‘Investment into alternative energy will have a positive impact on global environmental issues.’
Most of the natural issues the world is facing today including climate change, air pollution, oil slicks, and global warming result from our reliance on fossil powers. Fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal represent most of the energy we use. In the United States, for instance, 81% of US energy comes from fossil fuels, whereas only 19% of US energy comes from renewables and nuclear (US Department of Energy, 2015). According to (BBC, 2014) fossil fuels are the sources of energy which are mined and burned to produce energy, whereas, Alternative energy are the sources of power which are renewable which make them unlimited. However, I believe that if we want to carry on living in this planet we will need to switch to alternative energy because fossil fuels are gradually running out. Add to that, using these fuels play an important role in air pollution and carbon dioxide which are responsible for global warming. In this essay I will present three important advantages of alternative energy which support my thesis statement and two disadvantages. Then I will try to investigate this argument in my refutation. Without a doubt the main advantage of alternative energy is the environmental benefits.
Environmental benefits is one of the main advantages of Alternative energy. Renewable energy produces almost zero carbon emission which give it an important advantage over fossil fuels. According to Kruger (2006), in fossil fuels to generate only one kilowatt of electricity 280 g of carbon dioxide is produced, whereas only 9 g of carbon dioxide is produced to generate one kilowatt of electricity in alternative energy. The difference in the production of carbon dioxide is very huge which show the environmental benefits which will be provided by alternative energy. In 2013, wind generation avoided an estimated 95.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide (co2) (Mathews, 2015). Another advantage of this type of energy is the sustainability.
Unlike the traditional types of energy which are non-renewable, alternative forms of energy are renewable which make them unlimited. All renewable energy sources like solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower, wave and tidal power are forms of sustainable energy which means that they offer sustainable and stable energy supply in the long term. Therefore, switching to alternative energy will provide stable energy prices. Because the cost of renewable energy is will not be effected by the changing in the cost of natural resource. Consequently, governments will spend less money on this type of energy in comparison to the energy prices we are seeing nowadays. According to (Busby 2012), wind assembly plants are now financially savvy. In USA, for example, wind power has provided the government with many economic benefits. The cost of manufactures continuing to fall which made that wind plants one of the most cost effective sources of energy. Therefore, sustainability consider as a major benefit of alternative energy. Alternative energy is subject to a one of only set up cost with little or no running costs. This is much cheaper than the long run that fossil fuel extraction. Beside the sustainable price, alternative energy sources will also provide other economic benefits such as number of jops could be provided.
Another advantage which encourage us to invest into alternative energy is the economic benefits and jobs which it will provide. Unlike fossil fuel technologies, which are typically mechanized and capital intensive, the renewable energy industry is more labour-intensive. According to (AWEA, 2012) Renewable energy already supports thousands of jobs in the United States. For example, in 2011, the wind energy industry provided 75,000 full-time-jobs and 100,000 part-time-jobs. This jobs creation will reduce the unemployment which will increase the economy of the governments. In addition to creating new jobs, the use of alternative energy will provide many other important economic development benefits. Beside this bright side of alternative energy there is, of course, a dark side of this programme. One of the disadvantages of alternative energy is the high cost.
Capital cost of alternative energy are quite high comparing with the other types of fuels owing to the expensive equipment and the large lands that this type of energy required. According to (Mathews, 2015), only one wind farm cost 89,100,000 dollars which is really expensive comparing with the other sources of energy. Basically, the investment in alternative energy will need huge capital costs comparing with the other sources of energy. Not only that, another disadvantage with this type of energy is the efficiency.
Another disadvantage of renewable energy is low efficiency. It is difficult for alternative energy to generate large amount of energy. Sorensen (2007) has claimed that Alternative energy technologies are relatively new in offices and are not particularly efficient which cause a problem with feasibility because the investment may not return, even in the long term. This means that if we want to overcome this crisis, either we need to set up more such facilities to match up with the growing demand which will be very expensive or find ways to reduce the consumption of energy which also is difficult to gain.
It is fact that it is difficult for alternative sources of energy to generate the same amount of electricity which is produced by fossil fuel generators. According to (Schumer 2001) wind power provide only 38% of power in comparison with the tradition fossil fuels generators. However, this type of energy will provide unlimited energy which means that we will never run out of energy. And this sustainability will also provide a stable cost of energy which has many economic benefit to the societies and governments. The huge capital cost that alternative energy require is another argument which stand against these types of energy. Mathews (2015) has stated that one of the biggest disadvantages of alternative energy is its huge capital cost. One wind planet cost roughly 90 million dollars whereas tradition generators cost no more than 35 million dollars. However, if we consider the environmental and economic benefits of these type of energy, we will ignore all this huge costs. According to (Plamer, 2015) there will be a fundamental drop in the cost of solar panel and nuclear plant in 25 years.
To conclude, this paper has examined and determined that the investment in alternative energy will have positive impacts to the environment and the governments. On the other hand, it also has a dark side assimilate in the high cost and the low efficiency of this source of energy. However, if we want to carry on living in this planet we will need to switch to alternative energy. Therefore, it is critically important for authorities to find advents of the demerits of alternative energy which will make it more efficient. Consequently, it is inevitable that the need to this sort of energy would continue to advance within our environment in the future.
References:
• BBC (2014), Energy Resources, Retrieved 2014 From : http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/energy_resources/energy_rev1.shtml
• American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), (2012), AWEA U.S. Wind Industry Annual Market Report: Year Ending 2011. Washington, D.C.: American Wind Energy Association.
• Mathews, John A. and Hao Tan. China’s Renewable Energy. Revolution. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. [From UOL library]
• Sorensen. B. (2007), Renewable Energy Conversion, Transmission and Storage, ISBN: 978-0-12-374262-9. [From UOL library]
• (US Department of Energy, 2015)
• Kruger, P (2006) Alternative energy resources : the quest for sustainable energy [electronic book] Hoboken: New Jersey: USA: John Wiley Press[From UOL library]
• Busby, L.R. (2012) Wind power : the industry grows up [electronic book] Tulsa: Oklahoma: USA: PennWell Corp [From UOL library]
• Palmer, K (2015), The best time to buy solar panels? Five years ago – or right now Retrieved13/04/2015 From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/energybills/11525135/The-best-time-to-buy-solar-panels-Five-years-ago-or-right-now.html
• Schumer CE. 2001. New Analysis Shows America on Precipice of an Energy Crunch. Press Release of Senator Charles E. Schumer. 26 April 2001.