How Energy Needs Drive World Economies

0
0
0
0
Total0

Many of us don’t have full control over the types of energy we use in our daily lives, yet the cost of energy that is delivered to most consumers also has an effect on the economy of countries in which we live. For millennia, fossil fuels and other non-renewable energy sources have heated buildings and with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, powered machines and performed other functions.

Oil is the fossil fuel that, traditionally, has had the biggest effect on economies, which holds true even more so in the modern era. As these prices rise, so does the cost of transportation. Airfares rise because jet fuel costs more. So does fuel for your vehicle. This fossil fuel is also present in plastics and synthetic clothing, so when the price of oil goes up, so does the price of many goods and services such as air travel.

Higher prices in these areas usually mean that people can’t afford as much, meaning they will do less and buy fewer items, thus lessening the flow of money in a country’s economy and affecting the overall cost of living.

Renewable energy presents a different story. Expansion of these technologies has a positive effect on the economy in a number of areas. U.S. Government stimulus programs to help create clean energy such as solar and wind power during the recent recession helped the economy by creating jobs. The creation of jobs, in turn, has a positive effect on the spending of money created by those jobs as people have more disposable income.

This effect goes further. Renewable energy, such as solar, has created an entirely different opportunity for consumers. One prime example is that in many areas, homeowners that have purchased solar arrays can sell excess energy to their local electricity company. Such provisions not only lower a household’s cost of living but also benefit the local environment as a whole. The Center for American Progress also notes that renewable energy sources, which also include wind and biomass, can also dramatically decrease the cost of energy as well as increase energy efficiency.

SOURCES: