Free Essay: How Can The United States Lessen Its Dependence on Fossil Fuels?

A few eons ago, adversity struck the biosphere, disheartening veracity; fossil energies are getting depleted. Fossil energy is becoming gradually obsolete, there is an impending scarcity of these energies, and once these cradles run out, nothing will be there for the world to exploit. The world must act immediately in response to the phenomenon and turn to unconventional fuel cradles which are in great quantity and may not be depleted soon (Nasruddin, 2016). The expenses of fossil energies are snowballing as their demand upsurges and their supply decreases. Natural gas, coal, and oil are all anticipated to become profoundly limited within the ensuing epoch, and no expertise can encumber it from happening. We must preclude global warming with making use of less amounts of fossil fuel energies and pave the way to unpolluted, renewable sources.

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Fossil fuels were formed several centuries ago (Woon et al. 2014). At present, three main types of relic fuels exist; natural gas, oil, and coal. The formation of coal occurred when the remnants of plants which lived in swamplands millions of eons ago were shielded with sediments. The ocean levels then rose thereby making the layers of sediments condense the remains of the plants, while the heat and the pressure from within the crust of the earths instigated the formation of coal (Nasruddin, 2016). In the United States, the majority of coal formed about 250 million to 300 million years ago.

Many centuries ago at the bottommost part of the deep-sea lay petite marine organisms. These entities decomposed and their remnants were repressed by sentiments (Bilgen, 2014). They befitted into multifarious energy-rich molecules of carbon after being heated through time. The molecules then turned into porous rock formations that are used to produce natural gas and oil (Dogan, 2015). Within the US, most natural gas and oil is found in Texas, California, and Alaska.

The world has experienced grave impacts that have resulted from oil spills (Bilgen, 2014). The seepages of the petroleum product or petroleum have caused devastating injuries or caused death to many marine animals. The destruction instigated to wildlife is relentless and extensive despite the heroic and costly cleanup efforts. The human population has ended up being affected by the cleanup efforts. An enormous amount of pollution also comes from coal (Woon et al. 2014). Coal is the most liable for Co2 emanations surpassing petroleum in the world. 40 percent of the worlds electricity generation comes from coal (McKibben, 2016). In China, almost every week, a coal plant is built.

The least polluting of all the three fossil fuels is the natural gas (Bilgen, 2014). Natural gas contains carbon atoms within its molecules. The combustion of natural gas releases between 40 percent to 50 percent of co2 more than coal and about 25 percent to 30 percent less co2 than oil (McKibben, 2016). Coal is a frequently used fossil energy given to the fact that the world's electricity production depends on coal. The most damages to the environment are done by coal and due to these conspicuous effects such as pollution, global warming has been enhanced.

Regarding plummeting the dependency on fossil energies in the United States, amply of alternatives are evidently available for exploitation (Nasruddin, 2016). Most Americans use this nonrenewable source of fuel to cool and warm themselves. America can make a trifling sacrifice and make use warmer clothes. Such small but worth doing options will help curb the dependency on oil. Other options include eating organic foods, bicycle riding, organically gardening, swapping to natural cleaners and detergents, making use of makeup and last but no least purchasing natural-fiber clothes.

In spite of natural gas being one of the backers to producing electrical energy, it is one of the cleanest of all remnant energies (McKibben, 2016). Natural gas is non-renewable, and the United States must accede to reducing its consumption. By doing the small actions that can lessen the amount electricity consumed, the quantity of the energy that might be saved will be flabbergasting. Such small beginnings will bring great endings. From switching off the indolent lights in our households to bathing quicker, the United States would be contributing towards reducing the electricity intake and its production through fossil energies.

There is merely one major solution for the United Sates to lessen its dependency on fossil fuels and that is to detain the usage of fossil energies (Bilgen, 2014). It is apparent that the world cannot subsist without non-renewable energies. Within the United States, the consumption of fossil energies needs to be abridged, and the generation of enhanced expertise that is more ingenious and upsurges the aptitude to depend on renewable sources as an alternative to fossil fuels needs to be implemented. Such options include the making of use of solar energy, biomass fuel, geothermal energy, hydroelectricity and nuclear power.

Solar power is a form of renewable energy and is viable for energy production. Solar energy can be used for heating, cooking and much more. Making use of Skylights in household structures can also lessen spending on energy to light quarters in households interior at daytime (Nasruddin, 2016). Solar energy is non-polluting, renewable, easy to install, long lasting, low maintenance and can be used even in remote places. Solar being a non-polluting form of energy, damage to the environment is reduced as it does not produce harmful gases like the sulphur oxide, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen oxide (McKibben, 2016). There is no other form of energy that is required for the production of solar energy, and thus, problems of fuel transportation and storage of radioactive wastes are avoided. Solar panels are silent energy producer of which is a necessity when dealing with persnickety neighbours (Bilgen, 2014). The United States need to introduce a generous tax credit for companies and individuals who can invest in solar energy and other forms of clean energy productions to lessen the usage of fossil energies.About wind energy, the United States needs to work on increasing its wind power electricity generations by increasing the number of generation plants. Wind energy has many advantages such as; it is sustainable, cost efficient and is a clean source of fuel. The wind being a clean source of fuel does not pollute the environment and its impacts on global warming are minimal (Qu & Huang, 2016). Wind turbines do not emanate emissions to the mesosphere that can cause acid rain or greenhouse gases. More so the supply of wind is abundant. Wind power generation, on the other hand, creates jobs to the local people who deal from selling off the parts of the wind turbine to those who work to maintain the project.

Geothermal energy is energy obtained from the interior of the earth (McKibben, 2016). It is formed from the scission of radioactive materials within the earths core. Water deep within the earths crust becomes hot and is vaporized. As more and more steam is formed, it becomes compressed at high pressures and therefore fuses out of the earths crust in the form of hot springs (LI, 2016). The United States even though has harnessed this type energy in the form of Geothermal power, much more needs to be done to increase the number geothermal wells as still there are more wells that can produce such energy (Bilgen, 2014). Maximum utilization of this energy will lessen the usage of fossil fuel. Many advantages accompany this type of energy, and they include; it is environmentally friendly and non-polluting, it is a renewable source of energy and geothermal power can be directly used. Other advantages are; the maintenance costs associated with these projects are low, they occupy less space thereby protecting the natural environment and lastly, they are not dependent on weather patterns (Nasruddin, 2016).

Even though all these forms of energies starting with solar energy, wind energy, and geothermal power have other negative impacts, their impacts can never be equated to the impact of fossil fuels. The usage of fossil fuel needs to be minimized at all costs for the better good of the environment we live in. It is our life that is in danger with the continued usage of fossil energies. The impacts of global warming have worsened in the recent times due to the usage of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels, when used, produced toxic substances that range from greenhouse gases and other particulate matter that have increased the rate of global warming. Global warming possesses many dangers to the environment such as sea level rise, increase drought, and hot summers. For us to lessen the impacts of global warming, usage fossil energies need to be stopped.

References

Bilgen, S. (2014). Structure and environmental impact of global energy consumption. Renewable And Sustainable Energy Reviews, 38890-902.

Dogan, N. (2015). The Place of Renewable Energy Sources in Energy Sector in Turkey: Swot Analysis. IIB International Refereed Academic Social Sciences Journal / IIB Uluslararasi Akademik Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 17118.

LI, A. F. (2016). Hopes of Limiting Global Warming? China and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. China Perspectives, (1), 49-54.

McKIBBEN, B. (2016). Global Warming's Terrifying New Chemistry. Nation, 302(15/16), 12-18.

Nasruddin, Idrus Alhamid, M., Daud, Y., Surachman, A., Sugiyono, A., Aditya, H., & Mahlia, T. (2016). Potential of geothermal energy for electricity generation in Indonesia: A review. Renewable And Sustainable Energy Reviews, 53733-740.

Qu, X., & Huang, G. (2016). The Global Warming-Induced South Asian High Change and Its Uncertainty. Journal Of Climate, 29(6), 2259-2273.

Woon Jang, Y., Park, I., Ha, S., Jang, S., Chung, K., Lee, G., & ... Cho, C. (2014). Preliminary analysis of the development of the Carbon Tracker system in Latin America and the Caribbean. Atmosfera, 2761-76.