How Green is Green Energy?

Non renewable energy sources such as fossil fuels are eventually going to run out. Then how is the world going to meet it’s power requirements? Using the renewable energy sources, of course. They are called green energy generators because they supposedly do not harm the earth and deplete the resources permanently.

At least that is what the scientists pushing green energy are trying to get you to belive. They give you all the good stuff and they hide some ugly truths, like the fact that generating most green energy uses practices which are definetely not green.

Take for example solar power, the ultimate renewable resource. One would think it was absolutely environmentally friendly. Unfortunately the process used to produce the solar cells that can store and utilize solar energy are far from green. They use many toxic chemicals in the manufacturing process of these cells.

The trick is going to be not just to use green energy but also to find the renewable energy source that does the least amount of harm to the environment. How do we find out which is the most environmentally friendly energy source?

That’s simple. It is the energy source which leaves the smallest carbon footprint. It would make an interesting science project to map out what the carbon footprint of different green energy sources is.