Renewable energy is the process of converting natural sources of energy into usable, sustainable power. This includes sunlight, wind, hydropower, biomass and geothermal heat.
Unlike fossil fuels, renewables do not pollute the environment or emit greenhouse gases. Moreover, they are relatively cheap to produce and consume.
1. Reduced Carbon Footprint
Choosing renewable energy instead of non-renewable fossil fuels like coal and oil means that you are doing your part to help combat climate change. Solar, wind and bioenergy are examples of renewable sources, all of which produce lower carbon emissions than coal or oil.
Reducing your carbon footprint can lead to many benefits, including cleaner air, healthier diets and reduced energy bills. However, it is important to note that your impact on climate change will vary depending on your location and lifestyle choices.
For example, your carbon footprint is influenced by the food you eat, the energy used to produce it and how it travels from farm to table. Switching to locally-grown foods, especially vegetables and certain grains, can have a significant positive impact on the planet.
2. Less Dependence on Fossil Fuels
Renewable energy is derived from sources such as sunlight, wind, and solar energy. These are natural resources that will not run out for many millions of years and do not produce greenhouse gases when burned.
Fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas, are non-renewable resources that formed from the remains of plants and animals that lived long ago. They are buried deep in the earth and take hundreds of millions of years to form.
When burned, fossil fuels release harmful particles that pollute air, water, and land. They also upset Earth’s “carbon budget,” a balance that protects life on the planet from the harmful effects of greenhouse gases.
3. Increased Energy Security
Renewable energy provides reliable power supplies and fuel diversification, reducing risks of fuel spills and lowering the need for imported oil and gas. These benefits can help improve the economic security of the nation.
Unlike fossil fuels which require extensive infrastructure and transportation, renewable energy is directly generated from natural resources like wind, solar, hydro or geothermal. They do not entail fuel costs and can be delivered to power consumers at lower prices than fossil fuels.
Renewable energy also does not emit greenhouse gases or other pollutants, a major factor in exacerbated climate change. This contributes to cleaner air and increased human health.
4. Increased Economic Growth
Renewable energy production also creates jobs, often in rural or eco-nomically depressed areas. These jobs pay competitive wages and are often unionized.
The renewable energy industry is more labor intensive than the fossil fuel sector, which means it generates more jobs for each unit of electricity produced. This is because solar panels need humans to install them and wind farms need technicians to maintain them.
The IEA estimates that every dollar of investment in clean energy creates three times more jobs than in the fossil fuel sector. This means that the transition away from fossil fuels could create over 14 million jobs by 2030.
5. Increased Job Creation
One of the most striking aspects of a renewable energy transition is that it creates a large number of jobs. These jobs are often higher-quality, more distributed, and generally better paid than fossil fuel extraction jobs.
This is especially true for clean energy (renewables plus energy efficiency) which generally creates 4.3 times as many jobs as coal and 5.4 times as many as natural gas.
The increase in job creation also comes as a result of increased investments in clean energy technologies and their supply chains, particularly in China where the industry is growing fast. This increases demand for labor, but also puts a lot of jobs in energy-intensive industrial and manufacturing sectors at risk.