The Renewable Energy Industry As the world delves deeper into the 21st century and as more and more countries develop into industrialized or post-industrialized nations, global society is dependent on reliable and steady sources of energy now more than ever. This reliance on energy will most certainly continue into the future as the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) has projected the world’s energy consumption to increase by 56% by the year 2040 (“EIA Projects World Energy Consumption”). Such a substantial surge in demand of energy in what is a relatively short period of time has disquieting implications. According to the British Petroleum Statistical Review, oil, natural gas, and coal consumption accounted for approximately 86% of the energy market in 2015 (“Statistical Review of World Energy”). With current oil prices being at record lows, a booming natural gas “renaissance” in the process of going on, and political pressures in the United States calling for an increase in “clean coal” output, nonrenewable fossil fuels may be the primary options for our society to fuel its future (Sontakke). However, these options come with adverse drawbacks such as dependency on dubious foreign petro-states and various forms of ecological degradation, which includes climate change. Due to these factors, as well as burgeoning cost-competitiveness, the renewable energy industry is poised to gain a sizable share of the energy market. The renewable energy industry consists of firms
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,
These sources of energy have a great upside, but right now are incredibly inefficient compared with fossil fuels because of the lack of funding and worldly push (2009). If there isn’t a bigger investment in these alternative energies, fossil fuels are going to maintain their stranglehold on all the economies of the world (Lomborg, 2009).
Being such a necessary and overused resource makes it a hotly contested subject and global issue. The United States is one of the biggest importers and users of oil in the world, which makes our need of it a major influence on several global markets. Our heavy reliance on dirty fuels, as well as every other industrialized country in the world, will lead to massive effects on the climate of our Earth. This in addition, has led to violence and war, particularly in the Middle East, over the ownership and distribution of oil and other energy resources, which in the end only serves to profit big oil industries. This problem will not stop or slow down, as the demand for energy will only increase as the world’s population and global economy continues to expand. For mainly these reasons, which will be handled more in-depth throughout this paper, the need for clean alternative energy is paramount and must be addressed within the foreseeable future should we otherwise suffer the consequences.
Whilst it may seem a “no-brainer” to cease investment in non-renewable power and transfer our effort, resources and investment into developing renewable energy sources, the reality is that we have become so reliant and dependent upon non-renewable energy – particularly fossil fuels – that we must continue to use, develop, and invest in such energy to maintain the living standards that we enjoy today. In our short to medium-term future, and in spite of our ever-increasing scientific knowledge about the environmental price that we pay in using non-renewable energy, we must continue to invest in it. Let me explain why.
The world right now is facing a major disaster if our habits don’t change. Fossil fuels dominate our energy demand and at our current rate this will remain true for quite some time. The World Energy outlook claims that by 2030 84% of our energy demands will be fulfilled by fossil fuels (Shafiee et al, 181). It is believed that we possess the reserves to meet our demands until 2030 (Shafiee et al, 181) but the cost will increase as time goes on. Fossil fuels are a non-renewable resource, meaning that once we run out of what’s currently available, we cannot replenish it. Our future energy needs are heavily dependent on a non-renewable and quickly depleting energy source.
Recently, a report by REN21 (Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century) reported two facts that set the stage for the growth of green energy. First, in 2015, the global economy experienced the largest annual increase of renewable energy; second, developing economies spent more than developed countries on increasing their use of green energy. Another notable fact to mention is that the substantial increase in green energy
As an American citizen I have had first hand experience witnessing grave reports concerning the accelerated melting of the polar ice caps and the uncertain fluctuations in the average cost of a barrel of oil. These problems loom over the fate of the world economy and its environment. To answer this problem the US must set an example to invest in alternative sources of energy to decrease our dependence on foreign oil and reverse global warming. In a report made by Arjun Makhijani PhD, the president of the Institute For Energy and Environmental Research stated that, “The US renewable energy resource base is practically untapped.” If we were to
Nowadays, energy is pivotal to almost every major challenge and opportunity the world confronts. Be it for jobs, security, climate change, food production or increasing incomes, access to energy for all is essential. Sustainable energy is needed for strengthening economies, protecting ecosystems and achieving equity. In accordance with The UN Conference on Environment and Development, energy consumption is expected to increase dramatically over the next 50 years as the world’s population grows and developing countries become more industrialized. With environmental requirements for lower CO2 emission sources and the need to invest in a sustainable energy mix, new energy sources must be developed. At the same time, climate change is known to be one of the most
Concern over the end of nonrenewable resources has increasingly grown in the population over the recent decades. Hydrocarbons, specifically oil and gas, are being depleted rapidly. According to imeche.org, only 1.3 trillion barrels of attainable oil remain. At the current rates of consumption, that equivocates to around 2055 when oil should just about be depleted. (imeche.org, 2014) Recent advances in oilfield technology continue to push back the date of annihilation of these resources, but eventually there will be some point in time in which our oil and gas reserves become extinct. At whatever time that happens, society must be prepared to use alternatives methods to reach our energy demands. Because of this inevitable
Energy, which has a bearing on both economic and national security, boasts its vital importance in that it gives rise to the economic and social development of the whole world. Although the world teems with diverse energy, most of the energy that has been put into application in our daily life or industrialized world is nonrenewable, with particular reference to the fossil fuels, which means once it has been run out, it can never be reproduced. Moreover, conditions are getting worse as the increasing energy consumption caused by the high pace of the development of industry and agriculture and the abuse of some energy, it seems that all nations to some extent have been stuck in the plight of energy
Today, global energy consumption heavily relies on fossil fuels, such as oil, coal and natural gas, in 2015, Australia relied 86% of the electricity generation on traditional non-renewable energy sources (73% coal, 13% natural gas).1 The burning of these fossil fuels has been very closely associated with carbon and greenhouse gas emission, resulting changes in the climate such as global warming and extreme weathers. The CO2 emissions had increased from estimated 198 megatons in 1850 to an astonishing 32274 megatons in 2011. The CO2 emission increased 160 times in just the last 160 years.2 As such, the exploration of new, clean renewable energy sources becomes increasing important. To meet the ever increasing demand for energy, renewable energy resources like solar, wind, geothermal, tidal wave and biomass have been introduced and successfully made up almost 22% of the global electricity generation in 2013, and the IEA predicted that this number is going to increase to at least 26% by 2020.
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’
Energy is one of the main drivers of economic and social development. Years ago, the only uncertainty was the price of oil. Now the concern is if the current economic model growth is reasonable in a world with limited energy resources. This has lead to more research in other forms of resources of energy. Now we have other unconventional resources such as wind, solar, geothermal, water, and so on. Energy demand is set to double by 2050 (Beckman, 2013). Therefore, greenhouse gases could double by 2050 as well. Hence, renewable energy is vital. However seen as fossil fuel is still the dominate source of energy, it makes it the current economic model growth rate somewhat unreasonable.
Demand for energy is increasing every day due to the rapid growth of population and urbanization (Kalayasiri, 1996). According to International Energy Agency (IEA) (2009) data from 1990 to 2008, the average energy use per person increased 10% while world population increased 27%. About 80% of this energy demand is delivered from fossil fuels with the consequence of an increase of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere that provokes serious climate changes from global warming. The world today is heavily dependent on fossil fuels. The global increase in carbon dioxide concentration is due primarily to fossil fuel use and land use change, while those of methane and nitrous oxide are primarily due to agriculture (IPCC, 2007).
Globalization integrates world economy through capital, investment, and labor markets [1]. It allows for the economic growth of developing countries. Development requires the utilization of resources for energy production. Nations like China recently have commenced heavy globalization. China adopted non renewable sources to keep up with their heavy demand for energy. Around sixty seven percent of China’s energy came from coal in 2003 [2]. India and Indonesia will follow a similar economy uprising. They will need a plethora of energy to reach their economic goals [3]. Rather than having them adopt fossil fuels for energy, the world should shift towards adopting more renewable energy. This will ensure a competitive cost for renewable sources in comparison to non renewable sources. It’s unrealistic to believe that renewable sources will completely replace fossil fuels. Moving towards renewable sources will slow down the adverse effects of greenhouse gases and give developing nations a competitive alternative to fossil fuels.