The 2003 Northeast Blackout: Adapting To Stronger Alternative Energy Cycle

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 fore. 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 renewable sources are

Have you ever wondering where your electricity comes from? How your car uses gasoline to run? What about how these things impact our environment or how we are going to keep producing them? As a country, we need to start looking ahead to the future and planning for what is to come. Currently, 86% of America’s energy comes from petroleum, natural gas, and coal. All of these resources will run out eventually. We need renewable energy sources that will keep producing in a clean, more efficient way for a long time. Before committing to an idea and going all the way with it, we need to compare all the different energy sources available to the U.S. and choose the one that is best for everyone.

The time has come, we’re running out of fossil fuels and we need an alternative. That is where renewable energy comes in; The best part about it is that it is renewable so it will always be available to us, and we can acquire this energy through solar, water, and wind power. There is a lot of controversy as to whether we should rely on renewable energy, because some say it is not cost effective. However renewable energy can pay for itself, is available nearly everywhere through various methods of obtaining it, provides numerous amount of jobs and economical benefits, and it will not harm our environment.

The United States is the second largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world, and yet is doing very little to fix this startling statistic (Dennis). The US’ reliance upon outdated energy sources continues to harm both the environment and the economy by producing millions of tonnes of pollution every year and costing the government billions of dollars (“Fact Sheet: Clean Power Plan”). Fossil fuels have been the main energy sources in America since the industrial revolution, and it is time to make a change. Renewable energy is energy harnessed from sources like the sun, wind, or water, and has little to no negative effects on the environment (“Renewable Energy Technology Basics”). The United States needs to integrate and increase the use of these types of energy across the country, as well as implement positive environmental policies, to prevent further pollution of the earth and combat the effects of climate change.

Renewable energy’s increasingly greater power output has “made wind and solar more competitive with fossil fuels in many regions” (Warrick). In fact, renewable energy has improved so much, both financially and technologically, that many “developing economies will ultimately choose renewables over cheap coal”, enabling them to “skip over a generation of technology” (Warrick). Hydropower, geothermal energy, solar energy, and wind energy will only keep improving in power output until they inevitably become the best choice for electricity. Now that private tech companies have begun to back renewables, their technology is increasing at an extraordinary pace. With more prominent business leaders supporting renewables, the public is more inclined to accept them. People like Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla (and many other companies), fund and promote clean energy projects to raise popular support and develop new renewable technologies. Some people argue, however that renewable energy will never produce enough energy to power the entire United States. After all, “by 2016, wind energy accounted for just over 6.7 percent of U.S. electricity production” and solar energy sits at just “0.6 percent” (Renewable). While this number seems extremely low, it has been increasing rapidly. In 2012, “solar energy accounted for only 0.2 percent of the electricity

Global climate change has fundamentally transformed the way civilization views the energy of the future. As evidence of the drastic consequences of nonrenewable energy has become more widely accepted, society has embarked on developing innovative solutions to the energy crisis. In areas that experience prolonged periods of sunlight, solar panels have become a sustainable and cost-effective form of renewable energy. The Mojave Desert, located in California and Nevada, has proven to be one of the most promising areas for solar development (The Nature Conservancy). Fortunately, BrightSource Energy has invested $2.2 billion in the construction of a solar farm in the Mojave Desert region (Cart, 2012). The development of solar projects creates a

Climate change is an issue that has plagued the minds of humans for centuries. The issue goes back as far as the ancient Greeks, who thought that cutting down forests could lead to more rain. We have always been preoccupied with the topic, and now finally we have evidence that it is in fact happening. We have to work towards lessening the effects that climate change has on our society and combat the reluctance of our government to change our nation’s methods of getting energy. In, “A Climate Repair Manual,” by Gary Stix, he urges Americans to change their ways and use more renewable sources of energy.

In the United States, a sustainable society is desired by virtually every citizen, especially the ones informed of the consequences caused by our wanton use of fossil fuels and the detrimental methods used to extract them from the earth. Nevertheless, despite almost universal acceptance of the need to turn away from nonrenewable and polluting energy sources, there are forces preventing that switch. One of those forces is the megalith that is our current energy paradigm, or the existing energy production/consumption infrastructure that we’ve built which runs largely on nonrenewable resources. Yet, as daunting as a transition to a world run on renewable energies like solar, an energy source with significant growth-potential, may seem from a technological and logistical standpoint, it is eminently feasible. The most problematic hurdle the United States faces is, in truth, political stagnation. While intense lobbying efforts from the fossil fuel industry and public utilities don’t help, the gridlock caused by the inherent framework of the U.S. political system is principally to blame for governmental malaise when it comes to investing in green technology. However, with increasing concerns over environmental degradation and impending climate change, progress has been made. The U.S. Department of Energy (USDE) has appointed 25 cities across the country to be part of its “Solar America City” initiative, including Philadelphia. Philadelphia, which aims to become the leading city in

Renewable energy sources, like hydroelectric, solar, and wind, have proven to be hugely ineffective because they do not generate large enough quantities of electricity (Canadian Nuclear Association, 2013). For instance, a total land area of 40 times the size of Metropolitan Toronto would be needed to generate enough power for the city of Toronto using wind energy (Canadian Nuclear Association, 2013). Moreover, renewable energy sources heavily depend on the weather when generating power. For example, hydroelectric generators require rainfall to flood damns and create flowing water, wind turbines require powerful winds to turn the blades, and solar panels require clear skies and ample amounts of sunshine to produce electricity (Solar Schools, n.d.). Thus, renewable energy sources become unpredictable and inconsistent without these weather conditions.

Imagine for a moment that we turn off the light switch …… and then the heating. Now imagine that your smartphone battery is flat. Is it dark? Are you feeling cold and disconnected from your friends and family? You should be, and you certainly would be, if governments around the world did not continue to invest in non-renewable power.

Claim: Solar power has the potential to become the United States main supply of energy and replace are needs for more conventional and harmful forms of power generation.

Specific Speech Goal: Show the importance on why we should change our ways and convert to renewable energy.

In this day and age, we have new energy sources that could be used to power our homes and transportation. Wind and solar power are used all over the world, but are still used far less than fossil fuels. Most would say it’s not reliable or it doesn’t make any profit. While both statements are true, it doesn’t mean we can’t make a better future using renewable energy. In fact, the only reason we don’t use renewables for everything is that we don’t want to change. The hard truth is we need to change. Fossil fuels are great right now, but if we run out, humanity must have another source of energy.

In 1989, during our most recent solar maximum, currents induced by a geomagnetic storm brought down the power grid that supplies Canada's Quebec province. The next solar maximum expected in the year 2000 have the capacity of even greater damage. Our society has even greater dependence on electronic modes of communication as well as power sources (grids), which are enormous and interconnected, (in order to save money). This also increases the vulnerability to power outages. If, there were extended power outages in the heat of the summer, or during a cold wave, the losses would not only be financial, but would also include a large human toll.

Wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, and biomass provide so much benefit for our climate, health and our economy. As many reliable energy’s rise on demand and expense like oil, coal, natural gas and nonrenewable fossil fuel that draw on limited resources which will eventually diminish. Looking at all the power plants and the millions of cars that exist in the streets today and many more technologies and industries that are polluting the air it is safe to say we may be going the wrong way into saving the world our kids will grow into. People and many utilities need to focus on the positive outcome of renewable energy. Like the good it brings on stable energy price, improvements on public health as well as the prevention of global warming discharge, jobs and other economic benefits.