. Renewable Energy can be for the Economy!
Since there are so many forms of renewable energy, there are also many opportunities for jobs created within them. Studies and economic analysts say that renewable energies create about 5 times as many jobs as fossil fuels did or even ever will.
Renewable energy even means that the prices of electricity are going to plummet. This means that the average consumer is going to pay so much less in electric bills than ever before. And indeed in the UK people have already started to notice less costs of electricity ever since onshore wind farms have gained massive popularity.
Indeed, the UK sees a price hike in power and gas whenever wind cannot perform for whatever reason- and normal consumers are the people who feel the heat of it as well.
2. Countries are already running on Renewable!
There are so many countries around the world that have already embraced the future and made or have started to make all of their energy requirements filled by renewables. For example, Sweden was so enthusiastic about meeting the energy goals that it went ahead and met them 12 years before they were actually supposed to! They were supposed to make an additional 18.4 terawatts of power for the country by the year 2030. With how things are going, they just might end up reaching that goal by the end of this year!
The UK is slowly but surely catching up as well. Last year was a huge success for the once-coal giant the UK. 30% of all of the United Kingdom’s power came from renewables last year. And this year that number is only looking to go up.
Costa Rica has also taken advantage of its 67 volcanoes to go 100% with its renewable energy creation. This was done by using a combination of geothermal, solar, wind, and other various sources.
1. We Could Completely be powered by Renewables by the year 2050
The World Wildlife Foundation has estimated that by the year 2050, the entire planet could be powered by renewable energy should the right choices be made by world governments right now. It does seem to be hopeful at the moment since a lot of countries have already shifted towards renewables.
The European Union has outlined a roadmap on how it plans to achieve this in the next few years as well. Europe is on its way to a sustainable future with a number of countries all joining on the renewable power bandwagon.
All other countries need to quickly follow suit and it seems that they are. You would expect that third-world countries would be far behind in this movement. But they are just as if not more interested in converting to renewables. Developing nations are actually investing more in renewable sources as it provided them a way to find an inexpensive source of energy for their population.
Through all of these combined factors, the world just may eliminate the need for archaic fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissions by up to 95%! We can then move on to other ways of saving the planet.
Thank you for taking some time to read this article. Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments in the section below.
Sources:
http://www.chinatopix.com/articles/101446/20160921/china-wind-energy-turbines.htm
https://www.terrapass.com/10-facts-renewable-energy
https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/energy-strategy-and-energy-union/2050-energy-strategy
https://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/07/how-will-we-power-the-planet-in-2050.html
2 Comments
Dave September 17, 2018 at 7:40 pm
Interesting read! In addition, I believe that renewable energy, well solar energy, in particular, is perfect for the Caribbean and South America that receives enough solar exposure during the year. It will help especially during hurricane season when rain and wind can cause damage to the power grid as it happened with Puerto Rico
TGC-LTGW September 18, 2018 at 1:06 pm
Hi Dave,
Great point! Indeed this part of the world is more exposed to the sun for longer periods of time which make it the perfect place. You would think that most of the countries have embraced it but unfortunately, that is not the case yet. While there are some countries that have a strong commitment to preserving nature like Costa Rica, others are very passive in regards to the implementation of solar energy. In the meantime, even countries in Europe are already embracing solar energy and they are not as exposed as the Caribbean and South America.