Alternative Energy : Alternative Fuels

There is one reason that hurts me the most about corn ethanol being used in the United States. That one reason is because of animals. One of the bad uses we do is using leftover corn ethanol to fed animals we consume today. Animals like chicken, cattle, and pig eating ethanol is passed on to us. For example, just like a fish eating plastic and us eating the fish. This does not sound appealing. However, not everyone is worried about this.

The Alternative energy industry in the United States has been at a steady rate of growth for the past decade, however there is still controversy over the use of renewable energies, their impact on the economy, and their impact on the environment. As controversial as the topic is, the argument boils down to a moral need to support environmental regulations, and an economical need to sustain domestic growth in the Energy industry of the United States. Mainly, the question is can alternative energy effective replace fossil fuels? There are of course arguments for both sides of this question.

The U.S. is using non-renewable resources affecting the environment and the resource itself negatively. This is a problem because the fossil fuels are creating a tremendous amount of Carbon Dioxide and the Carbon Dioxide is polluting the air. This is bad for the environment because of the amount of pollution and because of the way you obtain fossil fuels. This resource is not renewable, this means that the resource will run out over time. In this day and age, the demand for this resource is increasing rapidly due to overpopulation and the demand for more cars. If we could come up with a renewable resource to replace fossil fuels, then we wouldn't have to rely on a non-renewable resource any longer. This is where hydropower comes in. hydropower should replace fossil fuels and the U.S. a better place.

In the words of John McCain, “corn-based ethanol has been a case study in the law of unintended consequences” (Stossel 00:00:43-00:00:48). This news would astonish most because the general public has been told that ethanol is beneficial for the United States, due to it being a renewable resource, however, that is not true. When one thinks of the qualities of a renewable resource, they think of it being beneficial to the environment, having a positive energy balance, not requiring subsidies, mandates, and tariffs to function, and should not raise the price of its main input. Most renewable resources meet these goals, corn ethanol, however, does not meet any of these goals. It is safe to call ethanol a false economy because it does not have any

Growing corn for ethanol could be beneficial for the economy by providing more jobs as needed on the farms. The farmers would have to purchase more farm equipment which would boost our economy even more. Plus the fact that the US could cut out the middle man or the need to import ethanol from other countries; thus, keeping money inside our country and not giving it all away to other countries. This all looks good on paper for the economy but when it comes to the environmental side of things scientist seem to think there is more of a downside to this. I can see where the ethanol use as fuel from corn would be of great importance to the environment as it would cut out the need for the bad emissions released by straight gasoline.

First, the production of corn ethanol negatively impacts the U.S. food supply. That is, within the last few years, there has been a decline in corn-based food. As Kripke notes, “In 2008, the USDA estimate that 3.1 million bushels of U.S. corn will be used to produce biofuels. That’s an increase of nearly 50 percent over 2.1 million bushels last year.”

Two renewable alternatives to oil that are available are solar power and ethanol. Solar power will prevent the need of burning a lot of pounds of coal. The good thing with solar power is that there’s no acid rain, no urban smog overall no pollution of any kind. This will be amazing for our ecosystem. The government is trying to help with this because they know that investing in this can have environmental benefits. “Even long before society’s very existence is threatened by global warming, within the coming decades, global warming is projected to cost society trillions of dollars if left unabated. So, even ignoring the very long-term threat of societal suicide, fighting global warming with solar power will likely save society billions or even trillions of dollars”.(Shahan, 2013)

Since, fossil fuels have been a part of our environment for some time now, they have been the main resource we’ve needed and used to keep our country running. The truth of the matter is, since we obtain fossil fuels from plants and animals that lived millions of years ago they will soon be gone. As indicated by Eric McLamb, founder, chief executive officer, and president of the ecology communications group, “The problem is fossil fuels are nonrenewable. They are limited in supply and will one day be depleted.” People realize that the crisis of running out of fossil fuels is upon us; however, these same people are timid about moving on to renewable energy. One main reason is because individuals do not believe renewable energy is cost efficient. For instance, solar energy is known to be fairly expensive, particularly more expensive than the conventional energy used now, which makes people uncertain about changing to renewable energy.

As the world population rises, we are using more and more energy and it is depleting faster than ever. Our fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) will not last forever and at some point we will have to switch over completely to renewable energy sources. While most of the world still uses non-renewable energy sources, the future will rely on renewable energy and its applications. Right now, over 90% of the world still uses fossil fuels and developing countries even burn wood to generate energy. At the rate we are using our fossil fuels, they will not last us far into the 22nd century. Additionally, big consumers of fossil fuels like China, U.S., Russia, and India are creating large amounts of pollution and it is only increasing. For instance, India has major issues with pollution because of heavy traffic (which releases more fuel emissions into the air), the burning of biomass (wood and other organic matter), and runoff into lakes and rivers. Right now, our biggest goal should be to figure out how to implement more forms of renewable energy in our own society. We should start using renewable energy in America because: it is more environmentally friendly, opens up the job market, and improves the health of the public.

The U.S. should replace fossil fuel with renewable energy. There are many reasons that the U.S. can use renewable energy to improve the economy. First of all, renewable energy can have a more stable price. Unlike fossil fuel, renewable energy is a continual source of energy that will not be as demanded, and will not cause inflation. Next, using renewable energy is a key to having a clean and green environment. It will not cause pollution to the environment and will keep cities clean. Finally, the United States can provide more efficient jobs for unemployed workers. People will have more opportunities for jobs like installing or building any source of renewable energy. Replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy can be more efficient because it will have a stable expense, it is a clean way to help the environment, and it can provide several jobs.

Fossil fuels are an important part of life. When you turn on the lights, watch TV, or take a shower, the electricity that you are using is being generated by fossil fuels. The three types of fossil fuels are coal, crude oil, and natural gas. They all take millions of years to form, so they are considered to be “non-renewable”- eventually, the fossil fuels will all be used up. One dangerous biological effect of using fossil fuels is ocean acidification. Extracting and transporting fossil fuels can also be very dangerous. Environmentally damaging accidents such as groundwater contamination, land subsidence, and oil spills occur frequently. Global warming is another possible environmental effect. Fossil fuels have a crucial role in modern

Studies show that there is an increasing interest in alternative fuels for use in vehicles (cars and trucks). Most substitute energies are sourced from reusable products. Some of these alternative fuel products are produced domestically, and this reduces the United States dependence on imported fuel (Norman, 2007). The augmenting attention in substitute energies is motivated by numerous factors. To begin with, substitute energies result to reduced vehicle emissions; such emissions produced in the conformist vestige-energy result to orangery gases and haze. These effluent products have led to global concerns since they accelerate global warming and increasing air pollution.

The engine of today is largely dominated by the oil industry. Most of our energy consumption is contributed to transportation and movement of goods. This creates a high demand for fuel as the number of miles driven per person is projected to grow. Currently, 86% of vehicles run on fossil fuels, which create heavy amounts of carbon dioxide gas which puts heavy strain on our environment. It is up to large companies to research alternative methods of fuels and compare them to our most dominant fuel. At the moment, proposed alternative fuels are biodiesel, electricity, ethanol, and hydrogen fuel cells. If one of these proves to be a viable source, then we can move toward development of engines that accept these fuels and deviate from standard fossil fuel consumption.

“We should increase our development of alternative fuels, taking advantage of renewable resources”(Bobby Jindal). The automotive world has a need of propulsion for their motors. Gasoline has been doing the job since the first car was built. In modern times, we still use Gas as a propulsion. The time has come to reach out and seek alternative fuels. Industries have been looking into fuels such as ethanol, propane, and natural gas as better alternatives. Alternative fuels also provide a cleaner and more fuel efficient way to cut down on emissions. Some are even manufactured right here in the USA, reducing our need for imported oil, some are even produced with eco friendly sources. Emissions are the production and discharge of something, especially gas. Knowing this it is easier to understand why such fuels are being produced with the thought of the environment in mind In the automotive world, Alternative fuels are better because, they are easier to produce, they are economically feasible, they are better for the environment.

In the early 2000’s, the latest view of climate change and its devastating effect on the environment had scientists, politicians, and the business community worried about the contribution of human activities from the production of greenhouse gases such as the carbon dioxide emitted by cars. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which includes more than 1,300 scientists from the United States and other countries, has forecasted a temperature rise of 2.5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next century (The consequences of climate change, 2016). The explosion of industrial output is driven by the attempt to satisfy the voracious consumption and the increasing demand for consumer goods around the world. Rapid oil depletion has