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Going Green The Solar Way!


 In Africa, right now the sun is really high up in the sky and the weather is getting unbearably hot as we have entered the dry season. It’s amazing how on one side of the planet it could be so hot and at the same time, on the other side of the planet it can be terribly cold. 

Anyway, there is an abundance of radiant energy or solar heat coming from the sun right at this moment streaming through the atmosphere and heating the earth’s surface thereby increasing atmospheric temperatures.

This solar energy is a renewable energy resource and can be classified as a source of green energy. 

Now, what is solar energy? Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the sun which can be harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar heating, photovoltaics, solar thermal energy, solar architecture, molten salt power plants and artificial photosynthesis. So, in other words, solar energy is created using energy which has been generated by the sun. 

Solar energy is a renewable energy system. And because of radiant heat and light from the sun, solar energy is a renewable system that generates renewable clean or green energy whenever it is needed. 

Like I mentioned earlier on, there’s an abundance of radiant energy which if fully harnessed and channelled properly will go a long way in reducing the need and dependence on fossil fuels, which release green gases into the atmosphere that cause air pollution, global warming and  subsequently climate change.

Now, a solar system uses sunlight to generate electricity which you can use to power your home or office, which in turn  can reduce your carbon footprint. This will however, go a long way to impacting your immediate environment positively. 

A carbon footprint is the amount of green house gases primarily carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by a particular human activity. This can be a broad measure or be applied to actions of an individual, a family, an event, an organization or an entire nation. 

Let’s take a city for example, where the people who live there engage the use of solar pv systems by half the population. What are we going to eventually have? A reduction in the carbon footprint of the inhabitants who live in that city. And so, there would be a decline in air pollution, global warming and climate change. 

The world today is steeped in the adverse effects of man’s activities on the earth. On my podcast episodes, I have talked about the three main causes of natural resources depletion which are urbanization, deforestation and mining. 

The activities of mining, the refining of crude oil and the use of  these fossil fuels for our energy consumption purposes have caused green gas emissions in extremely large and dangerous quantities. And as a result, these green gases become continuously trapped in the atmosphere and the earth’s surface temperatures have also increased tremendously. 

And of course, the resulting effects are melting icebergs,  continuous sea levels rise and  flooding on one side of the planet while drought, desertification, shrinking waterfalls and famine on the other side of the planet. 

But as I said earlier on, if we can actively engage the use of solar or radiant energy, we will be looking at cutting down our carbon footprint individually and collectively by 80-85 percent at most. This is very possible if we can just put our minds to doing this. 

Leaders and stakeholders of every nation on the earth today can work together constructively to put in place measures that will actively engage the use of solar energy technology to generate heat, light and electricity instead of the continuous use of carbon, coal and gas. 

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