Renewable Energy Is Important For Our Environment

The switch to clean energy in the United States and around the world is a difficult necessity that must be met within the subsequent five to six decades. The prolonged use of damaging fossil fuels and other unsustainable forms of energy are greatly damaging the planet. These sources of non-renewable energy are bound to run out in the following century. Millions of square kilometers of Arctic ice has melted so far, the sea level is rising, and the CO2 levels present in the atmosphere are drastically increasing (Chang). The transition to renewable energy must be met; however, this is not a process possible to achieve overnight. This change will require an extensive amount of resources and time but will reap many benefits to the users of this growing technology.

Currently in the U.S. we rely on non-renewable sources to produce our energy such as oil, coal, natural gas and nuclear energy. Although these methods do well producing energy, they also have large down falls environmental, economically, and in other ways that fail to show a promising future. This makes it necessary that we adapt alternative renewable energy methods that do not have these effects, and can insure a promising future.

Although the United States has come a long way in the field of Renewable Energy, there are still major roadblocks in the way of a national shift to clean energy. Renewable energy made up only 12% of US energy production in 2016, while The three major fossil fuels—petroleum, natural gas, and coal—accounted for 78%, showing there is still a long way to go (eia.gov). This has been a particularly arduous year for environmentalist and renewable energy companies alike as there have been major political strides against clean energy. Bills, Executive Orders, and new laws have slowed the progress that Renewable Energy has been making in recent years.

What do we know about our energy sources and how our energy choices affect the environment? Many people still do not put much though into this topic or pay any attention to the amount of energy they use or where it comes from. For some it is just willful negligence, but for many others it may be due to a lack of knowledge on the subject. Perhaps it is a good idea to pay closer attention and educate ourselves so we can make informed decisions that may lead to less stress on our wallets and on our environment. In order to make a change, we should observe our currently used energy sources in everyday life, the impact of increasing energy uses, and observe all of the alternative options available to us.

Renewable Energy is defined as: a renewable natural resource or source of energy, such as water, wind, or solar power (Oxford English Dictionary). There are those that believe that our nation should abandon the use of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, and coal, and switch to renewable energy sources. Although the change could yield many benefits, I believe that renewable energy is a not viable alternative for our nation’s energy future because it would create an unfavorable environmental impact, it is not as reliable, and it would be too costly.

Soon, planet Earth will run out of the resource that once was thought to be reliable. Earth is in great danger of self destructing if there is no backup plan. This is where renewable resources come in. Renewable resources are abundant and do not damage the environment, so they are a sustainable method to produce energy. The options for renewable energy are solar, wind, hydro, biomass, and geothermal.

In addition, another reason we should make the switch from non-renewable to renewable resources is because renewable resources and energy do not cause as much harm to Earth as non-renewable energy. Some examples in which renewable energy and sources help Earth and its inhabitants are by producing little to no global warming emissions, improving public health/environmental quality, creating an inexhaustible energy supply, producing jobs, and maintaining stable energy prices. By reducing the amount of greenhouse gases produced, humans can lower the amount of harm being put on the ozone layer and help reduce global warming. In fact research and analyses by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and the U.S. Department of Energy show that by

Petroleum is at the heart of almost all the energy currently produced. While it is easy to transport and use, many people forget the hazards of using fossil fuels. Over the last century, many environmental problems have been caused by the production and transportation of fossil fuels. Such problems include oil spills that kill animals, pollute the ocean, and make economies crash. An example of this would be the Deepwater Horizon spill in Alaska in the early 90’s and most recently the Gulf spill. Other problems on land have caused massive environmental disasters. Such disasters include large-scale erosion from strip mining and deforestation by mining organizations in search of new deposits of fossil fuels. “Problems caused by the burning of fossil fuels include acid rain that damages forests and contaminates soil, hazardous air pollution, and the suspected global warming effect”(Mathewson, 1999, p. 281).

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 energy in our country is suffering, we have been powering with inefficient sources for years now and the harm that it is doing to the country has started to become apparent. Renewables are the only way to stop, or at the very least set back the inevitable downfall of our ecosystem. I think that the next big breakthrough for renewable energy is implementing off-grid communities that use renewable sources as their main sources of power, so that we can potentially escape the energy rut that we got ourselves stuck in.

Carbon emissions are changing the planet for the worse. Energy production (mostly coal) is producing a one third of the US 's global warming emissions. Renewable sources produce little to zero percent. The balance of coal and renewable energy in the U.S. needs to be evened out with renewable techniques. Statistics from the Union of Concerned Scientist’s “Benefits of Renewable Energy Use” show that wind emits .02 to .04 lbs. CO2E/kWh (carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour), solar emits .07 to .2 lbs. CO2E/kWh, geothermal emits .1 to .2 lbs. CO2E/kWh, hydroelectric emits .1 to .5 lbs. CO2E/kWh and biomass emissions depend on how it 's sourced. These all have significantly less of a carbon footprint than coal, which emits 1.4 to 3.6 lbs. CO2E/kWh or natural gas which emits .6 to 2 lbs. CO2E/kWh. This impressive difference of carbon emissions between renewable and fossil fuel is the

The threat of global warming is influencing people to become “greener,” turning to renewable energy options which are often referred to as alternative energy. Renewable energy refers to energy that does not come from burning of fossil fuels or pollutant infused methods to provide energy. It is the harnessing of natural resources that are constantly renewable such as sunlight for solar panels and wind for wind turbines, just to name two (Lamb, 2015). The use of renewable energy is not only beneficial to the preservation of traditional energy sources but to environment and humans and lastly it economically will become a better option for people. Renewable energy is the key to a healthier future.

Renewable energy is defined as using resources that are easily replenished such as water, the sun, or wind, as forms of energy. So why should citizens of the Earth use renewable energy? Many people use renewable energy because of the environmental benefits and the economic benefits or in order to preserve the nonrenewable resources. Using renewable energy sources provides many different benefits for society and for the environment but they also have drawbacks that makes the use of renewable energy a controversial topic.

The Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) aimed to influence residents to convert most of the state’s energy production into renewable energy. Based on the Califonia Energy Commision, in 2006, the standard requires 20 percent of electricity retail sales to be powered by renewable energy. The standard is then further improved to a targeted percentile of 33% in 2020 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and moving forward to the current standard which is at 51% by 2030 by Governor Edmund G. Brown. As of June 2017, California is ahead of schedule and the state is currently 29% fully powered by clean energy. These data are proven by the California Energy Commission, there are no doubt that these numbers are true, but does it really contribute to the

The Earth is dying at an extreme rate and will continue to do so unless we switch to renewable energy, to help fight and prevent the effects of using fossil fuels. Many people will say that we need to switch to renewable energy and that our planet is suffering from global warming, while others will say that global climate change is a natural occurring event that does not to be worried about. Many people in the modern generation have grown up with a big emphasis on how we need to change our daily habits in order to protect the world and preserve the life on it. The reason as to why many people will say this, is because for about the last fifty years’ scientist have been saying that we need to cut back on our fossil fuels and use more