What is clean energy? And why does it matter?

In North Carolina, clean energy investments are crucial, as the state faces all of the most dire consequences of climate change: flooding, drought, extreme heat, and more. 

When inventor Charles Brush created the first known automated wind turbine in the United States in 1888 to provide electricity for his Ohio mansion, it became the first home to be powered by electricity in the city of Cleveland.

Brush’s turbine — which used a giant, fan-shaped wheel with 144 blades made of cedar wood attached atop a tower that stood nearly 60 feet tall — was the result of centuries of similar inventions that used wind energy to power things all around the world. The first windmill was recorded in what is now modern-day Iran, for example, and had a vertical axis, and the first windmill with a horizontal axis popped up in Western Europe around the year 1300. 

Nearly 140 years after Brush’s success, the harnessing of wind energy — and clean energy as a whole — has become crucial to addressing one of the nation’s leading challenges: climate change. 

But what exactly is clean energy? Here’s everything you need to know. 

What is clean energy?

Clean energy, also known as renewable energy, is energy derived from natural sources — like sunlight or the energy created by wind — or processes that are constantly replenished. 

Harnessing nature’s power isn’t a new idea, but over the last 500 years or so, humans have turned to fossil fuels — cheaper and dirtier energy sources, such as coal, oil, and natural gas — which pollute the environment and are the major driver of climate change.

Fossil fuels account for over 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90% of all carbon dioxide emissions, according to the United Nations (UN) Climate Action. These emissions blanket the Earth and trap the sun’s heat, which leads to global warming and climate change, spurring up natural disasters across the globe.

According to the UN, the Earth is “warming faster than at any point in recorded history.” This has led to “warmer temperatures over time” that “are changing weather patterns and disrupting the usual balance of nature.”

In North Carolina, clean energy investments are crucial, as the state faces all of the most dire consequences of climate change: flooding, drought, extreme heat, and more. 

Types of clean energy

There are several different types of clean energy. 

Solar energy is energy derived from the sun. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, “more energy from the sun falls on the Earth in one hour than is used by everyone in the world in one year.” That’s why solar energy is used today to heat buildings, power devices, and warm sources of water. 

Solar energy is harnessed by creating photovoltaic (PV) cells typically made from silicon. These cells are grouped together to create solar panels that transform sunlight directly into electricity that powers homes, businesses, and even entire communities.

North Carolina currently ranks fourth for total installed solar capacity among the 50 states. As of September, nearly 10% of the state’s electricity is produced by solar power. 

Wind energy, on the other hand, is used to power turbines. The wind turns a turbine’s blades, which feeds an electric generator and then produces electricity. 

According to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Government, North Carolina has the second-highest offshore wind energy potential in the United States. This is because the state is well-positioned to participate in the industry: there’s a long coastline, steady ocean winds, and shallow water, which makes it ideal for offshore wind development — the capture and transformation of the energy created by winds out at sea into electricity. 

Besides solar and wind energy, there’s hydroelectric power, biomass energy, and geothermal energy. 

Hydropower relies on fast-moving water, like the kind found in a large river, to spin a generator’s turbine blades and generate energy that is then converted into electricity.

Biomass is organic material that comes from animals and plants —- think crops and trees. When that material is burned in a boiler, it produces high-pressure steam that is then harnessed to spin turbines, which then produce electricity via a generator.

Although data has shown that many forms of biomass produce higher carbon emissions than fossil fuels and have negative consequences for biodiversity, some forms of biomass energy serve as a low-carbon option under the right circumstances. For example, sawdust from sawmills can be burned and used to create electricity, whereas it would otherwise usually decompose quickly and release carbon into the air.  

Geothermal energy is harnessed by drilling deep wells that bring extremely hot underground water to the surface. That water is then pumped through a turbine to create electricity.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, geothermal plants typically have low emissions if they pump the water and steam they use back into the water source, although there are concerns that doing so may increase the risk of earthquakes in certain areas.

Why clean energy is vital in the fight against climate change

It’s no secret that climate change is also a growing public health issue. Hurricane Helene pounded North Carolina in September, killing over a hundred people.

Events such as Helene are in line with what the North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies found in its Climate Science Report. Climate scientists deduced that by the end of this century, there’ll be large changes to North Carolina’s climate, which will contribute to natural disasters. Some of these changes include higher sea levels, increased frequency of severe thunderstorms, and stronger hurricanes.  

Transitioning to renewable energy sources, which release significantly less greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, is viewed as essential to mitigating the worst harms of climate change. Releasing less greenhouse gas will help prevent natural disasters that kill Americans, and releasing less carbon dioxide will help prevent air pollution, making the air safer to breathe.

Other clean energy benefits

The clean energy industry already generates hundreds of billions of dollars in economic activity each year, and according to a report from the International Energy Agency, the global market for clean energy technologies is set to rise to more than $2 trillion by 2035.

This growth is partially driven by the fact that renewable energy is becoming increasingly financially competitive with fossil fuels. Prices are declining rapidly, and in some areas, clean energy is already cheaper than continuing to operate fossil fuel plants. 

As prices continue to decline as they’re expected to, and Americans take advantage of the clean energy tax credits made available by the Biden-Harris administration, the use of clean energy is expected to become even more widespread among both energy producers and consumers. 

For instance, the latest data from the Internal Revenue Service and the Office of Economic Policy shows that more than 3.4 million American families benefitted from $8.4 billion in clean energy tax credits provided by the Inflation Reduction Act during 2023.

Finally, investment in clean energy creates new jobs. In 2023, jobs in clean energy grew at more than twice the rate of the overall US labor market, according to the US Department of Energy. Nearly 150,000 new clean energy jobs were created last year alone. 

According to the latest data, North Carolina has so far received over $10.3 billion in funding from President Biden’s Clean Energy Plan, and thousands of new jobs have been created in the state through these investments.