Photo: Chuck “Caveman” Coker
Environmentalists tell us that we should make reducing carbon emissions our top priority, and then follow up with carbon offsetting in cases where they cannot be reduced. They also stress that offsetting should only be done via an approved plan that measures up to the CDN Gold Standard, is systematically enforced, and known to provide some definite improvement in the environment.
Photo: Bilfinger Berger Group
In general, our planet’s energy sources fall into these two general categories:
i) Fossil fuels are deposits such as peat, coal, oil, and gas, which exist in limited quantities under the Earth's surface. Today, they supply between 80 to 90 percent of the energy we use.
ii) Renewable energy is produced by solar power, wind, ocean waves, plants grown to supply energy (biomass), and other sources. Theoretically, the supply is endless, and presently, these sources provide between 10 and 20 percent of the energy we use.
As long as the sun continues to shine, we can make use of the heat and light it produces. With solar electric power, sunlight is converted to electricity in cells that work electronically. Solar thermal power absorbs the Sun’s heat to supply hot water, and it is also used to heat buildings that have large windows.
Photo: Jeremy Levine Design
In recent years, wind turbines have also begun to dot the landscape, particularly in Europe and the United States. They extract energy from a moving fluid (either gas or liquid) and convert it to some other type of energy. When a wind turbine is used, a blade resembling an airplane propeller rotates in the wind, turning on an electricity generator placed in the metal casing in back of it. At this time, several thousand of these turbines are needed to equal the power produced by one large, traditional power plant.
Depending on the location, the sun, water and wind are excellent sources of energy when compared to fossil fuels because they are renewable, efficient, and non-polluting. Along with reducing carbon dioxide emissions around the world, the provide flexibility that is sorely needed in our energy supply because they enable us to be less dependent on fossil fuels’ limited reserves.
Carbon offsetting may be useful as a temporary, a stop-gap measure, but we need to make use of these other sources to prevent global climate change. The environmentalists’ task is to use renewable energy sources in a way that is effective, economical and efficient. To accomplish this, their goal is to harness, store and use the energy they produce where and when it is needed.
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