Are you Ready to Live Without Nonrenewable Energy Sources
Are You Ready to Live Without Nonrenewable Energy Sources
Chinita Johnson
COM/220
Marla Muse
December 12, 2012
Are You Ready to Live Without Nonrenewable Energy Sources
What will you do when your lights go out because there are no more fossil fuels to fuel the electricity needs of our nation? As many of us have dealt with power outages for one reason or another, they were usually for a very short period of time that may have seemed like forever. For the past few decades there has been a huge push for conserving and preserving energy. Many live lives from day-to-day without ever giving any thought as to where their electricity comes from. Believe it or not, the depletion of non-renewable energy sources poses growing concerns for future generations if energy conservation and preservation are not taken seriously.
“Coal, oil and natural gas are called fossil fuels because of the way that they were formed, the end products of photosynthesis that formed millions of years ago in large deposits of carbon compounds” (Berg & Hager, 2007 p. 7 & 105). Fossil fuels are also referred to as nonrenewable energy sources because natural processes do not replenish these sources within a reasonable period of time in which to be reused, they take millions of years to form. Coal and natural gas are most widely used to provide our homes with heat and electricity, and to fuel industrial and manufacturing plants. Nearly every mode of transportation uses some form of crude oil or petroleum for fuel.
Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel in the United States and is also the home of the largest known coal reserves in the world. “More than one-fourth of the total known world coal reserves are in the United States” ("The National Academies Of Science", 2012). Although coal is plentiful, the dangers associated with harvesting coal and CO2 emissions have begun to outweigh the low cost of burning coal. “The production of coal is $1.60 in
Chinita Johnson
COM/220
Marla Muse
December 12, 2012
Are You Ready to Live Without Nonrenewable Energy Sources
What will you do when your lights go out because there are no more fossil fuels to fuel the electricity needs of our nation? As many of us have dealt with power outages for one reason or another, they were usually for a very short period of time that may have seemed like forever. For the past few decades there has been a huge push for conserving and preserving energy. Many live lives from day-to-day without ever giving any thought as to where their electricity comes from. Believe it or not, the depletion of non-renewable energy sources poses growing concerns for future generations if energy conservation and preservation are not taken seriously.
“Coal, oil and natural gas are called fossil fuels because of the way that they were formed, the end products of photosynthesis that formed millions of years ago in large deposits of carbon compounds” (Berg & Hager, 2007 p. 7 & 105). Fossil fuels are also referred to as nonrenewable energy sources because natural processes do not replenish these sources within a reasonable period of time in which to be reused, they take millions of years to form. Coal and natural gas are most widely used to provide our homes with heat and electricity, and to fuel industrial and manufacturing plants. Nearly every mode of transportation uses some form of crude oil or petroleum for fuel.
Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel in the United States and is also the home of the largest known coal reserves in the world. “More than one-fourth of the total known world coal reserves are in the United States” ("The National Academies Of Science", 2012). Although coal is plentiful, the dangers associated with harvesting coal and CO2 emissions have begun to outweigh the low cost of burning coal. “The production of coal is $1.60 in
References: Bamberger, M., & Oswald, R. E. (2012). Impacts of gas drilling on human and animal health. New Solutions, 22(1), 51-77. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.2190/NS.22.1.e Berg, L. R. & Hager, M. C., (2007). Visualizing Environmental Science. (chap.3, p. 50). New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Energy Quest. (2012). Retrieved from http://energyquest.ca.gov/saving_energy/index.html Kolar, J. L. (2000, Autumn). Integrating Renewable and Nonrenewable Energy Sources. Environmental Quality Management, 10(1), 59-67. Business Source Complete The National Academies of Science. (2012). Retrieved from http://needtoknow.nas.edu/energy/energy-sources/fossil-fuels/