Alternative Energy Sources
should renewable energy replace fossil fuels?
Background
The term renewable energy means that it is not a fossil fuel and isn't harmful to the environment. Some examples of renewable energy are nuclear energy, solar energy, wind power, biomass, hydroelectric power, tidal power, geothermal energy and ethanol. Nowadays there is a lot of reasons for coming up with more renewable energy sources. These include the rising costs of oil and natural gas, the want to reduce America's dependency on foreign oil, potential oil and gas shortages because of the increasing energy needs of the developing world, and the environmental effects of burning fossil fuels. Many continue to examine the possibility of replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources. However, critics caution that renewable energy sources have not been proven reliable and are not cost-effective compared to fossil fuels.
Pros of Renewable Energy Sources
- Renewable sources of energy are renewable and easily regenerated.
- Renewable source of energy such as solar produce clean energy that does not pollute the environment. This is because no burning is required during usage of the energy.
- Renewable energy is available everywhere throughout the world so there is no chance of the sources becoming depleted in future. For example, solar energy is everywhere as the sun will always be there.
- Maintenance cost needed to install and use the renewable energy is relatively cheap. Solar energy can be trapped easily and used for domestic needs.
- Renewable sources of energy boost economic growth and increase job opportunities.
Why we shouldn't keep using fossil fuels
- There's a limited supply of fossil fuels that aren't going to last us forever.
- Fossil fuels formed from plants and animals that lived hundreds of millions of years ago and became buried underneath the Earth’s surface where their remains transformed into the combustible materials we use for fuel.
- We destroy ecosystems while mining and using these fossil fuels.
- Burning fossil fuels creates carbon dioxide, the number one greenhouse gas contributing to global warming.
- Oil spills have devastated ecosystems and coal mining has stripped lands of their richmess
Solar Energy
Solar energy is having the largest impact on home energy needs, and is expected to provide the energy needs for one billion people by the middle of this century. Homes can be fitted with solar panels, such as the ones pictured above.
Fossil Fuels
Fossil fuels come from marine plants and animals and are found only underneath the ocean or under land that was covered by the oceans millions of years ago. This oil rig is located offshore in the Arabian Gulf.
Wind Energy
Modern windmills have become very efficient at transferring the energy of wind to electricity. Wind power is an important part of the overall renewable energy sources for the future.