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Renewable Energy Sources For Energy

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In recent years there has been great concern over the growing demand for energy, and the lack of non-renewable energy resources to meet the demand in the future. In addition, the question of “sustainability”;the ability to balance social, economic, and environmental needs in energy production to meet both current and long-term requirements;has come to the forefront. It is clear that America must expand energy production quickly, and that we must develop renewable, sustainable energy sources to meet long-term demand and protect our future. There are many proposed solutions, such as wind and solar power. But the technology for these resources is not yet fully developed, making them, at best, low-output alternatives. Because …show more content…

Finally, I will support this argument by addressing the need for a clean fuel in the US to bridge the gap between non- renewables and renewable energy in the future. The use of hydraulic fracturing dates back to 1947, when Stanolind Oil conducted an experimental fracturing in Kansas. Although this experiment was relatively small compared to the processes used today, it served as a catalyst for advances in hydraulic fracturing. Just two years after the first test of hydraulic fracturing, Halliburton was granted a patent for the new “Hydrafrac” process. In each gas well that was treated with the new fracturing process, production increased by 75 percent. This type of breakthrough attracted many followers, and soon the process was utilized on thousands of gas wells across the US (“The History”). The spread of hydraulic fracturing followed the discoveries of shale deposits. The largest deposit is the Marcellus Shale, located in the northeastern part of the US, centering on the state of Pennsylvania. Other areas with significant shale deposits include Texas, North Dakota, Michigan and Wyoming. Hydraulic fracturing has been used on “over 1 million producing wells” (“A Historic”), and it is believed to have “increased US recoverable reserves of oil by at least 30% and of gas by 90%” (“The History”). The fracturing technique

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