Draft 2

Alternative Energy

Dustin Hunt

DeVry University

Advanced Composition

Professor Doloski

10/2/2014

Alternative Energy

Introduction

There has been an increasing concern over the past few years over the negative impacts of using fossil fuels. Overreliance on fossil fuels has resulted to negative environmental impacts such as global warming. The critics of fossil fuels, base their arguments on the three pillars of sustainability to discourage the use of fossil fuels. For instance, the world’s largest economy, the United States, is among the leading emitters of greenhouse gases. Fossil fuels account for over 80 percent of the United States’ contribution to global warming (Greenpeace.org, 2014). The existing technologies have introduced cleaner energy sources such as solar, wind, and geothermal power. Alternative energy sources would serve as a solution to the problems of global warming.

The challenges associated with the use of fossil fuels cannot be underestimated. Despite the fact that fossil fuels are the primary energy sources, they lead to catastrophic effects both to the environment and to human health. Particularly, the combustion of fossil fuels leads to the emission of carbon dioxide. This is the main greenhouse gas that contributes greatly to global warming. In addition, fossil fuels also releases other gases such as carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide that are harmful to human health. Furthermore, fossil fuels are nonrenewable in the sense that they could be depleted in the near future due to the increasing demand for electric energy. Therefore, there is a need to adopt alternative sources of energy across the world in order to curb the current challenges posed by the use of fossil fuels. These cleaner energy sources promises several solutions to the current challenges posed by overreliance on fossil fuels. With this regard, this research paper seeks to critically examine the arguments for the adoption of alternative sources of energy as a solution to greenhouse gas emissions and global warming.

Arguments for alternative sources of energy

Climate change is one of the most challenging conundrums of our time and we must embrace the adoption of cleaner energy sources to avert the catastrophic impacts of global warming such as disruptions to food systems and coastal flooding. Fossil fuels are regarded to be environmentally unsustainable. In this case, Jaccard (2006) asserts that the world economies, especially in the industrialized nations are relying on the use of fossil fuels such as natural gas, oil and coal. However, fossil fuels generate energy through combustion and thus releasing greenhouse gas emissions in the process. Some of the emissions have contributed to the global climate changes. Besides, the extraction, exploration, transportation, processing as well as use of fossil fuels are all associated with significant negative impacts and risks for ecosystems and humans (Jaccard, 2006). Clearly, this calls for greener sources of energy such as geothermal, solar and wind power. These sources of energy are not only renewable but also environmental friendly. They do not emit greenhouse gases and therefore they could help mitigate the effect of global warming.

According to the report by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in the recent decades, the global temperatures have reached the highest level within the last millennium as a result of global warming (Hansen et al, 2014). In this case, carbon emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels are the main cause of global warming. This increase in global warming is so alarming owing to then catastrophic impacts associated with it. Moreover, it is arguably true that a greater percentage of greenhouse gas emission is as a result of power generation processes from fossil fuels. For instance, the report by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (2014) asserts that in 2012, the carbon emissions from electric power generation processes in the United States accounted for 38% of the country’s total carbon emissions and about 31% of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, the recent increase in the effects of global warming is as a result of the increase in demand for electricity for both domestic and industrial consumption.

Since a greater percentage of greenhouse gas emissions originate from electric power generation processes, the solution to global warming lies in the adoption of cleaner sources of energy. “Renewable energy technologies generate electricity with almost no pollution or carbon emissions” (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2014). This implies that such technologies are associated with minimal or no greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, such technologies have the potential of significantly reducing the current overreliance on fossil fuels in the world. Thus, there is a need for global economies to adopt and expand the use of renewable energy sources so as to mitigate the emission of greenhouse gases and consequently global warming. This should start with the world’s leading economy, the United States, since it is among the leading greenhouse gas emitters. Among the alternative energy sources that have been identified include, solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, and geothermal energy. However, addressing the issue of global warming calls for urgent and dedicated efforts of all the parties concerned across the continent. It is thus necessary for all the countries to work collaboratively towards mitigating the impacts of global warming. Generally, global warming is a world disaster as it affects everyone world either directly or indirectly.

References: