FWR Group Sustainability Articles
Earth energy talks
The need to find renewable energy sources has resulted in talks being held all over the planet in a variety of different forums and by many different proponents. Coal, oil and gas lobbyists have been petitioning for the need for continued fossil fuel extraction and consumption as they provide the majority of all energy currently used. Scientists and other groups have been arguing for the need for greater energy production from renewable sources and a reduction in fossil fuel burning. The following article will briefly outline the main issues of this topic and present common ideas from both opposing views.
Energy is a fundamental need of human society and is used by all elements of civilisation. Energy comes in many different forms, but one of the most commonly used is electricity. The production of electrical energy is also a major contributor of greenhouse gas emissions and a number of other negative environmental impacts. Most of our electrical energy is produced by the burning of fossil fuels, a trend which many governments around the world are attempting to change. Different sources of renewable energy are now available and they are becoming increasingly utilised to generate electricity.
Renewable energy is produced by solar power, hydroelectric, wind, tidal and geothermal systems. As many of these energy sources require certain climatic conditions their use is distributed accordingly around the globe. As many of these technologies are also more expensive, there is a higher uptake in developed nations. Another limiting factor for some renewable energy sources is their abundance. Solar and wind power generators only work when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. For this reason a reliable base load source of energy is still needed to support human activities in many cases. Fossil fuel power stations provide constant energy output and therefore will continue to be used to produce electricity. More advances in renewable energy sources will be needed before they can completely replace non-renewable energy stations.
It is for this reason that many fossil fuel lobbyists promote the importance of non-renewable energy. It is still the most reliable and cost-effective way to provide electricity to the masses. There have been advances in fossil fuel power stations, such as the invention of scrubbers that remove some of the harmful compounds released during the burning process. There are also technologies being developed to store the carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere.
Renewable energy systems are advancing; geothermal in particular is considered a possible replacement for fossil fuels as it can produce a constant amount of electricity by heating water with warm rocks from under the planet’s surface. The combination of solar, wind and tidal has also got the potential to provide more of our energy needs as the technologies improve.
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This work by Michael Duggan is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.5 Australia License.
