Importance of renewable energy.

Benefits and advantages of Renewable energy sources

In this article I have described the major advantages of renewable energy sources to  show the importance of renewable energy to build our economies by safeguarding the Earth and not by destroying the nature as of now.

The mankind, nature and wildlife on our planet today are facing one of the biggest crises from problems like global warming (unusual rise in temperature of our planet), greenhouse gas emissions and chemical waste. These issues are mainly caused by carbon pollution due to our abundant use of fossil fuels in power production. Renewable energy gives us the opportunity not to exploit but to safeguard the Earth

In the United States about 29 percent of global warming emissions come from the use of fossil fuels like coal and natural gas for electricity generation. In contrast, most of the renewable energy sources like solar, hydro, wind, geothermal and biomass produce little to no global warming emissions. Therefore, the top most importance of using these clean energy sources is, it would reduce the adverse impact of fossil fuels on our environment. Before I go to explain the benefits and advantages that renewable energy can provide, it is necessary to understand what does renewable energy mean.

What does renewable energy mean?

The most common definition of renewable energy is – the energy that comes from natural sources or processes that are continuously replenished and will not run out eventually. These clean energy sources are replenished by a natural process within a reasonable length of time on a human timescale at a faster rate than they are consumed i.e. using these resources today will not diminish their availability tomorrow. For all practical purposes the renewable energy sources are virtually inexhaustible.

The sunlight, wind, water, various forms of biomass, geothermal heat are some of the familiar examples of renewable energy resources, which are a naturally occurring phenomenon and are practically limitless in supply. Let’s now look into the key advantages of renewable energy sources.

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Advantages of renewable energy sources

Due to tremendous health impact of use of fossil fuels we have of late realized the importance of renewable energy use. The use of renewable energy has number of advantages over nonrenewable fossil fuels for which individuals and small businesses across the globe are now increasingly going green by replacing the conventional fossil fuels based sources to the maximum extent possible.

Here are some of the key benefits and advantages of renewable energy sources switch:

1. Energy sources are inexhaustible and won’t run out

Renewable energy comes from sources which replace themselves naturally making them sustainable. These sources are naturally replenished within a reasonable length of time at a faster rate than they are consumed. For all practical purposes the renewable energy sources cannot be exhausted.

2. Renewable energy is environmentally friendly

Most Renewable energy sources release little or no waste products such as carbon dioxide or other chemical toxins into the atmosphere and have minimal impact on the environment, which has significant health benefits. These clean energy sources create less environmental pollution including pollution impacting our crops. Air pollution can be very harmful to agriculture with ozone and acid rain damaging the soil health.

Unlike fossil fuels renewable energy sources emit little to no greenhouse gases or harmful pollutants into the air and don’t contribute to global warming.

3. Can stabilize global energy prices

Switching to renewable sources for energy generation may give stability to energy prices across the globe. This is because the cost of energy from renewable sources mainly depends on the upfront cost of investments to build the system as opposed to fossil fuels, which are prone to substantial price swings depending on the availability of the resources. Once installed, the recurring operating cost of the renewable facilities being extremely low, the energy price would remain very stable at a lower level over time.

4. Renewable energy facilities require less maintenance

Renewable energy facilities require low to zero maintenance than traditional fossil fuel based generators that require high overall maintenance. This is mainly due to the fact that the renewable facilities like solar panels and wind turbines either have few or no moving parts and they don’t depend on combustible fuel sources to operate. Less maintenance requirements mean more money saved due to lower maintenance costs resulting in cheaper energy rate for the population.

5. Shall help in employment generation

Renewable energy industry is more labour intensive as compared to fossil fuel based generating plants, which are capital intensive. The potential for renewables energising jobs is enormous. On an average, for each unit of electricity generation more jobs are created by renewable energy facilities than fossil fuel based plants. In the US alone, over 250,000 people work in the solar power industry, which is double the number of the coal industry.

According to International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), transforming energy systems based on renewables can increase global GDP by $98 trillion by 2050, creating 63 million new jobs globally in renewable and energy efficiency. In India estimates find  about 1.3 million full-time jobs can be created by 2022 through achieving 160 GW from renewable energy.

6. Incentives and tax benefits can be availed by small businesses

Renewable energy can be highly beneficial for small businesses. Small businesses can take advantages of attractive incentives and tax benefits being offered by the government for switching over to renewable energy from their current conventional energy sources, to meet their energy needs.

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Before I conclude let me also reply to some frequently asked related questions.

Why renewable energy is important for the future?

Renewable energy is important for the future because its increasing deployment is crucial for tackling greenhouse gas emissions, reducing air pollution and expanding energy access.

What are disadvantages of renewable energy

One of the disadvantages of renewable energy is that it is difficult to generate from renewable sources the same amount of electricity that is produced by the traditional fossil fuel generators. This means we need to build more energy facilities to meet our energy needs.

Reliability of supply is another disadvantage of renewable energy sources. Power generation from renewable sources often rely on the weather conditions. Generation of solar power from sunlight needs clear skies, Wind turbines need adequate wind to turn the blades and Hydro electricity generation needs rains to fill the dams to supply flowing water for the turbines.

Conclusion

On going through the key advantages of renewable energy sources described above it would be evident that the renewable energy sources are inexhaustible, safe and sustainable.

To meet our growth needs majority of us around the world rely heavily on nonrenewable fossil fuels like oil, natural gas and coal for our energy requirements. These sources are, therefore, going to exhaust eventually as they cannot renew naturally at a quick enough pace to keep up with their human consumption. From this perspective the importance of renewable energy sources can easily be gauged, which provides an environmental friendly energy security option at a time when depleting global reserves of fossil fuels threatens the long-term sustainability of global economy.

Moreover, besides providing energy security, use of these clean sources instead of sources based on fossil fuels to meet our energy needs, will give us an excellent opportunity for mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and reducing global warming caused by the conventional energy sources.

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