According to Alejandro Pena Keter, Sustainability is the key to the future. Everything we do as a society should be designed with sustainability in mind. We can do many things to improve our quality of life and reduce our impact on the planet for future generations. One of the most important ways we can make our lives more sustainable is by using renewable energy from wind and solar power. These sources cost less in many cases; they are available all day, and they don’t pollute nature or create greenhouse gases, so they help us create a better world for everyone. This is not just my own personal opinion either. According to the IEA, wind and solar are two of the technologies expected to have the largest impact on reducing pollution.
Alejandro Pena Keter says 80% of Americans say that they want to live in a zero-emission world according to a recent poll by Pew Research Center, but there remains a big disconnect between people’s views and their actions. Today there is enough wind and solar power on the planet that we could replace all fossil fuels with these technologies alone, but we are not developing them fast enough. Only 1% of electricity used in the United States comes from solar power, for instance, which is clearly too low.
Alejandro Pena Keter says Wind and solar are also incredibly scalable technologies, they can be produced on very large and small scales and be used in many different ways to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. Wind turbines can now reach unthinkable heights, for instance, so that they can tap into winds miles above the surface of the earth. Solar panels have become more efficient and less expensive as manufacturing costs have significantly decreased over the last few years. Wind alone has grown by an average of 20% every year for the past three decades, according to industry analysts, so it is safe to say these technologies are getting better at a surprisingly rapid rate.