There’s little question about it – wind, photo voltaic, and grid-scale battery storage are essential to decarbonizing international vitality techniques. With NYC Local weather Week in full swing, we need to spotlight the extra advantages clear energy brings to our native environments.
Greenhouse Gasoline Emissions
With simply the utility-scale photo voltaic, wind, and vitality storage techniques working within the US at present, we’ve achieved huge environmental advantages by decreasing carbon emissions. At a excessive degree, wind and solar energy initiatives already on the grid keep away from 426 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per 12 months – that’s equal to the full emissions 50 billion gallons of gasoline would produce. That’s additionally the equal of the quantity of carbon sequestered by planting 20 billion timber. These emissions financial savings can forestall over $22 billion in future climate-related damages every year – and that quantity is simply rising.
Air High quality
Regionally, we are able to see the direct well being advantages renewable vitality has on our air high quality. Present initiatives keep away from 289,000 metric tons of sulfur dioxide and 330,000 metric tons of nitrogen oxides yearly. Eradicating these dangerous pollution from our ecosystems reduces smog and charges of bronchial asthma and different respiratory points, producing well being advantages which are valued between $20 and $51 billion.
Water Preservation
Because the world turns into extra vulnerable to drought and excessive climate, clear vitality stays sustainable by not utilizing valuable water sources for cooling like standard energy vegetation. Wind and photo voltaic initiatives save an estimated 211 billion gallons of water every year throughout the nation, sufficient to fill 319,000 Olympic-sized swimming swimming pools. Initiatives throughout the nation are designed to avoid wasting water in different methods as effectively – photo voltaic farms with regionally acceptable vegetation beneath assist retain stormwater, wind generators disturb so little floor that they barely impression hydrological situations. In each means, clear vitality is producing extra whereas utilizing much less.
Scaling the Advantages
The most effective half about these numbers? They’re already outdated. Because of federal clear vitality incentives, clear vitality is offering much more of those advantages at a sooner tempo than we’ve ever seen. In simply the previous 12 months, we’ve seen $271 billion in funding in clear vitality initiatives, together with 83 new or expanded clear vitality manufacturing services and 184,850 MW of latest initiatives. Every new clear vitality undertaking is a step ahead in making our air, water, and communities more healthy and extra resilient.
The US and the world nonetheless have a protracted strategy to go, in each decarbonizing vitality manufacturing and defending international ecosystems, however progress is clearly underway.
