Alternative Energy Tradeoffs

Mary Maloney sat in the nursery holding her daughter while her son slept gently. She had no idea that she was going to have twins, it actually quite scared her frankly. She felt peaceful hoping that her children would never find out about the murder and if they did, they wouldn’t report it, which wasn’t the case but we’ll elaborate on that later.

Firearms are the cause of death for more than 31,000 people per year, making it the 2nd leading cause of death for people ages 15-24 (National Center for Injury Control and Prevention). As the debate over gun control continues to spread throughout the nation like the plague, everyone is trying to choose a side. Some argue that their Second Amendment Rights are being infringed on, however, when looked at in detail that is not the case. Many others argue the regulation of guns is not beneficial because criminals are okay with doing illegal things, therefore they will obtain guns anyway. There is much, however, to disprove that. These weapons are the reason why the United States has such a high rate of violence even with such high wealth. Criminals should not have the access they currently have to such destructive weapons. Gun control must be put in place in order to decrease much of the violence and death by firarem that the United States has.

account for a very small percent of the energy used by the U.S. (nearly 2

During the third quarter, my English class was assigned a two-part book project on the epic poem we were reading, The Odyssey by Homer. This poem is about the ten-year struggle of a cunning, strong man named Odysseus to return home after the Trojan War. Odysseus battles mythical creatures and faces the wrath of the Greek gods, all while his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus try to stir away the suitors who want to marry Penelope and gain Ithaca's throne.

Claim: Solar power has the potential to become the United States main supply of energy and replace are needs for more conventional and harmful forms of power generation.

Energy runs everything. Energy makes your cars move, powers electronic devices, and makes light bulbs give emit light. Where does almost all of this energy come from? Currently, standard fossil fuels provide for 82% of the United States’ energy demand (Bradley et al.). Many people depend on power from a highly limited source of energy known as fossil fuels. The world’s main sources of these fuels suffer substantial deprivation. The question of what will happen once these deposits become fully deprived of oil remains a serious issue. The world will fall into turmoil unless a majority of people switch to an alternative source of energy as soon as possible. Alternative sources of energy typically cost more economically, although alternative energy sources remain much more reliable and green when compared to fossil fuels. Along with reliability, with advancements in technology, those alternative energy sources have the potential to take over the need for fossil fuels and become far less expensive to harness and utilize. The utilization of these alternative energy sources would not only fix the issues regarding the Middle East and having to rely on their harnessing of oil, but also many modern economic problems remaining from the need for oil from the Middle East.

Energy is everywhere. Energy makes your car move, powers your electronic devices, and makes a bulb give off light. Where does almost all of this energy come from? Currently, fossil fuels are used to provide for 82% of the United States’ energy demand (Bradley et al.). The world is powered heavily upon a highly limited source known as fossil fuels. The world’s main sources of these fuels are being heavily deprived of. What will happen once these deposits become fully deprived of oil? The world will fall into turmoil unless we switch to an alternative source of energy as soon as possible. Alternative sources of energy are typically more expensive, although the resources are more reliable and green. Along with reliability, with modern advancements in technology, those alternative energy sources have the potential to take over the need for fossil fuels and become far less expensive to harness and utilize. The utilization of these alternative energy sources would not only fix the issues regarding the Middle East and having to rely on their harnessing of oil, but also many modern economic problems that are caused by this need for oil from the Middle East.

The primary source of energy in the United States is fossil fuels – for heating, power, and electricity generation – but we have a limited supply [1]. In addition to limited quantity, the burning of fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming as well as pollutants that cause asthma, acid rain, smog, and more [1]. Alternate sources of energy generation have been studied – among them hydro, tidal, wind, biomass, geothermal, and of course solar energy – to reduce dependency on fossil fuels, to have “clean” energy sources, and because they are all unlimited resources [1].

Solar energy always seemed to be good alternate because the sun is reliable and its power is astronomical. In one second the amount of solar energy that hits the earth is equivalent to an 8.0 earthquake and in one hour the sun hits the earth with enough energy to meet the demand of all energy consumption. So far in the past one hundred years humans have used two trillion barrels of oil, and in the next thirty we will use another trillion. This oil took millions of year to make. The sun, on the other hand, hits the earth with enough energy in 2 days to be equivalent to three trillion barrels of oil! Recall that the US consumes 25% of the world’s energy and only has less than 5% of the population. If America was covered in 2% solar cells it would meet the all energy means of the nation, and if covered in .3% then it would meet the electrical needs. The world needs 14 terawatts of energy per year to run.

Without electrical energy, society would collapse. Some argue that we would not have the environmental problems that the earth is plagued with today without modern technology, and other critics luddistically suggest relying on a minimal supply of energy and low technology. "There are some...who foresee...when all our electricity will be solar...It is a world of low technology and a simpler life...They call it living in harmony with nature, but it might also be called sliding back toward the lifestyle of our primeval ancestors...[and] there would be no place for...large industrial operations except, presumably, for manufacturing solar cells" (Cohen).

In today’s world when we think about energy sources, there are 2 classifications they can be split into: renewable and non-renewable sources of energy. Fossil fuels are the backbone for most of the energy we use today. We need this fuel for almost all of our daily routine, from lighting a fire to running heavy machinery, but with increase in population there has been an increasing demand of such energy. Fuels like these tend to give massive amount of energy but also affect the environment by producing harmful gases and residue. With the depletion of the fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum we needed to switch to alternate form of energy which and there has been an ever greater need for a cleaner and renewable form of energy. Humans have tried to find many alternative (and renewable) forms of energy such as wind and water but not at a very large scale. With an abundance of solar energy available to harvest, it is one of the most widely cultivated renewable forms of energy.

We all rely on some sort of power source for our household appliances, devices, lighting and entertainment needs. Sadly, the electricity used in the majority of our homes are powered by something dangerous, fossil fuels. Fossil fuels release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and gradually disrupts nature and pollutes the air. Now imagine a reliable alternative source of energy that can fix this issue. Solar energy is the answer. We cannot reverse the devastating damages caused by fossil fuels, but we can take a step forward in the right direction by switching the power in our homes to a solar panel system. Ask yourself why you have not switched to solar panels yet. It is possibly due to misconceptions such as it being too expensive,

Alternative energy sources can be a sufficient replacement for fossil fuel because some forms of alternative energy are recyclable and may be safer for the environment. For example, wind energy does not cause any types of pollutants that can damage the health of people all over the world. Wind Energy may be created by machines called wind turbines, that look like plane propellers on a long and steep pole. The blowing winds are able to turn its propellers to provide energy for an electric generator that distributes electric currents. These wind turbines have the strength to provide energy for any small or large business all over the world (National Geographic, n.d.). Another form of alternative energy that may provide a safer environment than fossil fuels has is solar energy. When solar energy panels are hit by a ray of sun, the material produces an electrical charge that can be transferred through a circuit to anything that is powered by electricity (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2012). These two alternative forms of energy can produce large quantities of power by using the Earth’s natural resources. This may lead to less pollution as well as protection of the Earth’s landscape in the future.

One of the main determining factors behind America and their decision to either continue supporting the oil industry, or moving towards renewable energy sources is the ability to evaluate the validity of alternative energy sources at hand. There are a number of alternative energy sources available including; solar, tidal, wind, and biofuels to just name a few. The growing trend in the twenty-first century is to be environmentally cautious of the impact from

The U.S. Energy Future is one of the most talked about subjects in science. There are many different types of alternative energy to using fossil fuels. Scientists have warned the population that the fossil fuels that we current use for our main fuel source may run out in less than 100 years (James Trefil & Robert Hazen, 2013). While the fossil fuels are readily available to our current generations, we need to start making great results in switching our main energy source to more renewable energy for our future generations. I have researched a few of the most popular alternative energy sources for the U.S. future.