March 30th,
2014
When
I think about the resources that we have and the dependency we have on other
countries it really has me wondering what if we didn’t those resources and we
had to depend on ourselves? To be honest that’s a hard question to answer.
First
of what are some of resources we depend on? The first one that comes to mind is
obviously the sun. Most of the energy we capture for use on earth originates in
the nuclear reactions powering the sun. For example coal, oil, natural gas and
even the wind and hydropower we harness to generate electricity, originally
derive their energy content from the sun. Some facts on energy resources are 40%
of U.S energy from all sources is used to generate electricity, in 2008 fossil
fuels provided almost 85% of the energy used in the United States, 20% of our
electricity was generated by nuclear fuel in 2008 and lastly, emerging
technologies is a huge one that’s happening right now and things that derive
from that is electric vehicles, biofuels and hydrogen fuel cells so as noted we
have a lot of resources that we depend greatly on to keep us moving every day.
We
depend greatly on fossil fuels along with nuclear energy supply about 93% of
the world’s energy which a lot is considering that they are non-renewable
energy sources. Renewable energy at the time is only supplying about 7% of the
world’s energy which ultimately isn’t close to being enough. I ask myself how
long would it be before the fossil fuels are depleted. Scientist predict 50 to
150 years and that isn’t long enough at all, sure it won’t happen in my life or
not even my kids’ lives but definitely will happen in my grandkids and great
grandkids lives. The biggest factor on how long fossil fuels are going to last
depend greatly on the world’s population and I don’t see that dying off anytime
soon if anything there will just be continued growth for years to come. So what
are some alternatives that we should really take advantage of that we already
have? My opinion is that we should find use out of the sources we’ve had for
millions of years which is the sun, water and wind. They don’t pollute the
earth, they’re renewable and efficient. Obviously the object is to capture and
harness their mechanical power and convert it to electricity in the most
effective and productive manner possible. There is enough renewable energy to
supply the entire world’s energy needs forever but the challenge is to develop
a method that’s effective and economically capture, store and use the energy
when needed. I believe that it can happen look at the how far they’ve come with
electric cars, the use of solar
energy and modern windmills to name a few. Another possibility of generating
energy is through the use of more dams.
Coming
up with new and improved ways to generate energy is essential to us now and in
years to come because really there is no turning back when it comes to energy
sources so coming up with new ways to crucial. Our dependence upon nonrenewable
energy resources is a potential recipe for disaster.
“Our Energy Sources” http://needtoknow.nas.edu/energy/energy-sources/
“Fossil Fuels vs. Renewable Energy” http://www.ecology.com/2011/09/06/fossil-fuels-vs-renewable-energy-resources/
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