PRESS RELEASE

Is it too late for sustainable success?

6th December 2023

It is obvious that now more than ever the effects of climate change are very real, so its
finally time to rethink where we get our energy from. The use of fossil fuels is killing the
planet and costing more money, especially in the cost of living crisis. So, what is the
alternative? The United Nations (UN) have a sustainable development goal (SDG) to ensure
access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all. The road to achieving
this starts with renewable energy.
There are many suggestions that it is too late to reverse global warming if the greenhouse
gas emissions continue at the same rate, which is why the change should be made now. The
World Bank have said “the world is not on track to achieve the SDG … by 2030. Globally 733
million people still have no access to electricity”.
Renewable energy has many benefits, one being it is free to collect, meaning once the
infrastructure is built it is a much cheaper alternative. The switch to renewable energy will
impact on the economy, as the global oil and gas industry has delivered $2.8 billion a day in
pure profit for the last 50 years. This shows how valuable the market is.
On the other hand, if sufficient investment is put into the technology and development of
renewable energy now, there will be less of a reliance on fossil fuels and a less dramatic
change to the economy. There is evidence that a nation can operate off renewable energy as
their primary source of energy.
For example, Iceland uses almost 100% renewable energy to power their nation, with 73% of
it coming from hydropower and 23% coming from geothermal power. There are so many
sources of renewable energy that can be used. In 2017, 50% of Norway’s heating was
produced from converting waste into electricity. This shows that the SDG can be achieved if
action is taken now.

Ends

For further details, please contact: Abbi Slade, undergraduate at the University of Plymouth
via email at: abbi.slade@students.plymouth.ac.uk