Imagine New York City right now with all its bright lights, crowded streets full of cars, and amazing architecture such as skyscrapers and subway systems. Now let a few decades go by and take away fossil fuels, what is left now? A dark city with empty streets littered by useless vehicles and empty buildings and tunnels. Why did all of this change and why was this simple form of energy removed? That is because at the current rate of consumption fossil fuels will not last more than a few decades, plunging large cities into darkness. So how can this be fixed? Fossil fuels are being depleted and there is no changing that, so there must be a new form of energy, such as renewable energy, introduced into society.
The Industrial Revolution signified the beginning of a new way of using fossil fuels as a resource. Starting towards the end of the 1700s this resource fueled economy began in Britain and then began to spread to the United States (Andrews). However, this fuel source didn’t reach full potential until later on because the sun and the earth had fueled America even during the 1800s in a harmless fashion (Andrews). The first big surge in fossil fuel usage was when harvesting coal became big business in Pennsylvania and Virginia in 1830 (Andrews). Usage continued to increase in popularity, especially when coal mining extended a helping hand in the Civil War, helping the Union get ahead of the Confederacy (Andrews). As popularity and usage grew coal mines provided jobs for
The Industrial Revolution created a society and energy consumption based on coal. However, in a more traditional society, natural gas has been obtained through oil drilling. While
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.
Throughout the entire modern age, mankind has used fossil fuels to meet its energy requirements. Coal, oil and natural gas have lit homes and powered machinery for centuries, driving civilization forward. But as human
In order to comprehend why we need to shift to alternative energy sources, we must first review the history of fossil fuels and how it transitioned the world during an important era of history. Fossil fuels played an extremely significant role in the era of the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution began in the eighteenth century. Fossil fuels were the ultimate ideal source of energy during the Industrial Revolution. Coal was especially used the most during the revolution. It burned “cleaner” and hotter than what wood did. The Industrial Revolution without a doubt expanded the use of coal. During the revolution, coal was used for steamships and with the escalating business of transporting goods across the country, it played a major
The industrial revolution impacted the coal industry in many good and bad way’s. before the industrial revolution workers in the coal mines (could include women and children) had it very hard, they had to work mining seams of coal in crevasses only 75cm tall. They didn’t really have and easy way of transporting coal to the surface so children were expected to carry 150kg of coal to the surface and do this a lot of times during a day. What also mad mining coal harder was that ground water from rain would flood the shafts and make the coal mining a lot harder, every year there was a lot of people that drowned from too much water in the shafts. Another danger was that a gas called fire damp which was highly explosive would be ignited off a spark
Coal was the first of the fossil fuels to go into widespread use, displacing low-energy firewood as the leading source of fuel in the US, and triggering the country’s industrialization in the second half of the 19th century. Within a few decades, the US went from a net importer of coal (mostly from Britain) to a major exporter of the fossil fuel, a development made possible by mining the nation’s vast reserves of coal.
All cities and suburbs of the united states have to become 30% powered by renewable energy by 2020 and 50% by 2025 and 75% by 2030 and 90% by 2040. There is already a ton of people that have already switched over rot renewable energy sources such as Austin, Texas which is almost completely powered by a wind farm. Costa Rica is 99% powered by renewable energy. The U.S. has to get rid of all the unnecessary fossil fuel that are not needed. Coal and oil is so bad and toxic for us to breath in says Muthena Naseri,
Fossil Fuel energy accounts for 85% of America’s energy usage, but what if Fossil Fuel Energy was no longer around (“The Hidden”)? How would schools, factories, houses operate? For many years, America has relied on Fossil Fuel Energy to generate energy for nation. Although Fossil Fuel energy has been used for many years, some oppose the use of Fossil Fuel energy. Recent Studies in the Nuclear energy persuades some to believe that Nuclear energy is more suitable for the nation in the future. Using Coal in order to produce energy has been practiced for several centuries now. Thinking all the way back to caveman, they produced energy through by burning coal or other natural resources, such as charol. Even though there are indeed other natural
In the 1700s, the English found coal could produce a fuel that burned hotter and cleaner than charcoal. However, it was overwhelming for energy to run the new technology invented during the industrial revolution that gave real opportunities for coal to fill its first role as a dominant worldwide supply of energy. The industrial revolution played a big role in expanding the use of coal. The industrial revolution spread to the United States. Steam Boats and other steam-powered things used coal to fuel their boilers. Coal
Through out the history of the United states the main source of energy has been conventional Oil, Coal, and gas energy, or better known as Conventional petroleum energy. However as the demand for electricity sky rockets the pollution produced from the traditional fossil fuel burning plants is reaching dangerous levels. Gas, coal and oil burning power plants are as of now responsible for half of America’s air pollution (tripod/online). Not to mention fossil fuels are the greatest contributors to global warming in today’s society.
The dependency on fossil fuel for energy has made an irrevocable imprint on this Earth that can affect our economy, climate, and the future of humankind. There is no debate that growing issues over pollution, deforestation, and conservation have been a perpetual concern for many global citizens. Now with the global accessibility of technology being employed for awareness, environmentalist have used this universal tool in helping to spread the knowledge of growing concerns regarding the destruction of the environment. They also, used this technology to aid in challenging and holding responsible many big corporations for the ruination of Earth’s natural resources. Environmentalist efforts such as spreading awareness, creating organizations, and policy making are helping to slow down and lessen the detrimental effects of global warming on the general public.
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
In today’s society fossil fuels are the primary source of energy for most of the industrialized world. Utilizing fossil fuels has been very important to the industrialization development throughout the world. Industrialization in many parts of the world, energy has been needed at a much higher density then before and fossil fuels have fulfilled that need. Coal, gas, and oil are the three major sources of fossil fuels in the world. Despite other means of energy such as wind power, hydroelectric power etc., fossil fuels are still the main source of energy across the continent. Fossils fuels are critical to the function of society. “Fossil fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas) are the dominant source of energy today and will be for decades to come.” (Everett, B. October).
Finding energy sources is an issue that polarizes scientists, politicians and citizens alike. The most critical points of this debate are at fossil fuels and renewable energy. Energy efficiency is arguably the most dire concern facing the planet, because it significantly impacts all areas of everyday life. Common ground can be found in this controversy because both parties do agree that humans have a responsibility to future generations. That responsibility is to preserve the resources of the Earth, while offering this generation energy that is affordable and accessible.
The Industrial Revolution which took place in eighteenth century Great Britain acted as a sort of gateway to the discovery and usage of fossil fuels today ("Industrial Revolution." Para 1). It was an increasingly developing time as the economic market took off due to new scientific discoveries and expansion of industrial jobs and companies ("History of Fossil Fuel Usage since the Industrial Revolution." Para 4). New energy sources emerged. Some of which included fuel and motive power (coal, electricity, petroleum, etc.) ("Industrial Revolution." Para 2). A significant energy source that