The last two weeks I have focused on the
key elements to a sustainable future:our ability to sustain our needs and our wild areas and the misconceptions of perceived
sustainable practices within them. The last requirement to attaining a smooth
transition to a green future, is maintaining our current quality of life. I
would like to discuss some of the developments that are playing a major role in
sustainability and whether they will truly embrace the concept. Here I focus on
renewable energies.
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| Rather than encouraging behavioural changes, renewable energies ensure that our current consumerism ideals are catered to in a more environmentally friendly manner. On closer inspection, one may question whether this true. |
Undoubtedly one of the biggest obstacles to a green future is our willingness to consume less, many believe that decreased consumption negatively affects quality of life. This needs to change if we are to achieve and sustain a good quality of life for 8.5 billion people but until such a time, green technologies have allowed us to remain on this path which we excuse because they have less health and environmental impacts than previous technology. But how sustainable are they? Lets consider the top traditional renewables; solar, wind and hydroelectric power.
