Solar energy versus fossil fuels – the ever debate. Solar-powered energy is the only renewable, stable, and environmentally friendly energy source available to us. There are countless excuses for why entire countries, like America, haven’t shifted their power source to solar, but the time is now!
Beyond the state of our environment doing nothing but getting worse with all of our fossil fuel use, fossil fuels can, and will, be completely depleted, something that can’t happen with solar energy. It’s time we finally make the shift to the long-lasting energy source we need.
1. Long-Lasting Energy Solution
Solar energy is the only energy source that is truly renewable. The sun is not going anywhere. Fossil fuels, on the other hand, are a limited resource. We only have so many resources on Earth that can be distilled into energy sources, and when those resources are gone, they aren’t coming back for millions of years. Once we deplete our resources, that’s it for our power grid – demonstrating just how fragile our current structure is.
We have the tools available to us to transition our society to a power source that isn’t going anywhere. Solar energy is stable, affordable, and renewable. It’s the energy source for future generations – we are just prolonging the inevitable shift, but the shift needs to happen before we’ve depleted our current resources completely or do even more damage to the environment.
2. Supply and Demand
The concept of supply and demand runs our economy. In its simplest form, if the demand for a product is high, and the supply is low, the cost will be high to compensate. The demand for fossil fuel resources is extremely high as that is now almost the entire world’s energy grid is run. That said, as discussed previously, we only have so many resources to create fossil fuels with, and even then, they need to be harvested and processed. Gasoline doesn’t just magically appear in a gas pump. It has to be drilled, distilled, then distributed. That takes time and energy, which also come in limited supply. Unless the demand for fossil fuels falls dramatically, we will always see high prices.
Solar energy is different. The sun is not a limited resource – it comes out every day. The only aspect of solar energy that is controlled by supply and demand is the solar panel you purchase to convert the solar energy into energy for your home or business. After that is purchased, supply and demand don’t matter related to solar energy. The supply will always be there, and there is no fee associated with using it. That means no expected fluctuations in the cost of your energy source.
3. Environmental & Health Impact
Fossil fuels are terrible for not only the environment, causing irreversible damage, but also for our health. Fossil fuels are so determinantal to our health that they are the cause of 65% of the mortality rate associated with air pollution. Beyond the impact on the air we breathe, fossil fuels contaminate our water supply and crops, too. We are breathing, eating, and drinking CO2 emissions. Our environment is doing the same – consuming CO2 in the atmosphere, soil, and water – that’s where the scariest damage of fossil fuels is. Fossil fuels contributed to 89% of the global CO2 emissions in 2018, which is a massive carbon footprint.
CO2 is a greenhouse gas, which gets locked into our atmosphere, leading to global warming, as we’ve seen. Beyond the emissions of CO2 from fossil fuels, changing to solar energy would also be a massive way to aid in our water conservation. Electricity production requires water for cooling the yielders, processing and distilling fuel, and fuel transmission through pipes. Relying on fossil fuels as our energy source depletes our most important natural resource. We should not be wasting our most precious resource when we have another option.
Conclusion
The time to make the transition from fossil fuels to solar is now. Secure Energy for America, and everywhere else, is a necessity. Solar energy is a renewable resource we can confidently rely on, it can’t be subject to the finicky supply and demand influence of the economy, and it will eliminate 89% of global CO2 emissions if a transition to solar is made unanimously. We only have one Earth and so many resources on it. We need to be mindful of our impact and do what we can to minimize it – ensuring our future generations get to experience a world with cleaner air, a healthier environment, and reliable energy.