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Clean Energy by Aidan D

Page history last edited by aidand 10 years, 4 months ago

 

 

Renewable Energy

By Aidan D

 

Have you ever walked through a large city and breathed the dangerous, foul smell of pollution from the burning of fossil fuels for energy?  It's depressing to know that the world you live in is being corrupted by the pollution of fossil fuels.  The use of clean energy like solar and wind generation will allow for an infinite supply of energy, unlike their fossil fuel counterparts which will eventually run out if we continue to use them.  Clean energy sources also do not pollute like fossil fuels do, thus the term "clean" energy.  Finally, America relies too much on other countries for energy through foreign fossil fuels and it’s a reason that we are in debt, but using renewable energy sources will allow America to repay debts instead of deepening them.  America should switch to the use of clean, renewable energy as soon as possible.

 

If we switch to clean energy we will have an unlimited source of energy.  Coal, oil, and natural gas reserves are becoming less common.  Not only that, but it takes about 500 million years for fossil fuels to form.  This is a sign that we need to focus on researching renewable energy because if we don't, we will eventually run out of fossil fuels, leaving us very few things to effectively supply energy for us.  Joseph Doherty of Ohio State University estimated that all of the world's easily accessible petroleum deposits will run out in a little less than 50 years.  If we continue focusing on fossil fuels, we will eventually run out of resources to power our lives.

 

The burning of fossil fuels releases emissions into the atmosphere that trap greenhouse gasses such as methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide.  This leads to accelerated climate change, also known as global warming.  According to the World Meteorological Organization, the world temperature has risen by .166 degrees centigrade over the last four decades (2-3x increase since four decades ago).  It might not be much, but if it continues, there could be bad effects due to temperature scaling up over time, such as melting of the polar icecaps which would raise the water level and drown coastal cities.  Burning fossil fuels also is directly bad for the environment and animals in it.  These emissions can cause acid rain where scrubbers have not been developed to filter certain chemicals from the fossil fuel emissions.  The effect of the acid rain is devastating to the environment by killing trees and other plants as well as damaging buildings.  One example of this is the fact that Switzerland lost 14 percent of its forests due to acid rain (www.elmhurst.edu).  Emissions can also be trapped inside enclosed areas by temperature inversion in the atmosphere.  When temperature inversions happen in the atmosphere, it creates a blanket that traps noxious gasses causing smog.  This fog can be extremely dangerous to the environment.  The smoggy air becomes toxic and is very dangerous to breathe.  An example of this is the Great Smog of London in 1952 which cause thousands of deaths due to the toxic smog.  A more recent example is smog that occurred in Salt Lake City, Utah in January 2013.  Officials strongly encouraged that people stay indoors and keep away from the toxic fumes.

 

Currently, America relies mostly on other countries for oil, coal, natural gas, and energy.  As an effect of this, America has a huge debt problem.  We owe billions of dollars to other countries, and it doesn't help that we have to purchase resources and energy from other counties.  If we switch to renewable energy, we can generate an unlimited amount of energy for absolutely free, except to buy the solar panels initially.  Over the last few years, the price of solar panels and wind turbines has gone down and the percentage of energy generated for the U.S by renewable energy sources has gone up, so costs should not bother us as much as the amount of money we spend on foreign fossil fuels and energy.

 

Use of clean, renewable energy will yield many good things and provide solutions to many of the world's problems like pollution, climate change, lack of resources, and national debt issues.  If we switch to clean energy then we will have a source of unlimited energy, a source of energy that doesn't pollute, and an energy source that that is cheap to sustain for a long period of time.  I believe that we should research and switch to clean, renewable energy sources as soon as possible.

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