Dear 21st century humans,
Now, we can actually call ourselves 21st century humans because of certain technological advances in sustainable development. And where better can this originate, than Germany, which is called the most sustainable country in the world by some?
On Sunday, 8th of May 2016, Germany produced so much sustainable energy that it had to actually pay people to use that electricity. It is a crazy, yet an extremely happy scenario to be in, in today’s world. Many of the advocates of non-renewable sources of energy were (and still are) of the opinion that renewable energy sources are unreliable. You cannot predict, nor expect a constant wind to drive your windfarm, and weather phenomena like rainfall or cloud cover can seriously affect solar energy output. This is true. But in Germany, superb conditions on all accounts led to surplus energy being produced.
This shows that with the right technology and diversity in renewable energy sources, we can actually make this a reliable and sustainable source of energy for all human activities. Let’s be realistic. It’s not possible for all forms of renewable energy to fail at the same time, is it? If there is no sunlight, chances are that there is heavy winds or rains, which will help you produce wind and hydro power. And if there is no wind, you could just as well switch to biofuel (which, there is definitely a lot of) or solar energy.
This flexibility, along with effective storage facilities for electricity will probably solve all energy crises that the world is facing at the moment. That is the only thing we need to work on. In Germany, the part where “they had to pay people to use electricity” was because they didn’t have the means to store the surplus energy. So they couldn’t take it off grid, and it led to a slightly bizarre situation from an economic point of view.
So, unlike what we previously thought, renewable sources of energy ARE sustainable, for our demand and economic needs.
Cheers,
A really happy 21st century human.
Eco-intelligent™ 