Is there really an energy crisis?

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IS THERE AN ENERGY CRISIS?

An energy crisis may be defined as a situation in which low energy supplies and increasingly high energy prices negatively influence economic growth and national security. To many countries, a period of an unprecedented energy crisis is the result of the increased demand for energy and severe shortages of traditional energy sources which cannot be replenished.

The aim of this essay is to examine if there is indeed a current energy crisis. It will outline possible solutions and evaluate the viability of these alternative energy sources – discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each solution in terms of its technology, cost and environmental impacts. Undoubtedly, the issue of future energy supplies is of great concern to this, and possibly, future generations.

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

The demand for energy sources has increased dramatically due to the rapid rate of economic growth in developed countries and the process of industrialisation and urbanisation in the developing world. Non-renewable fossil fuel resources, such as coal, oil and natural gases, are being expended which took millions of years to create and cannot be continuously replenished. In the mid-twentieth century, Marion King Hubbert found that the production of oil follows a bell-shaped curve (below) - as production increases, it reaches a peak and then falls over many years. Studies have predicted the world peak oil supply to fall within a common range of between 2006 and 2015. The world devours over 80 million barrels of oil a day, and near 30 billion barrels a year. This figure is rising fast and will keep doing so for years to come. The International Energy Agency, an advisory organization on energy set up by industrialized countries, forecasts 121 million barrels a day by 2030. It will be difficult for supply to meet this demand.

CURRENT ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS

At current consumption levels, reserves of oil are likely to be exhausted within 50 years, natural gas within 80 years and coal lasting around 250 years. Oil especially is used in the production of other industrial products such as plastics, and the exhaustion of its reserves is certainly an uncomfortable thought.

In the past, countries’ entire economies’ have collapsed due to minor fluctuations in the oil market, therefore total collapse of the market would be devastating for many of the world’s major and influential countries. There would also be undoubted job losses inevitably affecting society; as exemplified by the destruction caused when the coalmines closed. There are also environmental problems for these countries with abundant fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide, as the largest contributor to global warming, is mostly released by burning fossil fuels. The CO2 level is expected to double before 2100. There are various ways which can be seen to overcome these imminent problems, however, one, most likely solution would be to investigate alternatives to fossil fuels.

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.

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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 are disrupted therefore threat to species living in rivers is greater.

Another source of renewable energy being exploited is wind power, where the wind turns large turbines to generate electricity. Although many wind turbines are required to produce significant amounts of electricity, wind turbines occupy a very small area. However, ...

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