Non-renewable energy has been the default energy supply throughout the ages, but it finally seems that the tide is turning against this energy source and that it has finally reached its sell by date, with renewable energy ready to step into the breach.
However, despite years of development and the readily available technologies needed to harness renewable energy, cautious test programs towards a renewable future aside, it seems big companies and major governments are unwilling to make a wholesale move away from non-renewable sources.
The aversion to make big steps toward renewable energy seems strange, especially when you consider all the energy, and money, that is wasted every year on non-renewable energy sources. The figures relating to energy wastage and non-renewable energy is stark - over half the energy produced for electricity through gas is lost as energy. This figure drops for coal and nuclear energy but remains as high as one third.
This equates to millions of pounds wasted every year. However, more money is put into finding oil and gas rich land than there is given to switching over to renewable energy. In an energy comparison in 2010, the International Energy Agency estimated that fossil fuels got a $409bn subsidy, compared to a $66bn subsidy for renewable energy sources. This trend continued in the UK, with fossil fuels getting five times the subsidy of wind power.
Non-renewable energy also costs the customer. Because non-renewable energy sources are non-renewable their value is rising as their supplies diminish, the cost of extracting them is also becoming more expensive, which is reflected in the energy prices on customers’ energy bills everywhere.
And it is not just the financial cost associated with non-renewable energy that are high, the cost to the environment is massive too. Oil and gas spills are part of weekly life on the rigs of the North Sea, which is accepted as normal practice but shouldn’t be. Meanwhile major accidents such as huge oil spills from tankers devastate the natural environment around them.
The UK government has made several statements clearly indicating that it believes renewable energy is the energy of the future but no concrete plans have yet been made to fully embrace renewable energy, which suggests that governments will follow where energy companies lead. However, the major energy companies seem to have some concerns over a switch.
Despite this, renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar and hydroelectric power, remain a safer, cleaner and cheaper alternative energy source than fossil fuels, although it seems it will take a lot more than this to stop energy companies from burying their heads, and their pumps, in the sand.
