Why Renewable Energy?

A Story by NatureBoy

Why renewable energy? I believe Nikola Tesla once said “Long before this consummation, coal and oil must cease to be important factors in the sustenance of human life on this planet.” But what does it mean? It’s simple, human life has created a dependency on fossil fuels and non-renewable sources of energy, but like most things there is an expiration date. The big question is, do we continue to use these non-renewable resources and risk further pollution to the Earth’s atmosphere? Well, the consequences can be fatal. Non-sustainable resources have fueled human necessity for millenniums. Most people are familiar with non-renewable energy sources such as coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy. Coal emits nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, mercury and carbon dioxide. While some consider natural gas “clean” it is simply a cleaner alternative to other energy sources as it emits 50% less CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere. This doesn’t necessarily make natural gas clean and safe for our environment. These non-renewable energy sources are responsible for the mass amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which directly impact the Earth’s climate. Now that we’re done with our brief history we can address the question, why renewable energy? Nikola Tesla believed that there were alternatives to the dependency of fossil fuels. One such alternative was to harness the energy of the Sun. Undoubtedly, the Sun is a clean source of energy. To this day, technologies are put in place to manipulate the energy emitted from the Sun. So why are we still using non-renewable resources? Could it be the costs to create the “technology” we need to harness the Sun’s energy? So many questions. Many of the technologies produced in the 21^st century promise “sustainable” energy, but the costs outweigh affordability. The Sun, wind and water are non-polluting sources of energy…