Regardless of the environment, the shift away from fossil fuels brings an array of additional upsides, from technological innovation and job creation, to energy security and national resilience
The environmental benefits of cleaner energy are well known. These range from mitigating climate change to eliminating pollution near generating sources. In the UK, decarbonising the electricity grid is already a big environmental success story. Greenhouse gas emissions attributable to electricity supply fell by more than 50% between 1990 and 2022, faster than any other source. Meanwhile, once widespread problems such as acid rain are a fading memory in many countries, especially in the west.
But there are myriad other benefits to having a clean energy network. Clean power generation and distribution are very much industries of the future and tend to deliver high value jobs. Better still, in countries like the UK and the US, these jobs are likely to be located outside the prosperous cities and are often in the areas that have been hit the hardest by industrial decline.
“The green economy, which is the second fastest growing sector globally, has the capacity to create well-paid jobs, revitalising communities across the country,” says James Alexander, CEO of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association.
