write an essay on clean energy and the environment

Search the United Nations

• What Is Climate Change
• Myth Busters
• Renewable Energy
• Finance & Justice
• Initiatives
• Sustainable Development Goals
• Paris Agreement
• Climate Ambition Summit 2023
• Climate Conferences
• Press Material
• Communications Tips

Renewable energy – powering a safer future

Energy is at the heart of the climate challenge – and key to the solution.

A large chunk of the greenhouse gases that blanket the Earth and trap the sun’s heat are generated through energy production, by burning fossil fuels to generate electricity and heat.

Fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and gas, are by far the largest contributor to global climate change , accounting for over 75 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions.

The science is clear: to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, emissions need to be reduced by almost half by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2050.

To achieve this, we need to end our reliance on fossil fuels and invest in alternative sources of energy that are clean, accessible, affordable, sustainable, and reliable.

Renewable energy sources – which are available in abundance all around us, provided by the sun, wind, water, waste, and heat from the Earth – are replenished by nature and emit little to no greenhouse gases or pollutants into the air.

Fossil fuels still account for more than 80 percent of global energy production , but cleaner sources of energy are gaining ground. About 29 percent of electricity currently comes from renewable sources.

Here are five reasons why accelerating the transition to clean energy is the pathway to a healthy, livable planet today and for generations to come.

1. Renewable energy sources are all around us

About 80 percent of the global population lives in countries that are net-importers of fossil fuels -- that’s about 6 billion people who are dependent on fossil fuels from other countries, which makes them vulnerable to geopolitical shocks and crises.

In contrast, renewable energy sources are available in all countries, and their potential is yet to be fully harnessed. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimates that 90 percent of the world’s electricity can and should come from renewable energy by 2050.

Renewables offer a way out of import dependency, allowing countries to diversify their economies and protect them from the unpredictable price swings of fossil fuels, while driving inclusive economic growth, new jobs, and poverty alleviation.

2. Renewable energy is cheaper

Renewable energy actually is the cheapest power option in most parts of the world today. Prices for renewable energy technologies are dropping rapidly. The cost of electricity from solar power fell by 85 percent between 2010 and 2020. Costs of onshore and offshore wind energy fell by 56 percent and 48 percent respectively.

Falling prices make renewable energy more attractive all around – including to low- and middle-income countries, where most of the additional demand for new electricity will come from. With falling costs, there is a real opportunity for much of the new power supply over the coming years to be provided by low-carbon sources.

Cheap electricity from renewable sources could provide 65 percent of the world’s total electricity supply by 2030. It could decarbonize 90 percent of the power sector by 2050, massively cutting carbon emissions and helping to mitigate climate change.

Although solar and wind power costs are expected to remain higher in 2022 and 2023 then pre-pandemic levels due to general elevated commodity and freight prices, their competitiveness actually improves due to much sharper increases in gas and coal prices, says the International Energy Agency (IEA).

3. Renewable energy is healthier

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 99 percent of people in the world breathe air that exceeds air quality limits and threatens their health, and more than 13 million deaths around the world each year are due to avoidable environmental causes, including air pollution.

The unhealthy levels of fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide originate mainly from the burning of fossil fuels. In 2018, air pollution from fossil fuels caused $2.9 trillion in health and economic costs , about $8 billion a day.

Switching to clean sources of energy, such as wind and solar, thus helps address not only climate change but also air pollution and health.

4. Renewable energy creates jobs

Every dollar of investment in renewables creates three times more jobs than in the fossil fuel industry. The IEA estimates that the transition towards net-zero emissions will lead to an overall increase in energy sector jobs : while about 5 million jobs in fossil fuel production could be lost by 2030, an estimated 14 million new jobs would be created in clean energy, resulting in a net gain of 9 million jobs.

In addition, energy-related industries would require a further 16 million workers, for instance to take on new roles in manufacturing of electric vehicles and hyper-efficient appliances or in innovative technologies such as hydrogen. This means that a total of more than 30 million jobs could be created in clean energy, efficiency, and low-emissions technologies by 2030.

Ensuring a just transition , placing the needs and rights of people at the heart of the energy transition, will be paramount to make sure no one is left behind.

5. Renewable energy makes economic sense

About $7 trillion was spent on subsidizing the fossil fuel industry in 2022, including through explicit subsidies, tax breaks, and health and environmental damages that were not priced into the cost of fossil fuels.

In comparison, about $4 trillion a year needs to be invested in renewable energy until 2030 – including investments in technology and infrastructure – to allow us to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

The upfront cost can be daunting for many countries with limited resources, and many will need financial and technical support to make the transition. But investments in renewable energy will pay off. The reduction of pollution and climate impacts alone could save the world up to $4.2 trillion per year by 2030.

Moreover, efficient, reliable renewable technologies can create a system less prone to market shocks and improve resilience and energy security by diversifying power supply options.

Learn more about how many communities and countries are realizing the economic, societal, and environmental benefits of renewable energy.

Will developing countries benefit from the renewables boom? Learn more here .

What is renewable energy?

Derived from natural resources that are abundant and continuously replenished, renewable energy is key to a safer, cleaner, and sustainable world. Explore common sources of renewable energy here.

Why invest in renewable energy?

Learn more about the differences between fossil fuels and renewables, the benefits of renewable energy, and how we can act now.

Five ways to jump-start the renewable energy transition now

UN Secretary-General outlines five critical actions the world needs to prioritize now to speed up the global shift to renewable energy.

What is net zero? Why is it important? Our net-zero page explains why we need steep emissions cuts now and what efforts are underway.

• What is climate change?

Our climate 101 offers a quick take on the how and why of climate change. Read more.

How will the world foot the bill? We explain the issues and the value of financing climate action.

Climate issues

Learn more about how climate change impacts are felt across different sectors and ecosystems.

It’s time to stop burning our planet, and start investing in the abundant renewable energy all around us." ANTÓNIO GUTERRES , United Nations Secretary-General

Facts and figures

• Causes and effects
• Myth busters

Cutting emissions

• Explaining net zero
• High-level expert group on net zero
• Checklists for credibility of net-zero pledges
• Greenwashing
• What you can do

Clean energy

• Renewable energy – key to a safer future
• What is renewable energy
• Five ways to speed up the energy transition
• Why invest in renewable energy
• Clean energy stories
• A just transition

Adapting to climate change

• Climate adaptation
• Early warnings for all
• Youth voices

Financing climate action

• Finance and justice
• Loss and damage
• $100 billion commitment
• Why finance climate action
• Biodiversity
• Human Security

International cooperation

• What are Nationally Determined Contributions
• Acceleration Agenda
• Climate Ambition Summit
• Climate conferences (COPs)
• Youth Advisory Group
• Action initiatives
• Secretary-General’s speeches
• Press material
• Fact sheets
• Communications tips

This Is the Future: Essay on Renewable Energy

Today the world population depends on nonrenewable energy resources. With the constantly growing demand for energy, natural gas, coal, and oil get used up and cannot replenish themselves. 

Aside from limited supply, heavy reliance on fossil fuels causes planetary-scale damage. Sea levels are rising. Heat-trapping carbon dioxide increased the warming effect by 45% from 1990 to 2019. The only way to tackle the crisis is to start the transition to renewable energy now. 

What is renewable energy? It is energy that comes from replenishable natural resources like sunlight, wind, thermal energy, moving water, and organic materials. Renewable resources do not run out. They are cost-efficient and renew faster than they are consumed. How does renewable energy save money? It creates new jobs, supports economic growth, and decreases inequitable fossil fuel subsidies. 

At the current rates of production, some fossil fuels will not even last another century. This is why the future depends on reliable and eco-friendly resources. This renewable energy essay examines the types and benefits of renewable energy and its role in creating a sustainable future.

Top 5 Types of Renewable Energy: The Apollo Alliance Rankings

There are many natural resources that can provide people with clean energy. To make a list of the five most booming types of renewable energy on the market today, this energy essay uses data gathered by the Apollo Alliance. It is a project that aims to revolutionize the energy sector of the US with a focus on clean energy. 

The Apollo Alliance unites businesses, community leaders, and environmental experts to support the transition to more sustainable and efficient living. Their expert opinion helped to compile information about the most common and cost-competitive sources of renewable energy. However, if you want to get some more in-depth research, you can entrust it to an essay writer . Here’s a quick overview of renewable energy resources that have a huge potential to substitute fossil fuels. 

Solar Renewable Energy

The most abundant and practically endless resource is solar energy. It can be turned into electricity by photovoltaic systems that convert radiant energy captured from sunlight. Solar farms could generate enough energy for thousands of homes.

An endless supply is the main benefit of solar energy. The rate at which the Earth receives it is 10,000 times greater than people can consume it, as a paper writer points out based on their analysis of research findings. It can substitute fossil fuels and deliver people electricity, hot water, cooling, heat, etc. 

The upfront investment in solar systems is rather expensive. This is one of the primary limitations that prevent businesses and households from switching to this energy source at once. However, the conclusion of solar energy is still favorable. In the long run, it can significantly decrease energy costs. Besides, solar panels are gradually becoming more affordable to manufacture and adopt, even at an individual level. 

Wind Renewable Energy

Another clean energy source is wind. Wind farms use the kinetic energy of wind flow to convert it into electricity. The Appolo Alliance notes that, unlike solar farms, they can’t be placed in any location. To stay cost-competitive, wind farms should operate in windy areas. Although not all countries have the right conditions to use them on a large scale, wind farms might be introduced for some energy diversity. The technical potential for it is still tremendous. 

Wind energy is clean and safe for the environment. It does not pollute the atmosphere with any harmful products compared to nonrenewable energy resources. 

The investment in wind energy is also economically wise. If you examine the cost of this energy resource in an essay on renewable resources, you’ll see that wind farms can deliver electricity at a price lower than nonrenewable resources. Besides, since wind isn’t limited, its cost won’t be influenced by the imbalance of supply and demand.

Geothermal Renewable Energy

Natural renewable resources are all around us, even beneath the ground. Geothermal energy can be produced from the thermal energy from the Earth’s interior. Sometimes heat reaches the surface naturally, for example, in the form of geysers. But it can also be used by geothermal power plants. The Earth’s heat gets captured and converted to steam that turns a turbine. As a result, we get geothermal energy.

This source provides a significant energy supply while having low emissions and no significant footprint on land. A factsheet and essay on renewable resources state that geothermal plants will increase electricity production from 17 billion kWh in 2020 to 49.8 billion kWh in 2050.

However, this method is not without limitations. While writing a renewable resources essay, consider that geothermal energy can be accessed only in certain regions. Geological hotspots are off-limits as they are vulnerable to earthquakes. Yet, the quantity of geothermal resources is likely to grow as technology advances. 

Ocean Renewable Energy

The kinetic and thermal energy of the ocean is a robust resource. Ocean power systems rely on:

• Changes in sea level;
• Wave energy;
• Water surface temperatures;
• The energy released from seawater and freshwater mixing.

Ocean energy is more predictable compared to other resources. As estimated by EPRI, it has the potential to produce 2640 TWh/yr. However, an important point to consider in a renewable energy essay is that the kinetic energy of the ocean varies. Yet, since it is ruled by the moon’s gravity, the resource is plentiful and continues to be attractive for the energy industry. 

Wave energy systems are still developing. The Apollo energy corporation explores many prototypes. It is looking for the most reliable and robust solution that can function in the harsh ocean environment. 

Another limitation of ocean renewable energy is that it may cause disruptions to marine life. Although its emissions are minimal, the system requires large equipment to be installed in the ocean. 

Biomass Renewable Energy

Organic materials like wood and charcoal have been used for heating and lighting for centuries. There are a lot more types of biomass: from trees, cereal straws, and grass to processed waste. All of them can produce bioenergy. 

Biomass can be converted into energy through burning or using methane produced during the natural process of decomposition. In an essay on renewable sources of energy, the opponents of the method point out that biomass energy is associated with carbon dioxide emissions. Yet, the amount of released greenhouse gases is much lower compared to nonrenewable energy use. 

While biomass is a reliable source of energy, it is only suitable for limited applications. If used too extensively, it might lead to disruptions in biodiversity, a negative impact on land use, and deforestation. Still, Apollo energy includes biomass resources that become waste and decompose quickly anyway. These are organic materials like sawdust, chips from sawmills, stems, nut shells, etc. 

What Is the Apollo Alliance?

The Apollo Alliance is a coalition of business leaders, environmental organizations, labor unions, and foundations. They all unite their efforts in a single project to harness clean energy in new, innovative ways. 

Why Apollo? Similarly to President John F. Kennedy’s Apollo Project, Apollo energy is a strong visionary initiative. It is a dare, a challenge. The alliance calls for the integrity of science, research, technology, and the public to revolutionize the energy industry.

The project has a profound message. Apollo energy solutions are not only about the environment or energy. They are about building a new economy. The alliance gives hope to building a secure future for Americans. 

What is the mission of the Apollo Alliance? 

• Achieve energy independence with efficient and limitless resources of renewable energy.
• Pioneer innovation in the energy sector.
• Build education campaigns and communication to inspire new perceptions of energy. 
• Create new jobs.
• Reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels. 
• Build healthier and happier communities. 

The transformation of the industry will lead to planet-scale changes. The Apollo energy corporation can respond to the global environmental crisis and prevent climate change. 

Apollo renewable energy also has the potential to become a catalyst for social change. With more affordable energy and new jobs in the industry, people can bridge the inequality divide and build stronger communities. 

Why Renewable Energy Is Important for the Future

Renewable energy resources have an enormous potential to cover people’s energy needs on a global scale. Unlike fossil fuels, they are available in abundance and generate minimal to no emissions. 

The burning of fossil fuels caused a lot of environmental problems—from carbon dioxide emissions to ocean acidification. Research this issue in more detail with academic assistance from essay writer online . You can use it to write an essay on renewable sources of energy to explain the importance of change and its global impact. 

Despite all the damage people caused to the planet, there’s still hope to mitigate further repercussions. Every renewable energy essay adds to the existing body of knowledge we have today and advances research in the field. Here are the key advantages and disadvantages of alternative energy resources people should keep in mind. 

Advantage of Green Energy

The use of renewable energy resources has a number of benefits for the climate, human well-being, and economy:

• Renewable energy resources have little to no greenhouse gas emissions. Even if we take into account the manufacturing and recycling of the technologies involved, their impact on the environment is significantly lower compared to fossil fuels. 
• Renewable energy promotes self-sufficiency and reduces a country’s dependence on foreign fuel. According to a study, a 1% increase in the use of renewable energy increases economic growth by 0.21%. This gives socio-economic stability.
• Due to a lack of supply of fossil fuels and quick depletion of natural resources, prices for nonrenewable energy keep increasing. In contrast, green energy is limitless and can be produced locally. In the long run, this allows decreasing the cost of energy. 
• Unlike fossil fuels, renewable energy doesn’t emit air pollutants. This positively influences health and quality of life. 
• The emergence of green energy plants creates new jobs. Thus, Apollo energy solutions support the growth of local communities. By 2030, the transition to renewable energy is expected to generate 10.3 million new jobs. 
• Renewable energy allows decentralization of the industry. Communities get their independent sources of energy that are more flexible in terms of distribution. 
• Renewable energy supports equality. It has the potential to make energy more affordable to low-income countries and expand access to energy even in remote and less fortunate neighborhoods. 

Disadvantages of Non-Conventional Energy Sources

No technology is perfect. Renewable energy resources have certain drawbacks too: 

• The production of renewable energy depends on weather conditions. For example, wind farms could be effective only in certain locations where the weather conditions allow it. The weather also makes it so that renewable energy cannot be generated around the clock. 
• The initial cost of renewable energy technology is expensive. Both manufacturing and installation require significant investment. This is another disadvantage of renewable resources. It makes them unaffordable to a lot of businesses and unavailable for widespread individual use. In addition, the return on investment might not be immediate.
• Renewable energy technology takes up a lot of space. It may affect life in the communities where these clean energy farms are installed. They may also cause disruptions to wildlife in the areas. 
• One more limitation a renewable resources essay should consider is the current state of technology. While the potential of renewable energy resources is tremendous, the technology is still in its development phase. Therefore, renewable energy might not substitute fossil fuels overnight. There’s a need for more research, investment, and time to transition to renewable energy completely. Yet, some diversity of energy resources should be introduced as soon as possible. 
• Renewable energy resources have limited emissions, but they are not entirely pollution-free. The manufacturing process of equipment is associated with greenhouse gas emissions while, for example, the lifespan of a wind turbine is only 20 years. 

For high school seniors eyeing a future rich with innovative endeavors in renewable energy or other fields, it's crucial to seek financial support early on. Explore the top 10 scholarships for high school seniors to find the right fit that can propel you into a future where you can contribute to the renewable energy movement and beyond. Through such financial support, the road to making meaningful contributions to a sustainable future becomes a tangible reality.

Renewable energy unlocks the potential for humanity to have clean energy that is available in abundance. It leads us to economic growth, independence, and stability. With green energy, we can also reduce the impact of human activity on the environment and stop climate change before it’s too late. 

So what’s the conclusion of renewable energy? Transitioning to renewable energy resources might be challenging and expensive. However, most experts agree that the advantages of green energy outweigh any drawbacks. Besides, since technology is continuously evolving, we’ll be able to overcome most limitations in no time.

Frequently asked questions

She was flawless! first time using a website like this, I've ordered article review and i totally adored it! grammar punctuation, content - everything was on point

This writer is my go to, because whenever I need someone who I can trust my task to - I hire Joy. She wrote almost every paper for me for the last 2 years

Term paper done up to a highest standard, no revisions, perfect communication. 10s across the board!!!!!!!

I send him instructions and that's it. my paper was done 10 hours later, no stupid questions, he nailed it.

Sometimes I wonder if Michael is secretly a professor because he literally knows everything. HE DID SO WELL THAT MY PROF SHOWED MY PAPER AS AN EXAMPLE. unbelievable, many thanks

You Might Also Like

New Posts to Your Inbox!

Stay in touch

The world’s energy problem

The world faces two energy problems: most of our energy still produces greenhouse gas emissions, and hundreds of millions lack access to energy..

The world lacks safe, low-carbon, and cheap large-scale energy alternatives to fossil fuels. Until we scale up those alternatives the world will continue to face the two energy problems of today. The energy problem that receives most attention is the link between energy access and greenhouse gas emissions. But the world has another global energy problem that is just as big: hundreds of millions of people lack access to sufficient energy entirely, with terrible consequences to themselves and the environment.

The problem that dominates the public discussion on energy is climate change. A climate crisis endangers the natural environment around us, our wellbeing today and the wellbeing of those who come after us.

It is the production of energy that is responsible for 87% of global greenhouse gas emissions and as the chart below shows, people in the richest countries have the very highest emissions.

This chart here will guide us through the discussion of the world's energy problem. It shows the per capita CO2 emissions on the vertical axis against the average income in that country on the horizontal axis.

In countries where people have an average income between $15,000 and $20,000, per capita CO 2 emissions are close to the global average ( 4.8 tonnes CO 2 per year). In every country where people's average income is above $25,000 the average emissions per capita are higher than the global average.

The world’s CO 2 emissions have been rising quickly and reached 36.6 billion tonnes in 2018 . As long as we are emitting greenhouse gases their concentration in the atmosphere increases . To bring climate change to an end the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere needs to stabilize and to achieve this the world’s greenhouse gas emissions have to decline towards net-zero.

To bring emissions down towards net-zero will be one of the world’s biggest challenges in the years ahead. But the world’s energy problem is actually even larger than that, because the world has not one, but two energy problems.

The twin problems of global energy

The first energy problem: those that have low carbon emissions lack access to energy.

The first global energy problem relates to the left-hand side of the scatter-plot above.

People in very poor countries have very low emissions. On average, people in the US emit more carbon dioxide in 4 days than people in poor countries – such as Ethiopia, Uganda, or Malawi – emit in an entire year. 1

The reason that the emissions of the poor are low is that they lack access to modern energy and technology. The energy problem of the poorer half of the world is energy poverty . The two charts below show that large shares of people in countries with a GDP per capita of less than $25,000 do not have access to electricity and clean cooking fuels. 2

The lack of access to these technologies causes some of the worst global problems of our time.

When people lack access to modern energy sources for cooking and heating, they rely on solid fuel sources – mostly firewood, but also dung and crop waste. This comes at a massive cost to the health of people in energy poverty: indoor air pollution , which the WHO calls "the world's largest single environmental health risk." 3 For the poorest people in the world it is the largest risk factor for early death and global health research suggests that indoor air pollution is responsible for 1.6 million deaths each year, twice the death count of poor sanitation. 4

The use of wood as a source of energy also has a negative impact on the environment around us. The reliance on fuelwood is the reason why poverty is linked to deforestation. The FAO reports that on the African continent the reliance on wood as fuel is the single most important driver of forest degradation. 5 Across East, Central, and West Africa fuelwood provides more than half of the total energy. 6

Lastly, the lack of access to energy subjects people to a life in poverty. No electricity means no refrigeration of food; no washing machine or dishwasher; and no light at night. You might have seen the photos of children sitting under a street lamp at night to do their homework. 7

The first energy problem of the world is the problem of energy poverty – those that do not have sufficient access to modern energy sources suffer poor living conditions as a result.

The second energy problem: those that have access to energy produce greenhouse gas emissions that are too high

The second energy problem is the one that is more well known, and relates to the right hand-side of the scatterplot above: greenhouse gas emissions are too high.

Those that need to reduce emissions the most are the extremely rich. Diana Ivanova and Richard Wood (2020) have just shown that the richest 1% in the EU emit on average 43 tonnes of CO 2 annually – 9-times as much as the global average of 4.8 tonnes. 8

The focus on the rich, however, can give the impression that it is only the emissions of the extremely rich that are the problem. What isn’t made clear enough in the public debate is that for the world's energy supply to be sustainable the greenhouse gas emissions of the majority of the world population are currently too high. The problem is larger for the extremely rich, but it isn’t limited to them.

The Paris Agreement's goal is to keep the increase of the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and “to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C”. 9

To achieve this goal emissions have to decline to net-zero within the coming decades.

Within richer countries, where few are suffering from energy poverty, even the emissions of the very poorest people are far higher. The paper by Ivanova and Wood shows that in countries like Germany, Ireland, and Greece more than 99% of households have per capita emissions of more than 2.4 tonnes per year.

The only countries that have emissions that are close to zero are those where the majority suffers from energy poverty. 10 The countries that are closest are the very poorest countries in Africa : Malawi, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

But this comes at a large cost to themselves as this chart shows. In no poor country do people have living standards that are comparable to those of people in richer countries.

And since living conditions are better where GDP per capita is higher, it is also the case that CO 2 emissions are higher where living conditions are better. Emissions are high where child mortality is the lowest , where children have good access to education, and where few of them suffer from hunger .

The reason for this is that as soon as people get access to energy from fossil fuels their emissions are too high to be sustainable over the long run (see here ).

People need access to energy for a good life. But in a world where fossil fuels are the dominant source of energy, access to modern energy means that carbon emissions are too high.

The more accurate description of the second global energy problem is therefore: the majority of the world population – all those who are not very poor – have greenhouse gas emissions that are far too high to be sustainable over the long run.

The current alternatives are energy poverty or fossil-fuels and greenhouse gases

The chart here is a version of the scatter plot above and summarizes the two global energy problems: In purple are those that live in energy poverty, in blue those whose greenhouse gas emissions are too high if we want to avoid severe climate change.

So far I have looked at the global energy problem in a static way, but the world is changing  of course.

For millennia all of our ancestors lived in the pink bubble: the reliance on wood meant they suffered from indoor air pollution; the necessity of acquiring fuelwood and agricultural land meant deforestation; and minimal technology meant that our ancestors lived in conditions of extreme poverty.

In the last two centuries more and more people have moved from the purple to the blue area in the chart. In many ways this is a very positive development. Economic growth and increased access to modern energy improved people's living conditions. In rich countries almost no one dies from indoor air pollution and living conditions are much better in many ways as we've seen above. It also meant that we made progress against the ecological downside of energy poverty: The link between poverty and the reliance on fuelwood is one of the key reasons why deforestation declines with economic growth. 11 And progress in that direction has been fast: on any average day in the last decade 315,000 people in the world got access to electricity for the first time in their life.

But while living conditions improved, greenhouse gas emissions increased.

The chart shows what this meant for greenhouse gas emissions over the last generation. The chart is a version of the scatter plot above, but it shows the change over time – from 1990 to the latest available data.

The data is now also plotted on log-log scales which has the advantage that you can see the rates of change easily. On a logarithmic axis the steepness of the line corresponds to the rate of change. What the chart shows is that low- and middle-income countries increased their emissions at very similar rates.

By default the chart shows the change of income and emission for the 14 countries that are home to more than 100 million people, but you can add other countries to the chart.

What has been true in the past two decades will be true in the future. For the poorer three-quarters of the world income growth means catching up with the good living conditions of the richer world, but unless there are cheap alternatives to fossil fuels it also means catching up with the high emissions of the richer world.

Our challenge: find large-scale energy alternatives to fossil fuels that are affordable, safe and sustainable

The task for our generation is therefore twofold: since the majority of the world still lives in poor conditions, we have to continue to make progress in our fight against energy poverty. But success in this fight will only translate into good living conditions for today’s young generation when we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the same time.

Key to making progress on both of these fronts is the source of energy and its price . Those living in energy poverty cannot afford sufficient energy and those that left the worst poverty behind rely on fossil fuels to meet their energy needs.

Once we look at it this way it becomes clear that the twin energy problems are really the two sides of one big problem. We lack large-scale energy alternatives to fossil fuels that are cheap, safe, and sustainable.

This last version of the scatter plot shows what it would mean to have such energy sources at scale. It would allow the world to leave the unsustainable current alternatives behind and make the transition to the bottom right corner of the chart: the area marked with the green rectangle where emissions are net-zero and everyone has left energy poverty behind.

Without these technologies we are trapped in a world where we have only bad alternatives: Low-income countries that fail to meet the needs of the current generation; high-income countries that compromise the ability of future generations to meet their needs; and middle-income countries that fail on both counts.

Since we have not developed all the technologies that are required to make this transition possible large scale innovation is required for the world to make this transition. This is the case for most sectors that cause carbon emissions , in particular in the transport (shipping, aviation, road transport) and heating sectors, but also cement production and agriculture.

One sector where we have developed several alternatives to fossil fuels is electricity. Nuclear power and renewables emit far less carbon (and are much safer) than fossil fuels. Still, as the last chart shows, their share in global electricity production hasn't changed much: only increasing from 36% to 38% in the last three decades.

But it is possible to do better. Some countries have scaled up nuclear power and renewables and are doing much better than the global average. You can see this if you change the chart to show the data for France and Sweden – in France 92% of electricity comes from low carbon sources, in Sweden it is 99%. The consequence of countries doing better in this respect should be that they are closer to the sustainable energy world of the future. The scatter plot above shows that this is the case.

But for the global energy supply – especially outside the electricity sector – the world is still far away from a solution to the world's energy problem.

Every country is still very far away from providing clean, safe, and affordable energy at a massive scale and unless we make rapid progress in developing these technologies we will remain stuck in the two unsustainable alternatives of today: energy poverty or greenhouse gas emissions.

As can be seen from the chart, the ratio of emissions is 17.49t / 0.2t = 87.45. And 365 days/87.45=4.17 days

It is worth looking into the cutoffs for what it means – according to these international statistics – to have access to energy. The cutoffs are low.

See Raising Global Energy Ambitions: The 1,000 kWh Modern Energy Minimum and IEA (2020) – Defining energy access: 2020 methodology, IEA, Paris.

WHO (2014) – Frequently Asked Questions – Ambient and Household Air Pollution and Health . Update 2014

While it is certain that the death toll of indoor air pollution is high, there are widely differing estimates. At the higher end of the spectrum, the WHO estimates a death count of more than twice that. We discuss it in our entry on indoor air pollution .

The 2018 estimate for premature deaths due to poor sanitation is from the same analysis, the Global Burden of Disease study. See here .

FAO and UNEP. 2020. The State of the World’s Forests 2020. Forests, biodiversity and people. Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca8642en

The same report also reports that an estimated 880 million people worldwide are collecting fuelwood or producing charcoal with it.

This is according to the IEA's World Energy Balances 2020. Here is a visualization of the data.

The second largest energy source across the three regions is oil and the third is gas.

The photo shows students study under the streetlights at Conakry airport in Guinea. It was taken by Rebecca Blackwell for the Associated Press.

It was published by the New York Times here .

The global average is 4.8 tonnes per capita . The richest 1% of individuals in the EU emit 43 tonnes per capita – according to Ivanova D, Wood R (2020). The unequal distribution of household carbon footprints in Europe and its link to sustainability. Global Sustainability 3, e18, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1017/sus.2020.12

On Our World in Data my colleague Hannah Ritchie has looked into a related question and also found that the highest emissions are concentrated among a relatively small share of the global population: High-income countries are home to only 16% of the world population, yet they are responsible for almost half (46%) of the world’s emissions.

Article 2 of the Paris Agreement states the goal in section 1a: “Holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels, recognizing that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change.”

It is an interesting question whether there are some subnational regions in richer countries where a larger group of people has extremely low emissions; it might possibly be the case in regions that rely on nuclear energy or renewables (likely hydro power) or where aforestation is happening rapidly.

Crespo Cuaresma, J., Danylo, O., Fritz, S. et al. Economic Development and Forest Cover: Evidence from Satellite Data. Sci Rep 7, 40678 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep40678

Bruce N, Rehfuess E, Mehta S, et al. Indoor Air Pollution. In: Jamison DT, Breman JG, Measham AR, et al., editors. Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries. 2nd edition. Washington (DC): The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank; 2006. Chapter 42. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11760/ Co-published by Oxford University Press, New York.

Cite this work

Our articles and data visualizations rely on work from many different people and organizations. When citing this article, please also cite the underlying data sources. This article can be cited as:

BibTeX citation

Reuse this work freely

All visualizations, data, and code produced by Our World in Data are completely open access under the Creative Commons BY license . You have the permission to use, distribute, and reproduce these in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited.

The data produced by third parties and made available by Our World in Data is subject to the license terms from the original third-party authors. We will always indicate the original source of the data in our documentation, so you should always check the license of any such third-party data before use and redistribution.

All of our charts can be embedded in any site.

Our World in Data is free and accessible for everyone.

Help us do this work by making a donation.

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals
• Explore content
• About the journal
• Publish with us
• Sign up for alerts
• 08 August 2023

Clean energy can fuel the future — and make the world healthier

You have full access to this article via your institution.

China is on track to reach its solar-power target for 2030. Credit: Zhao Yongtao/VCG/Getty

The 2030 targets laid out by the United Nations for the seventh Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 7) are clear enough: provide affordable access to energy; expand use of renewable sources; improve energy efficiency year on year; and enhance international cooperation in support of clean-energy research, development and infrastructure. Meeting those goals, however, will be anything but simple. As seen in many of the editorials in this series examining the SDGs at their halfway stage , the world is falling short.

This is due, at least in part, to the influence of the fossil-fuel industry, which drives the economics and, often, the politics of countries large and small, rich and poor. Rising human prosperity, as measured by economic growth, has long been linked to an abundance of fossil fuels. Many politicians fear that the pursuit of clean-energy sources will compromise that economic development. The latest science clearly counters this view — but the voice of the research community is not being heard in the right places. To meet the targets embodied in SDG 7, that has to change.

There is much to be done. In 2021, some 675 million people worldwide still did not have access to electricity. This is down from 1.1 billion a decade or so ago, but the pace of progress has slowed. On the basis of current trends, 660 million people, many of them in sub-Saharan Africa, will remain without electricity by 2030. And projections indicate that some 1.9 billion people will still be using polluting and inefficient cooking systems fuelled by coal and wood (see go.nature.com/3s8d887 ). This is bad news all round: for health, biodiversity and the climate.

Carbon emissions hit new high: warning from COP27

Achieving the energy-access targets was always going to be a stretch, but progress has been slow elsewhere, too. Take energy efficiency. More energy efficiency means less pollution, and energy efficiency has increased by around 2% annually in the past few years. But meeting the target for 2030 — to double the rate of the 1990–2010 average — would require gains of around 3.4% every year for the rest of this decade.

The picture for renewable energy is similarly mixed. Despite considerable growth in wind and solar power to generate grid electricity, progress in the heat and transport sectors remains sluggish. Renewable energy’s share of total global energy consumption was just 19.1% in 2020, according to the latest UN tracking report, but one-third of that came from burning resources such as wood.

One reason for the slow progress is the continued idea that aggressive clean-energy goals will get in the way of economic development. It’s easier and more profitable for major fossil-fuel producers to simply maintain the status quo. Just last month, ministers from the G20 group of the world’s biggest economies, including the European Union, India, Saudi Arabia and the United States, failed to agree on a plan to phase out fossil fuels and triple the capacity of renewable energy by 2030.

But this is where science has a story to tell. In the past, researchers say, many models indicated that clean energy would be more expensive than that from fossil fuels, potentially pricing the poorest nations out of the market as well as driving up people’s food bills and exacerbating hunger. But the latest research suggests that the picture is more complex. Energy is a linchpin for most of the SDGs, and research that merges climate, energy and the SDGs underscores this 1 . For example, the agriculture and food-transport sectors still depend on fossil fuels, and that generates pollution that kills millions of people each year. Other links are indirect: lack of access to light at night and to online information — as a result of energy poverty — hampers educational attainment and contributes to both long- and short-term inequality.

US aims for electric-car revolution — will it work?

The lesson from research is that it might be easier, not harder, to address these challenges together. In 2021, researcher Gabriela Iacobuţă at the German Institute of Development and Sustainability in Bonn and her colleagues showed that technologies centred on renewable resources and efficiency tend to come with few trade-offs and many benefits, including improved public health and wealth, thanks to a cleaner environment and better jobs 2 . And climate scientist Bjoern Soergel at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany and his colleagues found that a coordinated package of climate and development policies could achieve most of the SDGs while limiting global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels 3 .

The study assessed 56 indicators across all 17 SDGs. One proposed intervention is an international climate finance mechanism that would levy fees on carbon emissions that would be redistributed through national programmes to reduce poverty. A second focuses on promoting healthy diets — including reducing the consumption of meat, the production of which requires a lot of water, energy and land. This would benefit people on low incomes by lowering both food and energy prices.

The biggest challenge lies in translating these models to the real world. To do so, we need leaders who are not bound by outmoded thinking, are aware of the latest science and can draw on the research to build public support for the necessary energy transition. We require more national and international public institutions that are willing to address problems at the system level. And all of this needs a science community that is willing and able to champion knowledge and evidence.

Nature 620 , 245 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02510-y

Vohra, K. et al. Environ. Res. 195 , 110754 (2021).

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Iacobuţă, G. I., Höhne, N., van Soest, H. L. & Leemans, R. Sustainability 13 , 10774 (2021).

Article   Google Scholar  

Soergel, B. et al. Nature Clim. Change 11 , 656–664 (2021).

Download references

Reprints and permissions

Related Articles

• Environmental sciences

A better way to charge a quantum battery

Research Highlight 08 MAR 24

The world must rethink plans for ageing oil and gas platforms

Comment 06 MAR 24

Triple win: solar farms in deserts can boost power, incomes and ecosystems

Correspondence 20 FEB 24

Don’t dismiss carbon credits that aim to avoid future emissions

Correspondence 02 APR 24

The ‘Anthropocene’ is here to stay — and it’s better not as a geological epoch

Correspondence 26 MAR 24

‘Exhausted and insulted’: how harsh visa-application policies are hobbling global research

World View 26 MAR 24

The EU’s ominous emphasis on ‘open strategic autonomy’ in research

Editorial 03 APR 24

Cuts to postgraduate funding threaten Brazilian science — again

Don’t underestimate the rising threat of groundwater to coastal cities

Global Scientist Interdisciplinary Forum & Recruitment

Southern University of Science and Technology, School of Medicine

Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

Research Associate - Neuroscience and Respiratory Physiology

Houston, Texas (US)

Baylor College of Medicine (BCM)

Histology Laboratory Manager

Postdoctoral scholar - research-pediatrics.

Memphis, Tennessee

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC)

Postdoctoral Scholar

Postdoctoral Scholar - PHAST Investigate Novel Roles of Linear Deubiquitinase Otulin In NeuroDegenerato

Memphis, Tennessee (US)

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

• CBSE Class 10th
• CBSE Class 12th
• UP Board 10th
• UP Board 12th
• Bihar Board 10th
• Bihar Board 12th
• Top Schools in India
• Top Schools in Delhi
• Top Schools in Mumbai
• Top Schools in Chennai
• Top Schools in Hyderabad
• Top Schools in Kolkata
• Top Schools in Pune
• Top Schools in Bangalore

Products & Resources

• JEE Main Knockout April
• Free Sample Papers
• Free Ebooks
• NCERT Notes
• NCERT Syllabus
• NCERT Books
• RD Sharma Solutions
• Navodaya Vidyalaya Admission 2024-25
• NCERT Solutions
• NCERT Solutions for Class 12
• NCERT Solutions for Class 11
• NCERT solutions for Class 10
• NCERT solutions for Class 9
• NCERT solutions for Class 8
• NCERT Solutions for Class 7
• JEE Main 2024
• JEE Advanced 2024
• BITSAT 2024
• View All Engineering Exams
• Colleges Accepting B.Tech Applications
• Top Engineering Colleges in India
• Engineering Colleges in India
• Engineering Colleges in Tamil Nadu
• Engineering Colleges Accepting JEE Main
• Top IITs in India
• Top NITs in India
• Top IIITs in India
• JEE Main College Predictor
• JEE Main Rank Predictor
• MHT CET College Predictor
• AP EAMCET College Predictor
• GATE College Predictor
• KCET College Predictor
• JEE Advanced College Predictor
• View All College Predictors
• JEE Main Question Paper
• JEE Main Mock Test
• JEE Main Registration
• JEE Main Syllabus
• Download E-Books and Sample Papers
• Compare Colleges
• B.Tech College Applications
• GATE 2024 Result
• MAH MBA CET Exam
• View All Management Exams

Colleges & Courses

• MBA College Admissions
• MBA Colleges in India
• Top IIMs Colleges in India
• Top Online MBA Colleges in India
• MBA Colleges Accepting XAT Score
• BBA Colleges in India
• XAT College Predictor 2024
• SNAP College Predictor
• NMAT College Predictor
• MAT College Predictor 2024
• CMAT College Predictor 2024
• CAT Percentile Predictor 2023
• CAT 2023 College Predictor
• CMAT 2024 Registration
• TS ICET 2024 Registration
• CMAT Exam Date 2024
• MAH MBA CET Cutoff 2024
• Download Helpful Ebooks
• List of Popular Branches
• QnA - Get answers to your doubts
• IIM Fees Structure
• AIIMS Nursing
• Top Medical Colleges in India
• Top Medical Colleges in India accepting NEET Score
• Medical Colleges accepting NEET
• List of Medical Colleges in India
• List of AIIMS Colleges In India
• Medical Colleges in Maharashtra
• Medical Colleges in India Accepting NEET PG
• NEET College Predictor
• NEET PG College Predictor
• NEET MDS College Predictor
• DNB CET College Predictor
• DNB PDCET College Predictor
• NEET Application Form 2024
• NEET PG Application Form 2024
• NEET Cut off
• NEET Online Preparation
• Download Helpful E-books
• LSAT India 2024
• Colleges Accepting Admissions
• Top Law Colleges in India
• Law College Accepting CLAT Score
• List of Law Colleges in India
• Top Law Colleges in Delhi
• Top Law Collages in Indore
• Top Law Colleges in Chandigarh
• Top Law Collages in Lucknow

Predictors & E-Books

• CLAT College Predictor
• MHCET Law ( 5 Year L.L.B) College Predictor
• AILET College Predictor
• Sample Papers
• Compare Law Collages
• Careers360 Youtube Channel
• CLAT Syllabus 2025
• CLAT Previous Year Question Paper
• AIBE 18 Result 2023
• NID DAT Exam
• Pearl Academy Exam

Animation Courses

• Animation Courses in India
• Animation Courses in Bangalore
• Animation Courses in Mumbai
• Animation Courses in Pune
• Animation Courses in Chennai
• Animation Courses in Hyderabad
• Design Colleges in India
• Fashion Design Colleges in Bangalore
• Fashion Design Colleges in Mumbai
• Fashion Design Colleges in Pune
• Fashion Design Colleges in Delhi
• Fashion Design Colleges in Hyderabad
• Fashion Design Colleges in India
• Top Design Colleges in India
• Free Design E-books
• List of Branches
• Careers360 Youtube channel
• NIFT College Predictor
• UCEED College Predictor
• NID DAT College Predictor
• IPU CET BJMC
• JMI Mass Communication Entrance Exam
• IIMC Entrance Exam
• Media & Journalism colleges in Delhi
• Media & Journalism colleges in Bangalore
• Media & Journalism colleges in Mumbai
• List of Media & Journalism Colleges in India
• CA Intermediate
• CA Foundation
• CS Executive
• CS Professional
• Difference between CA and CS
• Difference between CA and CMA
• CA Full form
• CMA Full form
• CS Full form
• CA Salary In India

Top Courses & Careers

• Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com)
• Master of Commerce (M.Com)
• Company Secretary
• Cost Accountant
• Charted Accountant
• Credit Manager
• Financial Advisor
• Top Commerce Colleges in India
• Top Government Commerce Colleges in India
• Top Private Commerce Colleges in India
• Top M.Com Colleges in Mumbai
• Top B.Com Colleges in India
• IT Colleges in Tamil Nadu
• IT Colleges in Uttar Pradesh
• MCA Colleges in India
• BCA Colleges in India

Quick Links

• Information Technology Courses
• Programming Courses
• Web Development Courses
• Data Analytics Courses
• Big Data Analytics Courses
• RUHS Pharmacy Admission Test
• Top Pharmacy Colleges in India
• Pharmacy Colleges in Pune
• Pharmacy Colleges in Mumbai
• Colleges Accepting GPAT Score
• Pharmacy Colleges in Lucknow
• List of Pharmacy Colleges in Nagpur
• GPAT Result
• GPAT 2024 Admit Card
• GPAT Question Papers
• NCHMCT JEE 2024
• Mah BHMCT CET
• Top Hotel Management Colleges in Delhi
• Top Hotel Management Colleges in Hyderabad
• Top Hotel Management Colleges in Mumbai
• Top Hotel Management Colleges in Tamil Nadu
• Top Hotel Management Colleges in Maharashtra
• B.Sc Hotel Management
• Hotel Management
• Diploma in Hotel Management and Catering Technology

Diploma Colleges

• Top Diploma Colleges in Maharashtra
• UPSC IAS 2024
• SSC CGL 2024
• IBPS RRB 2024
• Previous Year Sample Papers
• Free Competition E-books
• Sarkari Result
• QnA- Get your doubts answered
• UPSC Previous Year Sample Papers
• CTET Previous Year Sample Papers
• SBI Clerk Previous Year Sample Papers
• NDA Previous Year Sample Papers

Upcoming Events

• NDA Application Form 2024
• UPSC IAS Application Form 2024
• CDS Application Form 2024
• CTET Admit card 2024
• HP TET Result 2023
• SSC GD Constable Admit Card 2024
• UPTET Notification 2024
• SBI Clerk Result 2024

Other Exams

• SSC CHSL 2024
• UP PCS 2024
• UGC NET 2024
• RRB NTPC 2024
• IBPS PO 2024
• IBPS Clerk 2024
• IBPS SO 2024
• Top University in USA
• Top University in Canada
• Top University in Ireland
• Top Universities in UK
• Top Universities in Australia
• Best MBA Colleges in Abroad
• Business Management Studies Colleges

Top Countries

• Study in USA
• Study in UK
• Study in Canada
• Study in Australia
• Study in Ireland
• Study in Germany
• Study in China
• Study in Europe

Student Visas

• Student Visa Canada
• Student Visa UK
• Student Visa USA
• Student Visa Australia
• Student Visa Germany
• Student Visa New Zealand
• Student Visa Ireland
• CUET PG 2024
• IGNOU B.Ed Admission 2024
• DU Admission
• UP B.Ed JEE 2024
• DDU Entrance Exam
• IIT JAM 2024
• IGNOU Online Admission 2024
• Universities in India
• Top Universities in India 2024
• Top Colleges in India
• Top Universities in Uttar Pradesh 2024
• Top Universities in Bihar
• Top Universities in Madhya Pradesh 2024
• Top Universities in Tamil Nadu 2024
• Central Universities in India
• CUET PG Admit Card 2024
• IGNOU Date Sheet
• CUET Mock Test 2024
• CUET Application Form 2024
• CUET PG Syllabus 2024
• CUET Participating Universities 2024
• CUET Previous Year Question Paper
• CUET Syllabus 2024 for Science Students
• E-Books and Sample Papers
• CUET Exam Pattern 2024
• CUET Exam Date 2024
• CUET Syllabus 2024
• IGNOU Exam Form 2024
• IGNOU Result
• CUET PG Courses 2024

Engineering Preparation

• Knockout JEE Main 2024
• Test Series JEE Main 2024
• JEE Main 2024 Rank Booster

Medical Preparation

• Knockout NEET 2024
• Test Series NEET 2024
• Rank Booster NEET 2024

Online Courses

• JEE Main One Month Course
• NEET One Month Course
• IBSAT Free Mock Tests
• IIT JEE Foundation Course
• Knockout BITSAT 2024
• Career Guidance Tool

Top Streams

• IT & Software Certification Courses
• Engineering and Architecture Certification Courses
• Programming And Development Certification Courses
• Business and Management Certification Courses
• Marketing Certification Courses
• Health and Fitness Certification Courses
• Design Certification Courses

Specializations

• Digital Marketing Certification Courses
• Cyber Security Certification Courses
• Artificial Intelligence Certification Courses
• Business Analytics Certification Courses
• Data Science Certification Courses
• Cloud Computing Certification Courses
• Machine Learning Certification Courses
• View All Certification Courses
• UG Degree Courses
• PG Degree Courses
• Short Term Courses
• Free Courses
• Online Degrees and Diplomas
• Compare Courses

Top Providers

• Coursera Courses
• Udemy Courses
• Edx Courses
• Swayam Courses
• upGrad Courses
• Simplilearn Courses
• Great Learning Courses

Access premium articles, webinars, resources to make the best decisions for career, course, exams, scholarships, study abroad and much more with

Plan, Prepare & Make the Best Career Choices

Energy Conservation Essay

When people think about conservation, they often think about protecting the environment from human exploitation. However, conservation is a concept that encompasses many facets, including health and beauty, animal welfare and natural resources. Here are some sample essays on energy conservation.

100 Words Essay On Energy Conservation

Conservation is an important factor in maintaining the balance of life on earth. Human lives and industries depend on energy, so conservation is necessary for the continued existence of mankind. Furthermore, energy conservation promotes sustainable development. This means development that respects the environment and promotes healthy ecosystems instead of harmful ones.

Energy conservation helps protect the environment from harmful industrial processes like carbon dioxide emissions. Energy conservation has become an increasingly important issue as the world population continues to grow and our energy resources dwindle. We must use energy more efficiently if we are to preserve our planet and ensure that future generations have access to the resources they will need.

200 Words Essay On Energy Conservation

Energy is essential to our daily lives. Energy conservation is one of the most important topics when discussing environmentalism and sustainable living. It encourages sustainable development while protecting the natural environment. After all, without energy we couldn’t power our homes, run our businesses or get from A to B.

How To Save Energy

As our world becomes increasingly more digitalised, it’s important that we start to think about how we can conserve energy in our everyday lives. Here are a few tips on how you can start saving energy today:

Turn off electronics and appliances when you’re not using them. This includes your TV, computer, game consoles, lights, etc.

Unplug chargers for devices that aren’t in use. Even if they’re not turned on, they’re still using up energy.

Invest in energy-efficient appliances. Look for the Energy Star label when you next need to buy a new fridge, washing machine, etc.

Use natural light as much as possible during the daytime. Open up your curtains and blinds to let in some sunshine!

Dress appropriately for the weather. In winter, wear layers of clothing instead of cranking up the heating. In summer, wear loose fitting clothes and turn on a fan rather than using air conditioning.

500 Words Essay On Energy And Conservation

Energy is used to power transportation, communication and heating homes. Because of this, we should conserve energy whenever possible. Doing so helps the environment and our economy. Energy saving refers to efforts to reduce energy consumption. The energy on earth is not infinite. Also, energy can take a long time to recover. This undoubtedly makes saving energy imperative. Most notably, energy savings can be achieved by using energy more efficiently or reducing service usage.

What Is Energy And Conservation?

Energy is the ability to do work with any form of fuel. It is essential for living creatures and the environment. Conservation is the conscious management of energy. There are various sources of energy such as solar, wind, water, geothermal and biomass. Conservation is crucial in determining the state of our world.

What Is Physical Energy?

Physical energy is the power generated by bombardment, combustion or movement. All electric and mechanical engines consume energy, and it is converted into motion. The human body needs physical energy to survive and carry out daily tasks. Energy also powers weapons and tools used in warfare, agriculture and industry. Energy is also used to power your car or bike while you drive or ride.

Why Energy Conservation Is Essential?

First of all, energy saving plays an important role in saving non-renewable energy. Furthermore, non-renewable energy sources take many centuries to regenerate. Since humans consume energy faster than they can produce it, therefore, saving energy will lead to the conservation of these valuable non-renewable energy sources.

Energy conservation is essential in a growing economy. People use a lot of energy every day. This includes household and business energy usage. Everyone needs to make careful decisions about which energy sources to use and how to use them. This helps the economy grow without destroying or depleting the natural environment.

How Can We Conserve Energy?

Consumers can also help conserve energy by making smart choices. Replacing old appliances with more efficient models helps lower consumption as well as emissions. Many people don't realise that they're wasting power when they leave their lights on or their car running outside. In general, making simple choices saves a lot of energy.

Governments play an important role in promoting energy conservation. They issue laws regarding what resources can be used in vehicles and factories. They also regulate production and consumption of various energy sources such as coal, oil, natural gas and electricity. This ensures that all nations use the same standards for resource conservation and consumption alike. It ensures that everyone uses resources effectively and conserves energy at the same rate.

Energy conservation will lower the costs associated with fossil fuels. The extraction of fossil fuels is prohibitively expensive. As a result, consumers must pay higher prices for goods and services. Energy conservation would almost certainly decrease the amount of fossil fuel mined. This, in turn, would lower consumer costs.

Energy conservation is an essential way to run a sustainable economy. Consumers can save money by making smarter choices when using energy resources. Governments promote conservation in many ways to ensure everyone uses resources effectively and conserves energy wisely. Energy conservation is a vital part of modern life!

Explore Career Options (By Industry)

• Construction
• Entertainment
• Manufacturing
• Information Technology

Bio Medical Engineer

The field of biomedical engineering opens up a universe of expert chances. An Individual in the biomedical engineering career path work in the field of engineering as well as medicine, in order to find out solutions to common problems of the two fields. The biomedical engineering job opportunities are to collaborate with doctors and researchers to develop medical systems, equipment, or devices that can solve clinical problems. Here we will be discussing jobs after biomedical engineering, how to get a job in biomedical engineering, biomedical engineering scope, and salary. 

Data Administrator

Database professionals use software to store and organise data such as financial information, and customer shipping records. Individuals who opt for a career as data administrators ensure that data is available for users and secured from unauthorised sales. DB administrators may work in various types of industries. It may involve computer systems design, service firms, insurance companies, banks and hospitals.

Ethical Hacker

A career as ethical hacker involves various challenges and provides lucrative opportunities in the digital era where every giant business and startup owns its cyberspace on the world wide web. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path try to find the vulnerabilities in the cyber system to get its authority. If he or she succeeds in it then he or she gets its illegal authority. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path then steal information or delete the file that could affect the business, functioning, or services of the organization.

Data Analyst

The invention of the database has given fresh breath to the people involved in the data analytics career path. Analysis refers to splitting up a whole into its individual components for individual analysis. Data analysis is a method through which raw data are processed and transformed into information that would be beneficial for user strategic thinking.

Data are collected and examined to respond to questions, evaluate hypotheses or contradict theories. It is a tool for analyzing, transforming, modeling, and arranging data with useful knowledge, to assist in decision-making and methods, encompassing various strategies, and is used in different fields of business, research, and social science.

Geothermal Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as geothermal engineers are the professionals involved in the processing of geothermal energy. The responsibilities of geothermal engineers may vary depending on the workplace location. Those who work in fields design facilities to process and distribute geothermal energy. They oversee the functioning of machinery used in the field.

Remote Sensing Technician

Individuals who opt for a career as a remote sensing technician possess unique personalities. Remote sensing analysts seem to be rational human beings, they are strong, independent, persistent, sincere, realistic and resourceful. Some of them are analytical as well, which means they are intelligent, introspective and inquisitive. 

Remote sensing scientists use remote sensing technology to support scientists in fields such as community planning, flight planning or the management of natural resources. Analysing data collected from aircraft, satellites or ground-based platforms using statistical analysis software, image analysis software or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a significant part of their work. Do you want to learn how to become remote sensing technician? There's no need to be concerned; we've devised a simple remote sensing technician career path for you. Scroll through the pages and read.

Geotechnical engineer

The role of geotechnical engineer starts with reviewing the projects needed to define the required material properties. The work responsibilities are followed by a site investigation of rock, soil, fault distribution and bedrock properties on and below an area of interest. The investigation is aimed to improve the ground engineering design and determine their engineering properties that include how they will interact with, on or in a proposed construction. 

The role of geotechnical engineer in mining includes designing and determining the type of foundations, earthworks, and or pavement subgrades required for the intended man-made structures to be made. Geotechnical engineering jobs are involved in earthen and concrete dam construction projects, working under a range of normal and extreme loading conditions. 

Cartographer

How fascinating it is to represent the whole world on just a piece of paper or a sphere. With the help of maps, we are able to represent the real world on a much smaller scale. Individuals who opt for a career as a cartographer are those who make maps. But, cartography is not just limited to maps, it is about a mixture of art , science , and technology. As a cartographer, not only you will create maps but use various geodetic surveys and remote sensing systems to measure, analyse, and create different maps for political, cultural or educational purposes.

Budget Analyst

Budget analysis, in a nutshell, entails thoroughly analyzing the details of a financial budget. The budget analysis aims to better understand and manage revenue. Budget analysts assist in the achievement of financial targets, the preservation of profitability, and the pursuit of long-term growth for a business. Budget analysts generally have a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, economics, or a closely related field. Knowledge of Financial Management is of prime importance in this career.

Product Manager

A Product Manager is a professional responsible for product planning and marketing. He or she manages the product throughout the Product Life Cycle, gathering and prioritising the product. A product manager job description includes defining the product vision and working closely with team members of other departments to deliver winning products.  

Underwriter

An underwriter is a person who assesses and evaluates the risk of insurance in his or her field like mortgage, loan, health policy, investment, and so on and so forth. The underwriter career path does involve risks as analysing the risks means finding out if there is a way for the insurance underwriter jobs to recover the money from its clients. If the risk turns out to be too much for the company then in the future it is an underwriter who will be held accountable for it. Therefore, one must carry out his or her job with a lot of attention and diligence.

Finance Executive

Operations manager.

Individuals in the operations manager jobs are responsible for ensuring the efficiency of each department to acquire its optimal goal. They plan the use of resources and distribution of materials. The operations manager's job description includes managing budgets, negotiating contracts, and performing administrative tasks.

Bank Probationary Officer (PO)

Investment director.

An investment director is a person who helps corporations and individuals manage their finances. They can help them develop a strategy to achieve their goals, including paying off debts and investing in the future. In addition, he or she can help individuals make informed decisions.

Welding Engineer

Welding Engineer Job Description: A Welding Engineer work involves managing welding projects and supervising welding teams. He or she is responsible for reviewing welding procedures, processes and documentation. A career as Welding Engineer involves conducting failure analyses and causes on welding issues. 

Transportation Planner

A career as Transportation Planner requires technical application of science and technology in engineering, particularly the concepts, equipment and technologies involved in the production of products and services. In fields like land use, infrastructure review, ecological standards and street design, he or she considers issues of health, environment and performance. A Transportation Planner assigns resources for implementing and designing programmes. He or she is responsible for assessing needs, preparing plans and forecasts and compliance with regulations.

An expert in plumbing is aware of building regulations and safety standards and works to make sure these standards are upheld. Testing pipes for leakage using air pressure and other gauges, and also the ability to construct new pipe systems by cutting, fitting, measuring and threading pipes are some of the other more involved aspects of plumbing. Individuals in the plumber career path are self-employed or work for a small business employing less than ten people, though some might find working for larger entities or the government more desirable.

Construction Manager

Individuals who opt for a career as construction managers have a senior-level management role offered in construction firms. Responsibilities in the construction management career path are assigning tasks to workers, inspecting their work, and coordinating with other professionals including architects, subcontractors, and building services engineers.

Urban Planner

Urban Planning careers revolve around the idea of developing a plan to use the land optimally, without affecting the environment. Urban planning jobs are offered to those candidates who are skilled in making the right use of land to distribute the growing population, to create various communities. 

Urban planning careers come with the opportunity to make changes to the existing cities and towns. They identify various community needs and make short and long-term plans accordingly.

Highway Engineer

Highway Engineer Job Description:  A Highway Engineer is a civil engineer who specialises in planning and building thousands of miles of roads that support connectivity and allow transportation across the country. He or she ensures that traffic management schemes are effectively planned concerning economic sustainability and successful implementation.

Environmental Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as an environmental engineer are construction professionals who utilise the skills and knowledge of biology, soil science, chemistry and the concept of engineering to design and develop projects that serve as solutions to various environmental problems. 

Naval Architect

A Naval Architect is a professional who designs, produces and repairs safe and sea-worthy surfaces or underwater structures. A Naval Architect stays involved in creating and designing ships, ferries, submarines and yachts with implementation of various principles such as gravity, ideal hull form, buoyancy and stability. 

Orthotist and Prosthetist

Orthotists and Prosthetists are professionals who provide aid to patients with disabilities. They fix them to artificial limbs (prosthetics) and help them to regain stability. There are times when people lose their limbs in an accident. In some other occasions, they are born without a limb or orthopaedic impairment. Orthotists and prosthetists play a crucial role in their lives with fixing them to assistive devices and provide mobility.

Veterinary Doctor

Pathologist.

A career in pathology in India is filled with several responsibilities as it is a medical branch and affects human lives. The demand for pathologists has been increasing over the past few years as people are getting more aware of different diseases. Not only that, but an increase in population and lifestyle changes have also contributed to the increase in a pathologist’s demand. The pathology careers provide an extremely huge number of opportunities and if you want to be a part of the medical field you can consider being a pathologist. If you want to know more about a career in pathology in India then continue reading this article.

Speech Therapist

Gynaecologist.

Gynaecology can be defined as the study of the female body. The job outlook for gynaecology is excellent since there is evergreen demand for one because of their responsibility of dealing with not only women’s health but also fertility and pregnancy issues. Although most women prefer to have a women obstetrician gynaecologist as their doctor, men also explore a career as a gynaecologist and there are ample amounts of male doctors in the field who are gynaecologists and aid women during delivery and childbirth. 

An oncologist is a specialised doctor responsible for providing medical care to patients diagnosed with cancer. He or she uses several therapies to control the cancer and its effect on the human body such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy and biopsy. An oncologist designs a treatment plan based on a pathology report after diagnosing the type of cancer and where it is spreading inside the body.

Audiologist

The audiologist career involves audiology professionals who are responsible to treat hearing loss and proactively preventing the relevant damage. Individuals who opt for a career as an audiologist use various testing strategies with the aim to determine if someone has a normal sensitivity to sounds or not. After the identification of hearing loss, a hearing doctor is required to determine which sections of the hearing are affected, to what extent they are affected, and where the wound causing the hearing loss is found. As soon as the hearing loss is identified, the patients are provided with recommendations for interventions and rehabilitation such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, and appropriate medical referrals. While audiology is a branch of science that studies and researches hearing, balance, and related disorders.

Hospital Administrator

The hospital Administrator is in charge of organising and supervising the daily operations of medical services and facilities. This organising includes managing of organisation’s staff and its members in service, budgets, service reports, departmental reporting and taking reminders of patient care and services.

For an individual who opts for a career as an actor, the primary responsibility is to completely speak to the character he or she is playing and to persuade the crowd that the character is genuine by connecting with them and bringing them into the story. This applies to significant roles and littler parts, as all roles join to make an effective creation. Here in this article, we will discuss how to become an actor in India, actor exams, actor salary in India, and actor jobs. 

Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats create and direct original routines for themselves, in addition to developing interpretations of existing routines. The work of circus acrobats can be seen in a variety of performance settings, including circus, reality shows, sports events like the Olympics, movies and commercials. Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats must be prepared to face rejections and intermittent periods of work. The creativity of acrobats may extend to other aspects of the performance. For example, acrobats in the circus may work with gym trainers, celebrities or collaborate with other professionals to enhance such performance elements as costume and or maybe at the teaching end of the career.

Video Game Designer

Career as a video game designer is filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. A video game designer is someone who is involved in the process of creating a game from day one. He or she is responsible for fulfilling duties like designing the character of the game, the several levels involved, plot, art and similar other elements. Individuals who opt for a career as a video game designer may also write the codes for the game using different programming languages.

Depending on the video game designer job description and experience they may also have to lead a team and do the early testing of the game in order to suggest changes and find loopholes.

Radio Jockey

Radio Jockey is an exciting, promising career and a great challenge for music lovers. If you are really interested in a career as radio jockey, then it is very important for an RJ to have an automatic, fun, and friendly personality. If you want to get a job done in this field, a strong command of the language and a good voice are always good things. Apart from this, in order to be a good radio jockey, you will also listen to good radio jockeys so that you can understand their style and later make your own by practicing.

A career as radio jockey has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. If you want to know more about a career as radio jockey, and how to become a radio jockey then continue reading the article.

Choreographer

The word “choreography" actually comes from Greek words that mean “dance writing." Individuals who opt for a career as a choreographer create and direct original dances, in addition to developing interpretations of existing dances. A Choreographer dances and utilises his or her creativity in other aspects of dance performance. For example, he or she may work with the music director to select music or collaborate with other famous choreographers to enhance such performance elements as lighting, costume and set design.

Videographer

Multimedia specialist.

A multimedia specialist is a media professional who creates, audio, videos, graphic image files, computer animations for multimedia applications. He or she is responsible for planning, producing, and maintaining websites and applications. 

Social Media Manager

A career as social media manager involves implementing the company’s or brand’s marketing plan across all social media channels. Social media managers help in building or improving a brand’s or a company’s website traffic, build brand awareness, create and implement marketing and brand strategy. Social media managers are key to important social communication as well.

Copy Writer

In a career as a copywriter, one has to consult with the client and understand the brief well. A career as a copywriter has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. Several new mediums of advertising are opening therefore making it a lucrative career choice. Students can pursue various copywriter courses such as Journalism , Advertising , Marketing Management . Here, we have discussed how to become a freelance copywriter, copywriter career path, how to become a copywriter in India, and copywriting career outlook. 

Careers in journalism are filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. One cannot afford to miss out on the details. As it is the small details that provide insights into a story. Depending on those insights a journalist goes about writing a news article. A journalism career can be stressful at times but if you are someone who is passionate about it then it is the right choice for you. If you want to know more about the media field and journalist career then continue reading this article.

For publishing books, newspapers, magazines and digital material, editorial and commercial strategies are set by publishers. Individuals in publishing career paths make choices about the markets their businesses will reach and the type of content that their audience will be served. Individuals in book publisher careers collaborate with editorial staff, designers, authors, and freelance contributors who develop and manage the creation of content.

In a career as a vlogger, one generally works for himself or herself. However, once an individual has gained viewership there are several brands and companies that approach them for paid collaboration. It is one of those fields where an individual can earn well while following his or her passion. 

Ever since internet costs got reduced the viewership for these types of content has increased on a large scale. Therefore, a career as a vlogger has a lot to offer. If you want to know more about the Vlogger eligibility, roles and responsibilities then continue reading the article. 

Individuals in the editor career path is an unsung hero of the news industry who polishes the language of the news stories provided by stringers, reporters, copywriters and content writers and also news agencies. Individuals who opt for a career as an editor make it more persuasive, concise and clear for readers. In this article, we will discuss the details of the editor's career path such as how to become an editor in India, editor salary in India and editor skills and qualities.

Linguistic meaning is related to language or Linguistics which is the study of languages. A career as a linguistic meaning, a profession that is based on the scientific study of language, and it's a very broad field with many specialities. Famous linguists work in academia, researching and teaching different areas of language, such as phonetics (sounds), syntax (word order) and semantics (meaning). 

Other researchers focus on specialities like computational linguistics, which seeks to better match human and computer language capacities, or applied linguistics, which is concerned with improving language education. Still, others work as language experts for the government, advertising companies, dictionary publishers and various other private enterprises. Some might work from home as freelance linguists. Philologist, phonologist, and dialectician are some of Linguist synonym. Linguists can study French , German , Italian . 

Public Relation Executive

Travel journalist.

The career of a travel journalist is full of passion, excitement and responsibility. Journalism as a career could be challenging at times, but if you're someone who has been genuinely enthusiastic about all this, then it is the best decision for you. Travel journalism jobs are all about insightful, artfully written, informative narratives designed to cover the travel industry. Travel Journalist is someone who explores, gathers and presents information as a news article.

Quality Controller

A quality controller plays a crucial role in an organisation. He or she is responsible for performing quality checks on manufactured products. He or she identifies the defects in a product and rejects the product. 

A quality controller records detailed information about products with defects and sends it to the supervisor or plant manager to take necessary actions to improve the production process.

Production Manager

Merchandiser.

A QA Lead is in charge of the QA Team. The role of QA Lead comes with the responsibility of assessing services and products in order to determine that he or she meets the quality standards. He or she develops, implements and manages test plans. 

Metallurgical Engineer

A metallurgical engineer is a professional who studies and produces materials that bring power to our world. He or she extracts metals from ores and rocks and transforms them into alloys, high-purity metals and other materials used in developing infrastructure, transportation and healthcare equipment. 

Azure Administrator

An Azure Administrator is a professional responsible for implementing, monitoring, and maintaining Azure Solutions. He or she manages cloud infrastructure service instances and various cloud servers as well as sets up public and private cloud systems. 

AWS Solution Architect

An AWS Solution Architect is someone who specializes in developing and implementing cloud computing systems. He or she has a good understanding of the various aspects of cloud computing and can confidently deploy and manage their systems. He or she troubleshoots the issues and evaluates the risk from the third party. 

Computer Programmer

Careers in computer programming primarily refer to the systematic act of writing code and moreover include wider computer science areas. The word 'programmer' or 'coder' has entered into practice with the growing number of newly self-taught tech enthusiasts. Computer programming careers involve the use of designs created by software developers and engineers and transforming them into commands that can be implemented by computers. These commands result in regular usage of social media sites, word-processing applications and browsers.

ITSM Manager

Information security manager.

Individuals in the information security manager career path involves in overseeing and controlling all aspects of computer security. The IT security manager job description includes planning and carrying out security measures to protect the business data and information from corruption, theft, unauthorised access, and deliberate attack 

Business Intelligence Developer

Everything about education.

Latest updates, Exclusive Content, Webinars and more.

Download Careers360 App's

Regular exam updates, QnA, Predictors, College Applications & E-books now on your Mobile

Cetifications

We Appeared in

Accept cookies?

We use cook ies  to give you the best online experience and to show personalised content and marketing. We use them to improve our website and content as well as to tailor our digital advertising on third-party platforms. You can change your preferences at any time.  

Popular search terms:

• British wildlife
• Wildlife Photographer of the Year
• Explore the Museum
• Anthropocene

British Wildlife

Collections

Human evolution

What on Earth?

Aerial view of a wind farm at Pen y Cymoedd in south Wales, UK. Wind-generated power in the UK increased by 83% between 2015 and 2020 to provide nearly a quarter of our electricity . It's also one of the fastest-growing renewable energy technologies globally. © Richard Whitcombe/ Shutterstock

During Beta testing articles may only be saved for seven days.

Create a list of articles to read later. You will be able to access your list from any article in Discover.

You don't have any saved articles.

Renewable energy and its importance for tackling climate change

Replacing fossil fuel-reliant power stations with renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, is a vital part of stabilising climate change and achieving net zero carbon emissions.

Professor Magda Titirici , Chair in Sustainable Energy Materials at Imperial College London, offers an introduction to renewable energy and the future of clean, green power in the UK.

What is renewable energy?

Renewable energy comes from sources that replenish naturally and continually within a human lifetime. Renewable energy is often called sustainable energy.

Major sources of renewable energy include solar, wind, hydroelectric, tidal, geothermal and biomass energy, which is derived from burning plant or animal matter and waste.

Switching our reliance on fossil fuels to renewable energy sources that produce lower or no greenhouse gas emissions is critically important in tackling the climate crisis .

Clean, green or renewable - what's the difference?

Clean energy doesn't produce any pollution once installed. Nor does green energy, which comes from natural sources such as the Sun and is produced without any major negative impacts on the environment. Renewable energy refers to sources that are constantly replenished.

While there is often overlap between these definitions and most renewable energy sources can also be considered clean and green, it's not always the case.

Nuclear energy doesn't release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, so some people consider it to be clean - providing the radioactive waste is stored safely and doesn't escape into the environment. But the uranium energy source used in nuclear power plants isn't renewable.

A coal power plant emitting smoke, steam and carbon dioxide. Fossil fuels such as coal are non-renewable resources. Burning fossil fuels contributes to climate change by releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. © Peter Gudella/ Shutterstock

What's the difference between renewable and non-renewable energy?

Non-renewable energy comes from natural resources such as coal, oil and natural gas that take billions of years to form, which is why we call them fossil fuels. They are present in finite amounts and will run out, as we are using them far more quickly than they form.

When will fossil fuels run out?

Research based on 2015 data predicts that coal stocks will last well into the next century, but oil and natural gas reserves (stocks that we know we can extract from) will run out in the late 2060s . However, scientific models suggest that if we are to limit global warming to 2°C - the target agreed at COP26 is 1.5°C - over 80% of coal, 50% of gas and 30% of oil reserves will need to be left untouched anyway.

When we extract fossil fuels from deep within the planet and burn them, we can generate electricity quite efficiently. But the process releases a lot of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) into the atmosphere, which contributes to the greenhouse effect, global warming and biodiversity loss .

Magda explains, 'Fossil fuels brought with them immense technological progress but using them releases CO 2 into the atmosphere, which acts like a blanket, trapping heat that would otherwise escape into space and causing global warming.'

Did you know?

The energy sector is responsible for almost three-quarters of the emissions that have caused global temperatures to warm by 1.1°C since pre-industrial times. 

If we continue to use fossil fuels, the effect will only worsen.

Magda adds, 'If we want to live on this planet much longer than 2050 and keep temperature levels below the 1.5°C of warming agreed to by governments around the world, we need to make some radical changes right now. We need to move to technologies that will give us the same level and comfort of living but drastically cut our emissions and carbon footprint .'

Examples of renewable energy sources

The main types of renewable energy are wind, solar, hydroelectric, tidal, geothermal and biomass. Read on to discover the pros and cons of each of these renewable energy sources.

One of the main benefits of most renewable energy sources is that they don't release carbon dioxide or pollute the air when they are used to produce electricity or heat. Greenhouse gases are emitted during the lifetime of some of the technologies - for example, during their manufacture or construction - but overall emissions are significantly lower than for fossil fuels.

Whereas some countries lack direct access to fossil fuels and must rely on international sources, renewable energy often allows countries to supply their own energy needs, a big economic and political advantage.

Wind energy

An offshore wind farm in the North Sea off the UK coast. Wind energy is an important renewable resource for the UK. According to analysis by Imperial College London's Energy Institute , offshore wind turbines offer the best-value option for meeting the UK's target of delivering carbon neutral electricity by 2035. But the UK's current target for offshore wind electricity production - up to 50 gigawatts by 2030 - will need to be significantly increased to do so. © Riekelt Hakvoort/ Shutterstock

Wind power converts wind - the movement of air - into stored power by turning turbines and converting mechanical energy into electricity. Wind farms can be built both on land and offshore. They work well wherever wind is strong and reliable.

Advantages: Wind energy is a clean, green and renewable resource and turbines can be placed on farmland with minimal disruption. It has the lowest carbon footprint of all renewable energy sources .

Disadvantages: Like any infrastructure, there is an upfront establishment cost and ongoing maintenance fees. These are even higher if wind farms are built offshore. Turbines have a reputation for being noisy and poorly sited wind farms can be dangerous to some wildlife - for instance, if they're placed in the migration paths of birds or bats.

How loud is a wind turbine?

At 300 metres from a dwelling, wind turbines have a sound pressure of 43 decibels , which is between the volume of a refrigerator and an air conditioner.

Solar energy

An array of solar panels in a field in Chippenham, UK. Solar energy is a renewable resource, and the Sun provides more energy than we'll ever use. If we could capture it all, an hour of sunlight would meet the world's energy needs for a year. © Alexey Fedorenko/ Shutterstock

Solar power captures energy (radiation) from the Sun and converts it into electricity, which is then fed into a power grid or stored for later use. Although places near the equator receive the most solar energy, solar panels can generate electricity anywhere that gets sunlight.

Advantages:  Solar energy is renewable, clean, increasingly efficient and has low maintenance costs. Once established, it can dramatically reduce the price of generating electricity.

Disadvantages:  Setting up a solar array is costly and there are expenses involved with energy storage. Solar panels can take up more land than some other types of renewable energy and performance depends on the availability of sunlight. The mining and processing of minerals needed to make the panels can pollute and damage the environment.

China is currently leading the world in solar energy production , with roughly 35% of the global market.

Hydroelectric energy

Although hydroelectric energy is renewable, it is not always considered green, as building large-scale dams can negatively impact the environment. Nepean Dam in Australia, shown here, was included in a study that showed dams are causing problems for platypuses by creating a barrier between populations. © Greg Brave/ Shutterstock

Hydroelectric power uses the flow of water, often from rivers and lakes controlled by a dam, to turn turbines and power generators, creating electricity. Hydropower works best for regions with reliable rainfall and large, natural water reservoirs.

Hydropower currently produces more electricity than  all other renewable energy sources combined and provides around 17% of the world's energy.

Advantages: Hydroelectricity is dependable and renewable for as long as there is rainfall or flowing water. Reservoirs can offer additional benefits, such as providing drinking water, irrigation and recreational opportunities, including swimming or boating.

Disadvantages: Hydropower plants take up a lot of room and aren't suited to all climates. They are susceptible to drought. Creating artificial water reservoirs can harm biodiversity in natural water systems by limiting the inflow of nutrients and blocking the journey of migratory fish populations. These reservoirs can also release methane - a type of greenhouse gas - as vegetation in the flooded area decomposes. Large amounts of cement are used to construct dams. The manufacture of this material produces large amounts of carbon dioxide.

Tidal energy

Renewable tidal energy is produced by the natural rise and fall of the sea. However, tidal power plants can change the local biodiversity. This one on the River Rance in Brittany, France, not only led to the local extinction of a fish called plaice but to an increase in the number of cuttlefish, which now thrive there. © Francois BOIZOT/ Shutterstock

Tidal energy uses the continual movement of ocean tides to generate power. Turbines in the water turn a generator, creating electricity.

Advantages: Tidal energy is renewable, generates no carbon emissions and can produce a lot of energy very reliably.

Disadvantages: Offshore infrastructure is expensive to set up and maintain and there are a limited number of appropriate sites for tidal power plants around the world. They can also damage marine environments and impact local plants and animals.

Geothermal energy

A geothermal power plant in Iceland harnesses this renewable energy source. © Peter Gudella/ Shutterstock

Geothermal power uses underground reservoirs of hot water or steam created by the heat of Earth's core to generate electricity. It works best in regions near tectonic plate boundaries .

Advantages: Geothermal energy is highly reliable and has a consistent power output. It also has a relatively small footprint on the land.

Disadvantages: Drilling geothermal wells is expensive and can affect the stability of surrounding land. It must be monitored carefully to minimise environmental impact. There is also a risk of releasing greenhouse gases trapped under Earth's surface.  

Biomass energy

A biogas plant producing renewable energy from biomass in the Czech Republic. © Kletr/ Shutterstock

Biomass energy comes from burning plants, plant by-products or waste. Examples include ethanol (from corn or sugarcane), biodiesel (made from vegetable oils, used cooking oils and animal fats), green diesel (derived from algae, sustainable wood crops or sawdust) and biogas (derived from animal manure and other waste).

Advantages: Abundant and cheaply produced, biomass energy is a novel use of waste product and leftover crops. It creates less emissions than burning fossil fuels and having carbon capture in place can stop carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere. Biofuels are also considered relatively easy and inexpensive to implement, as they are compatible with existing agriculture and waste processing and used in existing petrol and diesel vehicles.

Disadvantages: Generating biofuels requires land and water so growing demand for them could lead to deforestation and biodiversity loss. Burning biomass emits carbon dioxide unless carbon capture is implemented.

Ethanol-powered vehicles create up to 86% less greenhouse gas emissions than petrol vehicles, and crops that are grown to produce biomass absorb carbon dioxide.

Can renewable energy replace fossil fuels in the UK?

In 2020, 42% of the UK's electricity came from renewable energy. A quarter of the UK's electricity was produced by wind power, which is the highest proportion of any G20 country and more than four times the global average. Statistics on UK energy trends reveal that from April to June 2022, nearly 39% of the UK's electricity came from renewable energy, slightly more than during the same period in 2021, but down from 45.5% between January and March 2022 when it was unusually sunny and wind speeds were high.

'There has been good news in recent years in terms of progress on renewables,' says Magda, 'but in my opinion, the UK is still lagging behind. It is not so strong yet for truly sustainable technologies. It needs storage and conversion.'

Magda believes that wind (particularly offshore), solar, green hydrogen and rapid innovation in battery storage will be key to the UK reaching net zero by 2050.

She explains, 'The UK is a really windy place, so wind is the perfect renewable energy technology. By 2035 wind and solar should provide 75-90% of total UK electricity to bring emissions down significantly.'

'It has already been shown that it's feasible to produce 90% of the UK's electricity from wind and solar combined. The tech is there and it's becoming more efficient and affordable each year.'

'Offshore wind capacity will also help produce green hydrogen, another crucial part of the UK decarbonisation path.'

What is green hydrogen?

Green hydrogen is a fuel created using renewable energy in a process known as electrolysis. When green hydrogen is burned to produce energy, it releases water.

It's predicted that the UK will need 100 terawatt-hours of green hydrogen by 2035.

What is a terawatt-hour?

A terawatt-hour is a unit of measurement that's large enough to describe the annual electricity needs of entire countries. For scale, one terawatt-hour is equivalent to burning 588,441 barrels of oil.

The future of renewable energy in the UK

Magda believes the UK is at a very critical point in its sustainable technologies journey.

'Everything will depend on what happens this year and next. We need to see radical changes, investment, subsidies and support to reach our target of net zero by 2050.'

'It would cost less than 1% of GDP to get to net zero by 2050 but the advantages would be immense: new jobs, a sustainable economy and a healthy and resilient society.'

An empty electric vehicle charging point © Tony Skerl/ Shutterstock

Challenges and opportunities for renewable energy in the UK

One of the biggest challenges the UK is facing right now is battery storage and access to materials like cobalt and lithium , which are needed to produce lithium-ion batteries at scale.

Why are batteries important for renewable energy?

Batteries help make renewable energy supply reliable and portable - such as in the case of electric vehicles.

Batteries are an important part of our transition to renewable technologies, as they allow energy to be stored and released as needed. For example, solar panels generate energy during the day, and batteries make it possible to store and use that electricity at night.

Currently, just a few countries are responsible for most of the world's production of lithium.

According to Magda, the UK lacks access to the supply chain needed for Li-ion batteries. 'As a result, she adds, 'Johnson Matthey, which is a major company driving battery innovations in the UK, announced they would stop lithium battery research because they are unable to secure a path to raw materials and be competitive on the international market.'

Museum researchers are investigating whether it would be possible to develop a  more sustainable, domestic supply chain by extracting lithium from UK rocks. They made a key breakthrough in 2021 when they produced battery-grade lithium chemicals from UK rocks for the first time.

According to Professor Richard Herrington, Head of Earth Sciences at the Museum, 'An increased, reliable supply of lithium is critical if we are to meet the rising demand for electric cars and provide a dependable supply of energy from renewable sources. The next generation of batteries that don't require lithium may still be three to five years away from being ready for public use.'

However, Magda is optimistic that the UK could lead in emerging battery technologies. 'I think the UK has an amazing opportunity to pioneer the next generation of batteries,' she says.

Innovative models already under development at The Faraday Institution include:

• Sodium-ion batteries, which are based on waste-derived anodes and critical metal -free cathodes, provide almost the same performance as lithium-ion batteries at half the cost.
• Lithium-sulphur batteries with 10 times the energy density of lithium-ion batteries make more efficient use of limited materials and eliminate metals from the cathode by using sulphur instead.

Magda adds, 'We need to focus on the areas where the UK has the potential to lead. The UK has such a big tradition in new materials and discoveries, we could move to completely new technologies both for batteries and hydrogen production.'

'There are a lot of challenges, but if we're investing in it, we could be future leaders and even solve one of the most difficult challenges in decarbonisation: flight.'

• Sustainability
• Biodiversity
• Climate change

Protecting our planet

We're working towards a future where both people and the planet thrive.

Hear from scientists studying human impact and change in the natural world.

How are climate change and biodiversity loss linked?

The climate crisis and biodiversity loss are closely connected but the good news is, so are the solutions.

Net zero is cheaper and greener than continuing the use of fossil fuels

Going green is no longer just the smart decision – it's also the most profitable one. 

Nine ways Museum scientists are fighting the planetary emergency

Discover how we're fighting to keep nature healthy.

Lithium carbonate has been produced from UK rocks for the first time

A breakthrough in domestic production could bring down the carbon footprint of lithium-ion batteries.

Don't miss a thing

Receive email updates about our news, science, exhibitions, events, products, services and fundraising activities. We may occasionally include third-party content from our corporate partners and other museums. We will not share your personal details with these third parties. You must be over the age of 13. Privacy notice .

Follow us on social media

What Is Clean Energy?

View all blog posts under Articles | View all blog posts under Environmental Engineering

What is clean energy, and why is it important? Clean energy comes from resources that never run out and whose byproducts have minimal or no effect on the environment. Sun, wind, and hydropower are the main examples. This energy is considered clean because it doesn’t produce the carbon dioxide and air pollution that come from fossil fuel consumption, which contribute to global warming.

Currently, oil, gas, coal, and other nonrenewable energy sources are deeply entrenched in the world economy and infrastructure. Shifting to clean energy will take time, technological development, and political will. The good news is that shift is underway. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, almost 20% of the country’s electricity generation came from renewable energy in 2020 — up from a mere 1% in 2000.

Environmental engineers are leading the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy to meet demand and to protect our air, water, health, and food.

Defining Clean Energy and Energy’s Impact on the Environment

To understand the impact of energy on the environment, it’s important to consider how energy use has evolved throughout human history. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, humans used renewable energy. They heated their homes and cooked their food by burning wood or other biomass (peat, for example). They also harnessed hydropower to spin waterwheels that crushed grains or used windmills.

While not all energy sources were clean — woodsmoke, for example, is highly polluting — they were renewable, meaning they were derived from resources that would not be depleted.

In the 1700s, the Industrial Age dawned with the discovery of how to burn coal to smelt iron. Coal, which is mostly made up of carbonized plant matter (aka a fossil fuel), was the beginning. It was used to power machinery and used in transportation (trains and steamships). Burning coal introduced carbon into the atmosphere, a direct contributor to a warming planet. Unlike wood or water, coal is nonrenewable; when all the coal is mined, there is no more.

Over the next 200-plus years, fossil fuels in the form of oil and gas also took hold, and there was an explosion in the use and exploitation of natural resources. As with coal, fossil fuels like oil and gas consist of carbon and hydrocarbons, which burn easily and produce a great deal of energy. They also produce carbon byproducts, which cause air pollution and contribute to acid rain and smog.

This shift had an enormous impact on the world economy, as well as the environment. While Europe, Asia, and North America largely benefited from the exploitation of fossil fuel resources, the global south has lagged behind.

With growing concerns about climate change and global warming, nonrenewable energy may no longer be the economic driver it once was. So what about clean energy? Can renewables take the place of fossil fuels? Some experts say that’s already happening.

Economic Growth and Development

One straightforward measurement of this complex economic problem is the financial cost of producing renewable and nonrenewable energy. The difference has changed over time.

Technological Development

Just a decade ago, wind and solar energy were far more expensive to produce than energy derived from fossil fuels. Now, that landscape is changing. Advances in wind turbines and solar panels have made these renewables comparable to oil and gas in cost — and, in some locations, even less expensive. With further advances in transmission lines and energy storage, the price for clean energy becomes even more competitive, although the complexities of oil production and demand make direct comparisons difficult.

Fossil Fuel Production

In the 1970s, “peak oil” entered the lexicon. The term refers to the idea that the easily found oil had already been drilled, and any that remained would be difficult and costly to extract. Peak oil has been declared many times over the past 50 years. However, evolving technology has kept the oil flowing. Natural gas, a byproduct of oil extraction, is no longer burned off but has become another common energy source. Have we reached peak oil? As with everything to do with energy, the answer is not so simple.

Demand and Use

As gas prices rise, demand falls. More people travel less, and more buy gas-efficient vehicles, hybrids, or electric cars. When gas prices fall, people tend to buy larger cars. Nations that are net importers of oil are moving toward reducing their dependence on foreign oil. This will mean moving toward more use of renewable energy, which will impact the economies of oil-producing nations.

Air Quality

Fossil fuels produce nitrogen oxides that cause smog and acid rain. Cars, coal-fired power plants, manufacturing, and airplanes are the biggest producers of nitrogen oxides, which have negatively impacted the health of millions of people , according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The cause of these health effects is particulate matter 2.5 microns or smaller — small enough to travel into the lungs and cause disease. The impact of particulate matter is stark:

• Disease. Poor air quality has been linked to stroke, heart disease, cancer, and respiratory illnesses such as asthma.
• Deaths. WHO estimates that 4.2 million people died prematurely from air quality-related illnesses in 2016.
• Indoor air pollution. Around 2.6 billion people use biomass, kerosene, or coal to cook and heat their homes. WHO attributes 3.8 million premature deaths to indoor air pollution.

Water Quality

Nonrenewable energy has had a sizable impact on water quality as well.

• Acid rain. Acid rain is caused by nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide, which are produced by burning fossil fuels. Acid rain harms plants and wildlife, including fish.
• Ocean acidification. As with freshwater, the oceans are increasingly acidified by fossil fuel emissions, killing off the rich biodiversity of coral reefs, among other impacts.
• Sea level rise. Climate change has caused glaciers to melt and the sea to rise. This causes flooding inland and saltwater intrusion into freshwater aquifers.

Livability and Sustainability

The world recently got a glimpse of what a clean energy-focused future might look like. In 2020, with most of the world on lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of fossil fuels declined dramatically. According to a study reported in the journal Heliyon , this led to significant environmental effects:

• Greenhouse gas emissions. In New York City, air pollution levels were cut in half in 2020. Levels of nitrogen oxide and carbon fell 50% in China as heavy industry shut down. Similar results were seen in major cities and countries around the world.
• Water pollution. The levels of water pollution in major rivers fell, including in the Ganges in India (one of the 10 most polluted rivers in the world, according to Indian news site Ground Report).
• Noise pollution. Noise pollution can have a deleterious effect on human health and can cause interrupted sleep, among other problems. Noise pollution levels fell so drastically during the pandemic that city residents could hear the chirping of birds.
• Ecological restoration. Ecotourism has been both a blessing and a curse for some countries. Popular tourist sites experienced recovery of land and water as tourism came to a stop.

Climate Change

According to NASA, the average global temperature has increased by 1 degree Celsius since 1880. Warming has increased the fastest since 1975. Since the start of the 21st century, several years have earned the title of hottest year on record. Melting glaciers contribute to rising seas. Warming temperatures cause drought and wildfires. Greenhouse gas emissions caused by the burning of fossil fuels are the reason for these rising temperatures, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory.

What Is a Renewable Energy Source?

A renewable energy source is one that’s never depleted. Renewable energy and clean energy are often used synonymously; however, some renewables are not ecologically friendly. Burning wood for heat and cooking causes indoor air pollution. Hydroelectric power changes ecosystems.

The following are some of the advantages and disadvantages of renewable energy:

Advantages of Renewable Energy

How can renewable energy reduce pollution and slow or reverse climate change? Although the impact of renewable energy won’t be felt for decades, these sources are attractive alternatives to traditional fossil fuels.

Sustainability

Certain renewable energy sources are sustainable in that they will never run out. The most obvious of these is power from the sun. Some hydropower projects can be considered to be sustainable, if they’re designed to have low environmental impact.

Less Pollution

Clean, sustainable energy sources have few to no emissions that impact environmental quality. As the clean energy sector grows, experts believe that it can help offset fossil fuel emissions. But due to manufacturing and other inputs, no energy source can ever be completely free of environmental impact.

Job Creation

During the pandemic and despite a global lockdown, jobs in the global renewable energy sector grew from 11.5 million in 2019 to 12 million in 2020, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency and the International Labour Organization. A third of those jobs were in solar energy. Both organizations estimated that if governments were to commit to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, job outlook for the sector could rise to 38 million jobs by 2030.

Lower Maintenance Costs

Wind turbine maintenance costs are lower than comparable renewable energy technology, according to a report by research firm UnivDatos Market Insights. Lower maintenance requirements save time and money and increase uptime. This can help offset issues with reliable flow of power.

Renewable energy is less wasteful than fossil fuel by its nature: It depletes fewer natural resources, and it helps to preserve air and water quality. Some renewable energy sources solve waste issues. For example, energy can be derived from biomass sources such as corn, soybeans, and other used organic products. By converting biomass into energy, renewable energy keeps waste out of landfills.

Growing Affordability

Renewables are becoming more affordable. Wind and solar energy plants are cheaper than running a coal or gas-fired generator, according to research reported by Bloomberg. Even as materials costs rise, such as steel for wind turbines and polysilicon for solar panels, the trend continues.

Disadvantages of Renewable Energy

There are also downsides to renewable energy — some more significant than others. Reliability has long been an issue, along with storage and overall costs of shifting to a different system with differing infrastructure needs. The transition from fossil fuels to renewables is as complex as it is because of these disadvantages.

Variability and Reliability

A cloudy day or a calm one can interrupt power generation from solar panels or wind turbines. Likewise, gale-force winds don’t necessarily mean wind turbines produce more energy. For many power grids that get their energy in part from renewables, they still have to rely on coal, natural gas, or oil to keep the lights, heat, and air conditioning on.

Higher Cost and Economic Impact

The fossil fuel industry is entrenched in the energy sector, with power plants, transmission lines, and other elements all geared toward delivering natural gas, oil, and coal. Building infrastructure for solar and wind will continue to come at a higher cost. However, as more infrastructure is put in place, and demand grows, these costs have already started to come down.

Oil and gas are stored in tanks and are ready to be burned when needed. Renewable energy lacks the same storage capacity, generating electricity as it collects it. Storage is one of the main drawbacks of wind and solar energy production. While advances in battery technology have improved, the fact that solar output drops at night will continue to be a disadvantage.

Geographic Limitations

Not all renewable energy works for every location, unlike energy from fossil fuel. A shaded house won’t be a good candidate for solar panels. Wind turbines won’t help in areas where there’s no wind. Transmission lines are critical to bring power from wind farms in rural areas to cities and suburbs.

Environmental Impact

Renewables and clean energy can also have an environmental impact. Wind turbines can affect birds and bats. Manufacturing solar panels is resource-intensive. Environmental engineers and other experts focus on these challenges and seek to solve these problems at the design stage.

What Is a Nonrenewable Energy Source?

Nonrenewable energy is extracted from natural resources and burned as a source of power. For well over 200 years, nonrenewable energy has been the dominant source of power in the world. There are reasons for its longevity.

Advantages of Nonrenewable Energy

For the many disadvantages of fossil fuels, there are also many powerful advantages.

Established Infrastructure

Mass transportation, industry, and agriculture all have been designed and built around the use of fossil fuels. Until something goes wrong, such as the 2021 power grid failure in Texas, one of the biggest advantages of nonrenewable energy is that people don’t have to think about it.

Reliability/Consistency

Nonrenewable energy is highly reliable and consistent. Natural gas, coal, and oil can be stored efficiently until power plants need to burn them. It’s easily transported via rail or pipeline to a refinery or generating plant.

Affordability

Even as renewables encroach on the traditional affordability of nonrenewable energy, cost remains an advantage. This is in part because of the existing infrastructure, which reduces the need for new construction of transmission lines and other essential components of the energy delivery system. How long this will remain an advantage is unclear.

High Energy Efficiency

Fossil fuels wouldn’t be so entrenched in modern civilization if they weren’t so energy efficient. Coal and oil are the product of millions of years of deposits of organic matter, which when burned produce energy at a very high level. Compared with solar and wind, fossil fuels produce much more energy.

Disadvantages of Nonrenewable Energy

There are arguments for fossil fuels and other nonrenewable energy sources, but the downsides are equally compelling. While fossil fuels have shaped the modern world and led to global economic development, these benefits don’t necessarily outweigh the disadvantages.

Burning fossil fuels produces nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, and carbon dioxide. All of these are elements of air and water pollution, causing harmful health effects to humans and the environment. Although technological advances have reduced these effects, the byproducts of nonrenewable energy can never be eliminated completely.

Difficulty of Extraction

As resources become depleted, energy companies have to go to even greater depths to extract fossil fuels, increasing the costs and the environmental impact.

Nonrenewable Energy Is Nonrenewable

Eventually, fossil fuels and other nonrenewable resources will run out. Over the next several decades, the wells will run dry, and we’ll have to find new sources for the energy that drives society.

Types of Renewable Energy

Not all renewable energy is created equal. Different types of renewable energy offer specific advantages and disadvantages.

• Solar. The sun has a lifespan of billions of years, but solar panels can’t generate electricity at night or on cloudy days.
• Wind. Wind is clean, efficient, and affordable; however, wind farms tend to be in remote areas or offshore, requiring transmission and storage capability.
• Biomass. Recycled biomaterial can be used in homes to heat and cook, thereby keeping it out of landfills. Unfortunately, burning biomass is highly polluting.
• Geothermal. Geothermal energy systems use heat from within the earth to generate power, but this type of energy isn’t available everywhere.
• Hydropower. Hydropower uses fast-moving rivers to generate energy. It also stores energy in the form of water behind a dam. A disadvantage is the heavy environmental impact hydropower has on wildlife habitats, which can cause loss of animal and plant life.

Types of Nonrenewable Energy

• Coal. Infrastructure and industry are already in place for extracting and burning coal, but the disadvantages are many. Coal is highly polluting, contributing to climate change, and is becoming more expensive than renewables.
• Oil. Oil is efficient for use in mass transportation, easy to store, and refinable into gas, diesel, and heating fuel. Nevertheless, oil is highly polluting and a contributor to climate change.
• Natural gas. Natural gas is less expensive than renewables depending on supply and demand; plus, it’s efficient for heating and cooking. Still, this kind of energy is highly polluting and a significant contributor to climate change.
• Nuclear. Nuclear energy is clean and efficient but also potentially dangerous. It’s vulnerable to natural disasters and shifting political agendas, and uranium is hard to extract and can’t be renewed.

Build a Career in Clean Energy

Many scientists and world leaders agree: Shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy is necessary to combat climate change and build a sustainable and healthy world economy. As the global demand for renewable energy continues to grow, environmental engineers are deciding how we will face the future.

Explore how University of California, Riverside’s online Master of Science in Engineering with a specialization in Environmental Engineering can help you build a career in the exciting field of renewable energy.

Recommended Reading:

Career Spotlight: Renewable Energy Engineer

Is a Career as an Air Quality Engineer Right for You?

What Is Sustainable Product Design?

Bloomberg, “Building New Renewables Is Cheaper Than Burning Fossil Fuels”

Economics Observatory, “What Can We Learn From the Role of Coal in the Industrial Revolution?”

EnergySage, “Advantages and Disadvantages of Renewable Energy”

Engineering Choice, “Advantages and Disadvantages of Non-Renewable Energy”

Ground Report. “The 10 Most Polluted Rivers in the World”

Heliyon, “Environmental Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic and Potential Strategies of Sustainability”

History, “7 Negative Effects of the Industrial Revolution”

Investopedia, “Peak Oil”

NASA, “World of Change: Global Temperatures”

National Renewable Energy Laboratory, “Top 20 NREL Stories of 2021”

The New York Times , “The Ganges Brims With Dangerous Bacteria”

Prysmian Group, “Cheaper Renewable Energy, Thanks to Varied Storage”

Reuters, “Renewable Energy Jobs Grew Globally in 2020 Despite COVID-19 Crisis”

Shipley Energy, “Green, Sustainable, Clean, and Renewable Energy — What Does It All Mean?”

Time , “Economic Growth and Carbon Emissions Used to Go Together. In Some Countries That’s Changing.”

UnivDatos Market Insights, “Wind Turbine Operations and Maintenance Market to Reach ~US $50 Billion by 2027 Globally”

U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Coal Explained”

U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Renewable Energy Explained”

U.S. Energy Information Administration, “What Is Energy?”

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Renewable Energy at EPA”

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “The Sources and Solutions: Fossil Fuels”

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “State Renewable Energy Resources”

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “What Is Acid Rain?”

U.S. News & World Report , “Hydropower Eyes Bigger Energy Role, Less Environmental Harm”

U.S. Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, “Advantages and Challenges of Wind Energy”

World Economic Forum, “Met Office: Atmospheric CO2 Now Hitting 50% Higher Than Pre-Industrial Levels”

World Health Organization, “Ambient (Outdoor) Air Pollution”

Take charge of your future with an online Master of Science in Engineering

25,000+ students realised their study abroad dream with us. Take the first step today

Here’s your new year gift, one app for all your, study abroad needs, start your journey, track your progress, grow with the community and so much more.

Verification Code

An OTP has been sent to your registered mobile no. Please verify

Thanks for your comment !

Our team will review it before it's shown to our readers.

Essay on Sustainable Development: Samples in 250, 300 and 500 Words

• Updated on  
• Nov 18, 2023

On 3rd August 2023, the Indian Government released its Net zero emissions target policy to reduce its carbon footprints. To achieve the sustainable development goals (SDG) , as specified by the UN, India is determined for its long-term low-carbon development strategy. Selfishly pursuing modernization, humans have frequently compromised with the requirements of a more sustainable environment.

As a result, the increased environmental depletion is evident with the prevalence of deforestation, pollution, greenhouse gases, climate change etc. To combat these challenges, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in 2019. The objective was to improve air quality in 131 cities in 24 States/UTs by engaging multiple stakeholders.

‘Development is not real until and unless it is sustainable development.’ – Ban Ki-Moon

The concept of Sustainable Development in India has even greater relevance due to the controversy surrounding the big dams and mega projects and related long-term growth. Since it is quite a frequently asked topic in school tests as well as competitive exams , we are here to help you understand what this concept means as well as the mantras to drafting a well-written essay on Sustainable Development with format and examples.

This Blog Includes:

What is sustainable development, 250-300 words essay on sustainable development, 300 words essay on sustainable development, 500 words essay on sustainable development, introduction, conclusion of sustainable development essay, importance of sustainable development, examples of sustainable development.

As the term simply explains, Sustainable Development aims to bring a balance between meeting the requirements of what the present demands while not overlooking the needs of future generations. It acknowledges nature’s requirements along with the human’s aim to work towards the development of different aspects of the world. It aims to efficiently utilise resources while also meticulously planning the accomplishment of immediate as well as long-term goals for human beings, the planet as well and future generations. In the present time, the need for Sustainable Development is not only for the survival of mankind but also for its future protection. 

Looking for ideas to incorporate in your Essay on Sustainable Development? Read our blog on Energy Management – Find Your Sustainable Career Path and find out!

To give you an idea of the way to deliver a well-written essay, we have curated a sample on sustainable development below, with 250-300 words:

To give you an idea of the way to deliver a well-written essay, we have curated a sample on sustainable development below, with 300 + words:

Must Read: Article Writing

To give you an idea of the way to deliver a well-written essay, we have curated a sample on sustainable development below, with 500 + words:

Essay Format

Before drafting an essay on Sustainable Development, students need to get familiarised with the format of essay writing, to know how to structure the essay on a given topic. Take a look at the following pointers which elaborate upon the format of a 300-350 word essay.

Introduction (50-60 words) In the introduction, students must introduce or provide an overview of the given topic, i.e. highlighting and adding recent instances and questions related to sustainable development. Body of Content (100-150 words) The area of the content after the introduction can be explained in detail about why sustainable development is important, its objectives and highlighting the efforts made by the government and various institutions towards it.  Conclusion (30-40 words) In the essay on Sustainable Development, you must add a conclusion wrapping up the content in about 2-3 lines, either with an optimistic touch to it or just summarizing what has been talked about above.

How to write the introduction of a sustainable development essay? To begin with your essay on sustainable development, you must mention the following points:

• What is sustainable development?
• What does sustainable development focus on?
• Why is it useful for the environment?

How to write the conclusion of a sustainable development essay? To conclude your essay on sustainable development, mention why it has become the need of the hour. Wrap up all the key points you have mentioned in your essay and provide some important suggestions to implement sustainable development.

The importance of sustainable development is that it meets the needs of the present generations without compromising on the needs of the coming future generations. Sustainable development teaches us to use our resources in the correct manner. Listed below are some points which tell us the importance of sustainable development.

• Focuses on Sustainable Agricultural Methods – Sustainable development is important because it takes care of the needs of future generations and makes sure that the increasing population does not put a burden on Mother Earth. It promotes agricultural techniques such as crop rotation and effective seeding techniques.
• Manages Stabilizing the Climate – We are facing the problem of climate change due to the excessive use of fossil fuels and the killing of the natural habitat of animals. Sustainable development plays a major role in preventing climate change by developing practices that are sustainable. It promotes reducing the use of fossil fuels which release greenhouse gases that destroy the atmosphere.
• Provides Important Human Needs – Sustainable development promotes the idea of saving for future generations and making sure that resources are allocated to everybody. It is based on the principle of developing an infrastructure that is can be sustained for a long period of time.
• Sustain Biodiversity – If the process of sustainable development is followed, the home and habitat of all other living animals will not be depleted. As sustainable development focuses on preserving the ecosystem it automatically helps in sustaining and preserving biodiversity.
• Financial Stability – As sustainable development promises steady development the economies of countries can become stronger by using renewable sources of energy as compared to using fossil fuels, of which there is only a particular amount on our planet.

Mentioned below are some important examples of sustainable development. Have a look:

• Wind Energy – Wind energy is an easily available resource. It is also a free resource. It is a renewable source of energy and the energy which can be produced by harnessing the power of wind will be beneficial for everyone. Windmills can produce energy which can be used to our benefit. It can be a helpful source of reducing the cost of grid power and is a fine example of sustainable development. 
• Solar Energy – Solar energy is also a source of energy which is readily available and there is no limit to it. Solar energy is being used to replace and do many things which were first being done by using non-renewable sources of energy. Solar water heaters are a good example. It is cost-effective and sustainable at the same time.
• Crop Rotation – To increase the potential of growth of gardening land, crop rotation is an ideal and sustainable way. It is rid of any chemicals and reduces the chances of disease in the soil. This form of sustainable development is beneficial to both commercial farmers and home gardeners.
• Efficient Water Fixtures – The installation of hand and head showers in our toilets which are efficient and do not waste or leak water is a method of conserving water. Water is essential for us and conserving every drop is important. Spending less time under the shower is also a way of sustainable development and conserving water.
• Sustainable Forestry – This is an amazing way of sustainable development where the timber trees that are cut by factories are replaced by another tree. A new tree is planted in place of the one which was cut down. This way, soil erosion is prevented and we have hope of having a better, greener future.

Related Articles

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 global goals established by the United Nations in 2015. These include: No Poverty Zero Hunger Good Health and Well-being Quality Education Gender Equality Clean Water and Sanitation Affordable and Clean Energy Decent Work and Economic Growth Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure Reduced Inequality Sustainable Cities and Communities Responsible Consumption and Production Climate Action Life Below Water Life on Land Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions Partnerships for the Goals

The SDGs are designed to address a wide range of global challenges, such as eradicating extreme poverty globally, achieving food security, focusing on promoting good health and well-being, inclusive and equitable quality education, etc.

India is ranked #111 in the Sustainable Development Goal Index 2023 with a score of 63.45.

Hence, we hope that this blog helped you understand the key features of an essay on sustainable development. If you are interested in Environmental studies and planning to pursue sustainable tourism courses , take the assistance of Leverage Edu ’s AI-based tool to browse through a plethora of programs available in this specialised field across the globe and find the best course and university combination that fits your interests, preferences and aspirations. Call us immediately at 1800 57 2000 for a free 30-minute counselling session

Team Leverage Edu

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Contact no. *

Thanks a lot for this important essay.

NICELY AND WRITTEN WITH CLARITY TO CONCEIVE THE CONCEPTS BEHIND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.

Thankyou so much!

Leaving already?

8 Universities with higher ROI than IITs and IIMs

Grab this one-time opportunity to download this ebook

Connect With Us

25,000+ students realised their study abroad dream with us. take the first step today..

Resend OTP in

Need help with?

Study abroad.

UK, Canada, US & More

IELTS, GRE, GMAT & More

Scholarship, Loans & Forex

Country Preference

New Zealand

Which English test are you planning to take?

Which academic test are you planning to take.

Not Sure yet

When are you planning to take the exam?

Already booked my exam slot

Within 2 Months

Want to learn about the test

Which Degree do you wish to pursue?

When do you want to start studying abroad.

September 2024

January 2025

What is your budget to study abroad?

How would you describe this article ?

Please rate this article

We would like to hear more.

Why having a clean and healthy environment is a human right

It's a human right to live in a healthy, clean and sustainable environment. Image:  UNSPLASHAngela Benito

.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo{-webkit-transition:all 0.15s ease-out;transition:all 0.15s ease-out;cursor:pointer;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;outline:none;color:inherit;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:hover,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-hover]{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:focus,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-focus]{box-shadow:0 0 0 3px rgba(168,203,251,0.5);} Ty Greene

David sangokoya.

Listen to the article

• The WHO forecasts that climate change is expected to cause around 250,000 deaths per year between 2030 and 2050.
• After being first debated in the 1990s, the UN Human Rights Council declared that having a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a human right.
• Leading civil society voices told us why this is so crucial to ensure a healthy environment for all.

On 8 October 2021, the UN Human Rights Council declared that having a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a human right , with 43 votes in favor and 4 abstentions. The measure was first debated during the 1990s, and the new resolution follows decades of advocacy from various civil society groups.

The WHO forecasts that climate change is expected to cause around 250,000 deaths per year between 2030 and 2050, from factors such as malnutrition, malaria and heat stress, and that the direct costs will be between USD 2-4 billion per year by 2030. More than a quarter of the planet’s population rely on forests for their livelihood, while 1.2 billion people in tropical countries rely on nature for their basic needs.

Have you read?

Why local action is key in the fight against climate change, climate change: how wildfires are causing tree species to relocate.

Following the declaration, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said: “Bold action is now required to ensure this resolution on the right to a healthy environment serves as a springboard to push for transformative economic, social and environmental policies that will protect people and nature.”

We asked leading civil society voices what they think is needed from government, business and civil society to take action and mobilize efforts around ensuring and protecting a clean environment for all. Here’s what they said:

We need to reframe our relationship to nature

Gopal Patel, Co-Founder & Director, Bhumi Global

A reframing of our relationship with the natural world is needed in order to ensure we can provide everyone with a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. For too long we have artificially separated ourselves from nature. We’ve placed an artificial divide between ourselves and the natural world. Our politics, economic models and modern lifestyles reflect this.

This is not natural, and as we are seeing, not healthy or sustainable for the planet or for humanity. The human species is inextricably interconnected with nature. Throughout history, and in all parts of the world, nature is a common denominator. It is the basis of our civilizations, cultures and ways of life. A return to this way of thinking needs to be the basis of any meaningful action to restore the environment, address the climate crisis, and put nature on the path to recovery.

A social dialogue is needed

Kitso Phiri, Executive Secretary, Botswana Mine Workers Union

Realization of the right to a clean and hazardous free environment requires commitment to social dialogue by tripartite partners in reconciling economic and social interests. Although the laws generally make it mandatory for businesses to remedy environmental impacts caused by their economic activities, weak government regulatory mechanism makes enforcement an onerous exercise. These challenges are even more pronounced in the case of multinational enterprises. An equally weak civil society is disabled from monitoring the level of compliance with environmental obligations and provide meaningful contributions to environmental policy formulation and management.

Therefore, states should strengthen their environmental management policies and regulations; they should build capacities of civil society and government entities; provide additional funding for training and education of social partners; establish a tripartite social dialogue forums on environmental protection, inclusive of civil society.

A game-changer for people and the planet

Monica Iyer, Human Rights Officer, Environment and Climate Change Team, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

The Human Rights Council’s recognition that a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a human right can be a game-changer for people and the planet.

But there is much more needed to make this right a reality for all. States must advance efforts to implement the right working hand-in-hand with civil society, businesses and other stakeholders. They must take urgent environmental action, backed by adequate finance, and support a just transition to a sustainable, human rights-based economy. Businesses should integrate environmental considerations in human rights due diligence processes, fully accounting for how the environmental effects of their activities can also affect human rights.

Those with power and access in fora where environmental policy is being developed, like COP26, should elevate the voices and leadership of affected individuals and communities, who are frequently excluded despite often having the most at stake and the best understanding of effective solutions. They should also promote and accept accountability for the harms caused by environmental damage.

The lives of women and vulnerable communities depend on clean air and clean water for all

Kahea Pacheco, Co-Director, Women’s Earth Alliance

An estimated 240 acres of natural habitat is destroyed every hour. Women and girls bear the brunt of this environmental degradation. While ~30% of humanity does not have access to safe drinking water, UNICEF acknowledges the 200 million hours that women and girls spend collecting water daily as a “colossal waste of their valuable time.” Evidence shows women's participation and decision making in management of local forests significantly improves forest conditions and conservation. And, leadership by Indigenous women, who have sustainably stewarded our natural world for generations, is crucial to preserving life without perpetuating the undue burden on already vulnerable communities.

Economic recovery and environmental action can go hand in hand

Jennifer Morris, Chief Executive Officer, The Nature Conservancy

The connection between human wellbeing and nature is indisputable. Governments, businesses and civil society must collaborate on every level to protect the ‘best’ of what is left on Earth and at sea, and improve areas of food production, energy siting, fishing and infrastructure planning. There is a clear path to funding this transformation by reducing ineffective subsidies and supply chain practices, producing new sources of funding and investing in a manner that pays dividends for nature.

In fact, we can close nearly half the biodiversity funding gap with no new funding, by reducing the flow of capital to harmful behaviors and shifting it toward activities that benefit nature. If done thoughtfully, economic recovery and environmental action can go hand in hand, leading to healthier, more prosperous lives.

This is a clarion call for public engagement and accountability

Amali Tower, Founder & Executive Director, Climate Refugees

The pandemic has made clear how shared our environment truly is, and also how unequal. Rich, high emitting countries that have benefited from the forces that created climate change are insulating themselves from those effects, in similar ways to the pandemic. This is a moral issue, but also one of justice. The most urgent changes needed are from these governments – crucially, the G20 countries – to reduce their emissions, which accounts for a staggering 80% of global emissions, and to fully transition to green economies. These countries need to grant, not loan, urgent climate adaptation finance that developing countries have long awaited so as to develop sustainably and build resiliency to the disproportionate impacts of climate change on their populations, many of whom are on the move. They also require parallel loss and damage climate finance to avert and minimize effects, and as compensation for the irreversible damage, forced migration and displacement.

Governments must also ratify and update their laws to uphold the right to a healthy environment to its full extent, including holding businesses, particularly extractive industries compliant. Environmental pollution and climate change have shown to be effective issues in empowering people to action, and climate related litigation has proven effective in Germany and the Netherlands , and in individual rights, where in France, pollution was a factor in determining a migrant’s residency rights . Civil society must seize this opportunity as a clarion call to mobilize public engagement and hold governments to account, where the greatest hope is in the resilient Global South and youth, pointing the way forward.

The right to a healthy environment offers hope to those most impacted

Katharina Rall, Senior Researcher, Environment & Human Rights, Human Rights Watch

The adoption of the resolution recognizing the right to a healthy environment could offer some hope to many communities around the world already hard-hit by environmental degradation and climate change. To make the enjoyment of the right a reality for those most impacted, governments should recognize the right at the national level and develop strong environmental protection laws and policies to safeguard the rights of at risk populations. This includes requiring businesses to comply with environmental and human rights standards, for example through mandatory climate change due diligence regulations, and ensuring broad participation in environmental decision making by civil society groups and impacted populations – including protecting environmental defenders under threat or attack.

Businesses should comply with existing laws and ensure that their operations, including their global value chains , do not negatively affect the environment or violate the rights of nearby communities, including through rigorous environmental and human rights due diligence. They should stop efforts to silence environmental advocates, for example through baseless nuisance lawsuits—known as strategic lawsuits against public participation , or SLAPPs—and align their business models with international environmental and human rights standards.

• Clean Energy Jobs
• Funding Opportunities
• Myth Busting with EERE
• Diversity in STEM & Clean Energy
• Domestic Manufacturing & Competitiveness
• Energy Accessibility & Affordability
• Energy Equity & Environmental Justice
• Energy Independence & Security

Energy Reliability

Energy resilience, environmental impacts.

• Health & Safety
• Job Creation & Growth
• Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project
• Energy Transitions Initiative
• Clean Energy to Communities Program

The transition to a clean energy economy will enhance the lives of all Americans.

How does clean energy benefit all americans.

Diversity in STEM

Job Creation & Growth

State, Local, & Community Energy Transitions

Clean energy is important because it has the power to enhance economic growth, support energy independence, and improve the health and well-being of the American people. 

The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is committed to leading the nation’s transition to a clean energy economy for these reasons. Read about how EERE worked to bring clean energy to Americans nationwide in 2023. 

What Is Clean Energy?

Renewable energy resources provide an affordable, reliable, and sustainable U.S. power supply—while also reducing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. 

We can harness abundant domestic resources including wind energy ,  solar energy ,  bioenergy ,  geothermal energy ,  hydropower , and  marine energy to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. 

About 20% of all U.S. electricity now comes from renewable energy sources with 60% from fossil fuels like coal, petroleum, and natural gas, and the remainder from nuclear energy. 

Why Do We Need Clean Energy?

Renewable power is not only cost-competitive; it’s also the most cost-effective source of energy in many situations , depending on the location and season. 

Still, we have more work to do both on the technologies themselves and on our nation’s electric system as a whole to achieve the U.S. climate goal of 100% carbon-pollution-free electricity by 2035. 

EERE’s job is to give Americans access to the energy resources they want at a price they can afford with the infrastructure they can count on. 

Learn more about why EERE believes in bringing clean energy and efficiency improvements to the American people:

Diversity in STEM and Clean Energy

Diversifying the clean energy workforce and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) introduces a wider variety of perspectives that support greater innovation and American competitiveness. 

Domestic Manufacturing and Competitiveness

We need American-made clean energy technologies to provide the fastest, most effective, and most lucrative pathway to a sustainable power supply.

Energy Accessibility and Affordability

Providing all Americans with affordable clean energy , especially those in underserved and low-income communities, has an immediate and tangible impact on daily lives.

Energy Equity and Environmental Justice

The transition to a clean energy economy requires a transformative commitment to prioritizing disadvantaged and underserved communities . 

Energy Independence and Security

Adopting clean energy in the United States reduces the need to rely on other countries for energy resources and technologies, while also helping isolated communities support their own energy needs .

Using more renewable energy resources—solar, water, wind, geothermal, and bioenergy—and energy storage gives us more ways to keep the power on or bring it back after an outage.

A modern electric grid that incorporates renewable energy sources can support a reliable power supply under harsh weather, cyber threats, and dynamic grid conditions.

Renewable energy has fewer harmful environmental impacts than conventional energy does and can help combat the effects of climate change .

Health and Safety

Transitioning to clean energy reduces air pollution, which can improve public health and lead to lower healthcare costs.

Advancing renewable-energy, energy-efficient, and sustainable-transportation technologies will  transform U.S. communities  and spur economic opportunity.

Job Creation and Growth

Clean energy research, innovation, and deployment creates jobs and supports the growth of American businesses.

State, Local, and Community Energy Transitions 

EERE is helping communities define their own priorities —whether greater affordability, reduced power outages, sustainable job creation, cleaner air, or other unique requirements—and leverage clean energy solutions to meet their needs.

The Weekly Jolt is a digest of the top clean energy news, tips, events, and information from DOE and EERE.

Sign up to receive the latest information about EERE’s clean energy funding, prize, and competition opportunities.

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

JavaScript appears to be disabled on this computer. Please click here to see any active alerts .

Climate Change Impacts on Energy

The U.S. energy system consists of all the infrastructure needed to collect, produce, distribute, store, and consume power for our homes, for our businesses, and while we are on the go. From manufacturing to agriculture , and health care to transportation , the nation depends on a stable energy supply. 

Our energy system is vulnerable to a wide range of climate change impacts. These include rising temperatures and heat waves, cold and snow events, severe drought, intense rainfall, sea level rise, hurricanes, and wildfires. While these impacts differ from one region to another, they will continue to affect all areas of the country. 1 Moreover, impacts to one part of the energy system or in one region can affect other parts of the system or other areas.

Wildfires. Warmer, drier conditions caused by climate change are expected to make wildfires more frequent and intense. When a tree came in contact with electrical distribution lines, it sparked the largest wildfire in California’s history, the 2021 Dixie Fire. 42

Damage to Alaska infrastructure. Sea level rise, melting sea ice, and thawing permafrost are all expected to damage oil and gas infrastructure in Alaska, affecting energy production. 43

Nuclear energy impacts. Nuclear power accounts for about one-fifth of U.S. electricity production. 44 Many nuclear reactors use water from freshwater bodies or oceans to cool down. 45 Rising water and air temperatures have already forced some nuclear plants to temporarily close to lower the risk of overheating. 46

Reductions in hydropower. Drought, reduced mountain snowpack, and shifting snowmelt timing could affect hydropower energy production in the West, especially in summer, when demand is greatest. 47

Hurricanes and extreme weather threats. Storm surge from hurricanes already threaten dozens of power plants and refineries on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. 48 Rising sea levels will expose even more facilities to risk during extreme weather events. 49

The Link Between Energy and Climate Change

The energy sector is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. In turn, changes in climate can disrupt energy networks themselves, stress infrastructure, and pose safety risks to people. Read more about greenhouse gas emissions on the Basics of Climate Change page. 

In addition, energy interacts with and depends on other sectors of the economy, such as water resources  and transportation . Therefore, climate impacts on these sectors can affect the energy system.

Businesses, governments, and others are taking many actions to increase the resiliency of the energy system to climate change. For example, many states are upgrading and protecting their energy infrastructure from extreme weather. 2 Governments and businesses are sharing information with each other through private/public partnerships. Companies and researchers are developing and installing innovative and renewable technologies (such as wind and solar) that help reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. These actions not only help address vulnerabilities to the energy system, but also reduce the emissions that are making climate change worse.

Learn more about climate impacts on the energy sector :

Top Climate Impacts on Energy

Energy and the economy, environmental justice and equity, what we can do, related resources.

Climate change may affect the energy sector at both local and regional scales. Four key impacts are described in this section.

1. Disruptions to Energy Supply

Extreme weather and natural disasters pose significant risks to the U.S. energy supply in all regions of the country. 3 Energy systems on both the Gulf and East Coasts face more risk of damage from flooding due to hurricanes and sea level rise. 4 More frequent and intense precipitation events are expected to increase the risk of flooding on infrastructure in the Northeast and the Midwest. 5  In Arctic regions like Alaska, thawing permafrost causes land to sink and compromise fuel pipelines and other energy infrastructure. 6

Overall, the climate is warming, and the atmosphere’s increasing capacity to hold moisture can lead to longer periods without rainfall. The warmth and variability in precipitation can lead to declining snowpack, shifts in snowmelt, and extended droughts—all of which affect water supplies needed for energy systems. For example, most U.S. power plants depend on rivers or lakes for cooling. 7 Petroleum, natural gas, and biofuels production and refining also require a steady supply of water. 8 Water shortages have already affected hydropower production, especially in the West. 9 Without enough water, affected systems need to find new water sources or scale back their operations. 

2. Interruptions to Electricity Transmission

Climate change threatens the ways in which power reaches our homes and businesses. 10 For example, transmission lines are prone to damage during extreme weather. Snow and ice, wildfires, and extreme wind can damage above-ground powerlines and transmission towers. 11 Flooding can affect underground powerlines and damage roads, railroads, pipelines, and storage facilities. 12 Near the coast, storm surge can destroy petroleum storage tanks and wash out roads and railways. 13

Warmer temperatures, especially hot summer temperatures, can affect power transmission. When temperatures rise, the carrying capacity of transmission lines decreases. 14 Summer months also present more wildfire risks, especially in the Southwest. 15 Wildfires can disrupt energy networks significantly when they affect transmission towers and powerlines. 16 , 17 In some areas, faulty or fallen powerlines (or lines that come in contact with trees) can start wildfires. This risk is why some utilities shut down powerlines when high winds are forecast. 18

3. Strain on the Energy System

Temperatures are rising in all regions of the United States. 19 As the climate warms, Americans are expected to use more energy, mostly electricity, for cooling. 20 This higher demand will also increase the chance of blackouts or other power disruptions. 21

A warming climate also means that Americans are expected to use less energy for heating their homes in the winter. 22 However, increased summer demands for cooling are expected to outweigh any energy-use reductions from lower heating needs. 23

4. Increased Air Pollution and Climate Change

As the demand for cooling increases across the nation, more electricity must be produced to meet this demand. Increasing energy production is likely to increase emissions of certain air pollutants and greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. 24 , 25

For more specific examples of climate change impacts in your region, please see the National Climate Assessment .

An affordable and reliable energy supply is critical to the country’s economy. 26 In 2020, the U.S. produced nearly 96 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) of energy and consumed nearly 93 quadrillion Btu. 27 Energy produced in the United States, but not consumed here, is exported to other countries. Fossil fuels (petroleum, coal, and natural gas) accounted for nearly 80% of U.S. energy production—both electricity generation and energy consumed directly—in 2020. The primary consumer sectors of energy in the United States are the industrial, transportation, commercial, and residential sectors.

The energy system is an important source of employment for Americans, providing jobs for about 5.2 million people. 28 These jobs support power generation and transmission, fuel extraction and processing, and renewable energy and energy-efficiency installations and sales.

U.S. energy exports also contribute to the economy. In 2020, U.S. energy exports exceeded total energy imports, as the United States was a net exporter of petroleum products, natural gas, and coal. 29 Crude oil was the only major fuel type for which the United States was a net importer. 30

Major disturbances to the energy supply, such as power outages or fuel shortages, harm the economy. 31 For example, energy disruptions from extreme weather damage to energy infrastructure have cost billions of dollars. 32 The nation’s energy system is also aging, with many components not designed to withstand the extreme weather conditions projected for this century. 33

Some communities have been historically overburdened by pollution. Low-income people, people of color, and linguistically isolated communities are more likely than the national average to live near power plants that burn fossil fuels . 35 This means they can be exposed to air pollutants that cause or contribute to health issues, such as respiratory and heart diseases. 36 As the climate changes and energy demand grows, communities may face increased levels of these emissions and associated risks.

Lower-income communities also carry a higher energy burden than those with higher incomes. On average, low-income households spend 8.6% of their income on energy expenses. 37 In comparison, non-low-income households spend 3%. 38 Many factors contribute to this burden. For example, low-income households may live in housing without insulation or with outdated appliances. 39 This energy burden may increase as the climate changes and energy demand goes up.

In addition, low-income communities often face barriers to accessing clean technologies that make energy more affordable. For instance, as of 2018, less than half of community-scale solar projects included households with lower incomes. 41

We can reduce climate change’s impact on the energy sector in many ways, including the following:

• Save energy. Individuals and companies can take many actions to save energy. For example, look for ENERGY STAR certified products , such as appliances and electronics. Some utility companies even offer federal tax credits . 
• Expand access to clean technologies. Government and industry leaders can help expand access to renewable energy programs , such as wind and solar power, so that all communities benefit. This transition will help reduce the emissions contributing to climate change. 
• Modernize infrastructure. Utilities and government agencies can update energy infrastructure, such as leak-prone pipelines and aging power lines . These actions increase resiliency, improve safety, and protect public health. 
• Ensure energy equity. Policymakers, industry leaders, and communities can take steps to improve energy affordability and ensure all people have a voice in energy planning . They can also better ensure that the benefits from energy investment reach typically underserved communities.
• Make infrastructure local. Utilities, urban planners, and government agencies can use microgrids . These systems and other decentralized energy infrastructure help make electricity supplies more resilient to extreme weather.   

See additional actions you can take, as well as steps that companies can take, on EPA’s What You Can Do About Climate Change page.

• Fifth National Climate Assessment , Chapter 5: “Energy Supply, Delivery, and Demand.”
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory . Supports energy efficiency and sustainability efforts and provides information on how to optimize energy systems.
• Low-Income Energy Affordability Data (LEAD) Tool . Helps states and communities create better energy strategies by improving their understanding of housing and energy characteristics for low- and moderate-income households.
• U.S. Energy Information Administration . Provides impartial statistics and analysis of energy information and increases public understanding of how energy systems interact with the economy and the environment.
• ENERGY STAR . Provides information to individuals and businesses about energy-efficient products and services.
• Energy and the Environment . Provides information and EPA resources on clean energy programs and energy efficiency. You can also measure the impact of your energy use and learn how to reduce it.

1  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 178.

2  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 186.

3  DOE. (2015). Map: How climate change threatens America’s energy infrastructure in every region . Retrieved 5/11/2022. 

4  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 181.

5  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 178.

6  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 180.

7  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 182.

8  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 182.

9  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 182.

10  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 180.

11  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 180.

12  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 179.

13  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 180.

14  Sathaye, J., et al. (2011). Estimating risk to California energy infrastructure from projected climate change . CEC Publication CEC500-2012-057.

15  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 176.

16  Lall, U., et al. (2018). Ch. 3: Water . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, pp. 153–154.

17  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 177.

18  Anaya-Morga, L. (2021). PG&E warns of another power shut-off affecting up to 29,000 customers; Santa Ana winds continue to pick up . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 5/11/2022. 

19  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 178.

20  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 178.

21  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 181.

22  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 181.

23  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 181.

24  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 181.

25  Nolte, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 13: Air quality . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 514.

26  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 178.

27  U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). (2021). U.S. energy facts explained . Retrieved 3/2/2022. 

28    U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). (2022). United States energy & employment report 2021: Executive summary . Department of Energy Office of Policy, Office of Energy Jobs, p. vi.

29  U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). (2021). U.S. energy facts explained . Retrieved 3/2/2022. 

30  U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). (2021). U.S. energy facts explained . Retrieved 3/2/2022. 

31  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 185.

32  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 185.

33  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 185.

34  U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). (2021). U.S. energy facts explained . Retrieved 3/2/2022. 

35  EPA. (2022). Power plants and neighboring communities . Retrieved 3/2/2022.

36  Nolte, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 13: Air quality . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 514.

37  Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy. Low-income community energy solutions . Retrieved 3/2/2022.

38  Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy. Low-income community energy solutions . Retrieved 3/2/2022.

39  Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy. Low-income community energy solutions . Retrieved 3/2/2022.

40  EIA. (2015). One in three U.S. households faced challenges in paying energy bills in 2015 . Retrieved 3/2/2022.

41  National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). (2021). NREL draws on experience to expand equitable energy access to state, local, and tribal communities . Retrieved 5/11/2022. 

42  California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. (2022). CAL FIRE investigators determine cause of the Dixie Fire . Retrieved 5/11/2022. 

43  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 178.

44  DOE. (2021). Nuclear 101: How does a nuclear reactor work? Retrieved 5/11/2022.

45  DOE. (2021). Nuclear 101: How does a nuclear reactor work? Retrieved 5/11/2022.

46  DOE. (2013). Climate change: Effects on our energy . Retrieved 5/11/2022.

47  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 178.

48  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 180.

49  Zamuda, C., et al. (2018). Ch. 4: Energy supply, delivery, and demand . In: Impacts, risks, and adaptation in the United States: Fourth national climate assessment, volume II . U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, p. 181.

• Climate Change Impacts Home
• Agriculture and Food Supply
• Air Quality
• Built Environment
• Freshwater Resources
• Ocean and Marine Resources
• Transportation
• Human Health
• State and Regional Impacts
• Climate Equity

Conserving Earth

Earth’s natural resources include air, water, soil, minerals, plants, and animals. Conservation is the practice of caring for these resources so all living things can benefit from them now and in the future.

Biology, Ecology, Earth Science, Geography, Geology, Conservation

Loading ...

Earth ’s natural resources include air , water , soil , minerals , fuels , plants, and animals. Conservation is the practice of caring for these resources so all living things can benefit from them now and in the future. All the things we need to survive , such as food , water, air, and shelter , come from natural resources. Some of these resources, like small plants, can be replaced quickly after they are used. Others, like large trees, take a long time to replace. These are renewable resources . Other resources, such as fossil fuels , cannot be replaced at all. Once they are used up, they are gone f orever . These are nonrenewable resources . People often waste natural resources. Animals are overhunted . Forests are cleared, exposing land to wind and water damage. Fertile soil is exhausted and lost to erosion because of poor farming practices. Fuel supplies are depleted . Water and air are polluted . If resources are carelessly managed, many will be used up. If used wisely and efficiently , however, renewable resources will last much longer. Through conservation, people can reduce waste and manage natural resources wisely. The population of human beings has grown enormously in the past two centuries. Billions of people use up resources quickly as they eat food, build houses, produce goods, and burn fuel for transportation and electricity . The continuation of life as we know it depends on the careful use of natural resources. The need to conserve resources often conflicts with other needs. For some people, a wooded area may be a good place to put a farm. A timber company may want to harvest the area’s trees for construction materials. A business may want to build a factory or shopping mall on the land. All these needs are valid, but sometimes the plants and animals that live in the area are forgotten. The benefits of development need to be weighed against the harm to animals that may be forced to find new habitats , the depletion of resources we may want in the future (such as water or timber), or damage to resources we use today. Development and conservation can coexist in harmony. When we use the environment in ways that ensure we have resources for the future, it is called sustainable development . There are many different resources we need to conserve in order to live sustainably. Forests A forest is a large area covered with trees grouped so their foliage shades the ground. Every continent except Antarctica has forests, from the evergreen -filled boreal forests of the north to mangrove forests in tropical wetlands . Forests are home to more than two-thirds of all known land species . Tropical rainforests are especially rich in biodiversity . Forests provide habitats for animals and plants. They store carbon , helping reduce global warming . They protect soil by reducing runoff . They add nutrients to the soil through leaf litter . They provide people with lumber and firewood. Deforestation is the process of clearing away forests by cutting them down or burning them. People clear forests to use the wood, or to make way for farming or development. Each year, Earth loses about 14.6 million hectares (36 million acres) of forest to deforestation—an area about the size of the U.S. state of New York. Deforestation destroys wildlife habitats and increases soil erosion. It also releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere , contributing to global warming. Deforestation accounts for 15 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Deforestation also harms the people who rely on forests for their survival, hunting and gathering, harvesting forest products, or using the timber for firewood. About half of all the forests on Earth are in the tropics —an area that circles the globe near the Equator . Although tropical forests cover fewer than 6 percent of the world’s land area, they are home to about 80 percent of the world’s documented species. For example, more than 500 different species of trees live in the forests on the small U.S. island of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Sea. Tropical forests give us many valuable products, including woods like mahogany and teak , rubber , fruits, nuts, and flowers. Many of the medicines we use today come from plants found only in tropical rainforests. These include quinine , a malaria drug; curare , an anesthetic used in surgery; and rosy periwinkle , which is used to treat certain types of cancer . Sustainable forestry practices are critical for ensuring we have these resources well into the future. One of these practices is leaving some trees to die and decay naturally in the forest. This “ deadwood ” builds up soil. Other sustainable forestry methods include using low-impact logging practices, harvesting with natural regeneration in mind, and avoiding certain logging techniques , such as removing all the high-value trees or all the largest trees from a forest. Trees can also be conserved if consumers recycle . People in China and Mexico, for example, reuse much of their wastepaper, including writing paper, wrapping paper, and cardboard. If half the world’s paper were recycled, much of the worldwide demand for new paper would be fulfilled, saving many of Earth’s trees. We can also replace some wood products with alternatives like bamboo , which is actually a type of grass. Soil Soil is vital to food production. We need high-quality soil to grow the crops that we eat and feed to livestock . Soil is also important to plants that grow in the wild. Many other types of conservation efforts, such as plant conservation and animal conservation, depend on soil conservation. Poor farming methods, such as repeatedly planting the same crop in the same place, called monoculture , deplete nutrients in the soil. Soil erosion by water and wind increases when farmers plow up and down hills. One soil conservation method is called contour strip cropping . Several crops, such as corn, wheat, and clover , are planted in alternating strips across a slope or across the path of the prevailing wind . Different crops, with different root systems and leaves, help slow erosion.

Harvesting all the trees from a large area, a practice called clearcutting , increases the chances of losing productive topsoil to wind and water erosion. Selective harvesting —the practice of removing individual trees or small groups of trees—leaves other trees standing to anchor the soil. Biodiversity Biodiversity is the variety of living things that populate Earth. The products and benefits we get from nature rely on biodiversity. We need a rich mixture of living things to provide foods, building materials, and medicines, as well as to maintain a clean and healthy landscape . When a species becomes extinct , it is lost to the world forever. Scientists estimate that the current rate of extinction is 1,000 times the natural rate. Through hunting, pollution , habitat destruction, and contribution to global warming, people are speeding up the loss of biodiversity at an alarming rate. It’s hard to know how many species are going extinct because the total number of species is unknown. Scientists discover thousands of new species every year. For example, after looking at just 19 trees in Panama, scientists found 1,200 different species of beetles—80 percent of them unknown to science at the time. Based on various estimates of the number of species on Earth, we could be losing anywhere from 200 to 100,000 species each year. We need to protect biodiversity to ensure we have plentiful and varied food sources. This is true even if we don’t eat a species threatened with extinction because something we do eat may depend on that species for survival. Some predators are useful for keeping the populations of other animals at manageable levels. The extinction of a major predator might mean there are more herbivores looking for food in people’s gardens and farms. Biodiversity is important for more than just food. For instance, we use between 50,000 to 70,000 plant species for medicines worldwide. The Great Barrier Reef , a coral reef off the coast of northeastern Australia, contributes about $6 billion to the nation’s economy through commercial fishing , tourism , and other recreational activities. If the coral reef dies, many of the fish, shellfish , marine mammals , and plants will die, too. Some governments have established parks and preserves to protect wildlife and their habitats. They are also working to abolish hunting and fishing practices that may cause the extinction of some species. Fossil Fuels Fossil fuels are fuels produced from the remains of ancient plants and animals. They include coal , petroleum (oil), and natural gas . People rely on fossil fuels to power vehicles like cars and airplanes, to produce electricity, and to cook and provide heat. In addition, many of the products we use today are made from petroleum. These include plastics , synthetic rubber, fabrics like nylon , medicines, cosmetics , waxes, cleaning products, medical devices, and even bubblegum.

Fossil fuels formed over millions of years. Once we use them up, we cannot replace them. Fossil fuels are a nonrenewable resource. We need to conserve fossil fuels so we don’t run out. However, there are other good reasons to limit our fossil fuel use. These fuels pollute the air when they are burned. Burning fossil fuels also releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. Global warming is changing ecosystems . The oceans are becoming warmer and more acidic , which threatens sea life. Sea levels are rising, posing risks to coastal communities. Many areas are experiencing more droughts , while others suffer from flooding . Scientists are exploring alternatives to fossil fuels. They are trying to produce renewable biofuels to power cars and trucks. They are looking to produce electricity using the sun, wind, water, and geothermal energy — Earth’s natural heat. Everyone can help conserve fossil fuels by using them carefully. Turn off lights and other electronics when you are not using them. Purchase energy-efficient appliances and weatherproof your home. Walk, ride a bike, carpool , and use public transportation whenever possible. Minerals Earth’s supply of raw mineral resources is in danger. Many mineral deposits that have been located and mapped have been depleted. As the ores for minerals like aluminum and iron become harder to find and extract , their prices skyrocket . This makes tools and machinery more expensive to purchase and operate. Many mining methods, such as mountaintop removal mining (MTR) , devastate the environment. They destroy soil, plants, and animal habitats. Many mining methods also pollute water and air, as toxic chemicals leak into the surrounding ecosystem. Conservation efforts in areas like Chile and the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States often promote more sustainable mining methods. Less wasteful mining methods and the recycling of materials will help conserve mineral resources. In Japan, for example, car manufacturers recycle many raw materials used in making automobiles. In the United States, nearly one-third of the iron produced comes from recycled automobiles. Electronic devices present a big problem for conservation because technology changes so quickly. For example, consumers typically replace their cell phones every 18 months. Computers, televisions, and mp3 players are other products contributing to “ e-waste .” The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that Americans generated more than three million tons of e-waste in 2007. Electronic products contain minerals as well as petroleum-based plastics. Many of them also contain hazardous materials that can leach out of landfills into the soil and water supply. Many governments are passing laws requiring manufacturers to recycle used electronics. Recycling not only keeps materials out of landfills, but it also reduces the energy used to produce new products. For instance, recycling aluminum saves 90 percent of the energy that would be required to mine new aluminum.

Water Water is a renewable resource. We will not run out of water the way we might run out of fossil fuels. The amount of water on Earth always remains the same. However, most of the planet’s water is unavailable for human use. While more than 70 percent of Earth’s surface is covered by water, only 2.5 percent of it is freshwater . Out of that freshwater, almost 70 percent is permanently frozen in the ice caps covering Antarctica and Greenland. Only about 1 percent of the freshwater on Earth is available for people to use for drinking, bathing, and irrigating crops. People in many regions of the world suffer water shortages . These are caused by depletion of underground water sources known as aquifers , a lack of rainfall due to drought, or pollution of water supplies. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 2.6 billion people lack adequate water sanitation . More than five million people die each year from diseases caused by using polluted water for drinking, cooking, or washing. About one-third of Earth’s population lives in areas that are experiencing water stress . Most of these areas are in developing countries. Polluted water hurts the environment as well as people. For instance, agricultural runoff—the water that runs off of farmland—can contain fertilizers and pesticides . When this water gets into streams , rivers , and oceans, it can harm the organisms that live in or drink from those water sources. People can conserve and protect water supplies in many ways. Individuals can limit water use by fixing leaky faucets, taking shorter showers, planting drought-resistant plants, and buying low-water-use appliances. Governments, businesses, and nonprofit organizations can help developing countries build sanitation facilities. Farmers can change some of their practices to reduce polluted runoff. This includes limiting overgrazing , avoiding over-irrigation, and using alternatives to chemical pesticides whenever possible. Conservation Groups Businesses, international organizations , and some governments are involved in conservation efforts. The United Nations (UN) encourages the creation of national parks around the world. The UN also established World Water Day, an event to raise awareness and promote water conservation. Governments enact laws defining how land should be used and which areas should be set aside as parks and wildlife preserves. Governments also enforce laws designed to protect the environment from pollution, such as requiring factories to install pollution-control devices. Finally, governments often provide incentives for conserving resources, using clean technologies, and recycling used goods. Many international organizations are dedicated to conservation. Members support causes such as saving rain forests, protecting threatened animals, and cleaning up the air. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an alliance of governments and private groups founded in 1948. The IUCN works to protect wildlife and habitats. In 1980, the group proposed a world conservation strategy . Many governments have used the IUCN model to develop their own conservation plans. In addition, the IUCN monitors the status of endangered wildlife, threatened national parks and preserves, and other environments around the world. Zoos and botanical gardens also work to protect wildlife. Many zoos raise and breed endangered animals to increase their populations. They conduct research and help educate the public about endangered species . For instance, the San Diego Zoo in the U.S. state of California runs a variety of research programs on topics ranging from disease control in amphibians to heart-healthy diets for gorillas. Scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in London, England, work to protect plant life around the world. Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank , for example, works with partners in 54 countries to protect biodiversity through seed collection. Kew researchers are also exploring how DNA technology can help restore damaged habitats. Individuals can do many things to help conserve resources. Turning off lights, repairing leaky faucets, and recycling paper, aluminum cans, glass, and plastic are just a few examples. Riding bikes, walking, carpooling, and using public transportation all help conserve fuel and reduce the amount of pollutants released into the environment. Individuals can plant trees to create homes for birds and squirrels. At grocery stores, people can bring their own reusable bags. And people can carry reusable water bottles and coffee mugs rather than using disposable containers. If each of us would conserve in small ways, the result would be a major conservation effort.

Tree Huggers The Chipko Movement, which is dedicated to saving trees, was started by villagers in Uttar Pradesh, India. Chipko means hold fast or embrace. The villagers flung their arms around trees to keep loggers from cutting them down. The villagers won, and Uttar Pradesh banned the felling of trees in the Himalayan foothills. The movement has since expanded to other parts of India.

Thirsty Food People require about 2 to 4 liters of drinking water each day. However, a day's worth of food requires 2,000 to 5,000 liters of water to produce. It takes more water to produce meat than to produce plant-based foods.

Tiger, Tiger Tigers are dangerous animals, but they have more to fear from us than we have to fear from them. Today there are only about 3,200 tigers living in the wild. Three tiger subspecies the Bali, Caspian, and Javan tigers have gone extinct in the past century. Many organizations are working hard to protect the remaining tigers from illegal hunting and habitat loss.

Articles & Profiles

Media credits.

The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited.

Illustrators

Educator reviewer, last updated.

October 19, 2023

User Permissions

For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher. They will best know the preferred format. When you reach out to them, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource.

If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media.

Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service .

Interactives

Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives.

Related Resources

Technology and Operations Management

Mba student perspectives.

• Assignments
• Assignment: RC TOM Challenge 2017

Tesla and the environmental impact of lithium-ion batteries

Tesla is one of the most important companies addressing climate change with their core products — their fleet of cars and their suite of clean energy technologies. The environmental impact of the massive boom in lithium-ion battery production should be examined and mitigated.

Tesla’s background and focus on climate change

Tesla is one of the most innovative and impactful companies tackling climate change. Tesla’s management clearly made tackling climate change a focus and the company has capitalized on the recent swell in public interest around the topic. As a result, Tesla has performed incredibly well; it has one of the most recognizable brands in the world and its stock price increased tenfold in the last 5 years [1]. More companies can and should follow Tesla’s lead.

Tesla’s original mission statement was to “accelerate the advent of sustainable transport by bringing compelling mass market electric cars to market as soon as possible” [2] . Tesla started with the Roadster in 2008, priced at a nearly unattainable $100,000. Purchased by eco-minded millionaires and celebrities, it gave the brand a high level of appeal such that when the product line expanded to include the Model S, the Model X, and most recently the Model 3, priced at $35,000, pent-up demand was unleashed which led to high volumes of sales [3] . Tesla sold over 76,000 cars in 2016 compared to ~700 Roadsters in 2012 [4]. Tesla’s focus on environmental sustainability, safety, and innovation made their electric cars hugely popular.

In 2016, Tesla acquired Solar City and expanded its product portfolio to include solar panels, solar roof tiles, and battery storage. Batteries complement the generation profile of solar panels that charge only during the day when the sun is shining. Storing electricity for use on cloudy days and at night is necessary in order to provide the on-demand electricity consumers are accustomed to. Solar and battery storage are useful not only in the developed world. Elon Musk believes that when it comes to emerging markets, coupling solar and battery storage means “you can avoid building electricity plants at all”and instead set up self-sustaining micro-grids in small villages that previously had no electricity [5].

Pathways to Just Digital Future

Lithium-ion batteries; where Tesla could do more

Lithium-ion batteries play a key role in Tesla’s product portfolio. They power Tesla’s electric cars and are the storage medium for Tesla’s battery storage product, the Powerwall. To produce lithium-ion batteries, Tesla has built a massive manufacturing facility in Reno, NV called the Gigafactory which will dramatically increase the number of lithium-ion batteries on the market. By 2018, the Gigafactory will produce more lithium-ion batteries annually than were produced worldwide in 2013 [6].

While Tesla itself is focused on addressing climate change with its core products, the environmental impact of its lithium-ion batteries should be closely examined and mitigated.

Much of the world’s lithium is extracted from brines beneath the deserts of South America and evaporated using the sun’s energy. However as demand has grown, due in large part to Tesla, more and more lithium is mined in Australia by crushing rock and is then sent to China for processing in a more energy intensive cycle [7]. Mining is a notoriously energy intensive industry and many mines are powered using dirty electricity such as coal.

Once a battery reaches the end of its life, there is recycling and disposal to be considered. Currently, over 90% of lead-acid batteries used in typical gasoline-powered vehicles are recycled. Compare that to less than 5% of lithium-ion batteries. Experts project 11m tonnes of lithium-ion batteries will be discarded between 2017 and 2030 [8] . These batteries will need to be transported to recycling facilities around the world to be processed, further contributing to their negative environmental impact. Transporting batteries from Australia to Europe resulted in an increase of global warming potential of ~45% [9] .

Conclusion and considerations

Tesla is leading the way in terms of introducing new clean transportation and clean energy products to market. That said, lithium-ion batteries are a key ingredient in both Tesla’s cars and Powerwalls and currently cause significant environmental harm. Tesla should be thinking ahead to when the first wave of lithium-ion batteries reach end-of-life. It seems as though they are already planning to do onsite recycling of lithium-ion batteries at the Gigafactory, however they should be investing in building additional battery recycling sites so as to reduce transportation costs [10]. Tesla could also work to provide renewable energy at lithium mines, perhaps by installing their own solar panels on-site, to reduce the carbon footprint of extracting lithium in the first place. Lastly, Tesla should publicize its work around battery recycling to inform environmentally-conscious consumers that they are making every effort to ensure lithium-ion batteries will have minimal impact on the environment.

Questions for discussion

What else can Tesla do to reduce the environmental impact of lithium-ion batteries?

Are there other emerging energy storage technologies that have less of an impact on climate change?

Word count: 769

[1] Google Finance [ URL ], accessed 12 November 2017.

[2] Tesla, Inc., “The Mission of Tesla,” [ URL ], accessed 12 November 2017.

[3] Tesla, Inc., “Model 3,” [ URL ], accessed 12 November 2017.

[4] Tesla, Inc., “Tesla Fourth Quarter & Full Year 2016 Update”, accessed 12 November 2017.

[5] Chelsea Gohd, “Elon Musk: 100 Gigafactories Could Power the Entire World”, Futurism, [ URL ], accessed 12 November 2017.

[6] Chelsea Gohd, “Elon Musk: 100 Gigafactories Could Power the Entire World”, Futurism, [ URL ], accessed 12 November 2017.

[7] Financial Times, “Electric Car Growth Sparks Environmental Concerns”, [ URL ], accessed 12 November 2017

[8] Lizzie Wade, “Tesla’s Electric Cars Aren’t as Green as You Might Think”, Wired, [ URL ], accessed 12 November 2017.

[9] Anna Boyden, “The Environmental Impacts of Recycling Portable Lithium-Ion Batteries”, Research School of Engineering, The Australian National University , 2016.

[10] Amy Westervelt, “Tesla’s new batteries may be harder on the environment than you think”, The Guardian, [ URL ], accessed 12 November 2017.

Student comments on Tesla and the environmental impact of lithium-ion batteries

To defend Tesla a little bit in regards to sustainability, they did build the world’s largest solar farm to power the gigafactory ( https://www.theverge.com/2017/1/11/14231952/tesla-gigafactory-solar-rooftop-70-megawatt ). I would also say that their entire mission is to make the world more sustainable and less reliant on fossil fuels. Given this, I’m a little worried about the cost involved in recycling lithium-ion batteries and more generally any measure that would substantially increase Tesla’s costs. Tesla is already burning through cash and I’m not sure they can do everything perfectly right now or they may go bankrupt. Since their overall mission is so important, I’d rather have them be successful with their products, even if there are a few ways they could improve the sustainability of their process.

That being said, I am a little surprised that they would not have done more about the impact of lithium-ion batteries. I wonder if this is something they overlooked or whether they decided to prioritize other things. If there is a cost-effective way to minimize the impact of lithium-ion batteries, I would definitely support it.

Great points that you raise. Where I am having difficulty thinking about this issue is whether Tesla is responsible for the entire lifecycle of the battery. While I agree it would be great if they made recycling factories, I wonder how much business sense reusing those batteries makes.

According to this article, the batteries preferred by Tesla may not have great second-life characteristics (bad cycling damage and wrong type for stationary applications). But with more lithium ion batteries in circulation, the upside for figuring out better recycling techniques will grow. [1]

[1] https://www.energy-storage.news/blogs/recycle-vs-reuse-why-ev-batteries-may-not-often-get-a-second-life-as-statio

I agree with the writer that Lithium Ion mining can pose significant environmental impact- especially when pumping back water that is contaminated with toxic chemicals into the ground after evaporating the Lithium/ rare earth metals [1]. In order to assess accurately the extent of environmental damage, it might be in Tesla’s interest to perform a lifecycle analysis for Lithium usage and taking a step back for each of it’s cars. In the meantime, Tesla can push a new agenda to their suppliers in utilizing more environmentally safe standards within their mining practices. I also think this is something that is very feasible as technology to create contaminated water is not new, and as financially it is not as intensive as performing other environmental practices.

[1] https://u.osu.edu/2367group3/environmental-concerns/effects-of-mining-lithium/

Great essay! I do not think it is realistic for Tesla to figure out how to create products with an entire sustainable and green lifecycle. They need to balance their product innovation and roadmap with sustainability efforts like everyone else. At the end of the day, Tesla and Elon musk can not have core competencies on every aspect and subpart of their business. I think they best way they can inspire their supply chain partners is with continued product innovation. Sometimes companies need to see their is a demand for cleaner and more sustainable products and practices. The more Tesla innovates and explicitly shows how it is ahead of the world, and creates the demand for greener products and practices, the more other companies in the supply chain are going to want to innovate and grow as well to provide that service.

I really enjoyed reading this! I agree that Tesla could and should do more to mitigate their environmental impacts as the proliferation of electric vehicles continues. Consumers often fail to think about their purchases from a lifecycle perspective. Many who purchase a Tesla will automatically assume that it’s significantly better for the planet than a regular internal combustion engine vehicle – and they’re probably right. But most don’t stop to think about the impacts of lithium extraction or the source of the electricity powering the vehicle. While I believe that Mr. Musk has his heart in the right place from a sustainability perspective, consumers must also understand the environmental impacts of electric vehicles and pressure corporations like Tesla to constantly reduce their ecological footprints.

What’s the alternative? I think the key question here is how does the environmental impact of producing an electric vehicle (EV), including that of producing lithium batteries, compare to the impact of manufacturing a combustion powered vehicle. For a combustion vehicle, the engine assembly process is one of the most pollutant and energy intensive processes of its manufacturing. Producing lithium-ion batteries instead might have a softer environmental impact. That said, I do agree that Tesla should still be mindful of the sustainability of their lithium battery production. Nice essay!

Tesla is a really helpful example to deep dive into climate change and highlight the side effects that even environmentally-focus companies can have on the environment. Even though no one can argue against Tesla’s mission and positive alignment with reducing climate change, there is room for debating how far should Tesla go to push for further measures to minimize the impact that lithium batteries’ supply chain has on the environment. As the article points out, most of the world’s lithium reserves are located in South America, in the so-called “lithium triangle” made of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. Chile, as the largest lithium producer among them, has seen a dramatic increase in lithium extraction due to booming demand from Tesla and other electrical car manufacturers. At the same time, the environmental impact that these activities are having on Chile’s hydric sources -such as contamination and droughts- has started to attract public attention. Proposals urging the Government to set stricter legislations to control lithium extraction have already reached the Congress. However, such proposals tend to be scarce and take years to materialize in any developing country, and Chile is not an exception. That said, I do personally believe that Tesla should leverage his purchase power and impose higher standards for its suppliers in developing countries to ensure both the long-term sustainability of lithium supply and to minimize the impact on local communities and environment. By doing that, Tesla would become a role model for the rest of car manufacturers and would fully embrace its mission of accelerating the advent of sustainable transport.

Leave a comment Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Featured Topics

Featured series.

A series of random questions answered by Harvard experts.

Explore the Gazette

Read the latest.

Herbert Chanoch Kelman, 94

Exploring generative AI at Harvard

Everett irwin mendelsohn, 91, eyes on tomorrow, voices of today.

Candice Chen ’22 (left) and Noah Secondo ’22.

Photos by Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

Alvin Powell

Harvard Staff Writer

Harvard students share thoughts, fears, plans to meet environmental challenges

For many, thinking about the world’s environmental future brings concern, even outright alarm.

There have been, after all, decades of increasingly strident warnings by experts and growing, ever-more-obvious signs of the Earth’s shifting climate. Couple this with a perception that past actions to address the problem have been tantamount to baby steps made by a generation of leaders who are still arguing about what to do, and even whether there really is a problem.

It’s no surprise, then, that the next generation of global environmental leaders are preparing for their chance to begin work on the problem in government, business, public health, engineering, and other fields with a real sense of mission and urgency.

The Gazette spoke to students engaged in environmental action in a variety of ways on campus to get their views of the problem today and thoughts on how their activities and work may help us meet the challenge.

Eric Fell and Eliza Spear

Fell is president and Spear is vice president of Harvard Energy Journal Club. Fell is a graduate student at the Harvard John H. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Spear is a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.

FELL:   For the past three centuries, fossil fuels have enabled massive growth of our civilization to where we are today. But it is now time for a new generation of cleaner-energy technologies to fuel the next chapter of humanity’s story. We’re not too late to solve this environmental challenge, but we definitely shouldn’t procrastinate as much as we have been. I don’t worry about if we’ll get it done, it’s the when. Our survival depends on it. At Harvard, I’ve been interested in the energy-storage problem and have been focusing on developing a grid-scale solution utilizing flow batteries based on organic molecules in the lab of Mike Aziz . We’ll need significant deployment of batteries to enable massive penetration of renewables into the electrical grid.

SPEAR: Processes leading to greenhouse-gas emissions are so deeply entrenched in our way of life that change continues to be incredibly slow. We need to be making dramatic structural changes, and we should all be very worried about that. In the Harvard Energy Journal Club, our focus is energy, so we strive to learn as much as we can about the diverse options for clean-energy generation in various sectors. A really important aspect of that is understanding how much of an impact those technologies, like solar, hydro, and wind, can really have on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. It’s not always as much as you’d like to believe, and there are still a lot of technical and policy challenges to overcome.

I can’t imagine working on anything else, but the question of what I’ll be working on specifically is on my mind a lot. The photovoltaics field is at a really exciting point where a new technology is just starting to break out onto the market, so there are a lot of opportunities for optimization in terms of performance, safety, and environmental impact. That’s what I’m working on now [in Roy Gordon’s lab ] and I’m really enjoying it. I’ll definitely be in the renewable-energy technology realm. The specifics will depend on where I see the greatest opportunity to make an impact.

Photo (left) courtesy of Kritika Kharbanda; photo by Tiera Satchebell.

Kritika Kharbanda ’23 and Laier-Rayshon Smith ’21

Kharbanda is with the Harvard Student Climate Change Conference, Harvard Circular Economy Symposium. Smith is a member of Climate Leaders Program for Professional Students at Harvard. Both are students at Harvard Graduate School of Design.

KHARBANDA: I come from a country where the most pressing issues are, and will be for a long time, poverty, food shortage, and unemployment born out of corruption, illiteracy, and rapid gentrification. India was the seventh-most-affected country by climate change in 2019. With two-thirds of the population living in rural areas with no access to electricity, even the notion of climate change is unimaginable.

I strongly believe that the answer lies in the conjugality of research and industry. In my field, achieving circularity in the building material processes is the burning concern. The building industry currently contributes to 40 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, of which 38 percent is contributed by the embedded or embodied energy used for the manufacturing of materials. A part of the Harvard i-lab, I am a co-founder of Cardinal LCA, an early stage life-cycle assessment tool that helps architects and designers visualize this embedded energy in building materials, saving up to 46 percent of the energy from the current workflow. This venture has a strong foundation as a research project for a seminar class I took at the GSD in fall 2020, instructed by Jonathan Grinham. I am currently working as a sustainability engineer at Henning Larsen architects in Copenhagen while on a leave of absence from GSD. In the decades to come, I aspire to continue working on the embodied carbon aspect of the building industry. Devising an avant garde strategy to record the embedded carbon is the key. In the end, whose carbon is it, anyway?

SMITH: The biggest challenges are areas where the threat of climate change intersects with environmental justice. It is important that we ensure that climate-change mitigation and adaptation strategies are equitable, whether it is sea-level rise or the increase in urban heat islands. We should seek to address the threats faced by the most vulnerable communities — the communities least able to resolve the threat themselves. These often tend to be low-income communities and communities of color that for decades have been burdened with bearing the brunt of environmental health hazards.

During my time at Harvard, I have come to understand how urban planning and design can seek to address this challenge. Planners and designers can develop strategies to prioritize communities that are facing a significant climate-change risk, but because of other structural injustices may not be able to access the resources to mitigate the risk. I also learned about climate gentrification: a phenomenon in which people in wealthier communities move to areas with lower risks of climate-change threats that are/were previously lower-income communities. I expect to work on many of these issues, as many are connected and are threats to communities across the country. From disinvestment and economic extraction to the struggle to find quality affordable housing, these injustices allow for significant disparities in life outcomes and dealing with risk.

Lucy Shaw ’21

Shaw is co-president of the HBS Energy and Environment Club. She is a joint-degree student at Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School.

SHAW: I want to see a world where climate change is averted and the environment preserved, without it being at the expense of the development and prosperity of lower-income countries. We have, or are on the cusp of having, many of the financial and technological tools we need to reduce emissions and environmental damage from a wide array of industries, such as agriculture, energy, and transport. The challenge I am most worried about is how we balance economic growth and opportunity with reducing humanity’s environmental impact and share this burden equitably across countries.

I came to Harvard as a joint degree student at the Kennedy School and Business School to be able to see this challenge from two different angles. In my policy-oriented classes, we learned about the opportunities and challenges of global coordination among national governments — the difficulty in enforcing climate agreements, and in allocating and agreeing on who bears the responsibility and the costs of change, but also the huge potential that an international framework with nationally binding laws on environmental protection and carbon-emission reduction could have on changing the behavior of people and businesses. In my business-oriented classes, we learned about the power of business to create change, if there is a driven leadership. We also learned that people and businesses respond to incentives, and the importance of reducing cost of technologies or increasing the cost of not switching to more sustainable technologies — for example, through a tax. After graduate school, I plan to join a leading private equity investor in their growing infrastructure team, which will equip me with tools to understand what makes a good investment in infrastructure and what are the opportunities for reducing the environmental impact of infrastructure while enhancing its value. I hope to one day be involved in shaping environmental and development policy, whether it is on a national or international level.

Photo (left) by Tabitha Soren.

Quinn Lewis ’23 and Suhaas Bhat ’24

Both are with the Student Climate Change Conference, Harvard College.

LEWIS:   When I was a kid, I imagined being an adult as a future with a stable house, a fun job, and happy kids. That future didn’t include wildfires that obscured the sun for months, global water shortages, or billionaires escaping to terrariums on Mars. The threats are so great and so assured by inaction that it’s very hard for me to justify doing anything else with my time and attention because very little will matter if there’s 1 billion climate refugees and significant portions of the continental United States become uninhabitable for human life.

For whatever reason, I still feel a great deal of hope around giving it a shot. I can’t imagine not working to mitigate the climate crisis. Media and journalism will play a huge role in raising awareness, as they generate public pressure that can sway those in power. Another route for change is to cut directly to those in power and try to convince them of the urgency of the situation. Given that I am 22 years old, it is much easier to raise public awareness or work in media and journalism than it is to sit down with some of the most powerful people on the planet, who tend to be rather busy. At school, I’m on a team that runs the University-wide Student Climate Change Conference at Harvard, which is a platform for speakers from diverse backgrounds to discuss the climate crisis and ways students and educators can take immediate and effective action. Also, I write about and research challenges and solutions to the climate crisis through the lenses of geopolitics and the global economy, both as a student at the College and as a case writer at the Harvard Business School. Outside of Harvard, I have worked in investigative journalism and at Crooked Media, as well as on political campaigns to indirectly and directly drive urgency around the climate crisis.

BHAT:   The failure to act on climate change in the last few decades, despite mountains of scientific evidence, is a consequence of political and institutional cowardice. Fossil fuel companies have obfuscated, misinformed, and lobbied for decades, and governments have failed to act in the best interests of their citizens. Of course, the fight against climate change is complex and multidimensional, requiring scientific, technical, and entrepreneurial expertise, but it will ultimately require systemic change to allow these talents to shine.

At Harvard, my work on climate has been focused on running the Harvard Student Climate Conference, as well as organizing for Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard. My hope for the Climate Conference is to provide students access to speakers who have dedicated their careers to all aspects of the fight against climate change, so that students interested in working on climate have more direction and inspiration for what to do with their careers. We’ve featured Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, members of the Sunrise Movement, and the CEO of Impossible Foods as some examples of inspiring and impactful people who are working against climate change today.

I organize for FFDH because I believe that serious institutional change is necessary for solving the climate crisis and also because of a sort of patriotism I have for Harvard. I deeply respect and care for this institution, and genuinely believe it is an incredible force for good in the world. At the same time, I believe Harvard has a moral duty to stand against the corporations whose misdeeds and falsification of science have enabled the climate crisis.

Libby Dimenstein ’22

Dimenstein is co-president of Harvard Law School Environmental Law Society.

DIMENSTEIN:   Climate change is the one truly existential threat that my generation has had to face. What’s most scary is that we know it’s happening. We know how bad it will be; we know people are already dying from it; and we still have done so little relative to the magnitude of the problem. I also worry that people don’t see climate change as an “everyone problem,” and more as a problem for people who have the time and money to worry about it, when in reality it will harm people who are already disadvantaged the most.

I want to recognize Professor Wendy Jacobs, who recently passed away. Wendy founded HLS’s fantastic Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, and she also created an interdisciplinary class called the Climate Solutions Living Lab. In the lab, groups of students drawn from throughout the University would conduct real-world projects to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The class was hard, because actually reducing greenhouse gases is hard, but it taught us about the work that needs to be done. This summer I’m interning with the Environmental Defense Fund’s U.S. Clean Air Team, and I anticipate a lot of my work will revolve around the climate. After graduating, I’m hoping to do environmental litigation, either with a governmental division or a nonprofit, but I also have an interest in policy work: Impact litigation is fascinating and important, but what we need most is sweeping policy change.

Candice Chen ’22 and Noah Secondo ’22

Chen and Secondo are co-directors of the Harvard Environmental Action Committee. Both attend Harvard College.

SECONDO: The environment is fundamental to rural Americans’ identity, but they do not believe — as much as urban Americans — that the government can solve environmental problems. Without the whole country mobilized and enthusiastic, from New Hampshire to Nebraska, we will fail to confront the climate crisis. I have no doubt that we can solve this problem. To rebuild trust between the U.S. government and rural communities, federal departments and agencies need to speak with rural stakeholders, partner with state and local leaders, and foreground rural voices. Through the Harvard College Democrats and the Environmental Action Committee, I have contributed to local advocacy efforts and creative projects, including an environmental art publication.

I hope to work in government to keep the policy development and implementation processes receptive to rural perspectives, including in the environmental arena. At every level of government, if we work with each other in good faith, we will tackle the climate crisis and be better for it.

CHEN: I’m passionate about promoting more sustainable, plant-based diets. As individual consumers, we have very little control over the actions of the largest emitters, massive corporations, but we can all collectively make dietary decisions that can avoid a lot of environmental degradation. Our food system is currently very wasteful, and our overreliance on animal agriculture devastates natural ecosystems, produces lots of potent greenhouse gases, and creates many human health hazards from poor animal-waste disposal. I feel like the climate conversation is often focused around the clean energy transition, and while it is certainly the largest component of how we can avoid the worst effects of global warming, the dietary conversation is too often overlooked. A more sustainable future also requires us to rethink agriculture, and especially what types of agriculture our government subsidizes. In the coming years, I hope that more will consider the outsized environmental impact of animal agriculture and will consider making more plant-based food swaps.

To raise awareness of the environmental benefits of adopting a more plant-based diet, I’ve been involved with running a campaign through the Environmental Action Committee called Veguary. Veguary encourages participants to try going vegetarian or vegan for the month of February, and participants receive estimates for how much their carbon/water/land use footprints have changed based on their pledged dietary changes for the month.

Photo (left) courtesy of Cristina Su Liu.

Cristina Su Liu ’22 and James Healy ’21

More like this.

How Earth Day gave birth to environmental movement

The culture of Earth Day

Spirituality, social justice, and climate change meet at the crossroads

Liu is with Harvard Climate Leaders Program for Professional Students. Healy is with the Harvard Student Climate Change Conference. Both are students at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

HEALY:   As a public health student I see so many environmental challenges, be it the 90 percent of the world who breathe unhealthy air, or the disproportionate effects of extreme heat on communities of color, or the environmental disruptions to the natural world and the zoonotic disease that humans are increasingly being exposed to. But the central commonality at the heart of all these crises is the climate crisis. Climate change, from the greenhouse-gas emissions to the physical heating of the Earth, is worsening all of these environmental crises. That’s why I call the climate crisis the great exacerbator. While we will all feel the effects of climate change, it will not be felt equally. Whether it’s racial inequity or wealth inequality, the climate crisis is widening these already gaping divides.

Solutions may have to be outside of our current road maps for confronting crises. I have seen the success of individual efforts and private innovation in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, from individuals wearing masks and social distancing to the huge advances in vaccine development. But for climate change, individual efforts and innovation won’t be enough. I would be in favor of policy reform and coalition-building between new actors. As an overseer of the Harvard Student Climate Change Conference and the Harvard Climate Leaders Program, I’ve aimed to help mobilize Harvard’s diverse community to tackle climate change. I am also researching how climate change makes U.S. temperatures more variable, and how that’s reducing the life expectancies of Medicare recipients. The goal of this research, with Professor Joel Schwartz, will be to understand the effects of climate change on vulnerable communities. I certainly hope to expand on these themes in my future work.

SU LIU:  A climate solution will need to be a joint effort from the whole society, not just people inside the environmental or climate circles. In addition to cross-sectoral cooperation, solving climate change will require much stronger international cooperation so that technologies, projects, and resources can be developed and shared globally. As a Chinese-Brazilian student currently studying in the United States, I find it very valuable to learn about the climate challenges and solutions of each of these countries, and how these can or cannot be applied in other settings. China-U.S. relations are tense right now, but I hope that climate talks can still go ahead since we have much to learn from each other.

Personally, as a student in environmental health at [the Harvard Chan School], I feel that my contribution to addressing this challenge until now has been in doing research, learning more about the health impacts of climate change, and most importantly, learning how to communicate climate issues to people outside climate circles. Every week there are several climate-change events at Harvard, where a different perspective on climate change is addressed. It has been very inspiring for me, and I feel that I could learn about climate change in a more holistic way.

Recently, I started an internship at FXB Village, where I am working on developing and integrating climate resilience indicators into their poverty-alleviation program in rural communities in Puebla, Mexico. It has been very rewarding to introduce climate-change and climate-resilience topics to people working on poverty alleviation and see how everything is interconnected. When we address climate resilience, we are also addressing access to basic services, livelihoods, health, equity, and quality of life in general. This is where climate justice is addressed, and that is a very powerful idea.

Share this article

You might like.

Memorial Minute — Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Leaders weigh in on where we are and what’s next

College accepts 1,937 to Class of 2028

Students represent 94 countries, all 50 states

Forget ‘doomers.’ Warming can be stopped, top climate scientist says

Michael Mann points to prehistoric catastrophes, modern environmental victories

Pushing back on DEI ‘orthodoxy’

Panelists support diversity efforts but worry that current model is too narrow, denying institutions the benefit of other voices, ideas

This state is quickly becoming America's clean energy paradise. Here's how it's happening.

Americans don’t have to imagine what it’s like to live someplace that’s aggressively switching to 100% clean energy , where 1 in 3 people have rooftop solar , 15% of new cars are electric and giant batteries store energy for use when the sun goes down.

They just have to go to Hawaii.

Hawaii pledged to be “Coal free by ’23,” and state law requires 100% clean energy in just 21 years. Attaining that goal came closer last month when an enormous 185-megawatt battery near Honolulu hummed into full operation.

“If you’ve been to Hawaii, you’ve seen a renewable future – and it’s paradise,” said Jeff Mikulina director of the Hawaii Climate Coalition and a board member of the Blue Planet Foundation.

The Kapolei Energy Storage facility is tucked away in 8 acres of industrial land about 20 miles west of Honolulu. More than anything it looks like 158 white storage sheds, each about the size of a shipping container, neatly lined up on concrete pads.

These lithium iron phosphate batteries can hold 185 megawatts of power, or 565 megawatt hours of energy, enough to supply electricity to 17% of the island of Oahu for three hours at peak load or six hours at half load, said Brandon Keefe, executive chairman of Plus Power, the Texas-based company that built the Kapolei battery.

These kinds of grid-scale energy storage systems are becoming increasingly common in the U.S. and are crucial to shifting to ever-higher percentages of wind and solar power. But Hawaii is in a class by itself.

“This system is larger as a percentage of the electricity system than any other battery in the world,” said Colton Ching, Hawaiian Electric's senior vice president of planning and technology. The utility provides electricity to 95% of the state's residents.

Hawaii is different when it comes to energy

Hawaii is blessed with an abundance of wind, sun and geothermal power but doesn’t have a drop of fossil fuel. Instead, every 10 days or so an oil supertanker arrives at a refinery near the Honolulu port, producing almost 80% of the state’s energy, Mikulina said.

Almost all that oil comes from as much as 6,000 miles away, primarily from Libya and Argentina , which makes energy in Hawaii expensive and prone to weather and geopolitical disruption.

“We’re one supertanker away from becoming Amish,” he said. “We have a 25-day oil supply in storage.”

Now, Hawaii’s energy is coming home, which the state believes will provide stability, cheaper prices and a greener environment .  

Each of Hawaii’s six main islands has its own electrical grid, not connected to any other island. The state already gets 32% of its energy from renewables . Today 6.25% of Hawaii’s electricity comes from its seven wind farms. On the Big Island of Hawaii, about 30% of energy comes from geothermal from a plant that gets heat from near the Kilauea volcano that erupted in September.

It also has a growing number of electric vehicles. Last year, 15% of new vehicle sales in Hawaii were electric .

It makes sense, Mikulina said. “Gas is expensive and we don’t have to drive very far, so the biggest hurdles of cost and range anxiety aren’t here.”

But what makes the state stand out is solar power – especially where it comes from.

In 2022 Hawaii hit upon an innovative plan to make up for the shutdown of its last coal plant . State regulators created the Battery Bonus program, which subsidized households to add rooftop solar and battery storage.

In exchange, the household feeds electricity back into the grid for two hours sometime between 6 and 8:30 p.m., when the sun has gone down and Hawaii needs power.

By the end of 2023, the island of Oahu enrolled 40 megawatts of power and Maui had added 6.29 megawatts.

There’s some controversy over new rules created for 2024 which are more complex and less favorable to customers, and the island’s solar industry has asked the state Public Utilities Commission to reconsider.

The state also has a number of utility-scale solar farms. The largest on the Big Island of Hawaii, the Waikoloa solar plus storage project , plugged in last year and now supplies more than 7% of the island's electricity. “It’s in the middle of a lava field, and already it’s lowering people’s bills by at least $5 a month," Mikulina said.

But the remarkable thing about Hawaii when it comes to sun is how many households have solar. A record 37% of Hawaiian homes have rooftop solar , which accounts for an impressive 44% of the state's renewable energy, according to Hawaiian Electric.

The only place in the world that’s even remotely close to that is Australia, where 28% of that nation island's energy comes from solar panels on people’s roofs, according to research by Australian National University.

“We talk to those guys a lot. They have very similar challenges to us,” Ching said.

Hawaii is proud of the amount of renewable energy it has now. But to fulfill its state mandate, it’s going to need a lot more, quickly.

That’s where batteries come in.

Why you need a big battery

Three kinds of carbon-neutral power produce 24 hours a day – nuclear, hydroelectric and geothermal. But all are politically difficult to expand, which means wind and solar are the go-tos to meet the nation’s energy goals .

As detractors frequently point out, the wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine. Grid-scale batteries help even things out. When there’s more energy coming from wind and solar than can be used, the batteries are charged up, then they discharge when the wind slows or the sun goes down.

These batteries store so much energy they can bridge the gap between when energy from solar goes off the grid at sunset and when everyone finally turns out the lights to go to bed.

But Hawaii is in a class by itself. It has so much solar it can’t always use all the energy those 200,000 or so homes with solar panels provide the grid. When that happens, grid operators have to shut off either utility scale wind or solar, called “curtailment,” to keep things even.

With the new Kapolei battery, the island of Oahu will be able to add 10% more solar power without having to worry it will overload the system.

Grid services help going renewable

The Kapolei Energy Storage facility doesn’t just store lots of energy, it also does some complicated and crucial things that help with the state’s goal of going 100% renewable – things more batteries on the mainland will be doing in the coming years.

Think of an electric grid as a teeter-totter. On one end you’ve got energy coming in, on the other energy going out. If the in and out aren’t perfectly balanced, the system becomes unstable and can collapse.

“When you flip on a light switch, a power plant somewhere is working a little harder,” Keefe said.

For the past 120 or so years, electric power grids have relied on fossil fuel plants whose operators constantly monitor the need for energy, powering up or down to keep the frequency of the system in balance. That first line of defense is called frequency regulation.

If frequency imbalances grow, the second line of defense is either speeding or slowing the already-spinning turbines in the plants – a process called inertia – to generate more electricity and fill the frequency imbalance.

The Kapolei Energy Storage facility can do both, providing what's known as "synthetic inertia."

“In 250 milliseconds, a little slower than a blink of an eye, we can race up and fill major gaps in the system,” Keefe said.

These kinds of batteries will allow Hawaii to eventually get rid of all its fossil fuel plants, Ching said.

Eventually, the one Achilles' heel to the state's green dreams will be the amount of aviation fuel required to bring the visitors who fuel its economy. Changing that will require advances in sustainable aviation fuel .

The last state will be first into a green future

For tourists, nothing will change. The air will remain balmy, the ocean refreshing, the resorts enticing.

Hawaii will be a case study for the rest of the nation, Mikulina said: “We can be a living laboratory for what’s possible for clean energy.”

Advertisement

Supported by

Environment | Opinion

Analysis and commentary on energy, climate and the environment..

I’m a Doctor. Dengue Fever Took Even Me by Surprise on Vacation.

Without urgent reforms to how we educate travelers, doctors, nurses and others, we are doomed to miss textbook dengue cases.

By Deborah Heaney

When I Became a Birder, Almost Everything Else Fell Into Place

To find the birds, you have to know them.

An Idyll on the Shores of a Toxic Lake

The town of Bombay Beach, Calif., offers its residents a tight-knit community in the midst of catastrophe.

By Jaime Lowe and Nicholas Albrecht

Let’s Call Our Present Moment on Earth What It Is: Obscene

I wish I could take a walk and not see the ugly carelessness.

By Dominique Browning

Scientists Just Gave Humanity an Overdue Reality Check. The World Will Be Better for It.

Geologists just rejected a label for our troubled times. Good.

By Stephen Lezak

When We See the Climate More Clearly, What Will We Do?

A new satellite will show us the full extent of methane emissions. Will we act?

By David Wallace-Wells

The Best Way to Find Out if We Can Cool the Planet

High-stakes geoengineering science requires transparency and accountability to the public.

By Jeremy Freeman

Switching the Clocks Twice a Year Isn’t Just Annoying. It’s Deadly.

Standard time leads to far more vehicles colliding with deer.

By Laura Prugh

John Kerry: ‘I Feel Deeply Frustrated’

The departing climate envoy on what the world has and hasn’t achieved.

The Fires Sweeping Across Texas Offer a Terrifying Warning

We’re entering clima incognita.

By John Vaillant