The debate on clean energy transition

The exacerbating climate change crisis has led to a serious debate on sources of energy production, and the advocacy of using clean energy is gaining momentum. To understand what clean energy is and how traditional energy sources (fossil fuels) harm the environment, we have to contextualize the present conditions.

There are four major sources of clean energy namely, nuclear energy, hydroelectric energy, solar energy and wind energy. In the past, various concerns have been raised on the usage of nuclear and hydroelectric energy due to excessive environmental costs, however solar and wind energy are widely accepted. Solar energy only requires sunlight to produce energy, while wind energy uses windmills and channelizes wind to produce energy. Presently, India’s energy needs are largely dependent on coal and this has significantly increased air pollution in our atmosphere.