How many of these did you know?
There are plenty of misconceptions and misinformation about renewable energy out there. The truth about renewables might surprise a lot of people, so we have put together five interesting facts. Grab a cup of coffee and test your knowledge around this rising clean energy technology.
Fossil fuels don’t create more jobs than renewables
This is a familiar trope rolled out by renewable energy opponents but the truth is that renewables actually create more jobs than the fossil fuel industry – five times as many jobs, if we’re getting specific.
When you match up oil and coal compared to clean energy projects, then renewables jobs outnumber those industries 5 to 1. In Australia, Ernst & Young (EY) research has shown that renewable energy and climate-friendly projects could create more than 100,000 direct jobs and lead Australia out of the COVID-19 doldrums.
Solar energy is almost 200 years old
The common thought is that solar panels are only about 40 years old because they only started popping up on household rooftops in the 1980s. The truth is, the technology is much older than that.
It was first discovered by French physicist Alexandre Edmond Becquerel in 1839. He was credited with the discovery of the photovoltaic effect that remains the platform for solar cells and systems to this very day.
It took until 1941 for the first successful cell to be developed but these were used to power NASA satellite, Vanguard, in the 1950s.
China and India are adopting renewable energy at a record pace
Another common complaint about renewable energy is that China and India are two of the world’s largest emitters of carbon. While it is true that China (10.06GT) and India (2.65GT) are two of the largest contributing factors, they are also two countries taking the most action to offset and improve that.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has reported that China is building two wind turbines every hour (double the US) and China is also home to three of the top five largest solar farms in the world. China is also home to the world’s largest hydroelectric facility at Three Gorges Dam and around 70 per cent of all panels are made in China.
There are many large-scale projects in India as well, with 38 per cent of their installed electricity generation capacity coming from renewable sources.
Portugal is preparing to run on 100 per cent renewable energy
There are many countries well on track to become free of fossil fuel reliance and Portugal is one of them. In 2018, the country’s average renewable energy was 103 per cent of its total consumption.
Australia is set to export renewable energy to Singapore
A solar farm in the Northern Territory is set to become the biggest in the world and it will export renewable energy to the Island Nation of Singapore. While Singapore is at the cutting edge of technology, they do not have the land to create solar farms of their own. The power will be transmitted via an underwater cable.
