In the news and online today, all one can see is articles and headlines that seem to be predicting the future about how Global Warming will melt all the ice around us, and we will all be living underwater. Also, there is the claim that the since we are not using many renewable energy sources that we will run out of options, and just be left helpless with nowhere to turn to get gas, oil, electric and more. Thankfully, there are alternative sources of energy to turn to that could benefit not only the humans on this Earth, but also the environment, and surprisingly they are a huge part of the world we live in today.
One certain prediction is that by 2030, the United States could be producing around 30 million barrels of oil and gas a day, according to the New York Times. This may sound scary, and not the correct use of an alternative source of energy, but it could actually mean great things for our environment. This is because burning gas over coal is much better for the environment, so if Americans are producing a great amount of oil they could be exporting it to other countries, so that they can start this trend to, as a replacement of burning coal. So while the predictions may sound daunting, they could bring about great things.
Also, the Institute for Energy Research says that America is the country that takes part in using different sources of energy more than any other country. Some of these sources include, “hydropower, wood biomass, alternative biomass fuels, waste, geothermal, wind, and solar,” (Institute for Energy Research). There are so many renewable energy sources out there, according to the Institute for Energy Research, yet Americans only use about 22% of them compared to nonrenewable sources like fossil fuels. The problem with some of these renewable sources is that there are hard to tap into, or they are extremely expensive, therefore there is no real payoff. Some taxpayers become upset with the fact that they have to pay more money for these renewable sources, yet they do not believe that there is a problem with the current, nonrenewable energy sources being used. In the pie chart below, we can see that America may be the country that take part in using alternative sources of energy the most, but they are not using a lot, compared to nonrenewable sources.
With the rise of environmental problems over the past years, people have found more efficient ways to go about getting some of the more popular alternative sources of energy, like wind and solar power. In fact, the cost of solar plants have decreased by about 70%, and wind cost has decreased by around 25% from 2010 to 2016, according to the New York Times. This means that experts are finding cheaper ways to make solar panels and wind turbines, so they can be more accessible to those who thought they could not originally afford it. With the more people using these alternatives sources of energy, the better the environment will get.
Unfortunately, even with the decrease in the cost of these sources of energy, they are still super expensive, and need to be put in the right temperature settings to really become effective. For example, one could not put a solar panel in a place where it is raining or cloudy for most of the year like Seattle. One bright side to this is that the sun will always be here for as long as we are here, so there will alway be some sun to go around, even if you can only get a little bit of energy from it, it is still helping the environment by using an alternative and renewable source of energy.
There is a lot of debate around solar and wind power in that some experts believe that they will never be enough to replace the nonrenewable energy sources we are taking up today, and other believe that they have increased greatly in the past decade, and they will continue to do so in the following years. Expert Robert Rapier said that the best alternative source of energy for the past couple of years has been hydropower, which is power generated from moving water, but unfortunately all of the good locations for it have been taken. So, he is a big believer that solar and wind power are the next up and coming ways that will really change the way we use alternative sources of energy. With that said, Craig Pirrong believes that solar and wind power are just not enough to suffice. He relates the wind and solar energy problem to Rapier’s discovery about how there are no great places to get hydropower, by saying all of the good places to generate wind and solar power have been put into place. He believes that natural gas comes in the quantity we need to power the United States.
In the coming years, there is sure to be even more debate about the types of alternative source of energy we will use, how much it costs, and if there is any more room for it in America, but we are taking the right steps to better our environment through these debates. Through differing opinions we can learn what energy source we will truly benefit from, so it may take time, but we are taking the right steps to better our environment.
Sources:
The Institute for Energy Research