Choosing Hybrid Generators Could Help Save the Rainforests
Date: 06/06/25
The destruction of the tropical rainforests might seem like a faraway problem, but it affects each and every one of us right here, right now. The rainforests are the lungs of the world, absorbing and storing hundreds of billions of tonnes of CO2. This means that any destruction of the rainforest will have a direct effect on us, in the form of climate change, extreme weather patterns, and so much more.
However, new research, reported in The Guardian, has shown that what we do affects the destruction of the rainforests just as much as their destruction affects us. The emissions of the industrialised nations are driving climate change, which is directly damaging the rainforests in what one expert describes as “a dangerous feedback loop”.
Climate change = drought = fire
Rainforest loss hit a new record in 2024, with 67,000sq km of pristine, old growth forests lost. That in itself is a sobering figure, but when experts looked at the data, it was even worse than it first appeared. Analysis showed that for the first time ever, fires destroyed more of the rainforest than land clearance for agriculture.
The tropical rainforest experienced its worst drought on record in 2024, leaving the forest hotter and drier, and much more likely to burn out of control. Unlike in some areas of the world, this kind of fire is not a part of the natural cycle. It only happens in the rainforests as a direct result of human-influenced climate change.
As fast as the rainforests are helping to mitigate climate change, our actions in producing greenhouse gas emissions are causing their depletion. Fewer forests mean less mitigation. Less mitigation means more climate change. More climate change means fewer rainforests. And so the feedback loop grows.
What can we do about it?
It might not feel like changing to solar hybrid generators on your construction site in England is going to make much difference to the rainforests in Brazil, but as the recent figures show, it’s all connected on a global scale.
“It is a collective call to action for every country, every business and every person who cares about a liveable planet,” says Elizabeth Goldman, co-director of Global Forest Watch. “Our economies, our communities, our health – none of it can survive without forests.”
Any change your company can make, from electric plant and vehicles to solar hybrid generators, will help to cut CO2 emissions and reduce the impact of climate change.
The time to act is now
Switching to hybrid generators to cut emissions is not something to consider for the future. The time to act is now, before it is too late. Professor Matthew Hansen, who led the deforestation study at the University of Maryland, thinks that we may be approaching a tipping point. If we don’t act soon, the rainforests could go into irreversible decline, leading to what he describes as ‘savannisation’, where crucial areas of rainforest are permanently turned into savannah grasslands. “The signals in this data are particularly frightening,” he says.
The UN Climate Summit, COP30, will be held in the Amazon this year, to highlight the issue of increasing deforestation, but you can start to take climate action right now by switching to hybrid generators from Think Hire. And with our latest innovations, you can now make those hybrid generators even more environmentally friendly by opting for low emission fuels, such as HVO, LPG or even glycerine.
The experts have put out a call to action to ‘every business’ to help in the fight against climate change. So put out your call to Think Hire today and see how easily, and affordably, you can play your part by switching to solar hybrid generators.