Energy Choices Usa Vs. Brazil Essay

The U.S obtains more than 84% of its energy from fossil fuels including oil, coal and natural gas. This is because people rely on it to heat their homes, power industries, run vehicles, manufacturing, and provision of electricity. It is apparent that the country’s transportation industry highly depends on conventional petroleum oil, which is responsible for global warming, thus threatening economic opulence and national security. Apart from that, increasing consumption of fossil fuels have elevated health problems in the state, destroyed wild places, and polluted the environment. After conducting Environmental Impact Assessment, projections showed that the world energy consumption would increase by more than 56% between 2010 and 2040. However, fossil fuels will cater for more than 80% of the total energy used in 2040. Sadly, it will be a trajectory to alter the world’s climate, as well as, weaken the global security environment. Importantly, the rate at which the US relies on fossil fuels needs to reduce since it has adverse effects on the planet’s supplies. The society needs to realize that fossil fuels are nonrenewable, thus taking millions of years to form (Huebner, 2003). Notably, the country can reduce dependency on fossil fuels by practicing energy conservation and efficiency,

Energy, Cars and Farming are some of the largest forms of Greenhouse gas emission. They create a heated atmosphere that

“1 gallon of gas =24 pounds of global warming emissions” (UCSUSA). Many of the people in our world today don’t understand just how much The Automobile affects us, our lives, and the world we live in. Undoubtedly, the invention of the car has changed our perspective on the different technology created over the past years. However, cars are some of the leading factors towards one of the largest ongoing problems occurring in our world today. That problem goes by the name of global warming. “Since 1990, Transportation has been one of the fastest growing sources of U.S. GHG” (U.S.D.T), otherwise known as Greenhouse gasses. In which most of us know; global warming affects our health, environment, weather, and ultimately our lives. It is a

The Burning of fossil fuels generate 85 percent of electricity worldwide. The generation of electricity is the single largest source of CO2 emissions. Some examples of what this energy is used for are in power plants, cars, planes, and industrial facilities. Almost all industrialized nations get the majority of their electricity from the combustion of fossil fuels (around 60-90%) as well as the

Coal-burning power plants are the largest U.S. source of carbon dioxide pollution producing 2.5 billion tons of CO2 emissions every year (Natural Resources Defense Council 2005). Cars are the second largest source, creating nearly 1.5 billion tons of CO2 annually (Natural Resources Defense Council 2005). Approximately 50% of the greenhouse gasses causing global warming are coming from burning fossil fuels to power or create electricity and another 25% was coming out of our tail pipes from burning gasoline or diesel (Brunsaw 2015).

These gases are a big part of global warming. These gases are produced from transportation, industry, and electricity production. Electricity production is the biggest part of it 33% of the green house emition is from this. The next biggest part is transportation. Which is 28% of green house gases. The 28% cover cars, trucks, planes, and ships. All these things burn gasoline or some source of oil. Which creates fossil fuel. Industry covers 20%, which is also burning fossil fuel, which isn’t good for the planets atmosphere.

The Industrial Revolution sparked a need for large sources of energy. Human and animal labor could not provide the power necessary to power industrial machinery, railroads, and ships. The steam engine and later the internal combustion engine provided the bulk of the energy required by the industrial age. Today most nations are still heavily reliant on energy that comes from combustion. Usually coal, petrolium, and natural gas are used. Some hydroelectric, wind power, and nuclear fission sources are used, but in the US they accounted for less than 20% of the total energy consumption in 1997 (1). Many experts are worried that natural resources such as coal and petrolium are being depleted faster than they are being replenished, which could

Energy is the ability for something to do work, create heat, or emit light. By this definition, energy can be anything from a sandwich to uranium. However, for the sake of simplification, this essay will focus on the United States’ consumption of fossil fuels (oil, coal, and gas), which constitute eighty-six percent of American energy (Lehrman 2). That is a lot of energy, however it becomes an even larger amount when taken into consideration that even though America accounts for only five

Consequently, the greenhouse gasses that most affect the atmosphere include: carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, tropospheric ozone, and nitrous oxide (“Greenhouse Gases: Introduction”). The overall effect of the presence of certain gases depends on its abundance, concentration and the amount of time spent in the atmosphere. Water vapor is the most predominant gas in the atmosphere but it spends only about nine days there whereas carbon ioxide, another powerful gas, spends about five years (Schlesinger). The United States Environmental Protection Agency found that “In 2011, CO2 accounted for about 84% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from human activities” (“Carbon Dioxide Emissions”). Carbon dioxide is an organic gas which is naturally found in the earth’s Atmosphere but the level has drastically increased since the start of the industrial revolution. This is because carbon dioxide is released during the combustion fossil fuels (ie. oil, natural gas, and coal) which occurs when generating electricity, transporting people and goods, and producing products. Electricity accounts for thirty eight percent of emissions, transportation thirty one percent, Industry fourteen percent, and the last sixteen percent a combination of residential and commercial and other sources (Carbon Dioxide Emissions). Talks in 1997 brought about the Kyoto Protocol on February 16, 2005. The Kyoto Protocol included thirty six countries making individual goals for

CO2 is the most significant greenhouse gas, which mainly comes from the use of fossil fuels. Many people feel that content of CO2 in the atmosphere is the main reason for manmade global warming. The main sources of CO2 emissions involve electricity generation, industrial processes, fumes from transportation and commercial buildings and use. Emissions of greenhouse gases, such as CO2, to the atmosphere are expected to cause even more of a significant change in global climate (Davison, 2007). The main focus to try to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is to reduce the amount that is released from coal-fired power plants. Greenhouse gas emissions that involve the productions of electricity come from natural gas production and coal-fired power plant operations. Natural gas production accounts for twenty-four percent and coal-fired power plant operations accounts for seventy-five percent, while the other one percent is caused by other electricity generation operations. The main reason why coal-fired power plants have a higher percentage of emissions is because the sulfur content of coal is much higher than that of other fossil fuels (Jarmaillo et al., 2007). This proves that there is a great need to find an alternative fossil fuel to use instead of coal. Although coal is easy to mine, transport and process for the electricity generation process, it is also the

Figure above shows the percentage of electric energy in the U.S. Over 50% of the energy is from coal. This year nuclear energy use was increasing; however, it creates radioactive. Natural gas will pollute the air and caused global warming. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, wind is the fastest growing energy resource. It increased by 46.6 percent by 2005.

What has changed in the last few hundred years is the additional release of carbon dioxide by human activities. Fossil fuels burned to run cars and trucks, heat homes and businesses, and power factories are responsible for about 98% of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, 24% of methane emissions, and 18% of nitrous oxide emissions. Increased agriculture, deforestation, landfills, industrial production, and mining also contribute a significant share of emissions. In 1997, the United States emitted about one-fifth of total global greenhouse gases.

The most of global energy production produces from fossil fuel such as coal, oil and natural gas. The vast fossil fuels generate energy which use for many purposes for instant residential, transportation and industrial sectors. While the rate consumption of fossil fuel higher than their formation leads to oil price crisis. Another concern of fossil fuel combustion is the impact on the environment. Global warming is a significant problem which results in increasing concentrations of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. These problems drive researchers and societies to search alternative energy such as switching to renewable energy or carbon-free energy to replace fossil fuels. For example Nakata et al., (2011:465) show ‘low-carbon society’

Greenhouse gases come from such mainstays of modern life as electrical power plants, automobiles, and heavy industry. Growing consumption of fuel by less efficient cars and light trucks suggests that motor vehicles may soon overtake industry as the largest source of gases suspected of causing global warming by effectively creating a greenhouse around the Earth. Many people do not want to decrease their standard of living by reducing their consumption of fossil fuels. These people do not realize that if they reduce their consumption, there will be a reduction in the amount of greenhouse gases. If this does not happen and global warming continues, the long-term effects may be catastrophic.

Two main causes are burning fossil fuels and driving our cars. According to a NASA earth observatory web page, “fossil fuel burning (coal, oil and gas) releases about 6 billion metric tons per year.” On the EPA web site, it is stated that most of the emissions of greenhouse gases, “about 82%, are from burning fossil fuels to generate electricity and power our cars.” As I said before, driving our cars also is a large cause. For example, Ecobridge states that “Twenty percent of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions comes from the burning of gasoline in internal-combustion engines of cars and light trucks.” So a fair amount of the emissions is from driving your car.