A Nega-What?

Feb 8, 2017 9:00 AM ET
Campaign: Ecocentricity Blog

A Nega-What?

Most environmentalists care A LOT about energy. Not all of us, admittedly. Some might focus narrowly on biodiversity loss, clean water or land conservation, sparing few thoughts for energy. Which is just fine, since those causes are important too.

Energy, however, tends to be a particularly big deal. Generating the energy we need to power our lives has a significant environmental footprint. In addition to the carbon dioxide generated by burning fossil fuels, the extraction, transportation, and refining of them causes environmental harm. This fact is why most environmentalists, regardless of their particular priorities, tend to be strong advocates for renewable energy.

So what is the best type of renewable energy? We’ve got utility-scale photovoltaics, concentrated solar, rooftop solar, onshore wind, offshore wind, geothermal, biomass, biofuels, hydroelectricity, tidal power, hydrogen fuel cells, piezoelectricity and more. Each has benefits and drawbacks, so it’s a difficult (if not impossible) question to answer.

Read more.