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Matthew Enten

Shannon Blair

English 111 09

27 November 2017

As the Hour Glass Empties

On an afternoon in autumn, a leaf falls from a tree. It gets carried by the breeze, and lands

softly on the surface of a river. Slowly, it begins to glide forward as it is pushed with the current.

This current however, is gaining speed quickly. Soon, the leaf is tumbling forward, splashing in

the white water, and up ahead the horizon drops off. It is a waterfall, the cutoff point, and the leaf

is moving faster and faster towards it. Now, when looking at the situation of the leaf, it is easy to

see how this parallels to Earths energy crisis. With fossil fuels dwindling and increasing

consumption rates, future renewable energy engineers will have many obstacles to overcome.

Of all these different challenges, the biggest one facing the future is our very limited

resources. According to Hannah Richie, an analyst with ourworldindata.org, societies only have

around 51 years left of oil reserves. This leads to people having to look elsewhere for energy, but

there are only enough natural gas deposits to last 53 years, and only enough coal resources to last

114 years. These predictions are shocking, especially when considering that all of the numbers

are based on the globes current energy use. Earths population is growing very quickly, and the

energy used per person is on the rise with it; improving technologies and standards of living

make that certain. In fact, the U.S. Energy Information Administration has predicted a 48%

increase in world energy consumption by 2040.

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With such a demand on the way, alternative sources have to be found. However, nuclear

power, thought to be the next most viable option, cannot scale its production to the needs of the

whole globe, which is around 15 terawatts of power. To make that much energy, only using

nuclear plants, it would take 15,000 reactors. On that type of scale, the amount of land needed,

money needed, pure fuel needed, and the amount of hazardous waste to dispose of would all be

enough reason to look elsewhere for power (Zyga, Lisa). Now, considering this and the fact that

coal, oil, and natural gas are running out rapidly, societies are going to have to turn to something

different for production.

Clearly, renewable energy engineers of the future will have a massive workload. There is

a lot of pressure on them as they try to catch up to demand, and this pressure is growing over

time, which may add a sort of stress to the workplace. The industry will grow as well, but the

problem is fast approaching. Procrastinating on the search for solutions will only make the

energy crisis more of a mad scramble, and granted, as the demand for renewable energy

increases, so will funding and research, but currently, there is a plethora of issues facing this

industry. Firstly, it takes around 50 years for a new technology or energy system to diffuse

through society (Garca-Olivares, Antonio). This means that the race against dwindling resources

has an even shorter deadline, and this creates even more pressure. Secondly, due to the high cost

of this kind of technology, projects are normally very small. Most work is done for a single

consumer, for example, when a large firm invests in a wind turbine. Another example is that

solar panels are much more popular than in the past, and this means that producing them has

gotten a lot cheaper. So much so, that often times, homeowners will install a few units on their

roofs to help pay for their bills. Now, these little contributions are wonderful, but in the end, they

do not make a dent in global energy demand. Almost everyone in todays society is business
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minded, and because of these small project sizes, most renewable energy firms are miniscule as

well (Usher, Eric. UN Environment Programme).

Very rarely will companies charter a large project, such as a wind or solar farm. Few

have the capability or even the desire of doing so. With the expensive cost, slow returns on

purchases, and relatively inefficient production, there is a major lack of incentives to invest in

renewable energy right now. That being the case, the initial consumers will likely have to pay

larger rates until the process becomes more industrialized. On top of that, depending on the

method used, production can be limited. At nighttime or during bad storms, solar panels cannot

produce any power. Without a gust of wind, a turbine is left basically useless. In addition, since

many are hesitant to try this technology, there is not a lot of data on its practical applications, nor

is there data on how soundly the machines operate in the workplace. All of these negative factors

lead to a higher risk for investors, turning them away to look for other solutions (Usher, Eric. UN

Environment Programme). People with careers in this industry will have to be resilient; almost

stubborn to some extent. Not only this, but they will have to be excellent communicators. On the

job, they utilize many modes of communication, written and unwritten, verbal and nonverbal,

technical and nontechnical (Brown, Meghan). Now, engineers will have to switch seamlessly

between these modes, and be able to talk convincingly with a person who does not have the

technical expertise. They may have to speak with a potential client, for example, one that will

likely have some hold-ups to investing in renewable energy.

It is evident that the engineers of tomorrow will have many issues to deal with. In order

to plan, it is helpful to understand different obstacles the industry faces today. Brian Stanley, an

author with the New York Renewable Energy, Engineering, and Recycling Group, kindly gives

another perspective of this kind of workplace. When asked, What are the biggest steps needed
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to happen in order for renewable energy to become prominent in production? Do you think it

will? In summary, he responded by saying the rules and regulations are often what holds his

company back from taking on projects. For instance, a wind turbine obviously has to be located

where wind is a constant. To an engineer, this means the breeze is blowing 11.2 miles per hour

or more. If it is slower than this, then the blades start dragging and no electricity is being

generated. So hypothetically, a breezy area is found where there is a lot of open space. Even

though a wind turbine would be perfect here, the land may be zoned for something else, or

perhaps the firm has a list of permits to acquire, and they are not able to get all the boxes

checked off the list (Stanley, Brian).

Later in the interview, Mr. Stanley was asked, As an expert, what would your advice be

to the next generation of engineers? He says that engineers are trained to think analytically, and

look for facts as support or substance. He says that the best engineers are the ones that have that

analytical thinking process, but can also go outside the box. The first solution, or the easy

solution, is almost never the right one. In addition, it is important to have experience, which is

credibility, and it is important to continue learning, which is staying competitive. The best

engineers will do both (Stanley, Brian). The renewable energy industry will have quite the task

coming up ahead, but it also has some of the most bright, creative minds ready to take on the

challenge.
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Works Cited

Brown, Meghan. 5 Skills Hiring Managers Look for in Engineering Grads. Engineering.com, 9

February 2016, https://www.engineering.com/JobArticles/ArticleID/13894/5-Skills-Hiring-

Managers-Look-for-in-Engineering-Grads.aspx. Accessed 26 November 2017.

Garca-Olivares, Antonio. "Energy for a Sustainable Post-Carbon Society." Scientia Marina, vol.

80, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientficas, 2016, pp. 257-268

Richie, Hannah. How Long Until We Run Out of Fossil Fuels? Our World in Data, 8 August

2017, https://ourworldindata.org/how-long-before-we-run-out-of-fossil-fuels. Accessed 26

November 2017.

Stanley, Brian. Personal Interview. 27 November 2017.

U.S. Energy Information Administration. EIA Projects 48% Increase in World Energy

Consumption by 2040. U.S. Energy Information Administration, 12 May 2016,

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=26212. Accessed 26 November 2017.

Usher, Eric. The Challenges and Opportunities of Sustainable Energy Finance. UN Environment

Programme,

http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/sdissues/technology/financingenergyprojects.pdf. Accessed

26 November 2017.

Zyga, Lisa. Why Nuclear Power will Never Supply the Worlds Energy Needs. Phys.org, 11 May

2011, https://phys.org/news/2011-05-nuclear-power-world-energy.html. Acessed 26

November 2017.