Flavio Avalos
Period 5
The Ongoing Battle of Fossil Fuels Versus Renewable Resources
Fossil fuels have been the main source of the energy all over the world, they
increase the amount of CO2 emissions, and the emission of CO2 are a great cause of
global warming in the atmosphere, destroying the atmospheric layers. What can we do to
lower the demand of fossil fuels and become more eco friendly with renewable energy
resources? The percent of US transportation sector consumption is 95.4% fossil fuels
(Article 3), and this shows the reliance of the US on fossil fuels. As the Institute for
Energy states “Fossil Fuels make modern life possible”, that the only reason that our
modern society works and the privileges we get are all due to the fact of fossil fuels
(Article 3). Need I remind you fossil fuels are limited and could go out, where would that
leave this modern life we all so adore. Now fossil fuels are becoming more monopolistic,
controlling the energy, but how is that safe? Power equals money but energy equals
power. Fossil Fuels provide around 90% of the world’s energy; however, even though
fossil fuels may provide more energy they harm the environment while we use the
energy. There are three major sources in fossil fuels first coal, then natural gas, finally
petroleum. While renewable sources may not be as proving as the fossil fuels, they are
still making developments in the renewable resources technology and if expanded
renewable resources could prove just as effective as fossil fuels or maybe even more
effective. Renewable resources should be used more often than the fossil fuels, to reduce
our dependence on fossil fuels and to start a new era of energy making our modern life a
little more futuristic.
Energy relies on three basic necessities: first the dependence on the energy,
second is the amount composed, and lastly ease of appropriating. We are coming to the
point in society where we need energy just as badly we need oxygen. As mentioned
before the world’s energy is 90% fossil fuels and the US is not even the main supplier,
instead Saudi Arabia is the main crude oil supplier. If the US was to run out of their oil
deposits would we become as reliant on Saudi Arabia as we are to crude oil? Two
countries with so much tension, one would get the leverage and could possibly hold it
against the other. It is not impossible for Iceland; the greenest country in the world, only
has a dependence of 15 percent of its energy. Iceland uses renewable resources like
geothermal energy and hydropower energy, and combined makes 85% of its energy
showing fossil fuels are not greatly needed. “No country is perfect when it comes to
going green, there will always be trade-offs that occur for economic gains or convenience
factors” yes to lower dependence a country must make risks but what is life without
risks? Fossil fuels may be depended on but is that a good thing? Or are we just making
the US more dependent on others?
When it comes to energy there are two aspects that show the reliance of the
resource, but how much energy can it produce and how limited is the supply to the use
we need? All resources are renewable some just take longer than others, for example
solar power can get its source faster than the energy used, fresh water is in between
renewable and nonrenewable because it uses just as much as is being produced, while
coal is a nonrenewable resource because we have less sources and we overuse the energy
faster than the source can renew. Considering that fossil fuels are limited it may be
unreliable in one aspect but for how much energy it can produce is an entirely different
story. Energy is measured with kWh = kilowatt-hour and a typical coal plant makes
around 2.2 billion kWh per year, to explain more thoroughly an average household
requires around 11,280 kWh yearly. With those stats a coal plant can supply energy for
195,035 annually. While Renewable resources might not run out are they as productive as
a coal fossil fuels plant? At the same time a wind turbine produces around 2.5-3 MW this
can produce around 6 million kWh a year, which can provide energy for 531 US homes.
Yet that is for only one turbine; with offshore turbine farms this number can increase so if
you were to have 10 turbines the number would increase 10 fold making 531 us homes
increase to 5,319 US homes.
The question then is can we get the resource as easily as we can get dirt? Well
geothermal is just as easy, first we must understand how geothermal energy even works.
Geothermal energy is the process of building underground to grab and rotate the earth’s
inner heat and brings it into the house. This process has no harmful effect to the
environment and is better that any fossil fuel way of heating a house or a building. We
are at a point that we are not going to run out of places to dig but as said before coal is
limited. Many economists fight to keep fossil fuels with the idea that you will be getting
rid of jobs, but if you make other plants to make energy you would be increasing jobs and
helping the flow of the economy. Renewable is always a way to easily have access to the
source while non renewable must be searched for and reused.
In conclusion, this essay shows both the advantages and disadvantages of both
sources of energy. It is up to you to decide which is better for human life, and for the life
of our future children.. Should we keep living in the “Modern life” or should we finally
start the futuristic era where we are both green and caring not just for us but for Mother
Earth.
Citations:
Article 1:
Williams, John T. "Renewable Energy Vs. Fossil Fuel." Small Business. Demand Media,
Jan.-Feb. 2014. Web. 24 Jan. 2014.
Article 2:
"Monopolistic Utilities Know Renewable Energy Will Cut Their Profits, So They Stall
It." Monopolistic Utilities Know Renewable Energy Will Cut Their Profits, So They Stall
It. Ed. Mark Karlin. Buzzflash.com, 30 Dec. 2013. Web. 24 Jan. 2014.
Article 3:
"Fossil Fuels." Institute for Energy Research. Ed. Institute for Energy Research, IER.
Instituteforenergyresearch.org, 8 Nov. 2013. Web. 24 Jan. 2014.
Article 4:
Withgott, Jay, and Scott R. Brennan. Environment: The Science behind the Stories. Third
ed. San Francisco: Pearson/Benjamin Cummings, 2010. Print.
Article 5:
Rodrigue, Jean P. "International Oil Transportation." International Oil Transportation.
The Geography of Transport Systems, 5 June 2013. Web. 24 Jan. 2014.
Article 6:
European Wind Energy Asscociation. "Electricity Can One Wind Turbine Generate? Global Wind Day." Global Wind Day. European Wind Energy Accosiation, 23 July 2013.
Web. 24 Jan. 2014.