• Question: does renewable energy help

    Asked by jack to Aileen, Caroline, Christopher, Rehemat, Stephanie, Stephen on 7 Mar 2018.
    • Photo: Christopher Nankervis

      Christopher Nankervis answered on 7 Mar 2018:

      Renewable energy from the sun, wind or flowing water does not release greenhouse gas emissions and is said to be almost completely carbon-neutral. They contribute very little to climate change, apart from the energy it takes for example to construct and maintain the engineering projects and make the steel for the wind turbines.

    • Photo: Stephanie Mann

      Stephanie Mann answered on 8 Mar 2018:

      At the moment in the UK, dirty electricity (coal and gas) account for nearly half of electricity generation. These sources, (especially coal) have very high greenhouse gas emissions and are a big cause of climate change. Renewable energy helps because you can make electricity from the wind and sun, which don’t run out, without the greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, the last 4 years have been the only years EVER that the UK has produced more electricity than other years WITHOUT the carbon emissions going up. This is very good news and is mostly because of the impact wind turbines and solar panels are having!

    • Photo: Stephen Twomlow

      Stephen Twomlow answered on 8 Mar 2018:

      For certain – when we burn coal, petrol or oil it is gone for good. Renewable energy to capturing the energy directly from sunlight, or wind or the power of water – rivers and the tides at sea. Best use I have recently seen is using clear plastic bottles to provide lights in the slums of india and africa – many people live in windowless shacks with very poor lights – putting holes in the roof and placing a clear plastic bottle captures the sunlight and directs it inside – amazing so simple and makes use of plastic bottles that are a problems

    • Photo: Aileen Baird

      Aileen Baird answered on 9 Mar 2018:

      Yes, I think I don’t have much to add here. Renewable energies do not cause greenhouse emissions (or cause much fewer emissions than coal/gas) so they definitely do help!

    • Photo: Caroline Hickman

      Caroline Hickman answered on 12 Mar 2018:

      Absolutely, it is the only thing that will help us in the long term. But scientific and technological inventions alone are not enough, we also need to change our attitudes to the planet and its resources so we stop seeing it as something to just ‘use up’ and start seeing it as something that we need to preserve and take care of

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