Episode 997
Sustainable energy
Sat, 2020-Jan-25 00:53 UTC
Length - 3:11
Direct Link
Welcome to popular Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of a popular Wikipedia page every day.
With 642,150 views on Friday, 24 January 2020 our article of the day is Sustainable energy.
Sustainable energy is the practice of using energy in a way that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."Meeting the world's needs for energy in a sustainable way is widely considered to be one of the greatest challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. Worldwide, nearly a billion people lack access to electricity, and around 3 billion people rely on smoky fuels such as wood, charcoal or animal dung in order to cook. These and fossil fuels are a major contributor to air pollution, which causes an estimated 7 million deaths per year. Production and consumption of energy emits over 70% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.
Proposed pathways for limiting global warming to 1.5 °C describe rapid implementation of low-emission methods of producing electricity and a shift towards more use of electricity in sectors such as transport. The pathways also include measures to reduce energy consumption; and use of carbon-neutral fuels, such as hydrogen produced by renewable electricity or with carbon capture and storage. Achieving these goals will require government policies including carbon pricing, energy-specific policies, and phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies.
When referring to methods of producing energy, the term "sustainable energy" is often used interchangeably with the term "renewable energy". In general, renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric energy are widely considered to be sustainable. However, particular renewable energy projects, such as the clearing of forests for production of biofuels, can lead to similar or even worse environmental damage when compared to using fossil fuel energy. There is considerable controversy over whether nuclear energy can be considered sustainable. Moderate amounts of wind and solar energy, which are intermittent energy sources, can be integrated into the electrical grid without additional infrastructure such as grid energy storage. These sources generated 7.5% of worldwide electricity in 2018, a share that has grown rapidly. As of 2019, costs of wind, solar, and batteries are projected to continue falling.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:53 UTC on Saturday, 25 January 2020.
For the full current version of the article, see Sustainable energy on Wikipedia.
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