Environmental Impacts Of The Future Of Ontario - 1384 Words

Introduction Environmental concerns have been of great concern, when deciding the sources of energy. Environmental and health impacts have led to countries developing energy plans that concentrate on clean sources of energy. I tend to go along with the statement that the only choice for electricity in Ontario is clean generation. In determining the future of Ontario’s electricity, different stakeholders have considered the environmental impact of using other sources of energy other than the clean sources. The environmental impact of using energy sources such as coal has been indicated to be great compared to that of using clean sources such as wind and solar. This has made Ontario province to consider using clean sources. Ontario can be†¦show more content†¦Despite natural gas being cleaner compared to coal, its use still has impacts on the air quality, as well as human health. Besides, its production has enormous environmental consequences in form of habitat destruction. Moreov er, the contribution of natural gas production to climate change is just slightly less compared to coal in terms of energy. Furthermore, a decrease in the natural gas reserves has led to doubling of its price. This makes it a more volatile and less attractive alternative for electricity production compared to clean sources such as solar and wind. There is also an opportunity of meeting power generation and heating needs using efficiency measures and renewable energy sources rather than natural gas. As such, Ontario is left with an alternative of considering most efficient and environmental friendly energy sources, which include hydropower, solar, ground heat, biomass, and wind. The only choice for electricity in Ontario is generation of clean electricity because the current electricity path threatens the province. The province currently relies on coal for electricity production; this usually compromises environmental quality and public health. Severe smog alerts usually characterize the summer season of Ontario, and the burning o coal for the purpose of electricity production represents a chief source of local air pollution. A report released by the North American Commission for