The climate crisis is real. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) called its latest report a “Code Red for humanity”. The environmental benefits of green energy have been drummed into everyone. People generally understand that these solutions reduce our carbon footprint and that unlike fossil fuels, they will never run out. What is often not as clearly communicated is how using green energy benefits the people who use it.
- It Reduces Energy Bills
One of the biggest reasons for switching to green energy is the economic benefit. Although there is an initial setup cost that a green energy user must bear, these costs have been declining for a long time, and added to that, electricity costs have been rising at the Dave time that green energy costs have been declining.
For instance, the cost of switching to solar energy has been declining so dramatically that solar power is now a common feature in sunny states such as California. In such states, solar energy pays for itself within 2-3 years. Solar energy can act not just as an alternate power source but as the sole power source in a household or business. Once the initial costs have been met, you are getting free, and clean energy.
- Independence
We’ve all either experienced or heard about the massive power outages that have plagued the country. These outages have been due to extreme weather events and faults in the electricity grid. The Texas Power Crisis of 2021 is a perfect example of one such power outage. It left 4.5 million households without any electricity for several days. Not only that, but many of those people had opted to pay their bills according to market rates, and with demand shooting up, their bills shot up as well, with many families facing historically high bills alongside the immense inconvenience of not having any electricity. The crisis highlighted the importance of having at least a backup electricity system in the form of clean energy. Extreme weather events are here to stay and with growing demand for electricity, it’s also likely that faults will increase in number.
There are an array of options available. You can get solar panels, have kiln dried firewood delivered, use wind turbines or even geothermal turbines, or geothermal heat pumps. These solutions are great backups for households, reduce energy costs and have a very limited impact on the environment.
- Efficiency and Reliability
Green energy is to a great degree, location-dependent. You have to look for the best match of conditions and type of energy in order to enjoy the full effects of the efficiency and reliability of green energy. So, for instance, in sunny places, solar energy is ideal. In windy places, windy turbines are a wonderful solution. There’s no one-size fits all solution. When you have the right mix of conditions and energy type, green energy is efficient, reliable, and fast, and with batteries, you can store excess energy for periods when the conditions are less than ideal. Finding the balance is everything.