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No excuses for coal, oil
and gas: renewable energy sources are ready to take off.
"I'd put my money on the sun and solar
energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait
'til oil and coal run out before we tackle that." Thomas
Edison (1847-1931)
We can do without Carbon Dinosaurs. We can generate
electricity, manufacture goods, provide heating and fulfil our
transport needs from the power of the sun, from running water,
from the wind and tides and from plants and trees. All of these
sources of energy are referred to as renewable because they
will never run out - but the best advantage is that they do
not increase the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
The world is slowly waking up to these cost effective,
renewable energy sources. Scientists report that the potential
of renewable energies would allow stabilising or even lowering
global greenhouse gas emissions by 2010 - at no extra cost!
The use of wind power is expanding 30% each year.
Denmark already meets 20% of its electricity demand with wind
farms. Solar power is also rapidly expanding and recent technological
advances have led industry sources to predict that 2 billion
homes could be supplied by solar power in 20 years. The World
Energy Council has calculated that just one year of Europe's
fossil fuel and nuclear subsidies - around €15 billion
- could revolutionise the entire international solar renewable
energy industry, making it cost-competitive with traditional
sources of energy.
Where we cannot shift completely to renewable
energy sources, we can nevertheless go for readily available
clean and cost effective solutions. Compared to old and inefficient
Carbon Dinosaur coal-fired power plants, modern installations
with combined heat and power cycles can reduce greenhouse gas
emissions by up to 50%. Switching from coal to gas can increase
this figure even further.
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