Energy Solution
Currently the United States is facing an electrical energy crisis. As of right now electricity is produced by renewable and nonrenewable sources. Renewable sources provide an almost perfectly clean electrical generation. However, the renewable resources are not the most widely used to produce electricity. Nonrenewable resources take the cake when it comes to electrical generation. The problem with electrical generation by nonrenewable sources is nonrenewable means it won’t be around forever. Another problem comes about when we look at the affect fossil fuels, nonrenewable resource, have on the environment. Fossil fuels heavily pollute the Earth’s atmosphere putting the global population in a bind.
The number one fuel used to generate electricity is coal. Coal is a fossil fuel that places harmful green house gases in the air causing climate change. It also puts heavy metals into drinking water which is harmful to living organisms. Currently coal produces 1961 billion kWh of electricity each year in the United States. That number is expected to rise to 2756 billion kWh by the year 2030. The second largest electrical produce is nuclear power generation creating 800 billion kWh of electricity each year. That number is expected to rise slightly to 917 billion kWh per year by 2030. Nuclear power generation is cleaner in the aspect that it doesn’t produce green house gases; however, the fuel nuclear plants need is extremely radioactive and can devastate ecosystems if released into the atmosphere. That radioactive matter that is produced as of right now has nowhere to go because the dump site of nuclear waste has not been determined.
The renewable energy sources produce about half the total coal production each year. Natural gas equals 700 billion kWh, hydroelectric 267.91 kWh, wind 49.91 billion kWh, solar photovoltaic .11 billion kWh, and biomass 12.84 billion kWh each year. These numbers are expected to increase by 2030 but not...
View Full Essay