Reclaiming Clean Energy from Wastewater
As the Earth becomes more developed many changes in the environment are becoming apparent. These changes are unexpected and often faced with opposition from skeptics. One of these problems is climate change, also known as global warming. Global warming is caused by the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases are produced on a large scale by combustion of fossil fuels. A major contributor to greenhouse emissions is the combustion of coal, oil, and gas in power plants. Many options to fossil fuels as a source of energy have been suggested, but with increasing energy demands our society is reluctant to risk a change. Alternatives such as wind energy, nuclear power, and
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Reductions in greenhouse gas and criteria pollutant emissions will have a myriad of effects that will benefit humanity.
The decrease in fossil fuel combustion will benefit humanity by reducing global warming and by improving health of individuals. According to Plan B the raise in world temperatures could lead to increased intensity and occurrence of severe storms, the raise of sea levels, and the increased occurrence of heat waves. These factors adversely affect tourism, insurance, and agriculture (Brown). The raise of sea levels even only one meter will displace millions of people. Heat waves have killed thousands of people in the last few decades. These are severe complications that arise with global warming, this alone should encourage governments to shift focus from fossil fuels to clean energy sources. This is not where the benefits of clean energy stop. The health of all humans is affected by other byproducts of combustion of fossil fuels, the criteria pollutants.
The combustion of fossil fuels releases toxic substances in addition to greenhouse gases. Nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, ozone, particulates, and carbon monoxide are all products of fossil fuel combustion (Moore). These criteria pollutants all adversely affect human respiratory systems increasing the occurrences of asthma, respiratory infections, and
In the last 100 years, the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has increased, causing the Earth to warm by an average of 0.6 degrees celsius, largely a result of burning fossil fuels for energy, transportation, and land use changes increased for food production. The basic science is straightforward and climate researchers have shown that gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and others can trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere, causing a phenomenon known as the greenhouse effect. Human activities such as industry, transport, energy generation and deforestation all produce these greenhouse gases. In the last 20 years, concern has grown that global warming is inevitable and now considered most probably caused by man-made increases in
We all know that fossil fuels and harsh burning of chemicals are bad for our environment. Through the cause of global warming and the depletement of the atmosphere it is apparent. From the start of coal burning all the way through nuclear
` The continuous use of fossil fuels is leading the Earth on a path to destruction. Generations of advancement and technological innovation being brought down to rubble. Natural disasters wreaking havoc on innocent people across the world. Temperatures soaring above 125℉ globally. These are the results of the excessive use of fossil fuels. A chief concern in the 21st century is global warming and climate change, and the continued use of fossil fuels for the technology and daily lives of humans is key to blame. Decades ago, these problems were much more daunting and seemingly unsolvable than they are today, with the use of alternative energy sources and new
U.S dependency on fossil fuels adversely affects the environment and the economy. The dependency the U.S has with oil has been going on for a long time. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that fossil fuels were responsible 79% of greenhouse gas emissions in 2010 (Dorsey). Moreover, dependency on fossil fuel is expensive; governments are still spending up to $88 billion every year supporting fossil fuel exploration (Rowell). Stopping U.S dependency on fossil fuel will not only help the economy but the environment as well.
“720 tons of carbon monoxide is a main cause of global warming (Why We Need To Quit Coal)”, “3.7 million tons of carbon dioxide which is a greenhouse gas also contributes to global warming(Why We Need To Quit Coal)”, “10,200 tons of nitrogen oxide which is a main contributor to smog and acid rains(Why We Need To Quit Coal)”, also over “125,000 tons of ashe and 193,000 tons of sludge from smokestack scrubbers from coal plants(Why We Need To Quit Coal)”. There are many ways to get rid of coal completely but would take a lot of time and space. “We could build 243 hydroelectric dams that have hoover dams generating capacity which is about 2,000 megawatts(Kenward)”. “We could build 10,200 solar energy farms the size of the largest, Topaz energy farm in California but the space needed for this would be about three times the size of Delaware (kenward)”. “We could build 194,000 wind turbines having 2 megawatts each but that's about 8,000 (Kenward)” a year to reach Obama's goal, or “we could build 64 nuclear power plants the size of indian point power station in New York” (Kenward)”. This is all examples of clean energy that we have the technology for but would take a lot of time, money, and space. But with clean energy there is always cons. “If we converted to water power some good things that would happen would be, expands irrigation, provides water for 30% of irrigated land, and provides drinking water(Sideris)”! Now some cons are, “Water wars between the dams, maintenance on dams, expensive, and people would have to relocated(Sideris)”. “For nuclear power it would be very bad because a meltdown could occur and end up like chernobyl(Sideris)”! But not everything is bad about nuclear power like, “the fuel can be recycled, low cost,
While fossil fuels continue to drive human development, it causes great damage to our environment. For example, the polar ice caps are slowly melting away due to global warming. This is because everything has waste. We fuel our bodies with food, as a result, we get waste. We fuel engines with fossil fuels, as a result, we get waste, just in a different
The United States relies heavily on fossil fuels as its main source of energy and with the limited supply, we 'll have to develop and utilize alternative sources for clean, renewable, cheap and effective energy to power this country and the world into the future. It will be important for the health of our planet to utilize renewable resources that have no greenhouse gas emission. Out of necessity the world will eventually need to stop using fossil fuels for energy.
Fossil fuels are a major contributor to global warming. The use of oil, gas and coal is the enormous to fuel our transportation, warm our houses, and run our businesses. To begin with, oil is found in almost every area of our lifes. From the beginning of when we find oil to when we throw an oil product away we are adding to global warming. When they find oil, they get it out of the ground. When they get it out of the ground, they pollute the environment by using machinery. The machinery pollutes the air because the carbon monoxide is given off from the machines goes into our atmosphere. If they are “mining” the oil then large amounts of the land is destroyed and will take man, many years to grow again. Again the machinery that is used to strip the oil from the land pollutes the air with its carbon monoxide. The process that is used to take the oil out of the sand also pollutes the air. In addition to that, any of the products that are made from oil result in pollution in the way of factories putting smoke into the air.
Not only will this show that individuals can make a change, but also that everyone plays a part in climate change. Furthermore, change can be implemented at a federal level. Clean energy can be easily produced by the United States and will be beneficial towards the corporations, vehicles, and small farms. Once the government turns resources towards building machines for clean energy such as solar panels and wind turbines, the economy will save $465 billion each year by 2030 according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (1). Also, 1.2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide per year which is approximately 20% of fossil fuel emissions will be reduced (1). Switching to clean energy will not only decrease global warming, but have great benefits from the investments such as less health effects that come from pollution and
Along with the greenhouse effect, burning fossil fuels also creates human health problems. The chemicals and gasses released instantly cause damaged cells, stress, and illness in respiratory systems. Some future health effects include shortened life span, diseases like bronchitis, emphysema, asthma, and cancer, and aging and loss of capacity in lungs.3 These are all serious health problems notably found in North Americans. Health-harming pollution can be prevented and stopped if people become informed about the causes and effects of it.
The environment is negatively affected be the burning of fossil fuels. The affects of the gases contribute to global warming, along with acid rain and polluted air. This pollution cuts short an estimated 30,000 American lives according to the Clean Air Task Force (Rich). The United States must stop using fossil fuels because the gases produce harm the environment we live causing harm to come all the citizens. “The future of energy production will
Human health is personally affected, and it creates serious risks for all other organisms too. The ways that I have been personally affected by the use of nonrenewable fossil fuels is by the emissions of different gases into the atmosphere and having breathed them in over the last eighty-five years. I have contracted asthma and chronic bronchitis from the poor air quality.
. Collecting fossil fuels poses a danger to many ecosystems that have unexpected consequences, like the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2010, one of the largest oil spills in the world occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, and it damaged sea corals as well as other ecosystems (Source 2). Alternative fuels also do not have a negative effect on the atmosphere like fossil fuels. Fossil fuels destroy the atmosphere, burning fossil fuels creates carbon dioxide, the number one greenhouse gas contributing to global warming (Source 1).
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
Fossil fuels are essential to life on earth as we know it today. Our world would certainly be much different if it weren’t for such seemingly simple things such as coal, oil, and natural gas. These basic elements of life on earth may not seem like a major concern to some people until we put into perspective how they have shaped our world today. Civilizations have been built, economies have risen and crumbled, and even wars have been fought over these precious fossil fuels. However, these fossil fuels serve us in ways we may never truly appreciate, as long as we use them as recklessly as we do now. The major entity about fossil fuels is concerning their longevity and permanence in our world, and we all know, they will be around forever.