Elon Musk: A Hero in the Realm of Environmentalism

By: Vanja Bodja

PHOTO BY STEVE JURVETSON/FLICKR

As our lives continue within the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, another fear still carries above us; climate change. Although it may seem that climate change has been an exhausted topic within the media, the urgency of the issue still sustains. Greenhouse gases (GHGs) continue to melt ice caps, raise sea levels, and damage ecosystems, and the increasing environmental damage is growing at a faster pace than countries are able to counter. Although global average temperatures continue to rise alongside GHG emissions, there are solutions available. While political and economical restraints make a global energy transition seem impossible, Elon Musk could argue otherwise. Musk’s innovations within solar power technology could potentially save the world by shifting the global economy. While global warming is inevitably shifting the world in front of us, Elon Musk’s intelligence, innovation, and influence could have the power to slow our GHG emissions and help us sustain life on solar power.

In an article published by NASA recently, the year 2020 is tied with 2016 for being the warmest year on record. As interpreted, last year’s global average temperature was 1.2°C above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) level. The consistent increase in energy consumption, which is the leading factor for GHG emissions, has been steadily rising since the industrial period. The graph below created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration exemplifies the rate at where global temperatures are headed towards. As shown by the red trend, continuing our GHG emissions at the rate at which we are speeds temperature increase to reach 4°C by 2100. But as shown by the blue trend, if we completely transitioned away from fossil fuels we could slow this increase to only 2°C. Although a 2°C or 4°C increase doesn’t seem like much, to put it into perspective, in the past it only took a 1°C - 2°C drop in the world temperature to send our Earth into a Little Ice Age.

DATA PROCESSING BY JAY HNILO, CICS-NC & CMIP3

Although global warming is inevitable, the most beneficial solution to slow warming down would be to invest in a transition towards renewable energy sources. With that said, Elon Musk has been devoting a lot of his life’s work towards altering the view of renewable energy, specifically solar power. Although it has been debated that nuclear power would be essential in the process of sustaining on solar power, there has been a difference of opinion between which would be best to sustain on. While nuclear doesn’t emit greenhouse gases, nuclear power accidents can be catastrophic. Following the explosion in Chernobyl of 1986, 200,000 children were diagnosed with thyroid cancer and 28 firemen died both from radiation. Solar power, on the other hand, is renewable, has low maintenance costs, and has a multitude of diverse applications. As is evident, solar power would be the safest and most efficient energy to rely on.

As Tesla cars continue to succeed within the electric car market, its publicity usually overshadows Musk’s other work. After his success with PayPal, he launched Tesla in 2003 with a plan to change the vehicle market for the better. Using the revenue he made from his zero-emission sports car, Roadstar, he projected that revenue towards creating the Model 3Tesla whose base price begins at $35,000. While these cars were in high demand, Musk went on to buy out SolarCity in 2016 to reinvent solar power. His plan to transition economies into being renewable energy reliant, specifically on solar power, begins with three parts; firstly, integrating solar power within suburban use, then into production facilities, and lastly, increasing electric power to cover all ground-based transportation.

His plan initially began when he designed solar roofs that could withstand 200mph of hail for houses and some of his Tesla models. Musk also went on to create one of his biggest projects yet: he began the production of a gigafactory in Reno, Nevada. Although only 30% completed, this ‘to be’ solar-powered factory is designed to be net-zero energy and is going to be the highest-volume battery plant in the world. These gigafactories are set to produce Model 3 motors, batteries, and power walls that store solar energy in homes. In addition to his plans to transition suburban housing and production facilities towards solar power, he also is working on Tesla Semi’s.. These vehicles will have an estimated range of 500 miles and are projected to beat diesel trucks on cost per mile.

With Elon Musk continuously innovating new technology to help our transition away from fossil fuels, his plan is already well underway. In 2016, ChoZen Retreat, an environmentfocused resort on the 22,000 acre Saint Sebastian nature preserve, unveiled their 44 kilowatts Solar Roof made out entirely of Tesla solar panels. These panels, which camouflage with dummy panels, power 80% of the facility’s total energy use and store energy in Powerwall batteries in case of unfavourable weather. Not only have facilities begun to transition towards renewable energy, but countries are leaning towards electric car use. In Norway, their market share of electric car use is 49.10% with Tesla’s Model 3 car being the most purchased in 2019. Elon Musk is showing renewable energy can be an accessible, efficient, and effective way of decreasing GHG emissions.

While our economy still relies on fossil fuels, it is not too late to decrease our usage and slow down climate change. Although even with proper measures in place, our world will inevitably increase by 2°C, if GHG emissions don’t decrease soon then our world could potentially increase its average temperature by 4°C instead. Luckily, there is a way and time to fix this. Elon Musk has been constantly investing in electric vehicles and solarpowered technology. While his brand Tesla is world-renowned, he is also investing in solarpowered production facilities and suburban housing. He hopes to change the way solarpowered energy is viewed. While climate change seems to be talked about a lot in the political field, Elon Musk has been essential in actually creating change rather than only talking about it.

PHOTO BY PLANET LABS, INC. AN AERIAL SHOT OF THE TESLA GIGAFACTORY IN SPARKS, NEVADA