National Renewable Energy Day Date in the current year: March 21, 2024

For a long time, humanity has relied on fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) as the main source of energy. As of 2019, 84% of primary energy consumption and 64% of electricity in the world was from fossil fuels. The main advantage of fossil fuels is that they can be readily burned to produce heat, but they have a number of serious drawbacks that are becoming harder and harder to ignore.

The burning of fossil fuels is the main source of carbon dioxide emissions and a major source of air pollution. The world’s reliance on fossil fuels is believed to be a major contributor to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine (otherwise Russia wouldn’t have enough power and money to launch the attack). Finally, fossil fuels are a non-renewable resource; while they are formed naturally, the process takes millions of years and is therefore unable to keep up with our consumption of fossil fuels.

This is why a renewable energy transition has been underway over the past decades, although it is happening slower than one would like. Renewable resources are resources that can be naturally replenished on a human timescale; some of them can serve as alternative sources of energy. The main renewable energy sources include biomass, geothermal heat, the movement of water, sunlight, and wind.

Renewable energy has become much cheaper over the past decades; it can offer significant energy security and helps reduce environmental pollution and improve public health. Unfortunately, the renewable energy transition is slowed down by the fossil fuel lobby that tries to justify new fossil fuel development and obstruct climate change policies. This is why it is so important to consolidate national and international efforts to promote renewable energy and cut back on fossil fuel use.

National Renewable Energy Day was created in 2004 and has been observed annually since then. Its main objective is to promote renewable energy sources and encourage people to live a more sustainable lifestyle by switching from fossil fuels to renewable alternatives wherever possible.

There are many ways for you to join the celebration of National Renewable Energy Day. You can learn more about renewable energy sources, educate people around you on the benefits of renewable energy, think about the ways to incorporate them into you life (for example, buy a solar panel for your house or get a car that can run on biodiesel), and spread awareness on social media with the hashtags #NationalRenewableEnergyDay and #RenewableEnergyDay.

The United States isn’t the only country that has a National Renewable Energy Day. For example, India’s Renewable Energy Day (Akshay Urja Diwas) is celebrated annually on August 20 to commemorate the birthday of Rajiv Gandhi, the sixth prime minister of India who is remembered for increasing government support for science and technology.