Sustainability - the Real “Cost” of Green Energy

By now there is no denying the need to end our dependence on fossil fuels and other unsustainable energy sources. But is this as big a task as we’re lead to believe?

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Over and over again sustainable energy demands are met with the same criticisms - it’s too expensive, we can’t afford to make such a big change and, most importantly, how would we pay for it? Well, the answer is actually very straightforward. “Pretty easily”.

Fossil fuels are used in ever increasing amounts because of how profitable they are for oil barons and the like - this much is common knowledge. But why is that? It isn’t, as some might believe, because they are inherently cheaper than sustainable energies, but because they are already running. Huge coal, oil and gas stations have been around for decades; look at Thatcher’s North Sea oil investments or the recently converted Nanticoke Station’s opening in 1972. This means businesses only have to pay for the maintenance of stations instead of building whole new ones. However, maybe it’s time they started changing that - and not just because of our impending deaths at the hands of global warming.

Sustainable energy does require more upfront payments and it does mean paying for the retraining of existing fossil fuel workers, as outlined in AOC’s Green New Deal. But the actual long term costs of sustainable energy - the cost of maintaining the power sources - is much cheaper already and will only go down

The cost of maintaining the power sources - is much cheaper already and will only go down

as the new technology is refined (solar panels, for example, became 80% cheaper between 2008 and 2015) and the rarity of fossil fuels goes up. Even major businesses have begun to recognise the growing value of sustainable energy and shift investments from fossil fuels, as reported by Bloomberg.

So how do the two compare? Despite the leader of the “Free World”’s claims, sustainable energy is looking more and more like the way of the future financially as well as ecologically, with economic experts declaring it a growth industry, improved technology reducing up front costs at astounding rates and no more need to seek out the dwindling supplies of fuel meaning that we are entering a time where green is the way to go on all fronts. And we certainly shouldn’t miss out just because of old fashioned beliefs shilled by millionaires to keep billionaires’ profits rolling in.