Sustainable Energy Is Possible In Our Lifetime

In recent years, the push for sustainable energy has gotten stronger. More and more companies and private citizens are coming to find that not only is sustainable and renewable energy possible, it is absolutely affordable and easily implemented. In fact, Stanford University has just invested more into the advancement of solar energy than any other university combined!

The seven types of sustainable energy, according to the Department of Energy are as follows:

• Solar - capturing radiant energy from sunlight and converting it to heat, electricity, or hot water.
• Wind - capturing wind energy and converting it to electricity.
• Hydroelectric - Water flows through a dam's turbines and converts to electricity (also known as pump storage hydropower).
• Geothermal - heat that is captured from the core of the earth that can be converted to energy.
• Ocean - there are actually two types of energy derived from the ocean: thermal energy that relies on warm surface water to generate energy and mechanical energy which uses the natural ebbs and flows of the ocean to produce energy.
• Hydrogen - when hydrogen is separated from other elements, it can be used for fuel and electricity.
• BioMass - organic matter from recently living plants and/or organisms can be converted to energy (ie; firewood).

With so many options available it's unbelievable that we haven't already implemented them for everything. Iceland is leading the way right now with 90% of their energy being sustainable energy, along with Sweden, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, the UK, Germany, Uruguay, Denmark. Progress is slowly making its way in America as well, fortunately, as new hope is coming to previously decaying coal communities. This study points out that many coal communities are expected to become the leaders in producing sustainable energy instead of coal. This will bring very much needed jobs and opportunities to these presently declining communities. New jobs for lawyers like Douglas Healey who specialize in environmental law are becoming more and more prevalent as more big businesses are looking for answers on how to effectively and legally implement new green technology. More and more consumers are happily switching to green options and in my opinion, the world is more than ready. As more and more people realize that it really is possible to find viable, sustainable energy sources, the present as well as the future can be beautifully green!

What do you think about sustainable energy? How are you adding green options to your lifestyle?