What Is Renewable Energy?

What is renewable energy?

Renewable energy resources are naturally occurring sources of energy that are replenished on a daily (e.g. sun or wind) to almost yearly (e.g. water power and biomass wood or energy crops) cycle. Renewable energy sources emit either zero greenhouse gases into the atmosphere (e.g. sun or wind), or are “carbon neutral" (e.g. biomass sources such as energy crops absorb as much CO2 during their growth cycle as they emit when burned for fuel).

Renewable energy resources include:

Why do we need it?

Renewable energy is important because it presents an alternative to the harmful impacts of fossil fuels, which include:

  1. The release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere,
  2. Increased public health hazards, and
  3. Increased dependence on foreign fuel sources, which compromises the United States' national security.

Renewable energy is especially important for Massachusetts, as we have a relatively "dirty" electric grid, which depends mostly on fossil fuels for electricity generation.

maelec fuel mix

Source: EPA's eGRID database

 

Anthropogenic Greenhouse Gasses

Non-renewable, fossil fuel energy sources emit greenhouse gases (GHG) such as carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. These gases are responsible for trapping infrared radiation from the sun inside the earth’s atmosphere (this process is commonly known as the greenhouse effect). While the greenhouse effect is vital to maintaining the earth's average climate, higher levels of GHGs become dangerous because they trap higher proportions of infrared radiation in the atmosphere. Increased GHGs in the atmosphere has resulted in warmer average surface temperatures and climate instability. For more information, click here.

Increased Public Health Hazards

A case study of death and diseases that result from non-Clean Air Act compliant power plants was conducted by the Clean Air Task Force, a non-profit group from Boston.. Key findings of the report include:

  • Pollution from 51 non-compliant plants shortens the lives of, at a minimum, 5,500 people and as many as 9,000 people each year.
  • Pollution from the 51 plants leads to between 107,000 and 170,000 asthma attacks each year.
  • The pollution from these plants affects downwind states resulting in 1,500 to 2,100 premature deaths and 30,000 to 39,000 asthma attacks per year in the Northeast.

Increased Reliance on Foreign Energy

According to the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC):

  • The United States consumes 25% of all the oil produced in the world, yet we control just 3% of the world's oil reserves.
  • As a result of this imbalance, we've become heavily reliant on foreign oil, much of which comes from the conflict-ridden Middle East.
  • This dependence means our economy is highly vulnerable to wild swings in the price and supply of oil.

Reducing our dependence on foreign oil reduces our involvement in conflict areas such as the Middle East. This, in turn, increases our national security.