Will wind energy bring us a sustainable Energy future?
Read the lates news from Mother Earth Magazine.
By Lester R. Brown
October/November 2012
October/November 2012
Exciting News About Renewable Energy
The world can shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy by 2020 if we adopt the right public policies.
Wind is becoming the focal point of the global energy economy. It uses no water, no fuel and little land. No other energy source can match this combination of features
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The great energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy is under way. As fossil fuel prices rise, oil insecurity deepens and concerns about pollution and climate instability cast a shadow over the future of coal. A new world energy economy is emerging, powered by wind, solar and geothermal energy. The Earth’s renewable energy resources are vast and available to be tapped through visionary initiatives. Our civilization needs to embrace clean energy on a scale and at a pace we’ve never seen before.
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The great energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy is under way. As fossil fuel prices rise, oil insecurity deepens and concerns about pollution and climate instability cast a shadow over the future of coal. A new world energy economy is emerging, powered by wind, solar and geothermal energy. The Earth’s renewable energy resources are vast and available to be tapped through visionary initiatives. Our civilization needs to embrace clean energy on a scale and at a pace we’ve never seen before.
Fossil Fuels
We inherited our current fossil fuel-based energy economy from another era. The 19th century was the century of coal, and oil took the lead during the 20th century. Today, global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) — the principal climate-altering greenhouse gas — come largely from burning coal, oil and natural gas. Coal, mainly used for electricity generation, accounts for 44 percent of global fossil fuel CO2 emissions. Oil, used primarily for transportation, accounts for 36 percent. Natural gas for electricity and heating accounts for the remaining 20 percent. It is time to design a carbon- and pollution-free energy economy based on renewable energy for the 21st century.
U.S. Coal Plants Are Being Phased Out. The burning of coal is declining in many countries. In the United States, the No. 2 coal consumer after China, coal use dropped 13 percent from 2007 to 2011 as dozens of coal plants were closed. This trend is expected to continue.
Oil Is Becoming a Relic of the Past. Oil is used to produce just 5 percent of the world’s electricity generation and is becoming ever more costly. Because oil is used mainly for transportation, we can phase it out by electrifying the transport system. Plug-in hybrid and all-electric cars can run largely on clean electricity. Electric motors are so much more efficient than gas engines that wind-generated electricity to operate cars could cost the equivalent of 80-cents-per-gallon gasoline.
Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/renewable-energy/clean-energy-zm0z12onzmar.aspx#ixzz297xgMrk2
