The Energy to create our green future

Environmental Benefits

Renewable energy technologies are a lot friendlier to the environment than conventional energy technologies, which rely on fossil fuels. Fossil fuels contribute significantly to many of the environmental problems we face today – greenhouse gases, air pollution, and water and soil contamination – while renewable energy sources contribute very little or not at all.

Greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrocarbons, and chlorofluorocarbons – surround the Earth's atmosphere like a clear thermal blanket, allowing the sun's warming rays in and trapping the heat close to the Earth's surface. This natural greenhouse effect keeps the Earth's average surface temperature at about 60F (33C). But the increased use of fossil fuels has significantly increased greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide, creating an enhanced greenhouse effect known as global warming. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), carbon dioxide is responsible for one-half to two-thirds of our contribution to global warming. Renewable energy technologies, however, can produce heat and electricity with a very low or no amount of carbon dioxide emissions.

Energy use from fossil fuels is also a primary source of air, water, and soil pollution. Pollutants – such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, and lead – take a dramatic toll on our environment. On the other hand, most renewable energy technologies produce little or no pollution.

Both pollution and global warming pose major health risks to humans. According to the American Lung Association, air pollution contributes to lung disease – including asthma, lung cancer, and respiratory tract infections – and close to 335,000 people in the United States die from it every year. Meanwhile, the long-term effects associated with global warming may be even more devastating. Deaths due to extreme weather could increase, and diseases could have a greater potential to thrive as temperatures rise.

Ultimately, renewable energy technologies could help us break our conventional pattern of energy use to improve the quality of our environment.

Visit the EPA's Global Warming Web site for more information on greenhouse gas emissions and its Office of Air and Radiation Web site for more information on pollution.

Renewable Energy Group Limited

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