In general, what has spurred the use of renewable energy, and what are the benefits of its use in environmental and economic terms?
What will be an ideal response?
Renewable energy use is growing fast, due to advances in technology and increasing concern over the environmental impacts of fossil fuel combustion. Unlike fossil fuels, renewable sources are inexhaustible on time scales relevant to human societies, and their use will help alleviate air pollution and the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving global warming. Renewable energy can also bring economic benefits. Developing renewables can help diversity an economy's mix of energy, lowering price volatility and protecting against shocks, such as the 1973 oil embargo, by lessening dependence on foreign fuel. New energy sources require more hands-on labor than fossil fuel industries and so can create new employment opportunities and sources of income and property tax for local communities, often rural areas passed over by other types of economic development. In Germany, China, and Spain, government policies have encouraged the funding and development of solar and wind power. Germany and Spain have utilized feed-in tariffs, where public utilities are required to purchase renewably generated power from whomever produces it and feed it into the existing distribution grids. These and other government incentives in addition to public enthusiasm for green technologies place these nations in the vanguard of progress in moving to renewable energies.
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Which has the most atoms?
A) a mole of gold B) a mole of helium C) a mole of lead D) All of the above have the same number of atoms. E) none of the above
From a global sustainability perspective, economic production
A) is the sum of all photosynthesis in the biosphere and the resulting natural products. B) consists of all of the natural products and natural resources in the world, which are available for harvesting by humans. C) is the process of converting the natural world to the manufactured world. D) represents the summed gross national products of all industrialized nations of the world.
Which of the following have been correlated with sunspot cycles?
A) abnormally wet years B) droughts C) both abnormally wet years and droughts D) neither abnormally wet years nor droughts
A region with an average temperature of 32°F or below during the warmest month is considered a(n) ____ according to the Köppen classification system
A) subpolar B) polar ice cap C) polar tundra D) arctic