How to Propagate Solar Energy Education
For the next generation
of people on this earth (namely, the youth)
to understand why they need to study about
solar energy, it is necessary for the older
generation to show the way. If you can convince
the elders of a community on the need for
solar energy education, it becomes easier
to propagate solar energy education among
the young.
To propagate solar energy education among
the young, it is necessary to teach the basics
about solar energy: what it is, where it comes
from, why we need it, and how we can use it
in user-friendly ways. It is also very important
to bridge the gap between the highly technical
aspects of solar energy technology and the
simple usage of common everyday appliances
that could be powered by solar energy.
Actually, to propagate solar energy education
forms part of a philosophy to live a lifestyle
that is more in keeping with an environmentally
friendly approach to living. It is also easier
to foster an interest in solar energy among
those who are open to alternative lifestyles
like environmentalism. It is the so-called
paradigm shift that advocates more earth-friendly
choices aside from just solar energy use (like
recycling old bottles and cans, composting,
and choosing products that also promote earth-friendly
practices.)
Can we reverse global warming by switching
to solar energy? That is debatable, simply
because not even scientists can agree just
how fast global warming is going to proceed
from here on. It might progress fast even
with a switch to solar energy by majority
of the (or even the whole) global population
– or we might be able to arrest it and
even reverse it. Though we are sure that we
can cut emissions by switching to solar energy,
it is not very certain right now just how
much damage society has managed to inflict
on the environment so far with the level of
emissions released. All we can do now is try
– and propagating solar education should
be part of an emission-free lifestyle, for
those who are serious about this attempt.
How can we make people truly care about a
switch to solar energy if they did not care
before? That is a pretty hard question to
answer – it is like asking how can you
make a person honest or ethical. By legislation
alone, it is nearly always impossible to convince
people to care about the environment or making
the necessary changes. Moral suasion might
work to a certain extent, provided you deliver
your messages to a receptive audience, but
if people do not care in the first place,
you might just get laughed at. But to make
people care about environmentalism and using
solar energy is a crucial factor that will
influence how quickly adoption of solar energy
systems can be done, and whether global warming
can ever be arrested. We must try, or face
our own destruction as a race. If we become
apathetic ourselves, then the battle has already
been lost before we even started it.
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