Problem: The Energy Crisis We’re Facing
The global energy crisis is real. Widening of the energy gap, from rising oil prices to being cleaned up in the environment, we’re right in the middle of an energy crisis.
The generation of electricity using coal, oil, and natural gas is polluting. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), 2022 CO emissions from energy continued at record high levels and will not likely be mitigated in the near to medium term.
It’s not just about the higher prices but the chance of a future on the Earth being realized.
Higher levels of greenhouse gases cause global warming, which results in extreme weather, sea level rise, and degradation of the system. Governments and industry around the world are on the verge of realizing that these types of activities are not viable. There is a need for an energy paradigm shift; however, not an energy paradigm shift that receives no environmental cost. This is where sustainable energy comes in.
The Hidden Costs of Ignoring Sustainable Energy
It’s not just the environment that’s at risk. Normal” energy consumption (coal oil) patterns are all too problematic, i.e., the price is unknown. Taxation and emission caps are being imposed by governments worldwide. Neither are consumers protected; on the contrary, in some areas of the countries, actual electricity prices are getting out of control. It is not surprising that electricity generation is the major source of cumulative CO2 emissions as per the World Economic Forum (2022). Unbridled and sustained patterns of energy use in nonrenewable forms are not only worsening climate change, but they are also leading to the world energy market’s instability.
The economic and social costs are equally concerning. Because certainly escalating energy costs and escalating environmental catastrophes, more and more they are falling on individuals, particularly the most disadvantaged of them all. Socio-economic marginalization of poor households rests, for instance, on the excessive proportion of household income that is used for housing costs, and in communities that are near fossil fuel industries, they suffer from pollution-related morbidity. These externalities (or cost spillovers) grow and grow, and as time goes on, their effects become more and more severe.
At the same time, and thus we are brought to a bad condition. The good news? We have a solution, and it’s called sustainable energy.
Sustainable energy is a form of energy that can be accessed and exploited in a renewable manner, without depleting nonrenewable resources and without polluting the environment. Clean, inexhaustible, renewable, clean energy does not have the characteristic of fossil fuel Limited resources and is also the source of bias, however, compared with fossil fuels, clean energy is inexhaustible, clean, and has no bias. There are several key types of sustainable energy:
1. Solar Energy: The energy produced by the sun’s radiation. Electrical energy can be tapped from photovoltaic (PV) and sunshine thermal (ST) panels for electrical energy production and for thermal energy production, respectively. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) states that solar energy is one of the most dynamic renewable energy-generating technologies globally. For example, last year the global solar power capacity increased by 22% (with 1,000 GW added to the global solar power capacity during the year).
2. Wind Energy: Electricity generation through wind turbines is powered by kinetic energy from wind speed. Wind energy has been a game-changer in many countries. As an example, Danish wind power production is over 40% of all generation [11], and US wind power production is over 10% (and ~2nd position) of US generation [22]. As reported by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), wind energy capacity exceeded 900 GW by the end of 2022 (representing 10 percentage point growth on 2021).
3. Hydropower: This is achieved by means of hydropower, i.e., that electrical energy is generated by the movement of water, which is the rivers, lakes, and dams used usually. Hydropower, one of the oldest and most reliable renewable sources of power generation for power plants, provides about 16% of the world’s current power generation. China is the largest producer of hydro, and its generation is over 20% of the global hydropower.
4. Geothermal Energy: A geothermal power plant uses geologic heat to generate electricity. While geothermal energy is used in a hotspot, e.g., Iceland and New Zealand, the global resource is enormous. According to the International Geothermal Association (IGA), by 2050 geothermal technologies will be able to provide 15% of the world energy mix [5].
5. Biomass Energy: Biomass is any organic matter, such as wood, agricultural byproducts, or waste, that can be fueled by combustion or conversion into biofuels to generate energy. Although biomass carries out CO(2) emissions during combustion, biomass is known as carbon-neutral because CO(2) emissions produced during the combustion of biomass are compensated by CO(2) absorption produced during plant growth. According to a Bioenergy Europe publication (2022), biomass accounts for 10% of global renewable energy.
Sustainable energy is not only climate mitigation benefits but also economic and entrepreneurial opportunities. The renewable energy sector employs millions of people worldwide. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the world renewable energy workforce expanded to 12 million by 2022 and will continue to expand in the coming years.
Why We Need Sustainable Energy?
The move toward green power is not just an environmental issue but a problem of practical exigence as well. The consequences of climate change are already visible, from flash floods to rising sea levels. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global warming should not exceed 1.5 °C in order to avoid catastrophic events. Yet, this appears to be the only way for a distanced person (i.e., a distance away) to depend on fossil fuels to green energy on an industrial level.
This is an adjustment, and governments, corporations, and individuals are all required to contribute. The UN has therefore included a number of ambitious sustainable energy goals within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The goal is to ensure universal access to clean, safe, affordable, sustainable, and modern energy up to 2030. All of this, in turn, suggests that, as part of the solution, the focus of investment should not only be on renewables but also on energy saving and energy poverty.
Sustainable energy is also an energy source that, with significant potential for reducing reliance on imports of oil, can help achieve energy security and local employment. In the reality that the analysis obtains, it is found that the amount of jobs created by investment in renewables is three times more than the amount of jobs created by investment in fossil fuels.
The Future of Sustainable Energy
Clean energy in the coming future will be a reality; however, the future is to further continuous investments and technological developments, etc. Although solar and wind energy are currently the predominant energy resources, there are still some open issues in energy storage and grid connection/interfacing, as well as cost issues.
But so far, battery technology and smart grids, which are over there on the horizon, have been developing. Benchmarks attained by corporations and research organizations are a turning point on the path to energy storage devices that can utilize excess renewable energy surplus and commercially “store” it to be made available when demand is high or when the weather is poor. As BloombergNEF has demonstrated that the global energy storage market is going to grow at 25% a year in the next decade and that energy storage could drive renewables penetration as well.
More in addition, there is a global proposal of major financial commitments to green hydrogen, zero carbon, with the (and the future possibility) to be used massively as a fossil-free alternative on a large scale, in bulk production, transport, and generation of electrical power. Hydrogen holds the promise for groundbreaking implications in the sense that it can help us to sustainably store and distribute renewable energy.
Conclusion: Embracing the Future of Energy
The case for sustainable energy is clear. The consequences for the environment and, by extension, the economy and society of undesired fuel burn have been overwhelming, not simply to the ecosystem, but to the economy and society as a whole. Not only are we saving ourselves by minimizing our carbon emissions, we also lay the groundwork for a vibrant, healthy planet for posterity.