Clean energy provides a variety of environmental and economic benefits, including a reduction in air pollution. A diverse clean energy supply also reduces the dependence on imported fuels (and the associated financial and environmental costs this incurs).
Renewable clean energy also has inherent cost savings, as there is no need to extract and transport fuels, such as with oil or coal, as the resources replenish themselves naturally.
Other industrial benefits of a clean energy mix is the creation of jobs to develop, manufacture and install the clean energy resources of the future.
Humans have been using fossil fuels for over 150 years and, as their use increased, so did the release of the greenhouse gases that are produced when these fuels are burned. These greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere causing the temperature of the Earth to rise. This global warming is one symptom of climate change that has seen a rise in extreme weather events, shifting wildlife habitats and populations, rising sea levels and other impacts.
Because renewable energy sources don’t emit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, they do not contribute to global warming. These renewable sources mean that climate change is not being advanced, while measures such as reforestation can help to alleviate the damage already done to the climate, combining to reduce global warming.