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How do we satisfy our need for energy and sustain the environment?
from environmentalists. There will have to be a shift in the future revenue it would generate, and it has already been considered by
towards renewable energy, and it is likely that this will come business people with private schemes having been put forward to
naturally as the market for it increases while other energy supplies Somerset councillors. Perhaps there has not been sufficient backing
become scarce. It is important that renewable energy is channelled from the government so far due to the lack of urgency in the
as efficiently as possible in order to minimise the impacts on the government to find alternative sources of power. They are currently
environment. This means using the best possible sites around the unwilling to make what would be a controversial decision to go
world and ensuring that the firms managing these sites are not ahead with these plans. This still appears to be the best option in
wasteful. This can be achieved by offering landowners on ideal sites order to meet the EU targets agreed in December 2008, which say
subsidies in order that they allow the building of energy generators that 20% of Britain’s energy should come from renewable sources
on their land. This is most likely to apply to wind turbines as farming by 2020. The potential damage that it could do to the ecosystems
is not inhibited by a wind farm being placed on the land, but it may must be counteracted by local government projects rather than by
also apply to solar panels in some parts of the world. It is important not going ahead with the project altogether.
that these turbines are managed by large firms and not by the
farmers themselves or by small local businesses. The reasoning is In order for energy needs to be satisfied by renewable resources in
that if small firms are buying up land in order to receive subsidies, the long term, they must be efficiently managed with global
they are likely to be inefficient and therefore cause more damage to co-operation to get the best out of the conditions the planet has to
the environment than is necessary. Large firms can afford to build offer. The potential consequences of projects on the environment
and maintain large fields of wind turbines so that they can produce should be carefully measured to ensure that they are all sustainable.
the maximum output of energy with the minimum impact on the While non-renewable sources still account for the vast majority of
planet. Solar energy has already shown the benefits of such energy used, taxes should be implemented to limit waste and
economies of scale, as the price of photovoltaic energy dropped pollution and efforts should be made to reduce energy use steadily
from US$100/W in 1971 to US$7/W in 1985. while still maintaining standards of living. It would seem that due to
the current economic climate, governments are reluctant to invest the
Plans for a 10-mile barrage over the Bristol Channel have been capital required for such projects. This means that they may have to
backed by the Welsh First Minister Rhodri Morgan and by the Welsh be postponed by a few years to protect balances of payments. On the
Secretary Peter Hain. Environmentalists, on the other hand, who one other hand, people would be needed to manage and build renewable
would expect to be in favour of using renewable energy, argue that systems. This means that governments could take it as a chance to
the barrage would destroy the ecosystem, which includes 80,000 cut unemployment, which should boost consumer spending and
waterfowl, and possibly stop the Severn Bore. The project would also therefore aggregate demand. As a result, a switch to renewable
cost £15 billion. This is a relatively small price to pay given the sources could even help to curb the recession. ■
2009 SCHOOLS ENERGY AWARDS
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