Solutions for more renewable energy development technologies will come from exploring the science behind weather systems by teaching the observational skills needed to make a forecast using but not necessarily instruments or computer models, the physical processes driving weather and the global forces that shape physics, chemistry and global climate systems. And finally, to be attached to examine the limits of prediction in both human observations and computer models.

Benefits of renewable energy are several. Perhaps most importantly, harnessing the power of renewable energy sources is crucial for our future. As they’re in much more plentiful supply, renewables produce little or no harmful emissions when used, so clean energy, so a role in preventing further global warming.

Also, as ambassador, shouldn't I seize the opportunity to clarify these concepts of ‘green energy’ and ‘clean energy’ generally attached to ‘renewable energy’. They are often used interchangeably, but surely, there is a key difference between them. It's admitted that clean energy produces electricity without emissions. However, its manufacture or maintenance can sometimes have a ‘carbon cost’. For example, natural environments have to be cleared to create hydroelectric plants with a dam, and the work to construct them often creates carbon emissions. On the other side, green energy comes from totally natural sources, which have low or no environmental impact in their creation or use. They can both be renewable, which essentially means that they come from a source that can’t be depleted.

Therefore, while most green energy sources are renewable, not all renewable energy sources are considered green.

In this report I’m suggesting that discussions on renewable energies increasingly consider the question of energy within environmental constraints. It will teach us how to ask the right questions and estimate the consequences of different choices. We will then be able to emphasizes costs, the cascade of capital and operating costs from energy extraction all the way through end uses. We can also emphasize quantitative comparisons and tradeoffs about how much more expensive is electricity from solar panels than from coal plants, and how much pollution it prevents. We will be able to dig deep in establishing if solar power is as cost-effective an environmental investment as nuclear power or energy efficiency and how do we include considerations other than cost.

Written by Richard Adayi.