Renewable energy is the energy that human beings can derive from the Earth’s natural resources to generate clean and green electricity. These resources can be sunlight, ocean waves, tides, wind, tides, biomass, and geothermal energy beneath the Earth’s crust. All forms of renewable energy sources have an inexhaustible supply and can replenish themselves without causing any environmental damage. It implies that people who adopt renewable energy sources can get enough electricity to power their homes, businesses, cities, and automobiles. They then do not become dependent on fossil fuels like petroleum, natural gas, and coal which are depleting at an astonishing rate.
Paul Favret – How to overcome the challenges in implementing renewable energy sources?
Paul Favret is a prominent energy consultant from Denver, Colorado, and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Source Energy Partner LP. It is a leading independent energy company in America specializing in the exploration, extraction, and production of natural gas.
According to him, the technological advances in renewable energy sources have made them cheaper and more accessible to individuals and companies. It is a boom for these people and corporations who desperately want to reduce their carbon footprints. However, solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, and biomass power continue to only contribute to a fraction of their total energy needs. Many of them still have to rely on fossil fuels to make up for shortcomings in their energy consumption. They face certain challenges when implementing renewable energy sources and are taking the following steps to resolve them:
- Energy storage
Renewable energy sources are dependent on adequate sunlight, wind, tide, rain, and geothermal pressure. Frequent variations in these natural resources make renewable energy supplies less consistent and reliable than fossil fuels. Fortunately, corporations and individuals are now installing more batteries with higher longevity capacities in their electrical grids. The solution enables them to store the renewable energy supplies for later use.
- Capital costs
Renewable energy companies often have to build new hydroelectric facilities, geothermal solar, and wind farms inaccessible areas from scratch. However, installing the infrastructure’s initial upfront capital cost is often huge and beyond their budget. Fortunately, the local governments came to their rescue by providing the companies with financial backing in the form of subsidies and tax breaks.
- Land use
Companies specializing in the distribution of renewable energy to consumers need to own or lease large acres of agricultural land. Then, the corporations can build numerous solar-power farms or wind turbines in these areas. However, the owners of these lands are often reluctant to give up these places and re-locate somewhere else. Fortunately, the government is offering the owners financial incentives to transfer their lands to the companies.
According to Paul Favret, companies and individuals are now making the transition from burning fossil fuels to adopting renewable energy sources. It allows them to do their bit in minimizing carbon footprints to ensure future generations inherit a cleaner and greener Earth. However, in the course of making the transition towards decarbonization, they come across challenges of energy storage, infrastructure capital costs, and land use. Fortunately, they can overcome these issues by executing innovative battery solutions and proper financial backing.
