Shifting From Fossil Fuel To Renewable Energy – Economic And Environmental Reasons

Issue 1: Economic

The world has become highly depended on fossil fuel, and it has a high demand for energy for various significant reasons. It is also an important cause of the big problem, climate change. The world needs more and more energy every day for the growing need of human that demand more energy (Urry, 2014). These energies are obtained mostly from non-renewable resources which are limited and take a million years to be created again (Das, Sarmah, & Bhattacharyya, 2015). In this situation, it is only the renewable sources of energies the only solution to feed the hunger of energy. However, it is a much debatable topic when it comes to shifting from fossil fuel to renewable energy. Often it is considered an extensive slow process or a process that is unrealistic for developing countries. The essay focuses on the shift from energy generated by fossil fuel to renewable energy. Renewable energy is a better approach towards emitting greenhouse however it is often considered unrealistic for the developing countries. The essay discusses the economic and environmental reasons for considering the shift to renewable source from fossil fuel in developing countries.

Argument

Numerous studies by researchers have come up with various plans of large-scale renewable energy (Gu et al., 2014). Some researcher found that US’s geographical, economic and technological has the ability to replace the fossil fuel energy with solar power (Wennersten, Sun & Li, 2015). Although these methods are completely necessary for the problem of climate change, air pollution, energy insecurity and related issues, these methods have to be adopted globally. The reason for adapting the wind, water, and sunlight (WWS) powers are easily comprehensive. There is no major development required for WWS power (Jacobson & Delucchi, 2011). The WWS powers are based on the feasibility of implementing and have zero emission of greenhouse gases. In the broader aspect, WWS technologies also include wind, wave, geothermal, hydroelectricity, tidal and concentrated solar power system (Ellabban, Abu-Rub & Blaabjerg, 2014). Scientists claim these resources cheap and available in abundance which requires a systematic technology to convert them into renewable energy. According to researches 4 million 5MW wind turbines including both land and water and approximately 90,000 300 MW PV plus CSP power plants are required thinking about helping the world. The total area needed is only 48km per square which can include between them for agriculture. Also, if 50% of the wind energy is derived from the ocean along with 20% wave and tidal energy, almost 70% of the work will be considered done and will require only 30% of land for rest of the WWS project.

Argument

To replace fossil fuels with the renewable source of energy is an efficient way of working toward the environment, however, it is non-practical when the developing countries are brought into the consideration. Asia is witnessing a drastic increase in population which leads to the supply of energy to meet the demand. There is a rapid increase in demand for energy and meeting this demand is the major concern of the researcher. Asia shares 37.3% of the total world energy and per capita consumption is doubling rapidly. There are numerous Asian countries lacking electricity at home and to meet this rising demand for electricity, Asia is heavily depended on fossil fuel. China being one of the Asian countries having 99% electrification also produces 81% of the electricity burning carbon fuel. There are many hindrances that are preventing the developing countries to produce renewable energy. According to Ghose, (2013) cost is one of the major contributing factors. To increase the production of renewable source, the most needed factor in the advanced technology which requires monetary support and developing countries fail to afford such advanced technologies. The government of these countries lacks the funds to invest in renewable energy along with high up-front cost.

Most experts say the US can run only on wind or other renewable energy however it is nor same for the rest of the world. The developed country is self-sufficient along with high end infrastructure which makes it say renewable energy as a feasible achievement (Weaver et al., 2017). When the developing countries are lacking various basic needs and a large number of populations are living below the poverty line, the priority is only food, shelter and clothing. Countries such as Japan, China, Korea, India, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia are seeking more ways to invest in renewable energy. However, the developing countries should be provided with aids from the developed countries.

Argument

Experts agree the impact of excessive use of non-renewable energy and that is the reason why researchers are working on the finding various ways to use renewable energy. The US has been identified as one of the countries where there is a potential for replacing its fossil fuels with renewable sources with large-scale renewable energy plans (Marien, 2013). The primary energy sources are wind, water and sunlight. These resources are available in abundance hence can be used to produce energy to fulfil human needs. WWS options are much suitable for the climate and cost-effective (Jacobson et al., 2017). Often in the long term global energy source nuclear energy is not considered since it produces relatively less amount of carbon dioxide than fossil fuels. However, it produces 9-25 times more carbon than wind energy. For many negative reasons for fossil fuels and related energy producing sources, the WWS is most recommended. Wave, hydroelectricity, geothermal, wave, tidal, solar PV (solar photovoltaic) and concentrated solar power are the technologies that create renewable energy (Widén et al., 2015). Combining these resources, it is possible to meet the desired energy of the worldwide. These energies are non-perishable with low emission of harmful gases (Centore, Hochman & Zilberman, 2014). Also, there can be a production of energy at the same time from more than sources such as hydroelectricity, wave and tide. For wind turbine that requires vast lands can have agriculture in between two wind turbines.

Counter Argument

To provide renewable energy worldwide approximately 90,000 300MW PV plus CSP power plants are needed. The materials required for the renewable energy are easily found in every country. However, advanced technology is required to convert the resources into energy (López et al., 2013). Wind turbines require raw materials such as steel and concrete magnetic materials which are costly and not easily affordable in every country. Also, for wind turbines, one of the rare materials is the earth elements such as neodymium which is not easily available. Global production of renewable energy on the verge of being popular and it will take more years to grow in full fledge (Dulal et al., 2013). The process of generating energy consumes other necessary materials that are often costly or rare. Therefore, it is not possible to adapt the use of the renewable source in every country in a short span of time. Many countries fail to utilize all of its resources that can produce renewable energy. Coal is the most-used source of energy in these countries. Therefore, the only way to move to renewable energy from fossil fuel can be through strict government policies and government initiative for renewable energy.

According to Twidell and Weir, (2015) every country is not blessed to have potential natural resources to generate renewable energy. However, every country will have one or the other source of natural resources that can be used to produce the renewable resource. Therefore, it is important for every country to find out the potential source of their countries. Countries lacking funds can seek help from the foreign countries for the improvement and development. The government of the developing countries needs to implement policies and invest in the infrastructure. The natural resources should be used to the fullest focus on the renewable energy and control of the fossil fuel energy. The government should also be concerned about the emission of greenhouse gases need to be controlled by policies and laws. The private companies need to manage regulation of fossil fuel energy and also contribute to help building technologies to generate renewable sources.

Conclusion

The source of carbon-free electricity is only possible by generating electricity primarily from wind, water and sunlight. They are a presence in the environment endlessly, therefore; they can be turned off and on. However, in the clear view when is broadly accepted that wind, water and sunlight is the only source of energy that will replace and help fossil fuel energy, it is still not adopted worldwide. The plain reason that can be held responsible at the end of this essay is the lack of resources. The developing countries lack the funds to invest to generate the renewable energy. The countries where electrification has not occurred entirely in every region they rely heavily on the fossil fuel energy since it is easily available and affordable. Although many Asian countries, developed and developing, are working on generating the renewable source of energy to meet their needs, it still requires years to see the desired change.

References

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