Isaac Whatever

If you have the choice to buy normal, dirty energy at the standard rate, or clean, renewable energy at twice the cost, which would you choose?

The sad truth is the most people would choose dirty energy. It just isn't bad enough for most people to care. The average person's pollution from energy usage isn't all that much. It's only when you account for the entire population as a whole do you realize how much pollution we're creating. Even then, most people don't feel personally responsible - and what little guilt they do feel isn't enough to make them pay more for clean alternatives.

On the other hand, sunlight is a great source of energy and it pours freely onto our planet every single day. Almost all of our fuel sources come eventually from the sun. Wind power is really sun power, because the sun powers the forces that create the wind. So then, is wave power. Oil and coal come from organisms that were once dependant on the sun for energy - or ate other organisms who were.

We can already harness solar power, but it's prohibitively expensive, and people won't willingly pay for it. Soon, hopefully, this will no longer be the case.

This article by the Telegraph UK, highlights a new solar cell technology that will be cheaper than getting energy from fossil fuels.

So, very soon now, we will be faced with a new choice. Choose existing dirty energy sources, or switch to new clean energy that will cost less?

Once again, technology saves the day. I think.

Tree-hugging aside, solar energy appeals to me because it's the simple, logical choice. Burning fossil fuels while this free energy pours down upon our heads seems stupid.

Looking forward to the future.

Labels: economy, energy, environment, money, solar, solar energy, telegraph