Powering the Sustainable Society

According to National Resources Canada’s Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE), the most common energy source for residential homes in 2008 was electricity. The information taken from Table 1: Secondary Energy Use and GHG Emissions by Energy Source did not clarify the method by which the electricity was generated; however, hydropower, coal, and nuclear are common ways in which electricity is produced in Canada, so these are the possible sources. I created a pie chart to portray the different types of energy sources and the relative amounts we use of each. The website stated 5 main end-uses for this energy: space heating, water heating, appliances, lighting, and space cooling. (Retrieved March 9, 2011 from http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/corporate/statistics/neud/dpa/tablestrends2/res_ca_1_e_4.cfm?attr=0)

If we look at this data with a critical eye, it suggests that humans require energy for a lot of things, and we have developed more than five ways to generate energy. We are not the only beings on the planet that have figured out how to create energy though. For instance, plants generate energy from sunlight and carbon dioxide. There is a major difference in the ways in which humans generate energy compared to plants. In general, plants do not give off by-products that are detrimental to their surrounding environment, nor do they use a source of energy that can be depleted source of energy. Also, plants have back-up systems in case their energy source is not available. If our power went out, do most of us have an alternative? Most humans though, generate energy in a way that has an effect environment. I’m being polite when I say “effect”, because it is really a negative impact. Coal and wood release particulate matter into the environment, nuclear produces radioactive tailings, and oil and natural gas release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

There is a debate about what we should use to replace these fairly dirty energy resources. Should it be solar? No, because the sun doesn’t always shine or it doesn’t shine strong enough in some areas. What about wind? No, the wind doesn’t always blow so that isn’t reliable. There is always geothermal. That can get quite expensive... Tidal power? Again, not dependable, it’s only useful sometimes.

I think these are all poor excuses. There is always a solution to a problem if you think critically and spend enough time on it. One thought that I always consider when listening to the debate about the next best supplier of energy is: “what about more than one option?” Who says that we can only use solar or only wind? The sun doesn’t just shine when the wind isn’t blowing; both sunlight and wind can occur at the same time. However, if it is too expensive to change to more than one of these technologies right away, then there is the option of using solar (or wind, etc.) and using current systems as a backup (i.e. nuclear or hydropower).

There is a First Nations community near Vitoria that recently became a solar community. I’d like to reiterate that this community is solar – on Vancouver Island. The community depends on solar power, and when that isn’t enough, they use hydropower from the provincial supplier. I was out there for a visit, and on the day I was there the solar panels were actually making power and selling it back to the grid. The community was making money off of their solar panels. Apparently this happens time and again so it wasn’t a coincidence. This proves that there can be myths about clean, green energy. The man who gave us the tour had one main message: despite of all the obstacles we think exist, this energy source was so easy to implement when considering all of the benefits of solar power. He didn’t understand why more people don’t do the same. I have to agree.