Climate change and the solar solution

The latest climate reports are more troubling than ever before and the need for a solution to our energy problems is more intense than ever before. Increased solar power installations are making a dramatic change in fossil fuel consumption. Climate change is the prime motivator of renewable energy generation but financial benefits are now making solar a viable option for many. Solar panels and wind turbines are a common sight everywhere.  How does solar power improve our health, environment, and economy? This article explains the many positive impacts of solar power.

Solar energy is the best solution we currently have

When looking for the causes of global warming, we need to analyze our own energy use. Burning fossil fuels is polluting our atmosphere with carbon dioxide and other global warming emissions. These gases behave like a blanket, trapping heat. The result is a series of harmful impacts, from stronger, more frequent storms, to drought, sea level rise, and extinction of animal and plant species. In the United States, almost a third of global warming emissions come from our electricity production. Most of those emanations come from fossil fuels like coal and natural gas.

What is carbon dioxide and why is it dangerous?

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most prevalent greenhouse gas, but other air pollutants—such as methane—also cause climate change. Different energy sources produce varying amounts of these pollutants. To make comparisons clearer, we use a carbon dioxide equivalent, or CO2e—the amount of carbon dioxide needed to produce an equivalent amount of warming.

By contrast, most renewable energy sources generate little or no global warming emissions. Even when including “lifecycle” discharges of clean energy (i.e. the emissions from each stage of a technology’s life—manufacturing, installation, operation, decommissioning), the global warming emissions associated with renewable energy are negligible.

Improved health through solar power

The air and water pollution emitted by fossil fuel plants is linked to breathing difficulties, neurological damage, heart attacks, cancer, premature death, and a host of other severe problems. The pollution affects everyone: one Harvard University study estimated the life-cycle costs and public health consequences of coal to be an estimated $74.6 billion every year.

Negative health repercussions from pollution

The majority of these negative health impacts come from air and water pollution that alternative energy technologies simply don’t present. Wind, solar, and hydroelectric systems generate electricity with no air pollution emissions. Geothermal and biomass systems emit some air pollutants, though total air emissions are much lower than those of coal- and natural gas-fired power plants. In addition, wind and solar energy demand virtually no water to operate and thus do not pollute water resources or strain supplies by competing with agriculture, drinking water, or other water obligations. Fossil fuels can have a vital impact on water resources: both coal mining and natural gas drilling can pollute sources of drinking water, and all thermal power plants, including those powered by coal, gas, and oil, withdraw and consume water for cooling.  Powerful winds, sunny skies, abundant plant matter, warmth from the earth, and fast-moving water can each provide a vast supply of energy. A small fraction of US electricity currently comes from these sources, but that could change: studies have repeatedly shown that renewable energy can provide a sizable share of future electricity needs, even after accounting for potential constraints.

Explore the exciting world of solar energy! Today, with solar panel prices at all-time lows, it has never been more affordable to install your own solar energy system. Imagine generating your own power and being independent of the electrical grid.

There has never been a better time to install a solar energy system! For more information relating to going solar, don't forget to visit our solar blog section for more handy guides and articles.

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