What does driving your car have to do with changing the earth’s climate? Lots!
Energy is a factor in virtually everything we do from transportation, to growing and harvesting food, to producing goods and services for consumption. Humans have always found ways to meet their needs through using energy – either human power, animal power or by burning various fuels.
Fuels power our needs and help us to complete our work more quickly so we can do other things. But burning fuels also can have other side effects that negatively impact our lives; it releases air pollutants which are harmful for human health, as well as the health of the water, vegetation and wildlife that we depend on.
Every Canadian contributes about five tonnes of greenhouse gases – collectively 28% of Canada’s total emissions - to the atmosphere every year!
Can we change the way we use energy?
We depend a lot on fossil fuels – coal, oil and natural gas - to generate power. This is primarily because fossil fuels are abundant, inexpensive and relatively easy to convert into power. However, they are dirty to burn, hazardous to human and environmental health and they contribute to climate change by releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
A number of new technologies are being developed to allow us to capture energy from natural resources such as wind, water, the sun and waste vegetation. This “renewable energy" does not consume resources – it is continually available. It also does not contribute more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. However, these technologies are still relatively new. It is generally more expensive to produce energy with them than it is by burning fossil fuels.
We don’t have to wait for new energy sources in order to use our energy more wisely now. Try switching off lights when you leave a room, putting on another sweater instead or turning up the heat, and buying and recycling products made with recycled packaging. Consider repairing cold air leaks in your home and replacing old appliances with energy efficient ones. Try biking to school or work rather than driving, and planting trees in your community. These are all actions that you can begin today to change the way you use energy, save money and enjoy an active lifestyle.