Greenpeace report
The only way that we can stop the worst effects of climate change is by using less energy and by making sure that the energy that we do need comes from clean, renewable sources.
Renewable energy has the potential to meet our energy needs many times over. At present, we get less than one percent of our electricity from the wind, ocean and sun.
Wind energy is abundant and can provide the energy we need on a large scale right now.
Solar energy can make you an electricity producer and helps minimise climate change.
Wind power
Wind power is the only clean energy source that can deliver large amounts of power right now.
The UK is the windiest country in Europe. Offshore wind alone, could meet our electricity needs three times over.
Wind power can now produce electricity at a cheaper price than nuclear power in the UK. What’s more, the UK government predicts that onshore wind will be the cheapest form of electricity generation by 2020.
The UK government has set a modest target of getting 10 percent of our electricity from renewable sources by 2010. Only through a massive uptake in wind energy can this target be met. For now the government favours clean energy such as wind as the route to halting climate change, but refuses to rule out dirty nuclear power as an option. If wind power is allowed to fail, new nuclear power stations would be built in the UK.
Wind power is ready and able to meet this challenge, but has recently run into trouble with a small but vocal minority of protesters, claiming that the development will spoil the view that they are used to. It is true that a large wind farm can be a significant change, but while some people express concern about the effect wind turbines have on the beauty of our landscape, others see them as elegant and beautiful, or symbols of a better, less polluted future.
The visual effect of wind farms is a subjective issue, but most of the other criticisms made about wind energy today are exaggerated or untrue, and simply reflect attempts by particular groups to discredit the technology, worry local communities and turn them against renewable energy schemes. Anti-wind groups have been particularly effective at using local media, and have been able to create highly emotive and divisive reaction in local communities, where sensible discussion of the issues is forgotten.
If wind farms fail at the planning stage then this will have terrible consequences for the wind industry as a whole. Wind power, as the first large-scale renewable energy technology, will lead the way for other clean energy technologies.
Wave and tidal power
The ocean is a vast source of energy to be tapped for human use in the coming years. The pull of the moon and the energy of the wind create tides and waves that can provide clean, renewable energy.
The technologies are still in the experimental stages but (according to the World Energy Council) have the potential to provide twice the amount of electricity that the world uses now.
The UK has by far the highest potential in the EU for converting wave energy into electricity. The amount of energy in waves around the UK is more than the energy currently used to meet people’s demand for electricity.
Within the next 10 years, wave and tidal, along with a complementary range of clean energy technologies such as solar and wind, can provide us with the energy that we need in our daily lives without contributing to climate change.
Using £195,000 from the Juice fund (Npower donates £10 per customer per year) a wave buoy has just been installed off the North Coast of Cornwall, to collect vital information on wave height, reach and current direction. If the data is favourable, funding would be sought to build a wave hub. The wave hub is essentially a giant extension lead, that would allow at sea large scale testing of new wave power devices. The Wave Hub could be positioned about nine miles off the north Cornwall coast in two years time – kick starting the UK’s wave industry!
Solar Power
Solar generated power could provide 10,000 times more energy than the world currently uses. This is an unimaginably large amount of energy which completely dwarfs the capabilities of oil, coal, gas or nuclear power…and, once in place, it’s clean and free.
Despite our rainy climate, the UK has the potential to supply 2/3 of our electricity needs through solar electric panels alone.
Around the world the solar electricity market is booming. Much still needs to be done to turn the huge potential of solar energy into a reality, but at its current growth over the next 15 years we could see:
Up to a billion people in the developing world using solar power
Solar power could create over 2 million jobs
Solar power could reduce carbon emissions by 169 million tonnes – that’s equivalent to 76 coal-fired power stations. Solarising your home or business building is one way you can become your own electricity producer and help to protect our world from the devastating effects of climate change. Information on government grants for up to 50 percent of the cost of installing solar panels on your home or business building is available from the Energy Savings Trust.
Save energy
The only way to stop the worst effects of climate change is to clean up the energy that we produce as well as to save on the energy we use. With some simple measures, the UK could save 30 percent of its energy cost-effectively. The amount of carbon emissions saved would be equivalent to those emitted by five coal-fired power stations. And if saving the planet were not enough, UK consumers could save about £12 billion annually.
What you can do
Improve energy-efficiency in your own home. This is quite easy to do, and to help, there are many grants available to help you implement energy saving measures in your home.
Solar generated power could provide 10,000 times more energy than the world currently uses. This is an unimaginably large amount of energy which completely dwarfs the capabilities of oil, coal, gas or nuclear power…and, once in place, it’s clean and free.