Is there any environmentally friendly source of energy?

Is there a panacea to our every growing global energy woes that does not cause environmental pollution? At the moment, no. Oil, coal and gas, which require large amounts of combustion, are obviously out since their waste products contribute to the greenhouse effect and global warming.

A few decades ago, hydroelectric dams, harnessing the power of moving water, were cited as the next big thing. However, today, dam construction has proven to be ecologically damaging, resulting in siltation, adverse thermal gradients upstream, destroyed habitats, amongst other woes. Many parts of the US have banned the construction of new dams, and environmentalists have condemned the Three Gorges Dam in China.

Lately, there has been a lot of revived interest in nuclear power. Politicians say less greenhouse gases are produced by nuclear power, so it solves all our problems! If only things were that simple.... Firstly, nuclear power plants discharge large amounts of hot water (product of the water-cool process) which gets dumped into the rivers and lakes, killing all the fish in the vicinity. Secondly, there is NO KNOWN method of safely disposing nuclear waste. And yes, I mean it, despite what those politicians tell you, there is NO KNOWN method of safely disposing nuclear waste.

So what about wind power then? What can be wrong about wind power? Well, its been shown that to generate sufficient wind power, you have to use lots and lots of wind turbines. So many that people use the term "wind farms". And wind farms need to be placed at the top of a hill to be effective. This takes up a lot of good land and kills scores and scores of birds! Yes, you'd be grossed out by the carcasses found below the wind turbines.

Now we come to solar power. Harnessing the power of the sun is probably the best we've got. However, for it to be of any use, you need to have a large solar farm, which is very expensive, and difficult to maintain. By the way, solar cells are made of silicon, and producing silicon creates pollution.

Geo-thermal power was supposed to be the next big thing. Except that it didn't become anything... 'nuff said.

So is there ever an environmentally friendly source of energy? Probably not. So are we doomed to having to live with a dying planet? There may not be an environmentally friendly source of energy, but there is an environmentally friendly solution: ENERGY CONSERVATION.