Little Know Facts About Green Energy

People all over the world, especially people in the United States, are praising renewable green energy and petitioning the government to eliminate the use of fossil fuels. The reasons are many. They say it will be less expensive, better for the environment, and reduce or even eliminate their dependence on foreign oil.

But how much of this is based on fact and how much is just wishful thinking? Here are some things you may not have considered.

Just how "green" is green energy? Both solar and wind technology takes enormous masses of land to generate an adequate amount of energy. A single natural gas well produces approximately 20 times the amount of energy of a wind generator or solar panel using the same amount of space. That means you would need at least 20 windmills cluttering your land to get the same effect.

It is estimated that the Rocky Mountain area of the United States has more oil reserves that all the Opec nations combined, yet environmental groups protest drilling because of the supposed harmful effect it will have on the environment. But honestly, is an oil or gas well any less attractive that acre after acre of windmills?

We would need to cover half the USA with windmills and/or solar panels to power the other half. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but you get the point. A single residential wind generator or solar panel will reduce your electric bills somewhat, but don't expect it to power your whole house or significantly reduce carbon emissions.

In fact, studies have shown that renewable energy sources have little effect on pollution, due to the fact that the wind doesn't always blow and the sun often hides behind the clouds. Therefore, the power companies need to resort to fossil fuels to compensate for this reduction in power. The final result is there are little to no reductions in CO2.

Green energy is also unlikely to reduce our dependence on foreign imports. Since renewable energy sources are unreliable, we need a way to store this collected energy, meaning batteries. And who do you suppose dominates the market for the elements needed to make these batteries? China.

In fact, China controls nearly 95% of the global market. And since labor costs are so much cheaper in China, don't expect that to change any time soon. So pick your poison, Opec or China.

It boils down to this. Renewable green energy is not going to save the planet or even our little corner of it in our lifetime and most likely, even our children's lifetime. All we can do is our small part to reduce the effect.

Building your own wind generator or solar panel can be fun, give you a sense of accomplishment, and can slightly reduce your electric bills. It's not much, but it's a start.