Fossil fuels do not offer unlimited resources. Not only are we depleting our coal and oil reserves, but we’re also sacrificing the environment in the process. On the contrary, renewable energy offers a clean, green future…and there’s no shortage of it!

Some facts about these two types of energy:

Production & Longevity
Fossil Fuels are remains of plant decomposition that happened underwater millions of years ago. They take, literally, millions of years to produce and once they’re gone, they’re gone. If the earth continues its current rate of consumption, we’ll run out of resources in 100-200 years.

Renewable energy is created by harnessing and replenishing the earth’s abundant natural resources: The sun, wind, water, and organic waste like trees, manure and leftover crops, which can be turned into biogas. The sunlight that we get in the United States in a single day alone has more than twice the energy we use in an entire year!

Environmental Impact
Because fossil fuels are the natural result of plant decomposition, humans can’t produce more of them. And, fossil fuels have to be burned in order to turn them into electricity. This burning process releases toxic gas into the atmosphere and causes air pollution, health problems and climate change.

Smart renewable energy systems – like wind and solar farms or anaerobic digestion facilities – are able to constantly produce electricity and process heat, fuel and vital chemicals, all with much less impact on the environment. Clean power plants don’t release air pollution and they don’t use up dwindling fossil fuels.

Economic Impact
Fossil fuel reserves have only been discovered in certain parts of the world and the U.S. often pays a hefty price to import the foreign oil – we’re talking in the realm of billions of dollars. The drilling for, and production and transportation of, this oil is costly and not sustainable.

The creation and development of renewable energy can be done here in the U.S., which means major job opportunity for Americans and less dependence on foreign countries. Money is kept at home. And, because renewable energy is exactly that – renewable – it makes for a sustainable economy.

Sources:
conserve-energy-future.com
energyquest.ca