“The future is green energy, sustainability, renewable energy.”– Arnold Schwarzenegger
There are two possibilities that can be predicted which is indicated by the availability of the resources. One is that the world will become a better place to live with the use of renewable energy, and on-the-other-hand, there is a possibility that the energy that we use from nature will become scarce, and the entire world will be fighting against each other for energy. The fact that we humans are consuming the energy, it is predicted that in the next fifty to sixty years the energy may not be available.
Realizing the bitter truth, there are major efforts to move towards renewable energy, which has led to the growth of the renewable energy market. Slowly, people around the world are inclining towards renewable energy.
Furthermore, this burning issue has already tapped manufacturers, and many companies have shifted towards renewable and clean energy. The companies that sensed the change have procured proactive measures for a better energy alternative. Among them, Mars, a leading chocolate manufacturer realized climate change was putting its business at risk. Growing regions have gotten hotter and drier, making it harder to grow ingredients like cocoa, peanuts, and coffee. So Mars decided to power their operations with 100% renewable energy and join the Ceres BICEP Network, a group of businesses that advocate for stronger climate and energy policies.
Further, a company saw an opportunity in regards to the emerging need for renewable energy and took the market by storm by introducing an electric vehicle. This was Tesla. Yet Tesla didn’t limit itself to introducing electric vehicles but also made sure that during the production of its dream car they would use renewable energy and establish Giga factories in different locations that make batteries and powertrains for its vehicles. In the future, Giga factories will house battery, powertrain, and vehicle production.
The actions taken by the companies are just small moves toward renewable energy, but there are countries who are moving towards forming a carbon-neutral nation. In layman’s terms, carbon-neutral indicates leaving no carbon footprint. Creating a benchmark for other countries, the first country to be known as carbon-negative is Bhutan. It is aiming for zero net greenhouse gas emissions, zero-waste by 2030, and 100 percent organic grown food by 2020. The Himalayan nation is currently 72 percent forested, and the constitution requires that no less than 60 percent of it remains forested. It has even banned the export of logging.
More than 170 countries have established national renewable energy targets, and more than 150 countries worldwide have formulated policies to catalyze clean energy investment. The top five countries that are racing towards the field of renewable energy are China, Denmark, Kenya, India, and Iceland. In the UN Climate Change Conference of 2016, held in Marrakech, Morocco, nearly 50 countries vulnerable to climate change have agreed to use only renewable energy by 2050.
Even though there have been many initiatives, it’s still not enough because most parts of the world are consuming non-renewable energy, and these initiatives will go in vain if the remaining part of the world doesn’t use renewable energy. It’s high time that the other half realize that shifting towards renewable energy is the only way to sustain.
As a human being living in the earth and using the resources available, we must also realize that it is not just the responsibility of the government and huge companies that should take responsibility towards renewable energy. Independently, each one of us must sense the need for renewable energy and move towards it for a better future, because that is the only way we can save our existence in the universe.