Is Renewable Energy Always Good?

People often talk about “renewable energy” as if by definition it must be good for the environment. Is this really the case?  Unfortunately it isn’t.  In many cases, renewable energy can have impacts that are disasterous to humans and other species.  This webpage explores this problem.

Where is Renewable Energy captured?

Energy can be captured wherever a source — such as sunlight, wind, or flowing water — is found in the environment. Small-scale projects, which generate only small amounts of power for local use, can be set up almost anywhere. Waterwheels and rooftop solar panels are good examples. But large-scale projects, which are designed to generate large amounts of power, depend on areas where energy is densly concentrated in the environment.

However, the places where energy is naturally concentrated are often favored by plants and animals, which make use of the energy and form rich and interesting ecological communities. Because dense concentrations of energy are uncommon, often these species and communities are rare or endangered. Large-scale power projects which are located in these areas usually have a significant impact on the environment.

What are some of the ecological impacts of large-scale power projects?

Are there alternatives?

The public discussion of energy issues often treats the current demand for power as a given. However, this shouldn’t necessarily be the case. When we think about energy use, there are a couple of ways we can think about reducing the overall demand.

First, we can think about reducing our use of industrial energy by adopting alternatives, like using carpools or buses instead of driving separately — or even better, walking or biking instead of driving. To be effective, these choices need to be made at a social rather than an individual level, to make sure that there are good bus systems and bike paths, for example. We can reduce the use of energy for air-conditioning by designing buildings to better integrate with the environment, and insulating them effectively, including using “green roofs” of living plants.

And secondly — and equally importantly — we can think about producing the electric power that we do need on a smaller scale. Instead of destroying habitats to build huge solar arrays, we could cover our roofs with solar panels, and produce the energy where it will be used. Small turbines can take advantage of the height of tall buildings in cities to harvest the wind to use locally, without impacting quiet rural areas.

Summary

It is impossible to extract energy from an ecosystem with having some effect. Large-scale energy projects mean large-scale impacts, which are often devastating. Just as producing oil can destroy habitats and kill otters and seabirds, large scale “renewable” projects can destroy environments and kill sensitive plants and animals.

Small-scale energy projects usually have much smaller impacts.  Sometimes it is even beneficial to have them draw energy out of the environment, as when rooftop solar panels capture some of the energy that might otherwise make a building uncomfortably hot.

There is no simple solution to the problem of finding good energy sources, but local needs and impacts should always be considered.