Green Energy: The Next Generation
Purcell Schools should transform all their schools to use “green” energy and environmentally-friendly products. It would not only be better for the school and community, but would also be profitable for the school system. Although it does cost a little more a year on a bill, it will actually, in the grand scheme of things, cost less in the near future. That would mean, as a school system and community, it would enable a better technology program for the school, more field trips, new textbooks, and even a much better salary for our very underpaid teachers and administrators. Also, “Green” products provide a cleaner, healthier, more natural learning environment. With schools having an environment like this, it would give our community a chance to learn to be healthier in their daily lives. A recent study by the Oklahoma State Government, shows that Oklahoma is the sixth most obese state in the nation (). If all we had to do is show our future generations how to lead a healthier, more eco-friendly life, why not? Lastly, “Green” energy is offered in many ways. Solar, Geothermal, Wind, and even Nuclear are all types of renewable energy that we could use to power our school system and community.
Although “green” energy costs more at the beginning, it will pay for itself within a year, and will cost almost nothing to continue for many years to come. Recent studies show that by using “green” energy, you can actually cut your energy bill by half. If this is true, why shouldn’t the school be transformed to use “green” energy? It would mean a better environment for our community, more money for our school system, and a healthier student community.
More money can go towards the schools having new boo...
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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. America is wasting their finite resources, such as coal and nuclear, when we could actually be using renewable sources that will never run out. Most of our country’s citizens have never thought about where their energy comes from, or they do not even care.
Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that they should advocate the use of alternative power sources other than nuclear energy.
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The future of the United States solar energy industry will be shaped not only by economic growth, but also by the rate of declining oil resources and the global realization of the consequences of human induced climate change. Political responses to this realization in the United States include; new policies, legislature, and tax incentives to both businesses and private households to promote growth and investment in the solar power industry.
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).
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, over half of the oil used in the USA is imported. Most of this imported oil is located in the middle east and is controlled by OPEC members. Subsequent oil price shocks and price manipulation by OPEC have cost our economy dearly—about $1.9 trillion from 2004 to 2008—and each major shock was followed by a recession (Reduce). We may never be able to fully eliminate our need to import oil, but we can reduce cartel market control and the economic impact of price shocks by reducing our demand (Reduce). One way we can reduce our reliance on oil is through investing in renewable energy. Solar power, wind power, and hydro power are all forms of energy which come from renewable resources. Unlike oil, solar, wind and hydro electric power is abundant and can be obtained locally.
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When picking an energy resource for the topic of this paper, I bounced around a lot of ideas. Then it occurred to me that I should write about what I will be living with in about a month. My mom just finished designing and building our earthbag, solar, off-grid house, a four-year endeavor. I will soon live in a place powered by one of the most common alternative energy resources, solar energy, so I should learn more about it.
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