Sustainability advocate, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Daniel de Castellane shares his views on how to determine which energy systems are truly “Green” and impactful towards curbing climate change, and gives insight into the future of energy.

Asmany global citizens are pained to admit, our planet’s condition is accelerating on land, in the sea, and in the atmosphere. As recently noted by a U.N. flagship study, the effects of these unprecedented environmental impacts are leading to wide-reaching disasters facing human health, food security, socio-economic development, land and marine ecosystems, and migration and displacement, with 6.7 million people displaced due to natural hazards alone in 2019.

We had a conversation with Daniel de Castellane, about his views on the current crisis and how to reckon with it. de Castellane is a social activist and entrepreneur, who leads a collection of companies focused on making a positive impact in the world. In the past, he has been mainly focused on poverty, education, and problems related to equality, but recently, he has felt the need to step in and talk about our environment, because “without a planet, all the other causes are simply irrelevant”.

“Coming from a clinical background, I’ve learned to have an objective view of different concepts, and evaluate them based on data. The current global environmental issues deserve our full attention. We are destroying our planet and pretending that we have a solution while the reality is much different.”

“When we talk about an environmental issue, I try to see beyond the hysteria and look at the root of the problem.” He adds; “Energy is one of the areas that our planet is being greatly affected by; In converting land for energy production, we have destroyed ecosystems and biodiversity. We are polluting the land, air, and sea, causing millions of deaths each year, burdening healthcare systems, and destroying nature’s foundations.”

“From a psychological lens, our tendency as humans is to make ourselves feel better and avoid looking at the problem that we have taken part in creating. The reality is that whatever we are doing at the moment, in terms of our environment, is not working. We have a responsibility as individuals to educate ourselves about true alternatives to our current systems.”

He passionately shares, “We are in the last window of hope for creating new sustainable systems and saving our planet. It’s not fair to the next generation if we don’t fight for them. We must stop making bets on an unsustainable future that will put societies at risk”

Though it may seem like we have found a green, sustainable alternative to the traditional energy production methods, like wind and solar, de Castellane warns to not take these companies’ claims at face value. “The perception we often get from the media about “Green” energy is not always accurate. It is crucial that we educate ourselves as consumers about which energy systems are truly Green and sustainable.”

“We have traditional sources such as gas and oil, and we all know the problems that come with those. And then we have the newer, “Green” systems such as wind and solar. But they all have a huge carbon footprint and limited efficiency, ultimately needing to be backed up with fossil fuel alternatives. To add to that, unfortunately, our current “Green” energy systems are made with unrecyclable and ethically questionable materials that in the long term are harmful to the environment.”

Research supports these claims, stating that wind turbines produce little or no power around 60% of the time, and solar power has only a 19%-25% efficiency rate. Both wind and solar have harmful environmental impacts — wind turbines have no means of decomposing, while solar panels leak toxic chemicals. Both wind and solar energy systems also require massive amounts of land to produce electricity.