Booth 1

Ashlynn Booth

Mrs. Bazil

Comp II

January 25, 2019

Today’s Impact on Tomorrow

In 100 years, there will be flying cars, drones will be delivering Amazon packages, and

everything will be shiny and clean, especially the pet robots, or so we think. Since the beginning

of the 21st century, there has been many technological advances and innovations that have paved

the way for a better world. In the wake of these amazing new findings, most nation’s leaders are

not doing anything to help preserve the Earth, so we will be able to thrive in the future. In fact,

24 countries depend on fossil fuels for over 95% of their energy, and an additional 10 countries

use them for over 90% of their energy (Dillinger). If nations throughout the world do not make

the very necessary switch from nonrenewable, polluting sources of energy to renewable,

nonpolluting sources of energy, then the effects on the Earth will be detrimental in the near

future. There are many alternative sources of energy that could decrease, and possibly reverse,

the amount of damage done on the Earth.

Global warming can and will singlehandedly destroy the Earth’s future, but there are

ways to stop the effects of it. There are many causes of global warming, but the biggest

contributor and the most possible to fix is the world’s burning of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are

natural gasses that many nations throughout the world essentially burn in order to obtain energy,

resulting in a high amount of pollution. That pollution then builds up in the Earth’s atmosphere,

causing the well-known concept that is global warming. Although this is a topic that many

scientists and politicians are aware of, nobody is doing much about it: between 1995 and 2002,
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the world’s fossil fuel use and dependency increased more than ever, despite the 10 global

conferences aimed to fixing this issue (Scheer 2). Interestingly, “in 1990, according to the

International Energy Agency, global consumption of fossil energy resources (petroleum, coal,

natural gas) came to 5.63 billion tons” and “in 2002 it was already 8.13 billion tons, which

corresponds to an increase of 44 percent in just 12 years” (Scheer 2). Despite these statistics

being from 20 years ago, they are still very relevant in today’s world, because it shows how

rapidly the need for energy increased—similar to the high need for energy now— and how there

was nothing done about it—comparable to today’s lack of motivation for renewable energy—

regardless of how much thought was put in about doing something. The switch to alternative

forms of energy, however hard it may be, will essentially preserve the Earth in the condition that

it is in today, which will keep the population healthy and thriving for another five billion years.

Renewable energy is an amazing alternative form of energy which can help the Earth stay

habitable for many years to come. There are even more benefits to them than just saving the

Earth, such as, more jobs will be available to work on the new power plants which will help the

economy, the price of gasoline and other fuels will go down, and electric bills will be

significantly lower. Additionally “lower emissions, lower fuel prices and the reduction of

pollution are all [main] advantages that the use of alternative fuels can often provide” (“11

Different Sources of Alternative Energy”). Two amazingly beneficial forms of renewable energy

are solar energy and wind energy because of their availability and output of power. Basically,

solar energy can be harvested wherever the sun shines, and wind energy can be harvested

wherever the wind blows, making these two the main renewable sources of energy. Although the

components of producing solar power are expensive, the amount of money saved in energy

bills—and not to mention the relief on the Earth—will quickly pay for itself (“11 Different
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Sources of Alternative Energy”). Because of its affordability and efficiency, wind energy has

become a part of a reality as more and more wind farms have been popping up throughout the

Midwest. These wind farms have brought nothing but benefits to their surrounding areas, and

will soon spread across the United States, producing more wind energy, resulting in a decrease in

the amount of fossil fuels that are being burned for energy. Through these two sources alone, the

amount of energy obtained from fossil fuels has decreased in the U.S., despite the increasing

need for energy (Smith and Taylor 30). Other countries should follow America’s path and begin

to utilize renewable energy sources.

Additional to solar and wind energy, there are many more renewable forms of energy.

Tidal energy and hydrogen energy are two of those other forms; they are very different, but they

are also very similar. Both are not very common, but very beneficial for the Earth and they both

put out large amounts of energy. Interestingly enough, tidal energy is more reliable than any

other form of renewable energy because of its low cost installation, efficiency, and durability

(Gharpure). Tidal energy is most beneficial around the coastline, but it can also be used in rivers

and lakes alike. On the other hand, hydrogen energy is not completely renewable, and not quite

considered a form of energy, but it basically enhances the benefits of other renewable sources of

energy: “used in a fuel cell, it mixes with oxygen to create electricity and emits only water”

instead of the damaging pollutants that are emitted by the burning of fossil fuels (Smith and

Taylor 31). Additionally, hydrogen can be burned, similar to how fossil fuels are burned, but

they do not release anything harmful into the atmosphere. These two sources are becoming more

prevalent which will decrease the amount of fossil fuels used even more.

Another one of the many incredibly beneficial alternative energy sources is nuclear

energy. Nuclear energy is very versatile, so its benefits can be used everywhere. It already
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provides a great deal of energy throughout the U.S. and in other countries as well, and could

easily become the leading energy source through some motivation and work (“Nuclear Energy”).

By itself, nuclear energy could almost eliminate the use of fossil fuels completely, let alone what

it could do with the help of the numerous other sources of renewable energy. As a plus,

“compared to fossil fuels, nuclear power is a much cleaner source of energy” because they

release little to none of the harmful emissions that fossil fuels do and, as a bonus, “nuclear power

plants can be built anywhere, making them a very modular energy source” (Smith and Taylor

38). Nuclear energy very well can be the future of the energy industry, but the only thing missing

is the motivation to do so.

Just one of these many alternative forms of energy is not enough. The use of many of

them combined will help completely eliminate the use of fossil fuels which is the overall end

goal. Specifically, in the U.S., solar energy can be used in sunny places, like the majority of the

entire southern half of the U.S., wind energy can be used in the windy parts, mainly the Midwest,

tidal energy can be used along coastlines and rivers, and nuclear energy can be implemented

wherever it is needed, places where these other natural sources are not abundantly available.

Regardless of the amount of work that is needed to start using these alternative sources of

energy, the benefits will not only help the future of the Earth, but will be seen almost

immediately, which is especially useful in the fight against global warming. By making these

necessary changes, global warming can become a fear of the past. Unfortunately, we will not see

many of these changes to alternative energy sources until the Earth is deteriorated to a point of

no return. Leaders throughout the world need to realize that without making these very necessary

changes now, the future world cannot thrive like it does today, and it will have to worry more

about fixing the damage that was caused in today’s world.

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Works Cited

“11 Different Sources of Alternative Energy.” Renewable Resources Coalition,

https://www.renewableresourcescoalition.org/alternative-energy-sources/. Accessed 12

January 2019.

Dillinger, Jessica. “Fossil Fuel Dependency by Country.” Worldatlas,

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-the-most-dependent-on-fossil-fuels.html.

Accessed 12 January 2019.

Gharpure, Y. H. “Tidal Energy Harvesting.” Chemical Business, vol. 28, no. 10, Oct. 2014, p.

42. EBSCOhost, dell-

cx.allencc.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5

h&AN=99308940&site=eds-live. Accessed 12 January 2019.

“Nuclear Energy.” Monthly Energy Review, Apr. 2018, p. 129. EBSCOhost, dell-

cx.allencc.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5

h&AN=129349527&site=eds-live. Accessed 12 January 2019.

Scheer, Hermann. Energy Autonomy: The Economic, Social and Technological Case for

Renewable Energy. Routledge, 2007. EBSCOhost, dell-

cx.allencc.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nl

ebk&AN=181744&site=eds-live.

Smith, Zachary A., and Taylor, Katrina D. “Renewable and Alternative Energy Resources: A

Reference Handbook.” ABC-CLIO, 2008. EBSCOhost, dell-

cx.allencc.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nl

ebk&AN=253124&site=eds-live. Accessed 12 January 2019.