With gas prices sky rocketing everyone wants a new source of energy. But the question on everyone’s mind is, do we drill for more oil sources or research more alternative energy sources? In the long run, alternative energy sources will better benefit mankind. This paper will prove this point by covering the risks of relying on oil and fossil fuels, the costs and benefits of alternative energy sources and the environmental impact both, oil/fossil fuels and alternative energy sources have on the planet.
Alternative energy sources are irregular ways of generating electricity and powering vehicles. Any energy source other than fossil fuels can be referred to as an alternative energy source. There are many types of alternative energy sources. Solar energy is one of the better known one, in which power comes from the sun. Hydroelectric power is another well known one, where electricity is generated from a river turning a turbine. Another well known source is wind turbines. Wind turbines generate electricity from the wind turning the turbines. There are many other alternative sources, hydrogen, biomass, and geothermal are some lesser known sources. Energy sources that are not typically referred to as alternative energy sources include; oil, coal and natural gas.
One of the main reasons for utilizing alternate energy sources are the risks of relying on oil and fossils fuels. One of the obvious reasons against relying on oil and fossils fuels is that it is a limited resource. Once we run out of them, they’re gone for good. If we don’t begin to switch over to renewable resources soon, it will be too late. If we wait too long, we will eventually run out of oil and be in an energy crisis. If we begin implementing alternative energy sources now, running out of oil won’t have as big of an impact on the country.
Another big concern about oil is that our main source of oil is in foreign countries. That leaves us in the power of other countries. Foreign countries shouldn’t have control over our economy and power. If a country which we buy oil from doesn’t like us, they can either stop selling us oil or sell it to us at extreme prices. By using alternative energy sources, the source of our power would be domestic, preventing foreign disruptions such as the 1973 Oil Embargo. The 1973 Oil Embargo, also known at the 1973 oil crisis, was when Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries announced an oil embargo on the United States and any other country that assisted Israel during the Yom Kippur War. This embargo crippled the American economy. (Second Arab Embargo 1973-1974) Our economy should not be controlled by a foreign nation. If the country had alternative energy sources, a crisis like this could not reoccur.
There are relatively few costs for using alternative energy sources. The main costs will be in raw materials and time. Alternative energy sources will take time to research and develop. We won’t be able to switch over to alternative energy sources over night; it will take time to develop and perfect them. And it will take time to utilize those sources; we will still need to use fossil fuels to power some of the machinery until we can completely switch over to alternative energy sources. The development and the maintaining of these sources will also require more labor than fossil fuels do.
There are many benefits to using alternative energy sources. One of the main benefits is that many of them are renewable. Unlike with oil, we have an unlimited amount of sun light, wind and water. We don’t have worry about one day running out of sun light. Another reason is that many alternative sources are environmentally friendly. They may not be 100% environmentally friendly, but they will certainly have less of a negative impact on the earth. By using alternative energy source, we will be able to combat inflation that would be caused by the depletion of our fossil fuels. (Brower 1) Another benefit, as mentioned before, is that our fuel source will be completely in our control, and will not be influenced by foreign powers.
Alternative energy sources will also create more jobs. Normally, alternative energy industries require more labor than coal, oil and natural-gas industries, thus creating more jobs. (Brower 1) There will be jobs created in the research field for people to do the actual research and develop these new sources. It will also require manpower to maintain and run the energy sources. People will also be needed convert current technology to use an alternative energy source.
Currently, the country is being criticized for the War on Terror that it is involved in. One of the many point critics are making, is that the main reason for the war, is oil. If the United States spent time further researching and implementing some of these alternative energy sources, the opponents of the war would not be able to say that it is motive by oil. If our country has less of a need for oil, there would be no reason for a war to gain oil.
Fossil fuels currently have a huge impact on our earth’s environment. The burning of fossil fuels boosts the emission of atmospheric carbon dioxide in to the earth’s atmosphere which traps the sun’s rays, heating the earth. According to the director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, James Hansen, if we do not change something, and continue to increase our CO2 emission by 2 percent each year, as we’ve done in the past, it will lead to the earth warming an additional 2-3 degrees Celsius. (Hansen 1) This effect is known as Global Warming. If we were able to reduce the amount of CO2 emissions, we could effectively combat Global Warming. Whether or not you believe in Global Warming, you should always look for ways to keep our planet healthy. Why would you want to continue to rely on a source of energy that does harm to the planet, when there are plenty of viable alternatives out there that utilize the planet without doing harm to it?
Compared to fossil fuels, most alternative energy sources produce much less pollution. Most alternative sources of energy also produce very little or no hazardous waste. (Brower 1) Some sources of energy, such as biomass, use waste as a form of power. (Renewable Energy) If the country utilized biomass fuels more, it could greatly cut down on the number of landfills in existence. Some estimate that biomass fuels, can power at least thirty percent of all cars in the United States. (Brower 2) If we used biomass fuels to power these cars, it would reduce the amount of CO2 emissions, which is said to be the cause of Global Warming. Even by using hybrid vehicles instead of purely biomass power vehicles, we would cut down on the amount of CO2 emissions.
The solution to our energy problems is not going to be to just out right eliminate oil usage, it is going to be to lessen the amount we use and not be dependent on it. Currently, without oil and other fossil fuels, the country would most likely collapse as is does not currently have a back up source of energy. That is one of the reasons the spike in gas prices crippled the economy. Hybrid vehicles and machinery would help with the current energy crisis. If vehicles only needed half the amount of gas that they use now, the limited amount of oil and gas we have, would be able to last twice as long. Oil is a valuable resource for powering our country, if we spent more efforts on researching alternative energy sources, we would be better able to utilize oil by using hybrid technology that combines the use of both oil and another energy source.
By showing the risks of relying on oil and fossil fuels, the costs and benefits of alternative energy sources and the environmental impact of both oil and specific alternate sources, alternative energy sources are, by far, better in the long run. Why continue to rely on a limited resource like oil, when there are options with unlimited potential available? If our country focused on researching alternative energy sources, and implementing them it would solve the current energy crisis. Researching alternative energy sources would strength our economy and make us a more independent nation. Many people suggest our motive for the current War on Terror is oil, if our country focused itself on developing and implementing alternative sources of energy, it would eliminate the rumors that the war is only for oil. There are many more benefits the country would receive from alternative energy sources than it would receive if it simply drilled for more oil.
Sources:
Micheal Brower. “Renewable Energy.”
Lester R. Brown “Rescuing a Planet Under Stress.
James Hanson. “Earth’s Climate is Near Tipping Point.”Global Viewpoint
“Renewable Energy – Biomass including wood, MSW, and biofuels, carbon cycle, photosynthesis.” The Energy Information Administration
Second Arab Oil Embargo, 1973-1974.” United States Department of State
Thomas Tanton. “The New Future of Renewable Energy.” World & I
