Running Head: RENEWABLE ENERGY

Renewable Energy Sources and their Impact

Jonathan Boggs
Davenport University
English 110
21 October, 2016

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Abstract

Renewable energy is a type of energy that is able to sustain our lifestyle without
endangering the planet while were at it. So then why is it that the federal
government isnt doing anything to try and push that lifestyle.

Renewable Energy Sources and their Impact

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Imagine living in the world of Wall-E. Sure there is a cute little robot living on
earth that is trying to make friends with everyone, but then what does that mean to
have gotten to the point of living in that world? Well to start it means that mankind
has completely failed in its obligation to protect and nurture the earth, and instead
has destroyed it beyond repair to the point that human life is no longer able to live
there. So then, why is it that nothing is happening to try and prevent that world
from coming true? When Disney made the movie back in 2008 I dont think they
imagined that their movie might be coming true faster than they realized. So then,
let me ask why people are still skeptical about having to do anything to ensure that
the environment survives for their children, and then their childrens children? Im
sure there are plenty of people out there that actually care about the changing
condition of the environment and are actively changing their lifestyles to try and
help it, but for the vast majority of people no one is doing anything. As it stands in
todays world the environment is at odds with the current state of mankind. Fossil
fuels are being burned at an alarmingly fast rate, and the threat of climate change
is continuing to increase in the national priority level. Though many solutions are
needed to completely fix the problem one of the easiest ways to get started is to
start a federal implementation of alternative and renewable energy sources.
Im sure that many people are skeptical on this whole idea of installing
renewable energy sources to actually help a problem that many people dont even
consider real. Other than the politics of who would use the renewable energy,
should it be up to the states or federal government, there are many issues people
have about this that need to be addressed. From potentially getting rid of jobs that
people have in the energy sector, to the cost, to just not needing them yet these
are a few of the most common concerns by people. (Glenn) In regards to getting rid

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of jobs that people may have in the energy industry, theyre right in maybe 50
years. It would get rid of jobs because people would have access to a form of
renewable energy that would try to provide as much energy as possible, but lets
not kid ourselves it would take a very long time for it to start making enough of a
difference for ordinary people to start relying on a renewable energy source. In that
time if we would switch to renewable energy now we could start training the new
generation on how to repair renewable energy sources and provide support for
people who have them. If we did that job loss would be minimal, and might even
see an increase in jobs available. Even then renewable energy isnt going to
completely get rid of the current energy sector. You will need some way to power
your house if its a really cloudy day and your solar panels arent producing enough
energy.
On the aspect of cost renewable energy isnt cheap and you get your returns
rather slowly. I wont deny that that is a big deterrent to people that dont have
access to the funds to try and set up some sort of renewable energy. That being
said, if the federal government would set up some sort of plan to start implementing
renewable energy sources then the tax increase would affect so many people the up
cost per person would be practically unnoticeable. Consider this, there are about
650,000 people living in Washington D.C., per the federal census, assuming that
they install all the solar panel at once each person would have to pay about $8 per
month to get 500 kWh (kilowatt hours) of energy paying the national average of $1
per watt. An average person wouldnt even notice that small of an increase. Now
that wouldnt be able to power an entire city, but per solar city, the nations largest
solar panel provider, each house averages around 1 kW an hour so with that you
could fully power almost 21 average houses.

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To the people that say we dont necessarily need them right now, I say; then
when? If nows not the time, when is it? Theres an old saying that says, Theres no
better time than the present, and that saying couldnt be any closer to the truth.
Why wait for the problem to become so paramount that we cant do anything to fix
it? Were better off in the long run to acknowledge the problem and then work
towards preventing it instead of waiting and hoping we can solve it. A lot of people
just dont know what to do to fix the problem and thats fine. What isnt fine is to
completely dismiss the problem because you dont want to do anything about it.
Very simply put there is something happening that needs to be addressed.
Climate change is very much real. Whether its a natural occurrence or manmade is
up for debate, but it is happening. The Earths average temperature has gone up an
average 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit over the last century and it isnt looking to slow
down. Over that last century the most dramatic increases have been over the past
few decades (Kennedy). A lot of scientists have attributed this to the increase in
carbon dioxide gases in the atmosphere creating a greenhouse effect. That in turns
traps the suns energy and prevents it from leaving the atmosphere which in turn
heats up the earth, and that just keeps on happening increasing the earths
temperature more. Now Im not going to stand here and tell you the you must
believe in global warming because I know some of the criticisms behind it and I
know most of them are valid. What I am saying is that something is happening and
if it is because of the increased releases of carbon dioxide then we, as protectors of
the earth, must do something to make sure that we can still inhabit it in a couple of
millennia.
So, then what options do we have? Well there are actual several different
options out there that all have some sort of merit to them. Solar energy is where

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solar panels are used in order to absorb some of the suns energy before it reflects
back into the earths atmosphere and we cant use it any more. One good thing
about this is that you know youll get some use for it just as you know the sun will
rise again in the morning. A disadvantage on the other hand is that as reliable as it
is, it is vastly inconsistent. (Rinkesh). Depending on where you live depend on how
much sunlight youll actually get and even then, if its really cloudy it will greatly
diminish just how much sunlight youll be able to absorb. However, with clouds
generally come winds and with those you can use Wind turbines. Wind turbines are
basically like a ships sails. All you need is wind and you could be able to power an
entire irrigation system on a farm, or even able to power cities if you had enough
turbines. However, it has a couple of very big disadvantages. One being that they
make a lot of noise meaning it might be difficult convincing the mayor of a city to
install turbines right on the outskirts of town the noise is a very big deterrent for
highly residential area. Another one, and probably the biggest one, you need a lot of
wind for it to actually make sense to build a wind farm (Rinkesh). This makes it very
limited to particular regions of the united states. You wouldnt build a wind farm in
Arizona because the cost to build it would be more than what youd expect to make
back from it. These two are the big ones that most scientist and experts have given
their approval for being the ones that are most likely to show promise in the next 20
years (Todd). Some other options include things like Geothermal energy which has a
multitude of advantages which include, extremely cost efficient, it releases no
pollution, and its extremely reliable. Unfortunately, it also has a couple of the
biggest downsides. It is only useable in very select areas of the country where there
is volcanic or tectonic activity due to it having to harness that energy to produce
usable energy, and because of that those areas are also the most prone to

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earthquakes and volcanos making it extremely risking to invest too much money
into it (Rinkesh). Another popular option is hydroelectric energy which is using water
to power turbines which in turn power a generator. Hydroelectric is the most used
form of renewable energy and rightfully so. All you really need is running water from
a stream or river and you could technically put together a contraption that could
power generators. That isnt to say that a single river could power an entire city
though. To have enough energy to power a city youd need a ton of potential energy
in the water to power the turbines enough to power an entire city. Think of the
Hoover dam for example, the reason its effective is because it effectively blocks off
all of the river flow and creates plenty of potential energy that when the water
passes by the turbines it is flowing so fast that it is able to push incredibly large
turbines. Now with this big advantage also comes the incredibly expensive
installation cost. To effectively use this you would have to spend enough money to
install a dam to block the river flow, and then install the turbines to actually get the
energy. Not to mention youd need an area with a sizable river to make sure you
optimize all the energy gain. Plus, by doing this and blockading a river you arent
going to do any favors for the local aquatic life and environment. Finally the last big
renewable energy source is biomass energy which is basically burning carbon based
substances to produce energy. Think of burning a couple of logs to produce a fire.
Youre using biomass energy. Calling biomass energy a form of renewable energy is
kind of confusing for some people but for the most part it is considered a renewable
energy source because it doesnt take long for a tree or crops to grow before you
can cut it down and burn it for energy, and it would effectively keep going until
people stop planting trees or stop growing crops, etc. This is one of the forms I dont
think will necessarily help us in the long run because well still be playing on

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borrowed time in that you are dependent on being able to keep getting these
carbon based substances, but it is a form of renewable energy none the less
With those options in front of us the federal government cant make a hasty
decision based on one part of the country and because of that it should be left
mostly up to the states in what form of renewable energy to move towards with
oversight from the federal government to make sure things are moving along in a
reasonable timeframe. Because of this the easiest way to do it at first is to try it out
in certain areas of the country, think about my earlier comparison to Washington
D.C. which has already made an effort to switch to primarily renewable energy by
2032. That would allow the government to verse the efforts and make sure its
feasible to move to the entire country. Keep and renew the tax break that is set to
expire for households that use renewable energy so it isnt left solely on the hands
of the government and people can set up renewable energy without having to worry
about as much of the cost. Moving on the best course of action after that, assuming
that the test group works out, would be to set up federal grants with mandates in
order to ensure that the money goes to setting up some form of renewable energy.
The States will then have the choice to decide which form of renewable energy
would be the best option for them to try and take on without having to worry too
much about whether the return will give them enough energy to supply their
demands. This would allow states to attempt and move some of their larger cities to
primarily renewable energy based and cut down on overall energy usage
immensely. This plan would allow the federal government to focus on things while
the states start implementing the renewable energy.

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Cost Per kWh (Kilo Watt Hour)

$0.08

$0.15

$0.10

$0.05

$0.14

$0.13
$0.20
Coal

Natural Gas

Wind

Geothermal

Biomass

Hydro

Solar

Taking a look at the chart above, using information from your guide to
renewable energy, you can see that after the initial installation cost most renewable
energy sources use less or about the same as natural gas, so then why is it that the
federal government still isnt pushing an initiative for renewable energy.
Now with these plans always comes limitations on whether or not theyll
work. The big question would be funding. The government is already trillions of
dollars in debt and with the Trump presidency he will try to cut back as much as
possible. That means that this plan might not even be feasible until the next
election season. Another big limitation is whether or not that test area succeeds or
not. It is a realistic option that that test group fails where some other regions of the
country succeed or where that test group succeeds and then other areas of the
country arent able to succeed the way they need to.

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All of these areas need to come into play when deciding on something like
this, but something does need to happen strictly because of where we are on the
country, and even the world, right now. Renewable energy is the way of the future
and that future needs to be now if we want any hope of our offsprings offspring
living to see their future.

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References

Benefits of alternative energy use (n.d.). Union of Concerned Scientists. Retrieved

from http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-energy/renewable-energy/public-benefitsof-renewable-power#.WCNDKvorLIU
Comparing the costs of renewable and conventional energy sources (7 February,
2015) Energy Innovation. Retrieved from
http://energyinnovation.org/2015/02/07/levelized-cost-of-energy/
Glenn, David. (10 January, 2014). Renewable energy. Mother Earth News. Retrieved
from http://www.motherearthnews.com/renewable-energy/why-not-switch-toalternative-energy-zbcz1401
Kennedy, Caitlyn. (8 November, 2013). Why did earths surface temperature stop
rising in the past decade? National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.
Retrieved from https://www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-qa/why-didearth%E2%80%99s-surface-temperature-stop-rising-past-decade
Myers, Todd. (17 April, 2013). The experts: What renewable energy source has the
most promise. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1000142412788732448500457842462425472
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Rinkesh. (n.d). What are alternative energy sources. Conserve Energy Future.
Retrieved from http://www.conserve-energyfuture.com/AlternativeEnergySources.php
Solar energy production. (n.d.). SolarCity. Retrieved from
http://www.solarcity.com/residential/solar-energy-faqs/solar-energy-production

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Your guide to renewable energy. (n.d.) Renewable Energy Sources. Retrieved from
http://www.renewable-energysources.com/

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