About Green Energy
Benefits and Constraints of Green Energy
Using green resources to generate electricity supports sustainability because it creates many environmental, social and economic benefits.
Environmentally, green energy generation results in low or no emissions of greenhouse gases, sulphur oxides and local air pollutants. The environmental "footprint" (area impacted) by green energy projects can vary, but overall impacts are less than those of conventional technologies. Because the sources are renewable, these projects do not deplete the Earth’s resources.
Some of these benefits – for example, lower environmental impacts and cleaner air – also result in social benefits, as they reflect key community values. Green projects can often comfortably co-exist with the community.
And economically, green energy projects can create employment opportunities and support the development of new industries (for example, suppliers of goods and services related to project development).
There are some constraints around the use of green energy, however. One of the biggest is that these resources are generally intermittent. For example, the wind doesn’t blow constantly, so power cannot always be generated when it is needed. Because these resources cannot be stored on a large scale, other conventional forms of supply (for example, large hydro and gas) are generally needed to meet peak customer demand.
While B.C. has a wealth of potential green resources, they are not always located near transmission lines or in accessible spots. For example, research shows there is a huge wind resource in mountainous terrain near the Alaska border. However, it currently isn’t feasible to develop this resource, as it is hard to access and is also a few hundred miles from our transmission system.
And while the environmental and aesthetic impacts of green projects may be lower than for conventional technologies, they often still exist. Ocean wave energy projects, for example, can extend over a large surface area, and will impact fish habitat.
Different forms of generation – including green generation – have their benefits and their limitations. Understanding this sets the stage for BC Hydro to work with ratepayers and other stakeholders in taking a comprehensive approach to planning and developing a sustainable resource mix.
