Deal With IT's Secretary Victoria Nicholls writes a regular column in the East Kent Mercury:
It is a fact that climate change is the greatest challenge the world and all its occupants face today. For some developing countries this challenge is compromising economic growth, harming agriculture and causing social unrest. Water supplies are being threatened, natural resources stretched and infrastructure damaged. For nations to develop in a sustainable way, clean sources of energy are essential. If nations have to resort to burning fossil fuels to give them the energy supplies they need then the climate will be damaged beyond recall.
Today’s coal industry is on its last legs. Coal is the dirtiest of fossil fuels and burning many million tonnes of it has brought us to where we are now with a warming climate and all that goes with it. Most developing countries are suffering from extreme weather events such as stronger storms, more destructive floods, longer droughts and altered seasonal timing of rain. But as the tide turns against coal, the industry has embarked on a global campaign to promote coal as the solution to energy poverty. The true cost of coal has to include the air pollution which is already reducing life expectancy in China and India; pollution causes hundreds of thousands of premature deaths each year in these countries.
The cost of energy production from solar has rapidly declined over the last few years and it is quick to install. It is reliable and the ability to store the produced electricity has improved, making it an increasingly attractive option for rural communities.
