- (2019, February 04). Environmental regulations may have unintended consequences in energy production. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190204124200.htm
This article discuss results from a study done by Carnegie Mellon University on unintended consequences of alternative energy production. The results of the study were concerning as it was discovered that while most countries have passed laws and regulations to protect natural ecosystems, this often resulted in energy production consequences such as emitting more greenhouse gasses than before.
This study was conducted over 110 countries and 33 states within the US, concluding that the preservation of natural ecosystems often serves as an opportunity cost regarding greenhouse emissions. Carnegie Mellon found that “on average, each megawatt of fossil fuel power-generating capacity added to the grid because of environmental constraints on hydropower development led to an increase in annual carbon dioxide emissions of about 1,400 tons.” We have to decide how we as a society want to balance our efforts between preservation of ecosystems and considering greenhouse emissions. I think that prioritizing renewable energy could help to mitigate both of these issues simultaneously.