In general, what has spurred the use of renewable energy, and what are the benefits of its use in ...

Renewable energy use is growing fast, due to advances in technology and increasing concern over the environmental impacts of fossil fuel combustion. Unlike fossil fuels, renewable sources are inexhaustible on time scales relevant to human societies, and their use will help alleviate air pollution and the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving global warming. Renewable energy can also bring economic benefits. Developing renewables can help diversity an economy's mix of energy, lowering price volatility and protecting against shocks, such as the 1973 oil embargo, by lessening dependence on foreign fuel. New energy sources require more hands-on labor than fossil fuel industries and so can create new employment opportunities and sources of income and property tax for local communities, often rural areas passed over by other types of economic development. In Germany, China, and Spain, government policies have encouraged the funding and development of solar and wind power. Germany and Spain have utilized feed-in tariffs, where public utilities are required to purchase renewably generated power from whomever produces it and feed it into the existing distribution grids. These and other government incentives in addition to public enthusiasm for green technologies place these nations in the vanguard of progress in moving to renewable energies.