Abstract
of Green Energy
In this paper, the focus will be to discuss the idea of
green energy, and how it can help countries to reduce their dependency on oil.
After reviewing a handful of information, facts, and data, it was found that
achieving the goal of green energy is almost impossible to achieve right now,
and the world will have to take extra measures to replace fossil fuels with
green energy. Still, there is no chance for countries to decrease their
dependency on oil, and current trends of using oil for producing energy is more
likely to continue for centuries to come.
Introduction of Green Energy
Energy is a very essential human commodity that has
enabled human social and economic developed since many decades. The sorts of
energy utilized in the United States have changed after some time. The change
has been driven by propels in innovation, energy asset revelations, energy
costs, social weights and different elements. The main consistent is that the
measure of energy utilized has expanded consistently after some time. The
global energy mix consists of resources including oil, coal, natural gas, hydro,
nuclear and other renewable sources of energy. Oil is the largest global
contributor towards this energy mix which makes it a very important commodity
for human beings. Not only is oil important for electricity needs it is also a
very important source of energy for the transportation sector and these factors
show how dependent we are on oil in so many ways.
Discussion of Green Energy
The problem with being too much dependent on oil is a
fossil fuel and one day or the other we will be running out of its supply and
it is important to make this planet more sustainable. It was identified by the
International Energy Agency (IEA) that the global oil consumption as of 2015
was estimated to be around 93 million barrels every day. The biggest consumers
of oil included the United States, European Union, China, India, Japan and
Saudi Arabia. There is a need to make this planet more sustainable and this
will mean less dependency on oil and shifting towards other renewable sources
of energy including solar power, wind power, renewable fuels and geothermal
technology. In the United States it was estimated in 2018 that 17% of
electricity generation and 11% of total energy consumption came from renewable
sources of energy which shows the space that needs to be tapped through the
renewables. As 83% of the total electricity generation comes from fossil fuel
resources this means that not only are we heavily dependent on oil but we are
also causing great harm to the environment through the extraction and
combustion of oil.
Renewable energy sources solar power, wind power,
renewable fuels, or geothermal technology release very little carbon emissions
in the atmosphere. Solar power is responsible for only 0.07 to 0.2 pounds of
CO2E/kWh, wind power is responsible for only 0.02 to 0.04 pounds of CO2E/kWh,
hydroelectric is responsible for only 0.1 to 0.5 pounds of CO2E/kWh and
geothermal is is responsible for only 0.1 to 0.2 pounds of CO2E/kWh. “The
comparison becomes clear when you look at the numbers. Burning natural gas for
electricity releases between 0.6 and 2 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent per
kilowatt-hour (CO2E/kWh); coal emits between 1.4 and 3.6 pounds of CO2E/kWh.” (Organization) These carbon
emission statistics show that reducing dependence on oil for our energy needs
will also greatly help to reduce the negative harms created on our planet.
The positive element about renewable sources of energy is
that wind power, solar power and geothermal technology projects can not only be
established on industrial scales, they can also be executed in small
residential and commercial scale projects as well. The fact that renewable
energy sources are becoming so common is giving users a lot of new options as
well. Consumers did not have the independence of setting up their private
fossil based power plant on their limited spaces but not renewable energy gives
this opportunity for consumers to invest in renewables and reduce their
dependency on oil for electricity.
The fact that the major automobile companies are
beginning to promote electric cars also shows that there will be a decline in
global oil demand in years to come. In the present times we have reached the
point where we are now able to think about shifting from traditional vehicles
to electric vehicles for the reason that we now have cheaper and cleaner
sources of energy to power our vehicles. Electric cars and solar systems for
residential and corporate sectors will go hand in hand because this will
benefit the users by low travelling costs. Not only will charging the vehicles
through renewable sources of energy will be cheaper, these electric vehicles
have lesser number of components and this will also mean lesser maintenance.
Many countries are actually facing huge threats due to
the climatic changes and they are actually looking for cleaner and greener
options so they can reduce their dependency on oil and build a healthier and
sustainable future for their people. Not only will shifting to solar power,
wind power, renewable fuels, or geothermal technology will help to reduce
dependency on oil, it will also help the planet reduce climate changes and risky
exposure to environmental hazards like rising sea levels, cyclones, floods,
bushfires, hurricanes etc. (Butler)
The oil industry are not in favor of letting the renewable energy industry
penetrate rapidly.
It is vital to keep in mind that energy-related debate
will continue for many decades to come, as oil-rich countries will never want
this world to switch from oil to green renewable energy resources. They would
like to continue the dominance of oil in producing energy in every sector. But
the major issue is that dependency is the oil is not proving a handful for this
planet, as well as, for those countries, which have to import oil from other
oil-rich nations. The costs increase with the use of oil in producing energy
and using it for other purposes. The oil-rich nations control the price of oil,
with little fluctuations. The issue with renewable energy is its processes,
which are lengthy to store energy, and then use it. For instance, if an electric
car has to run a few hundred miles with stored electric green energy, then it
will need to install several batteries to first store enough energy, and when
energy is consumed one time, it will need a lot of hours to recharge batteries.
In today’s fast-paced world, people don’t have that much time. If someone has
to go somewhere in an emergency, then an electric car will not be a suitable
option, rather the person will prefer a car with a gasoline engine. These are
some of the practical issues, which are faced by the green energy, and that’s
why it could not have been adopted at large scale, regardless of its so many
benefits (National Academy of Sciences)
But things are also worrisome in terms of oil resources
because the oil reserves are not infinite. So, there will be some point in the
future, when these oil reserves will be too little to fulfill the demand of the
world. The number of automobile users is increasing and the population is also
increasing rapidly, which means that the world will need more oil in the future
to fulfill those needs. The demand and supply gap will increase at some point
in time, and this will be the time when the world will have to look for
alternative energy resources. However, it will be too late then to look for
alternatives in an emergency situation. Moreover, the consumption of oil is
polluting the planet earth, which is another threat looming around for the
whole world. It means that the world has to make a decision right now, and it
is time to look for green energy resources so that dependency on oil can be
decreased. It is not something to happen quickly, and it will take decades, but
the world will have to take a step towards a better future, otherwise, they
will run out of fuel, and then green energy resources will be the only
solution. It is observed that energy produced from renewable sources is just 7%
of the total energy being produced, and with all the efforts till 2030, only a
1% increase will be achieved in it. It shows that journey is long and hard, but
the world will have to walk this path to achieve sustainable and renewable
energy resources, which can be infinite in amount, and more friendly for the
environment as well (National Academy of Sciences)
There are a few major issues to understand, which show
that it will be hard to replace fossil fuels with green & renewable energy
resources. It is a fact that the world is over-dependent on fossil fuels, and
this dependency can only be decreased with the help of renewable energy
resources. More than 80% of energy is coming by burning fossil fuels for the
use of homes, industries, cars, offices, etc. Different predictions have shown
that if the burning of fossil fuels will continue like this, then Earth's
temperature will increase from 2-6 degrees Celsius. It means that global
warming is another issue for the world to look at. If stakeholders do not take
it seriously, the consequences can be severe. The world is already facing the
consequences of global warming and climate change, and if adequate measures
will not be taken, then things can get even worse. The carbon dioxide is
polluting the environment, and it is damaging the purity of climate. In the
next century, the temperature will increase for the planet Earth. It is quite
shocking to know that even the world starts to take action from today to use
more and more renewable energy resources; still, it won’t be able to stop in
the increase in the world’s temperature. The industrial development and
population growth are two major elements to look at as both are growing in
extensive numbers. There is no one to stop both from growing and developing,
and this increase is not good for anyone. The issue with renewable energy
resources is that it does not have the capacity to fulfill this increasing
demand. The developing world, in particular, don’t have enough resources and
infrastructure to switch towards renewable energy resources (Pyke)
Analysis of Green Energy
After analyzing a variety of information and data, it can
be said that renewable and green energy is certainly the way forward for the
world to stay away from harms of fossil fuels, and also to provide better
energy resources in the future. But there is one more fact, which has been
found through this discussion that more than 80% of the world’s energy is being
produced by fossil fuels, whereas only 7% of energy is being produced with
renewable energy resources. The gap between the two energy resources is huge,
and it will take centuries for renewable energy to stand in front of fossil
fuels' energy in percentage. Moreover, there are various practical problems in
adopting green energy resources. The automobile sector is one good example. The
people may like to use electric cars, as it will save a lot of costs for them,
but it will also good for the planet, producing zero emissions. But the issue
is that charging batteries of the car can take a lot of time, once it is
consumed, and the charging stations are too little to deal with the demand for
electric cars. These kinds of problems are showing that renewable energy
resources are not going to decrease the dependency on oil, and it can take
centuries to change this fact.
Conclusion & Recommendations
of Green Energy
It can be concluded in the end that regardless of so many
benefits of green and renewable energy, the world is not able to take a leap in
increasing its use, and this trend is more likely to continue in the future. It
is hard to replace energy produced from fossil fuels, and stakeholders will
have to make serious and major decisions to change this pattern. It is true
that the journey is long and hard, and it may not be achieved in a short
period, but still, the world should remain optimistic about it. In the long
run, it is recommended that major world stakeholders, as well as countries
themselves, should take serious considerations to encourage the use of
renewable energy resources. The industry producing renewable energy should be
given rebates and facilities to invest more in this sector. The governments
should slowly move towards green energy by adopting new rules and regulations.
It is also recommended that every single nation on this planet earth should
play its part in increasing the use of green energy, and this is how the world
may be able to achieve its targets after one or two centuries later.
Works Cited of Green Energy
Butler, Gavin. The Nine Countries Most Threatened
by Climate Change Are All in Asia, Report Finds. 2019.
<https://www.vice.com/en_in/article/7xgdgq/nine-countries-most-threatened-by-climate-change-crisis-disaster-hazard-all-asia-report-finds>.
National Academy of Sciences. WHAT YOU NEED TO
KNOW. 2020. 5 May 2020 <https://www.nap.edu/read/12204/#slide9>.
Organization, UC USA. Benefits of Renewable Energy
Use. 2008.
<https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/benefits-renewable-energy-use>.
Pyke, Toni . The energy debate: Renewable energy
cannot replace fossil fuels. 2017. 5 May 2020
<https://developmenteducation.ie/feature/the-energy-debate-renewable-energy-cannot-replace-fossil-fuels/>.