While listening to President Obama's speech last week, I noticed one of the items mentioned over and over was "clean energy.” I have heard that phrase many times before, and I have a general idea of what it is. But for those who aren't exactly sure what it means, here is some information to help shed some light on the subject.
Clean energy goes by a number of terms such as renewable energy, green energy, etc. In short, it is a process to produce energy that lessens the impact to the environment. Clean energy techniques pollute less, or not at all, and may use renewable resources. The common forms of clean energy come from water, wind, solar (from the sun) and sometimes from coal (called clean coal), which the President also mentioned last night. The reason for such a push towards clean energy is because believers hope that with its use, it may help to reduce global warming and greenhouse gas emission. This in turn would have a positive effect on the planet. This is a topic of great debate, but we won’t get into that right now.Although it does cost money to collect this energy, another benefit is that certain forms of clean energy are abundant and available to anyone. Unlike oil and gas, which is owned through mineral rights, resources such as sun and wind are relatively free to the masses. Many people who support clean energy feel that dependence on oil in foreign countries creates problems diplomatically, but once again, I'll leave that for you to decide.
What to expect in the future? According to President Obama, a comprehensive energy and climate bill will be drafted with incentives for clean energy. Sure to spark new debate, but hopefully this initiative will lead to promising new technologies in energy production.
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