The world has been relying on using conventional sources of energy such as fossil fuels and nuclear energy for decades. These resources are non-renewable. That means once they are used up they’re gone for good. However, newer technology has allowed us to use renewable sources such as the sun or wind. These sources for practical purposes will last forever. People should use renewable energy because they are sustainable and environmentally friendly. However, there are high economic costs associated to switching to renewable energy and renewable sources are not as reliable as conventional fossil fuels.
People should start using renewable sources to generate electricity because they are sustainable. That means these sources will be available for humans to use as long as they are around. With a growing population around the world, the need for more energy increases as well. We are accustomed to using fossil
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This means that either we need to set up more such facilities to match up with the growing demand or look out for ways to reduce our energy consumption. So, to meet up with the large quantities of electricity produced by fossil fuels, large amount of solar panels and wind farms need to be set up. For this, large areas of land is required to produce energy quantities competitive with fossil fuel burning. “To satisfy 100% of New York City 's electricity needs with wind power would require impossible around-the-clock winds within a limited speed range, and a wind farm the size of the entire state of Connecticut. Solar photovoltaic cells are so inefficient that it would take about 60 square miles of expensive solar panels to generate just one gigawatt of electricity. (Jesse Auburn, The Chicago Turbine) Providing such large areas of land for solar and wind farms involves cutting trees, thus destroying forests and animal
Our country is currently suffering energy-wise, we have been powering with inefficient sources for years now and the harm that it is doing to the country has started to become apparent. Renewable energy is the only way to stop, or at the very least set back the inevitable downfall of our ecosystem. I think that the next big breakthrough for renewable energy is implementing off-grid communities that use renewable sources as their main sources of power, so that we can potentially escape the energy rut that we got ourselves stuck in.
Thirty-seven percent of the energy used in the United States comes from oil. Natural gas comes in at second, contributes twenty five percent of the energy. Coal gives us twenty one percent of our energy while the other seventeen percent comes from other energy sources. Those other resources include nuclear, wind, and mostly solar. Besides the environmental harm that some people think fracking has, it has the potential to produce more natural gas and oil. It also is a non-renewable resource and will take a very long time for it to come back because of the earth’s natural creation. Solar and wind power are renewable, but do not produce enough energy to run our country. All of the solar panels and wind mills we have on the earth right now could ...
Wind energy can play a critical role in saving our planet from the negative effects of energy powered by fossil fuels. Wind turbines work effectively at reducing carbon dioxide emissions. For instance, a single utility scale wind turbine can prevent the emission of 5,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere a year by displacing the power generated by fossil fuels. Also, a single 750-kilowatt turbine can produce roughly 2 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually. Turbines of this nature are the ones now being used in power plants around the world (Wind Energy Weekly). One good example is California. Their wind power plants displace 4.5 billion pounds of CO2 each year with the 3 billion kilowatt hours of energy they produce. To put it into an environmental perspective, that is as much CO2 as could be absorbed by a forest covering 1100 square miles (Wind Energy Weekly). Although wind energy has little to no impact on the environment when it comes to air pollution or greenhouse gases, there are other environmental concerns surrounding this form of energy production. Some of the concerns about wind energy include visual impacts, birds and other living resources, lightning and noise (Wind Energy Development).
A few available forms of renewable resources are solar, wind, and hydropower. How we are able to harness the power that these sources are able to provide vary. Solar energy is the energy from the sun that is able to be captured through what is called solar panels, where these panels are either heated or lit up by the sun creating electricity. - (Solar Energy) Wind energy is harnessed by the wind in our atmosphere through a mechanical process in which the wind turns the blades on a wind turbine. Wind turbines are giant wheels rotated by the wind to generate electricity. - (How Do Wind Turbines Work?) Hydropower generates electricity by using water to power machinery. How this happens is that flowing water is captured by generators or turbines and turned into electricity. It has the similar method in which wind energy is captured through kinetic energy; a process where energy is obtained by an object due to its momentum. These three different resources have an inexhaustible energy supply. If these resources are unlimited then why aren’t they implemented more into our use? A few contributing factors are that renewable resources are not always reliable, the cost of using renewable energy is too high, and we can 't store up the energy produced by renewable resources. If the sun isn’t shining, wind isn’t blowing or if there’s no water flowing we can’t rely on these resources unlike fossil fuels which we can store up. Using fossil fuels is actually cheaper than using renewable resources. It cost more to generate electricity from the resources and no one wants to pay more for their monthly utility bill. The final reason would be that most of renewable resources require constant movement, kinetic energy, or to be constantly be present. If one day they are not present we won’t have
Fossil fuel has in a sense fueled our economy and way of life for decades, and in many ways we have taken these resources for granted. Eventually they will run out or the price per barrel will be so astronomical that the average American will not be able to afford to buy gas. Renewable energies have the power to save our environment and change the world as we know it. The most important thing that we, as Americans need to do is to be open about other options that become available to us.
The year is 2200. The world is going through a fossil fuel shortage. Oil reserves are almost completely consumed and it is becoming impossible to find new fossil fuel sources. Not prepared for this event to occur, The United States, has no alternative options. As a result of the oil shortage, the standard of living deteriorates. Heat in homes, supermarkets full of food, and transportation, all basic necessities taken for granted, will be depleted because fossil fuels are used to power almost everything. The key to the prevention of this future is renewable energy. Unfortunately the support for the use of renewable energy is weak and ineffective. Unless the US puts forth effort to research and promote the use of renewable energy to consumers, conversion from fossil fuels to renewable energy will no longer be an option.
Energy is the basic necessity of daily life. Nowadays, dependence on fossil fuels for energy needs becoming lower in numerous countries due to the potential of renewable energy to supply sustainable energy to the huge populations in many developing countries who are short of clean and continues energy. Generally, renewable energy can be defined as energy that is derived from natural resources which are constantly replenished and theoretically inexhaustible. Fossil fuels on the other hand can be described as energy that cannot be renewed and will eventually diminish. Thus, in many developing countries renewable energy is the alternative energy to replace non-renewable energy or commonly known as fossil fuels. In addition, according to Sorensen (2004), there is a greater demand for renewable energy sources nowadays due to the uncertainty of fuel price rise in living expenses. Commonly, there are many types of renewable energy available in our world such as wind power, biomass energy, solar energy, hydroelectric power and geothermal energy. However, the main three example of renewable energy are hydroelectric power, solar and biomass energy (Refer to Figure 1 in Appendix 1).
In the debate of traditional energy vs. renewable energy the clear winner is renewable energy. Renewable energy is vastly superior over traditional energy because it decreases dependence on foreign resources, produces no emissions, and is not limited in quantity. Opponents of renewable energy are likely to argue that this is not the case and that instead, traditional energy is better because it creates job growth, is reliable during all hours and climates, and comes with a lower cost. These advantages however are either misconstrued or hardly outweigh the long-term positive benefits of renewable energy.
I believe that if we don’t move toward limitless resource we will be trapped using oils and gases forever. "I'd put my money on sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait till oil and coal run out before we tackle that," by Thomas Edison. The journey to renewable resource will be a long one, but will only happen if everyone works together for the effort.
The United States currently relies heavily on coal, oil, and natural gas for its energy. While the price of natural gas per barrel continues to plummet, the United States is constantly seeking new sources of renewable energy. Renewable energy consists of any type of natural resource (solar power, ocean power, wind power, rain, snow, etc.). that naturally and automatically replenishes itself. Renewable energy is important because it is infinite and everlasting, meaning our children and our children’s children will be able to utilize these resources long after we are gone.
To start, let’s go into exactly how this idea of sustainability comes into play with renewable resources. Sustainability is an approach to “economic growth while preserving the quality of the environment for future generations” (Cheever 1). “More than half of all planned energy projects in the Northeast Power Coordinating Council region…are renewable energy projects” a sign that the world is taking a step to become more sustainable (Bhanoo 1). Today a majority of the world’s population relies heavily on coal and other fossil fuels to provide all energy sources. If the global population continues to do so, future generations will not have access to these materials and will not have any other choice but to turn to other energy suppliers. As Craig Pirrong, professor of finance and energy markets director at the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston, put it “All renewables are cursed...
Energy can be put into two broad categories Renewable energy and none renewable energy. Renewable energy sources can be reused continually as they are abundantly found in nature. All of them are non-polluting but devices used to collect the energy may impact the environment adversely. They are free but producing storage equipment or converting them into another form of energy may be costly.
Wind power is one of the most sustainable ways of generating electricity as no toxic emissions are produced; it does not add to global warming and is one of the most available sources of renewable energy and theoretically it is an infinite source of energy. On sufficiently windy areas, wind turbines are one of the most economical methods of generating electricity, which makes it appealing to many individuals, governments and organizations. Due to this it is the fastest growing source of electricity in the world (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2014) with a 10% increase in yearly additions installed in 2012 compared with 2011 (Global Wind Energy Council, 2012). However the proportion of energy that can be harnessed through wind power is restricted by the cost of the infrastructure needed, construction, the amount of wind that occurs and that there are only a narrow number of sites within the UK that are windy enough for the wind turbines to be worth installing.
Using fossil fuels such as coal and oil is inefficient, dangerous, and otherwise a process that is known to eventually fail as a long lasting energy source. Yet, there is hope for the future of energy, this new hope has many shapes and forms, but requires a chance to be fully implemented in our everyday life. Such energy sources like solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, and hydro power are the key to our future. These energy sources are proven to be long lasting, safe, more reliable, and the next innovation. In short, all Americans should switch to renewable energy, resulting in a safer and more efficient world.
...t the demand for electricity than non-renewable. Also it could be more environmentally friendly. Wind energy, as it can be seen that wind energy might lowest danger and more reliability.