At some point in the future, certain countries will invariably be without a fossil fuel- based economy as fossil fuels are not renewable, but rather an expendable source of energy. The exact amount of time that fossil fuels can be a variable energy source is not precisely known, but some estimates place the time at any where from 20-1000 years into the future. This period of time can be expanded with the development of new technology as that can better extract oil from the Earth’s oil resources, but this will also greatly increase the price of oil. Another potential solution is to extract oil from crops such as corn. At some point in the future, oil will no longer be an economically feasible source of energy. Environmental concerns not withstanding, sooner or later fossil fuels must be replaced by other sources of energy.
Efforts have been put forward to find alternative renewable energy. Instead of using a supply of energy, which takes millions of years to replenish, these alternatives convert the energies of the wind, sun and water to provide usable energy.
Most common alternative is capturing falling water to generate electricity. Hydropower is a very effective source of electricity, which has already proven as a non-pollution alternative to fossil fuel. Drawbacks however are that since hydropower is generated by turbines in dams which capture the power of the rivers, fish stocks is disrupted therefore threat to species living in rivers is grater.
Another source of renewable energy being exploited is wind power, where the wind turns large turbines to generate electricity. There are a number of interesting benefits. Firstly it is economical and becomes more economically as efficiency increases. Secondly, although many wind turbines are requires to produce significant amounts of electricity, wind turbines occupy very small area on the ground. However like solar energy, the practicality of wind power varies by region, wind thus cant be a complete replacement to fossil fuels.
A true alternative to fossil fuel may lie in harnessing the energy of hydrogen. “Hydrogen accounts for about 80% of all matter in universe.” Already used in commercial hydrogen production, electrolysis with its use of electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen is the simplest method. Much scientific and technological effort is being spent on effective storage and transport system. However this method needs the highest cost compared to other types of energy. In addition hydrogen is difficult to store and use for transport or in domestic situations. For hydrogen to become a successful and viable fuel, the worries of the public must be calmed.
Whilst hydrogen may be an excellent alternative to fossil fuel, in transportation applications current hydrogen fuel cell technology does not permit the large-scale production of electricity. For electrical grid supply, nuclear reactors may serve as an ideal solution. Nuclear reactors use nuclear fissions to generate heat energy, which heat stream, which in turn drives a turbine to alternatively produce usable electricity. The nuclear reaction process is remarkably clean, with minor amounts of radioactive material leftover, which is easily contained from the environment. However one concern about nuclear reactors is that they can potentially be used to help in the development of nuclear weapons. On the other hand nuclear energy is very economical.
After food, fossil fuel is humanity’s most important source of energy. Fossil fuel plays a major role in our economy and many of our current technology have been developed with fossil fuel in mind. We cannot deny however that the burning of fossil fuel is damaging the Earth’s environment with the release of pollution to the atmosphere. In addition ecosystems are becoming damaged by the extraction of fossil fuel.
Fossil fuel is highly integrated in society and this then must be phased out slowly. For this reason fossil fuel must be replaced with clean source of energy discussed in this essay. First, all current source of renewable energy, be it solar, hydro, wind or nuclear based, must remain on-line. Technology is available to eliminate the use of fossil fuels. It is not a matter of whether or not these energies should be introduced on a large scale, but rather a matter of how long this harm to the environment can be tolerated. It may be impossible to reverse the effects of fossil fuel- generated pollution. Only the clean energies of the future cal assure a healthy future for the Earth and its occupants.
Time will soon run out and we will need to look else where for alternatives to fossil fuel!
Bibliography
Steven Zundahl and Susan Zundahl. Chemistry. Houghton Mittlin Company, fifth edition, 2000.
Bryan Bunch and Edward Moran. The Volume Library. The Southwester Company, 1998.
Brian Ratcliff. Chemistry 1. Cambridge University Press, 2000.