The electric grids of the world’s nations rely on oil, gas and coal fired power plants to generate electricity. However, these produce vast amounts of pollution, which accelerates climate change and causes illnesses linked to thousands of deaths yearly. Clean energy sources for electricity are necessary if we intend to reach net zero emissions and improve human health, and this article aims to explain a few of these sources.
Solar energy
Solar energy is based on photovoltaic panels that absorb sunlight to generate electricity. These panels can be placed on rooftops or in empty plots of land known as solar farms. Solar has a great potential since communities across the world can easily install this technology and generate clean electricity. The cost of solar energy has decreased drastically over a decade, which is helping more countries expand their capacity.
Wind energy
Wind energy is generated when wind turbines are pushed by wind gusts. Similar to solar, wind energy has a vast potential to generate energy across the world. Many European nations generate a small portion of the energy from offshore wind farms, but the E.U. plans to install 300 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2050. Recently, General
Electric has been developing wind turbines more than 800 ft. tall that each can power a small town!
Hydroelectric energy
Hydroelectric energy is most commonly generated by building dams on rivers. The dam creates a reservoir (a large body of water) and controls the flow of water that spins turbines within the dam, and, as a result, generates electricity. Dams can provide communities with fresh water and electricity. Norway is among the nations that have relied completely on this source to meet their energy demands. The country has built facilities such as the Øvre Forsland power station to generate electricity without having to construct a dam. This shows that Hydroelectric energy does not depend on large construction projects to function properly and can be used without disturbing the natural environment.
Geothermal energy
In Kenya, the tectonic plates break the ground below the earth’s surface, releasing heat and steam. This steam twists through tubes and spins the turbines at the Olkaria Geothermal Project, thus generating electricity. This process is known as geothermal energy and it is limited to some regions of the earth, but it is still an interesting source of energy to be explored. Today 500 geothermal power plants power millions of homes worldwide. In recent years there has been a growing interest in finding new locations to produce geothermal energy. The nation of Iceland already powers almost 100% of their electric grid using geothermal energy.
Nuclear energy
While not a renewable source of energy, nuclear energy is a low carbon source of energy, meaning it generates very little pollution. According to the EIA nuclear plants heat water to produce steam. The steam is used to spin large turbines that generate electricity. Nuclear energy draws a lot of attention and can cause unease among the public in many countries due to past nuclear incidents. Nonetheless, nuclear energy causes less loss of life when compared to fossil fuel sources and is safer and more reliable than how it is usually portrayed. Nuclear power plants in various countries, including France ,provide the majority of clean energy. In the United States 55% of emisisons free energy in 2019 was nuclear energy. Modern nuclear power plants are currently being designed to have higher safety measures in place and to be smaller and cheaper while still producing the same amount of energy.
The types of energy sources discussed in this article provide different opportunities to reduce emissions and help save thousands of lives lost yearly to air pollution. Our societies have cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels, and we should begin to implement these on a wider scale.