How Can Energy Consumption Affect The Environment

Use of energy greatly modifies the state of the environment and the effects can be of a local regional and global nature.

How can energy consumption affect the environment.

Learn more about how to reduce your impact. Although your own energy saving. Solar energy systems power plants do not produce air pollution water pollution or greenhouse gases. The primary environmental effect of energy overuse is an increase in your carbon footprint but there are simple changes you can make at home to avoid this.

For example coal is a much more environmentally problematic source of energy than solar power which has minimal environmental effects. An examination of our energy consumption by broad sectors reveals the following approximate breakdown. Almost all the energy consumed 90 comes from fossil fuels with the remainder from nuclear and renewables including wind and hydro. More broadly several solutions can help reduce the negative environmental impacts associated with generating electricity including.

You can reduce the environmental effects of your electricity use by buying green power and by becoming more energy efficient. 27 transportation 30 industrial 22 commercial 21 residential. Consume less conserve more. Using solar energy can have a positive indirect effect on the environment when solar energy replaces or reduces the use of other energy sources that have larger effects on the environment.

Reducing electricity use in your home or going off the power grid with solar energy can benefit the environment conserve resources and save lives. All energy sources have some impact on our environment. Each year these energy plants discharge billions of tons of poisonous waste often containing arsenic mercury and lead. In this perspective that is valid on a planetary scale no less than on a national and regional scale right up to each.

All forms of electricity generation have an environmental impact on our air water and land but it varies. However renewable sources such as wind solar geothermal biomass and. Of the total energy consumed in the united states about 40 is used to generate electricity making electricity use an important part of each person s environmental footprint. Reducing your energy use can lower the amount of electricity your utility needs to produce which you can effectively reduce your personal greenhouse gas emissions and your carbon footprint with energy efficiency measures.

Fossil fuels coal oil and natural gas do substantially more harm than renewable energy sources by most measures including air and water pollution damage to public health wildlife and habitat loss water use land use and global warming emissions. How does energy use impact the environment. Power companies use a variety of processes to create electricity and not all processes affect the environment in the same way.