Greenhouse gas emissions keep rising, transferring costs to future ... - Columbia Missourian
Greenhouse gas emissions keep rising, transferring costs to future generations | Local Columnists | columbiamissourian.com
It is ghosts and goblins season, but I can’t help but think that the truly scary creature is in the basement. The furnace, as it churns out hot air to keep our house warm, is being supplied electricity by a power plant somewhere, one that is emitting greenhouse gases and adding to the burden of climate change.
Even though our net zero home provides enough solar energy to match our annual electric consumption, we still use utility power at times, like at night and especially in the winter, when the sun falls short of meeting our needs. Ideally, the clean power we send to the utility during sunny periods offsets any climate emissions created by the fossil fueled power we receive back, but there isn’t any guarantee of that. Net zero doesn’t necessarily mean that the net emissions are zero, just that the amount of electricity you send to the utility balances out with the amount of electricity you receive from them.
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Let us know which John Darkow cartoon you would like as a reprint.
About the opinion page
The Missourian’s Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form.
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Related Knowledge Center: Electrical grid reliability
With the need to reduce use of fossil fuels in transportation and other areas, demand is likely to increase for solutions that increase dependence on electricity and the electrical grid.