Energy Resource Plan

Essay by michacartUniversity, Bachelor'sA, April 2010

download word file, 3 pages 0.0

Energy Resource Plan � PAGE �1�

Energy Resource Plan

Few people think about where energy comes from. Even fewer worry about ways to conserve energy. Even with the threat of global warming, not enough people are taking appropriate measures to conserve energy and push for the use of renewable sources rather than the nonrenewable sources that we are quickly running out of. If we as individuals do not start taking responsibility, not only will the earth will no longer be able to provide the nonrenewable energy sources, the damage we cause by extracting these fossil fuels permanently damages the environment.

As of today, we depend too much on nonrenewable fossil fuels such as gas, oil, and goal. The problem of relying on nonrenewable resources is they cannot be replenished; once they are used, they are gone forever. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), "71.5 percent of our electricity in the US is from nonrenewable resources" (1997).

Renewable resources are constantly restored and include wind, solar, and water. Only 9 percent of electricity is from renewable resources (EPA, 1997).

Energy conservation is also important to preserve our environment because use of fossil fuels causes water and air pollution (Berg, 2007). For example, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere when oil, gas, or coal combusts in an engine, power station, or heating system (EPA, 1997). The carbon dioxide released covers the earth and acts as a transparent blanket, which causes the greenhouse effect and contributes directly to global warming. Because there of the limited amount of nonrenewable energy sources available and the negative effect it has on our environment, we need to make the necessary changes to use the replenishable energy sources and draw upon them for our energy needs (Berg, 2007). More research needs to be done to...