It has been suggested that nuclear and/or wind power will fill the gap left by oil and gas. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of such a proposal with reference to the UK and/or China.

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It has been suggested that nuclear and/or wind power will fill the gap left by oil and gas. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of such a proposal with reference to the UK and/or China.

Introduction

With peak oil predictions from a range of sources estimating that peak oil will occur within 2005-2038, countries are being forced to develop other type of energy sources to provide energy security for the future. When peak oil occurs, the supply of oil will start declining meaning demand won’t be met. Therefore, countries will need to look to other sources of energy to meet their demand. When peak oil will occur is a mystery due to a range of reasons such as limited information on countries reserves. This means some countries aren’t worried about it compared to other countries which are already looking to other sources of energy.

Countries such as the England are also trying to reduce the amount of CO2 they are emitting. This is achieved by using more eco-friendly sources of energy such as wind power, solar energy or even nuclear energy. A compromise needs to be achieved between being eco-friendly and producing enough energy to fill their demand.

By using a variety of different energy sources which are both renewable and non-renewable will provide a country with energy security for the future. However, the amount of non-renewable resources being used has to be reduced to allow them to last for longer. Different countries will have different options in terms of their choices of energy, such as the UK can benefit from wind power and other countries can benefit from their volcanic activity and use geothermal.

Main Body

There are three options for countries in terms of energy supplies, they can conserve their energy, do nothing and finally, they can even find other sources of energy to become energy secure

The first option of energy conservation involves countries cutting their energy demand meaning supplies will last longer. This method wouldn’t be successful in many countries though due to the importance of energy in terms of the development and power of countries. Therefore, this option isn’t very suitable for the majority of the people in the world.

The second option of “do nothing” is also not very suitable. This is because with many sources predicting that peak oil will occur within the next couple of years, energy reserves won’t be able satisfies the demand of countries. Therefore, when oil runs out countries won’t be prepared and people will have to reduce their demands until other oil reserves are discovered or until other energy sources are developed.

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Therefore, both of the above options aren’t appropriate to many countries due to the main fact that countries would find it hard to reduce their demand and many countries unwilling to lower their demand in case other countries overtake them in terms of development.

Consequently the best option is the multi energy solution which involves developing other renewable sources to meet demand. The two main energy sources which are best suited to be developed is that of wind power and nuclear power. Both of these options have their positives and negatives which need to be assessed before being used to ...

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