November 20th, 2020
First, the definition of green power is electricity generated from a subset of renewable sources. This includes solar energy, geothermal, wind, biogas, biomass, and low-impact hydroelectric resources. This term doesn’t include generating electricity from large hydropower plants and from municipal solid waste because, while they generate a lot of electricity, they can also be detrimental to the environment. For example, large-scale hydropower is typically seen in the form of a dam, which can have effects like decreased biodiversity, water quality, crop production, and fish populations. Although this generated electricity without using fossil fuels, it’s still defeating the whole purpose of using green power in order to be less impactful on the environment.
Looking at the benefits of switching to green power, the most obvious one is the environmental benefit. It reduces air pollution, water environmental impacts, and one’s carbon footprint. Reducing air pollution can prevent upwards of 700,000 premature deaths while reducing water environmental impacts means having more clean water for everyone to drink since water reserves won’t be used for fuel extraction or power plant cooling. Reducing one’s carbon footprint is also beneficial, specifically for companies. This is because consumers control how much they demand of the product. If a company’s targeted audience is interested in sustainability (this means their audience could be younger, more radical generation in democratic areas of the US), the company’s earnings could increase if they show that they’ve been actively switching to green power and reducing their carbon footprint.
Another benefit of switching to renewable energy is economical. Some sources say that switching to green power can actually generate at least $26 trillion in economic benefits through 2030, if the actions taken were bold. This means doing more of a 180⁰ switch rather than the gradual one, which could instead possibly prepare our economy more for when we fully switch to green energy (if that day will ever come). Switching can also generate more than 65 million new low-carbon jobs by 2030. Although jobs would also be lost, especially in the coal and mining industry, these new jobs that have been generated are also higher paying jobs. While this can put more strain on the US economy, less money will be used for techniques like cleaning the extracted crude oil. On top of that, if companies ensure that some of the electricity they use comes from green power, this helps mitigate any fuel supply disruptions they might experience. There have been numerous oil spills, like the one of 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, that can cause an increase in oil prices and a disruption in the supply chain. Transportation difficulties, accidents, or natural disasters aren’t always preventable so having an alternative like green power is beneficial to ensure that the company won’t be hindered by anything.
How beneficial the changes can actually be also depends upon how much will taken away from them by decreasing the use of fossil fuels. Attempting to use less petroleum and oil will decrease the amount of money the US, so knowing how much money the US will gain after taking away these losses is something I will explore in the upcoming SDA.