Renewable Energy: report paints hopeful picture for EU if properly planned

In the U.S., the Thanksgiving holiday is just a few days away. It's a time when we reflect on what we have, despite all the bad news that is swirling around us, and give thanks. It can be an optimistic day as we consider how far we have come as a nation and a people, and we consider a future filled with many more Thanksgivings by resolving to tackle the challenges we face.

That's a recipe for the whole world to follow as we consider our natural resources and the environment, and the threats that beset them.

So, from across the pond, coming from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in the UK is a report that caught my eye. "Meeting Europe's Renewable Energy Targets in Harmony with Nature" examines the importance of expanding the European Union's renewable energy capabilities and how it can be done without sacrificing nature at the same time. It's a report whose goals and objectives could be applied worldwide.

With renewable energy sources providing EU countries with an average 20% of their energy by the end of the decade as a declared EU goal, the report focuses on the importance of energy sources that have a low impact on nature, such as solar panels, rooftop solar thermal systems and electric vehicles. The report categorizes wind and wave power as medium-risk, while biofuels are placed in a high-risk category.

Martin Harper, RSPB conservation director, said the report was "a call to arms for nature conservation. Climate change is a grave threat to wildlife, and we need ambitious renewable energy targets in order to tackle it. Our study shows that it is possible to meet these targets without putting nature at risk--but there are consequences for nature if we get it wrong."

That, of course, is the trick: avoiding rushing into implementing a particular energy technology without proper planning to consider both short-term and long-term implications. The report reviews many of the issues regarding biofuels, which is an energy source that many feel is a disaster due to the amount of habitat destruction that goes into producing one gallon of fuel. However, the report also brings up the need to, in essence, look into a crystal ball to try to anticipate future issues regarding energy sources. An example from years past would be hydroelectric dams which produced plenty of power but over time severely damaged many rivers, estuaries, and the ecosystems they supported.

Overall, the report lays out a predominantly positive future if we can energize ourselves in committing to renewable energy and if we carry it out carefully and judiciously. "With so much exciting and innovative technology out there from solar arrays and geothermal extraction to electric cars and wave power systems, there is clearly a healthy future for renewable energy and wildlife in the UK and Europe," Harper said.

To download the report, click here.
Learn more from the RSPB website.

Alternative Energy: after the Gulf of Mexico, what next?

With the world watching events unfold in the Gulf of Mexico regarding the British Petroleum oil spill - from threatened wildlife, shattered shoreline economies and fisheries to a flotilla of agencies involved in confining, dispersing or arresting the oil leak - we are reminded in a very upfront and real way the price both society and the earth pays for our dependence on fossil fuels.

These are the occasional slaps to face that remind us of the risks. Unfortunately, the CO2 emissions and other pollutants that this energy source unleashes on the planet are much more subversive and subtle, at least to most of us. We live with the belching exhaust, the brown haze, and the more and more frequent fluctuations in temperature and weather until the accumulation reaches a critical point wherein the effects are definitely quantifiable but the consequences may be long-lasting even with our best remedial efforts.

Singular profound events have a way of grabbing our attention. And not all policy makers or business leaders have a deaf ear to the problems we face.

My friend and fellow diver, Patti Balian, sent me a link to a video on CNN where a discussion panel is talking about the critical need for alternative energy sources (click on the image below). Included on the panel is the president of the Maldives, an island nation that is literally faced with extinction because of rising sea levels (the islands are less than two meters about sea level); the CEO of Puma; and a representative of The Climate Group from China. Also included in the group is an appearance by Avatar director James Cameron. It's an interesting brief discussion that focuses attention on the future needs for alternative and/or renewable energy.


As the video reminds us, while our attention and emotions are fixed on the Gulf of Mexico, our minds and our actions must be fixed on the future. In the Gulf of Mexico, eventually the oil spill will stop, the shorelines and the local economies will recover - although it will take decades - and the lawsuits and liabilities will all be resolved.

But what next? Will we learn anything from this or slip back into the status quo, only to await the next re-run? I hope not.