Increasing Renewable Energy
It is impossible to consider humankind’s development without the benefits of energy to power our electricity and automobiles that make life more comfortable. The development of science and technology, along with the growing use of energy resources, has brought about industrialization, the development of education, computer science and improved health.
Thanks to developments in transportation, people and goods can travel long distances by air, sea or land in short time. However, the current energy system is based on concentrated resources and limited reserves. These reserves are only found in some regions, which brings about insecurity and stress.
The use of fossil fuels has damaged the environment, releasing pollutant gases and particles into the atmosphere. Air pollution is another problem arising from the use of fossil fuels, mainly in big cities.
However, despite all the debates about the exhaustion of fossil fuels reserves and their impact on the atmosphere, there is still not a general understanding about their harmful effects to the environment, and measures are not being taken to curb these. Some people consider this situation as a “global emergency.” The emission of green house gas has reached levels never seem before. Due to global warming, climate events, which are much more frequently nowadays, have devastating effects worldwide. Ice caps are melting and glaciers are receding, the sea level is increasing and territories are being buried under the ocean. It is estimated that 40 percent of the Ciénaga de Zapata area in Cuba, the largest swamp in the Caribbean, could be under the ocean in 60 years.
The government of Tuvalu, a group of islands located in the Pacific Ocean, has agreed with New Zealand to evacuate their population due to the danger posed by climatic change. Vanuatu, Kiribati and other coastal cities worldwide are in the same situation. Important ecosystems for the existence of humankind, such as tropical forests and coral reefs, are being destroyed due to the direct or indirect action of humans.
Three decades ago, Soviet physicist Kapitsa spoke about the danger of an energy crisis:
“The cause of this crisis is evident and we are aware of it. More than 90 percent of the energy resources now used are inflammable resources like coal, petroleum, natural gas, etc. They contain chemical energy, thanks to a biological process of millions of years. Speaking about the current use of reserves, the ones we have now will be used up in the near future. It is difficult to say when it is going to happen, but I am sure that this will happen in one or two centuries.”
Non-renewable energy sources have met most of the world energy needs and contributed to the development of only a part of the society during the last 150 years. The leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro said that “The irrational way these non-renewable resources have been used has been harmful to the environment and have created absurd and unsustainable consumption models.”
It is estimated that the global oil reserves will be completely used up in the next 40 years, natural gas in 60 and coal in 200 years. There are also limited uranium reserves, which is used in nuclear power plants.
Global climate change, as a result of a complex interaction between the solar rays, the atmosphere and oceans, is being affected by humankind’s gas emission that increases the natural greenhouse effect. As we are eager to control nature, we are destroying ourselves. By being pretentious, selfish and arrogant, human beings have played God with the climate.
However, even when the current situation is serious, we cannot give up hope. There is no time to rest or be pessimist in our drive to reach sustainable development. Teachers, economists, communicators, sociologists, politicians, scientists and common people must do their best to teach and make people aware of the situation by looking for solutions to either slow down or adapt to climatic change and its devastating effects. We must work hard to make people aware of the need of using energy rationally and promoting the use of renewable sources.
The last report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climatic Change (IPCC) states that average global temperatures have increased by 0.74 Celsius during the last 100 years. The IPCC also noted that the impacts of this drastic increase in the average temperature can be alleviated by balancing greenhouse gases emissions. Current available renewable energy technologies or those likely to be commercialized in the near future, must be vigorously pursued.
As CUBASOLAR President Luis Breéis says, “The sun shines everyday for the Africans, Europeans, Asians and Americans. The sun shines for men, women and children. The sun shines on the poor and is so generous that it also shines on the rich. The sun cannot be blocked, no one can destroy it.”
Taking advantage of solar energy is the only way to achieve sustainable development. The sun pours a yearly average of 5kWh of energy over every sing square meter of our country —a clean and renewable energy.
According to a report by the National Office of Statistics, during 2008 solar energy represented almost 20 percent of our production of primary energy, equal to more than a million tons of oil. In 2008, Cuba generated 680.4 GWh of solar energy, equivalent to 18 days of the entire country’s electrical consumption.
Along with solar energy, Cuba uses wind energy, hydroelectric energy, photovoltaic energy, and biogas that saves thousands of tons of fossil fuels each year.
Cuba’s Energy Revolution prioritizes renewable energy and energy consciousness.
We are all responsible to our descendants. Only with a deep conviction of solidarity will we be able to face the current challenges and save the world from an environmental catastrophe. We need to think globally and act locally with the certainty that a better world is possible.
• The autor is a specialist from CUBAENERGÍA and a member of CUBASOLAR.
