You might think that with our technology today, having a complete 100% renewable energy powered society is within our reach. Well, that’s technically true, aside from this one big thing that’s holding us back. No, it’s not even political and it’s not even due to lack of advancements in the field. What’s holding us back is the sheer lack of will to transition over.
If this is the case, you might be wondering why we said this. First of all, a wheel cannot move if no one’s pushing it. This is the same with renewable energy. A lot of us would think that the use of renewables would benefit us all but some beg to differ. They either think it’s unnecessary or is too inconvenient to even delve into. They do not want to give up their comfort in order to pay extra for cleaner power. While you may say that people are gearing towards renewables in the future, the negativity of the masses makes it a hard goal to reach.
Source: Observer
In America, only 40% of their population think that Global Warming is something to be scared about. Globally, this number only reaches 58% based on poll results done last year. A good thing to note though, is that even though there are people who disregard the dangers of global warming, 78% of people still think that greenhouse gases should be limited. That said, even with the huge number of people supporting greenhouse gas limitations, a lot of indications prove otherwise. Around 3 in 4 Americans drive alone and only 1% of that car population is electric or hybrids. An astounding majority of the vehicles used in the US still contribute to the growing amount of emissions their country is suffering from.
Source: Union of Concerned Scientists
The reason why we can’t move forward is that we’re holding ourselves back, and if that isn’t the case, it’s mostly due to high pricing. The reason why solar and wind power is rapidly growing is due to the fact that it’s running on other people’s money. This makes it more expensive than it really is as renewable energy isn’t even made of gold. Other factors that affect this is made apparent by the Paris Agreement, where their aim to decrease CO2 emissions, reduce global warming, and the elimination of fossil fuel usage. That said, the pledge only proves one thing, we wouldn’t be getting 100% renewables not until 2050. This of course is only based on the limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius which follows the pattern of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report in 1990. Although CO2 emissions have recently flattened based on estimated values, greenhouses gases are not decreasing but is actually increasing in a growing rate.
Source: Scientific American
These numbers only prove that there may have been miscalculations in the use of fossil fuels all throughout the world and with that information, there’s no guarantee that CO2 emissions have decreased globally. Seeing these reports and looking at how people react to the changes our world is going through, it’s discomforting to see that the goals for 100% renewable energy is still far from reach. Unless something changes in our society today that will make people realize the gravity of the situation, there’s nothing much that could change the sluggish pace that we’re taking towards eliminating fossil fuel use and the reduction of greenhouse gases that affect global warming. The only way that our civilization can move forward is that if everyone strives together and pushes the wheel.
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