Renewable energy also harms the environment
Did you know that renewable energy also affects the environment? Find out the pollution these leave to the planet
Most people know the environmental damage that the energy produced by fossil fuels is leaving, that is why environmental organizations cry out to produce more energy with cleaner resources, but did you know that these can also generate a negative impact in the ecosystem?
Leer en español: La energía renovable también daña el medio ambiente
According to a study conducted by the MSc. Denny Cabrera Acosta and José Antonio Gutiérrez, members of the Enrique José Varona University of Pedagogical Sciences of Havana, Cuba, conclude that renewable sources of energy help to improve the quality of life, but also create "minimal" environmental damage.
The research states that Geothermal energy, which is developed by harnessing the Earth's internal heat, "can be harmful if heavy metals and greenhouse gases are dragged to the surface". Meanwhile, the Wind, energy that is produced from special mills that take advantage of the wind, "causes a negative visual impact on the landscape, low frequency noise, trap for birds" and garbage generated each time a device suffer damages.
In terms of Hydraulics, a source of energy very common in the world that is produced by water accumulated in high-altitude reservoirs, has been the focus of constant criticism by the inhabitants who are on the banks of the rivers used for the generation of water energy. The footprint that has left in countries like Colombia has been great. Example of it is the flood that occurs in winter time in populations such as Honda (Tolima), La Dorada (Caldas), Purification (Tolima), among others. This is the result of the floodgates of reservoirs such as Hydroprado and Betania must be opened before the maximum occupation, increasing suddenly the flow of the tributaries.
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For Cuban professionals, large dams "cause loss of biodiversity, generating methane due to non-retired plant material, causing pandemics such as yellow fever, dengue, schistosomiasis (particularly in warm climates), flooding with cultural or landscape heritage, generating the movement of complete populations and increase the salinity of the fluvial channels ".
Some of the least aggressive for the environment, according to scholars, are solar and tidal energy; the first, due to the "debate generated by photovoltaic electricity, since it uses a large amount of energy to produce photovoltaic panels and takes a long time to pay for itself". Not to mention the garbage they generate when they become obsolete. As for the use of the waves, "it has been discontinued due to its high costs and the environmental impact they entail".
Finally, biomass energy, which is generated by the use of organic compounds through natural processes, produces pollution "during combustion by emission of Carbon Dioxide but that is reabsorbed by the growth of cultivated plants and needs arable land for its development, decreasing fertile land for human consumption and livestock, increasing monoculture".
Humanity is at a crossroads to avoid the extinction of its species, although the truth is that if it begins to be more sensible in the use of renewable energy, avoiding megaconstructions and flooding thousands of hectares artificially as in the case of reservoirs, the road could be straightened out and more natural catastrophes avoided.
LatinAmerican Post | Jorge Hernández
Translated from “La energía renovable también daña el medio ambiente”
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