Photo courtesy of MSGEnergy.com
A majority of people generally think of themselves as pro-green when it comes to taking care of the Earth. Nobody is exactly against the environment. So if we have the technology to save the world, then why don’t more people take advantage of it? It’s expensive and people don’t like change. When people’s lives are going well, and they are able to pay the electricity and oil bills okay they don’t want to risk losing that stability by changing to something new like renewable energy. To take advantage of these opportunities and create a change for the better of the environment, the government needs to create incentives for people to start making a gradual change to a more green society. Fossil fuel prices are rising so a change will occur in the future regardless. According to Truth-Out.Org, Germany is the leading solar energy user in the world. Yet the United States, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, isn’t even close to that and only uses it as 8% of the energy use. So money isn’t the problem. It’s a change in culture.
Why We Love Renewable Energy
Many people automatically say that they are pro-green. We like it because renewable energy is sustainable, meaning that it will never run out, unlike the vast amount of fossil fuels that we still use today. There are many different kinds like: solar power, hydroelectric generators, hydrogen fuel, wind turbines, etc.
One of the great things about renewable energy is that it requires less maintenance than the usual generators. Once the tools are produced, creating the energy is left up to the source rather than labor of the working man.
This also reduced the cost of operation because it runs by itself once the tool is produced. Reduced costs can also come from the fact that it doesn’t originate from a scarce resource whose prices increase because of the need to preserve such a resource.
Renewable energy is also good for the environment because unlike fossil fuels, it does not release harmful greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, a reason as to why the ozone layer around the earth is thinning causing global warming. No waste products means that it doesn’t affect the environment.
There are also economic benefits for some types of renewable energy especially solar energy. Even though they are initially expensive, they often pay for themselves in the long run. Actually according to Truth-Out.org, solar energy is known to be the best type of renewable energy because it doesn’t create greenhouse gases even in terms of production of the solar panels which cannot be said for all forms of renewable energy.
What We Don’t Like About Renewable Energy
Even though we talk about renewable energy, it only provides about 14% of the energy that the world uses according to Bioscience.com.
Renewable energy often has trouble creating the same amount of power that fossil fuels make because of its inefficiency. This means that people must either reduce the amount of energy they use or we need to build more efficient operations. People don’t want to be forced to change their lifestyles to accommodate the environment. In their opinion, the environment doesn’t take precedence over the other issues in the life so one reason people don’t take advantage of renewable energy technologies is because they don’t like change.
Renewable energy is also not completely reliable even though it is sustainable. We cannot control when we receive it and how much we receive. It often relies on weather like the sun or water. For example, hydroelectric engines require rain, wind turbines require movement in the air, and solar panels need the sun. All of these are unpredictable and inconsistent.
I think what really sets people off from renewable energy is that it is very expensive. This is primarily because it is a new technology. Money is the most effective incentive when it comes to people whether it be a negative or positive incentive, and in this case this rule of thumb works against the use of renewable energy.
Most forms of renewable energy have its drawbacks. On Bioscience.com, they list the advantages and disadvantages for numerous types of energy. For example, hydroelectric plants require mass amounts of land to store water (specifically land for that is productive for agriculture), and the plants themselves cause environmental problems.
The question that everybody asks and considers is whether it is worth the cost. It is a simple value question. It’s not just the money though. We need to make it a part of the culture but people aren’t ready for a change. The government is the best at facilitating change faster than it can naturally happen since that is what it is there for. Knowing that money is the best incentive for people to do anything, the government could potentially give those who use renewable energy a tax break. However to integrate a green culture, society will require a gradual change if it is to ever happen.