Renewable energy can help boost the economy of rural communities by providing jobs and contributing to a power grid based on clean, non-fossil fuels. It also benefits communities by reducing the costs of energy and improving public health.
Many countries around the world are making changes to promote renewable energy. These policies provide important benefits for rural communities, ensuring sustainable development.
Job Creation
A growing body of evidence shows that employment and job creation are good for individuals and entire communities. They create prosperity, improve health, and reduce poverty.
The solar power industry, for example, has created many jobs in the United States and around the world. These jobs include positions in engineering, sales, and management.
Developing renewable energy for rural areas is an excellent opportunity to increase the number of jobs and to bring economic development benefits to rural areas. Off-grid renewable sources can deliver cheaper and cleaner power than grid connections, allowing smallholder farmers to improve their livelihoods.
However, developing renewable energy for rural areas can present challenges, such as lack of knowledge about the technology and insufficient training programs. These issues can limit the amount of skilled and semi-skilled labor needed to develop and maintain renewable projects.
Economic Development
As the world embraces a more sustainable energy future, rural communities are benefitting from the economic opportunities associated with renewable energy. This growth reflects the broader global shift to cleaner power sources, driven by a range of imperatives: advancing economic development, reducing energy security risks, promoting energy access, and mitigating climate change.
While wind and solar projects can bring many benefits to the rural community, one of their most significant is generating steady and predictable taxable revenue for local government entities. These revenues can support schools, roads and other vital services, as well as provide residents with a new source of income.
Moreover, the installation of solar and wind facilities can help farmers receive additional income that helps them stay on their land, especially in times of fluctuating commodity prices and weather conditions. The extra income can give them the stability they need to stay afloat, and keep their farms going for years to come.
Environmental Benefits
Rural communities can benefit from renewable energy in a number of ways. These benefits include environmental and economic benefits.
One of the most obvious is lowering global warming emissions by switching to renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar. If the United States generated 80 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, it would lower its global warming emissions by more than 80 percent.
Additionally, renewable energy projects often create jobs. These jobs can be in the field of engineering and construction, or in the field of manufacturing.
The employment created by these projects can help stimulate the local economy. The money the jobs create can be used to pay for goods and services in local businesses. This helps keep the money in the community and creates more jobs for the people who live there.
Energy Security
Renewable energy is a non-depletable and naturally replenishable source of power. It is derived from resources that are not subject to fixed stock limits, such as water, sunlight and wind.
In the United States, most of our energy comes from coal and petroleum. However, these fossil fuels are highly prone to global supply disruptions.
As a result, it is critical for the country to have access to alternative sources of energy. This will help to mitigate the risks of geopolitical events and fluctuating commodity markets, as well as increase the security of domestic supply.
The Benefits of Renewable Energy for Rural Communities
New energy projects in rural areas can create many benefits. They can provide local governments and residents with additional revenue streams, grant communities more autonomy over the production of their energy resources, and add more low carbon sources to the grid.