How does my participation in Green Power Switch help reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
To understand how renewable energy works, it helps to first understand how the electricity grid works. At the most basic level, the electricity grid is a vast, complex network of generators, power lines, and distribution infrastructure all working to ensure that the amount of electricity produced equals the amount of electricity consumed. Renewable energy generators are connected to the electric grid just as conventional electricity generators are. Once electricity from renewable sources enters the grid, it mixes with, and is indistinguishable from, electricity from conventional resources. Because the electricity is all the same, it is impossible to know if the electricity you are using comes from “green” electricity sources or “brown” electricity sources. However, what is important is that valuable environmental benefits are created when renewable energy displaces electricity generated by fossil fuels. The more renewable energy generated, the less pollution-producing energy is needed.
