Is Solar Energy Clean Energy?

The earth is getting warmer at an alarming pace. Scientists have been ringing the

alarm bell for quite some time, but we have only started paying attention recently

when across the globe we have seen the adverse effects of climate change.

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns.

These shifts may be natural, but since the 1800s, human activities have been the

main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels (like

coal, oil and gas), which produces heat-trapping gases.

In this mix, solar energy may just hold the key to solving our planet’s most critical

problem!

How? That’s because it’s one of the cleanest sources of energy out there.

Let’s take a deep dive into what clean energy actually is and whether solar energy

is actually clean.

What is Clean Energy?

Clean energy works by producing power without having negative environmental

impacts, such as the release of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. Clean

energy is energy gained from sources that do not release air pollutants, while

green energy is energy derived from natural sources. There is a subtle difference

between these two energy types even though they are often spoken of as being

the same.

Renewable energy, often referred to as clean energy, comes from natural sources

or processes that are constantly replenished. For example, sunlight and wind

keep shining and blowing, even if their availability depends on time and weather.

These renewable energy resources won’t run out, unlike fossil fuels and gas.

While renewable energy is often thought of as a new technology, harnessing

nature’s power has long been used for heating, transportation, lighting, and

more. Wind has powered boats to sail the seas and windmills to grind grain. The

sun has provided warmth during the day and helped kindle fires to last into the

evening. But over the past 500 years or so, humans increasingly turned to

cheaper, dirtier energy sources, such as coal and fracked gas.

Now that we have innovative and less-expensive ways to capture and retain wind

and solar energy, renewables are becoming a more important power source.

The perfect clean energy mix occurs where green energy meets renewable

energy, such as with solar energy and wind energy.

So we can easily say that solar energy is not only “clean”, it is also a form of

renewable and green energy.

Why is Clean Energy Important?

For many decades, fossil fuels such as coal, oil or gas have been major sources of

electricity production, but burning carbon fuels produces large amounts of

greenhouse gases which cause climate change and have harmful impacts on

people’s well-being and the environment. This affects everyone, not just a few.

Is Solar Energy a Clean Source of Energy?

Humans have been harnessing solar energy for thousands of years—to grow

crops, stay warm, and dry foods. Today, we use the sun’s rays in many ways—to

heat homes and businesses, to warm water, and to power devices.

Solar power is the key to a clean energy future. Every day, the sun gives off far

more energy than we need to power everything on earth. No greenhouse gas

emissions are released into the atmosphere when you use solar panels to create

electricity. And because the sun provides more energy than we’ll ever need,

electricity from solar power is a very important energy source in the move to

clean energy production.

Using solar energy can have a positive, indirect effect on the environment when

solar energy replaces or reduces the use of other energy sources that have larger

effects on the environment.

Moreover, the environmental impact of solar power is significantly smaller than

other power generation methods. The impact is mainly related to the production

and supply of the special materials and metals that are required to produce solar

panels.



That’s pretty much it! We hope that by now you will have a fairly reasonable

understanding of why solar power is not just a clean source of energy, but also

the best way forward in saving our planet from the harm we have brought upon

it!