Climate change aside, there are other reasons why renewable energy is a vital part of today's society. Far from any hippy, happy-go-lucky theories, renewable energy is making a lot of financial and environmental sense. Historically, our electricity supply has been dirty, unreliable and expensive, but with renewable energy sources replacing fossil fuels, that's all starting to change. Looking towards the future, electricity will become a stable, rock solid resource with a low price tag.

1. Because fossil fuels are running out

Today, the world gets most of its electricity from non-renewable sources. We burn fuel like coal, oil, and gases to create heat which creates electricity. Coal, oil, and gases are all created naturally by the earth over hundreds of thousands of years and we cannot replace or replicate them. These materials are quickly running out, driving us closer and closer to a day when they are depleted entirely.

There is some debate over how long it will take us to run out of fossil fuels, but there is a bottom line that all experts agree on -- eventually, we will run out. If nothing is done, fossil fuels will get increasingly scarce and electricity costs will get more and more expensive. This will destabilize our modern economy entirely and have devastating long-term effects.

While these resources still exist, we can use the electricity they generate to produce technologies capable of creating energy from natural, renewable sources. Natural resources like the sun or wind will never run out, solving the problem long-term. As a plus, a constant, never-ending supply of 'fuel', will cause your monthly electricity bill to drop instead on increase with each year.

2. Because the planet is getting warmer

If the overall temperature of the planet rises above 2 °C, the earth will begin to experience catastrophic climate change. Violent storms will become more common, extreme temperatures will ravage the land, and the damage will take hundreds of years to rectify.

The burning of fossil fuels like coal releases harmful by-products that overload the earth's atmosphere with heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide. Burning coal emits roughly 2.5 pounds of CO2 per kilowatt hour(kWh) into our atmosphere. Renewable energy sources barely emits any CO2, with solar, geothermal and wind power averaging 0.01 CO2E/kWh.

As the earth becomes warmer, methane crystals on the ocean floor will melt and cause the planet to become warmer still. This reaction will cause most of the earth to become uninhabitable. We call the overheating of the planet an 'extinction-level event' and it is the driving force behind most of today's efforts in renewable energy.

3. Because it will help us solve poverty

Did you know that 1.1 billion people live without electricity worldwide? That's 17% of earth's total population! On the other hand, 2.7 billion people (that's 38% of the world) use wood, coal or paraffin for heat, cooking, and light. This lack of electricity has kept large swathes of people in the literal dark ages

With renewable energy able to create and supply electricity in remote locations, we can alleviate the extreme poverty these people are living in. Instead of developing expensive transport systems for power distribution to remote locations, we can create the electricity where it's needed using solar or wind power technologies.

4. Because it makes everyone more money

A healthy economy relies on the creation of jobs and the movement of capital, and the renewable energy sector is doing just that. Favourable incentives have been set out by the government and the sector is expanding rapidly worldwide. As the industry grows, more and more jobs are created. Money moving from hand to hand is the basis of a Capitalist society and this growth is good for economies across the globe.

Producing renewable energy is more labour intensive than fossil-fuel based methods. In a coal plantation, there are high levels of automation, meaning that fewer people are needed to produce a kilowatt hour. The renewable energies often require a high amount of human involvement with teams physically installing solar panels and conducting on-site maintenance of both wind and solar farms.

To compare the two industries, in the United states the entire coal industry only employed 160,000 people while the solar industry alone employed more than 260,000. In a nutshell, more jobs are created by renewable energy than by fossil fuels. This means renewable energy will be more profitable or everyone in the long run. It truly is a win-win situation.

So, what now?

Now you know just how important renewable energy is to the world, you can choose to get involved! The easiest way to jump on the bandwagon is to install solar panels on your roof. The panels will reduce your electricity costs dramatically and you will be doing your part to help the industry grow.