Westerman 1

Braden Westerman
Mrs. Jackie Burr
English 1010, Section 2
1 November 2016
How could we develop the technology to produce enough energy without
damaging the worlds environment?
For years we have relied largely on Fossil Fuels as our nations top source of energy, but
there are many flaws to this. Fossil Fuels are one of the least efficient sources of energy that we
have access to. Although the switch is not as easy as one would think, there are many barriers
that stand between Fossil Fuels and new sources of energy. Until recently the search for more
sources of energy hasnt been as important. But with how the use of Fossil Fuels affects our
environment and the growing demand of energy, the push for new sources has become a
necessity. We have many options that we could move to as our top source of energy. Some of
these are, nuclear power, natural gas, geothermal, wind and solar power. We need to develop a
way to produce clean and efficient renewable energy.
Steve Cohen said in an article, We know that we must transition to renewable
energy eventually, but with energy technology advancing every decade, why
hasnt the transformation to a renewable economy happened yet? What is
preventing a more fundamental shift in our energy production and use? There are
three barriers to this transformation: (1) technologies that still need advancing; (2)
infrastructure that is not designed for distributed generation; and (3) complicated
political challenges that limit our ability to make the tough choices necessary for
long-term energy policies. (Cohen 689).

Westerman 2
An energy source that we are currently using is nuclear power, though it is not near as
widespread as fossil fuels. We have been using nuclear power in the United States since 1960.
The first nuclear plant in the United States was the Yankee Rowe Nuclear Power Station in
Rowe, Massachusetts. It [Nuclear energy] remains by far the biggest source of carbon-free
electricity (qtd in Columbian). Nuclear power is renewable and very efficient, but there are
drawbacks. For example, in 1986 in Chernobyl, Ukraine the power plant malfunctioned leading
to 31 direct deaths. And it is still unclear what kind of health problems it will cause for the
people affected for generations. Another drawback is nuclear power creates waste that needs to
be safely stored in containers and can take hundreds and sometimes thousands of years to
dissipate. If we can find a way to make nuclear power very safe and be able to dispose of nuclear
waste in a safe eco-friendly way this would be a great source of energy.
Another energy source that we are starting to use more in the United States is natural gas.
The United States has a lot of access to natural gas and we are beginning to tap into it. Around
33% of the energy that we use is created from natural gas, that is the same as coal (What Is U.S.
Electricity Generation by Energy Source?). Natural gas is cheap and has less environmental
impact than fossil fuels. In Pennsylvania, the Marcellus Shale formation is producing 13 billion
cubic feet of natural gas per day, which is more than Saudi Arabia produces (Phillips).
Natural gas costs about $1.89 per thousand cubic feet. This is by far the cheapest source
of energy right now. Geothermal energy and natural gas are similar in many ways. They both
require drilling into the surface of the earth. They cost a lot of money to set up the equipment and
find a deposit, but once established the reward is well worth it. Geothermal energy causes less
environmental impact which is its major advantage over natural gas. The advantage of natural
gas is it is still cheaper than geothermal energy and easier to find. We are moving toward a

Westerman 3
renewable economy, and the need for geothermal as a clean, dependable source is growing. Let
us hope that it can soon join its sister energy sources--namely wind and solar (and its black-sheep
brother natural gas)--and have its own unprecedented surge in use (qtd in "Geothermal Energy:
Past, Present, And Future."). If we can create a boom in renewable energy like that of natural
gas that would boost our economy and weaken the attack on the environment.
In an interview when asked what he thought needed to be done to move to clean
renewable energy Bill Gates said, When people viewed cancer as a problem, the
U.S. governmentand its a huge favor to the worlddeclared a war on cancer,
and now we fund all health research at about $30 billion a year, of which about $5
billion goes to cancer. We got serious and did a lot of R&D, and then we got the
private sector involved in taking that R&D and building breakthrough drugs.
In energy, no governmentincluding the U.S., which is in almost every category
the big R&D funderhas really made a dramatic increase. It was increased
somewhat under Carter and then cut back under Reagan, and its now about $6
billion a yearthats the U.S. piece, which, compared with the importance to our
economy in general, is too low.
Realistically, we may not get more than a doubling in government funding of
energy R&Dbut I would love to see a tripling, to $18 billion a year from the
U.S. government to fund basic research alone. Now, as a percentage of the
government budget, thats not gigantic. But we are at a time when the flexibility
because of health costs and other things, but primarily health costsof the
budget is very, very squeezed. But you could do a few-percent tax on all of energy

Westerman 4
consumption, or you could use the general revenue. This is not an unachievable
amount of money (Bennet).
Others believe that this would be a very bad idea. They think that we cant afford to
spend that much money and that it would hurt our economy. They think that what we need to do
is start moving towards the clean renewable sources of energy that we know of. For example
some of these are, wind, solar, hydroelectricity, nuclear, and natural gas. Those like Bill Gates do
not see this change as being drastic enough to fix the problem. They want to get rid of using
fossil fuels for energy altogether and only use energy sources with zero or very close to it
environmental impact.
I think that if we had the money available to pump money into the research programs for
this then that would be the way to go. We would be able to develop new forms of technology that
conserve energy so that the amount of energy usage all over the world wouldnt jump as high.
We would be able to create or find new ways to create energy that doesnt hurt the environment
and can produce energy quick enough and reliably enough to fulfil the growing demands.
But we dont have the luxury of spending all this money and time on it. With our nations
national debt and the other problems we have, we cannot afford to do this. What we need to do is
localize where we get our energy.
We need to become more energy independent. For example, instead of getting tons of oil
from the middle east we can get oil from our country. We have the resources available and this
would help boost our economy. We have some of the largest known deposits of natural gas in the
world. If we make an effort to do this then we could have enough power in our economy to move
further into trading out the other energy sources for clean and renewable ones. If we strengthen
our economy then we will be able to invest in renewable energy sources and better technologies.

Westerman 5
The figure below helps us see how much weve used fossil fuels throughout this country's
history and where we are headed to. When we first started to use things for energy besides wood
iit was almost entirely coal, but now we can see where changes have been made. We have seen a
spike in natural gas as of late and even nuclear energy. Hydroelectricity has remained fairly
steady throughout the years, but the most recent change is that of renewable energies. Weve
only begun to use renewables in this country and in the graph it is increasing. This is a good sign
that we are headed in the right direction.

(Figure 1)

Works Cited
Bennet, James. ""We Need an Energy Miracle"" The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company,
Nov. 2015. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.
Cohen, Steven. What Is Stopping the Renewable Energy Transformation and What Can
the US Government Do? Ebscohost.com, 2015
"EDITORIAL: Nuclear Will Power Future." Columbian, The (Vancouver, WA) 21 June
2016: Newspaper Source

Westerman 6
Plus. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.
"EDITORIAL: Pollution control effort is historic moment." Charleston Gazette, The
(WV) 04 June 2014:
Goffman, Ethan. "Geothermal Energy: Past, Present, And Future." E This Week (2014):
6. MasterFILE
Complete. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.
Holodny, Elena. "The Evolution of American Energy Consumption since 1776." Business
Insider.

Business Insider, Inc, 21 Aug. 2015. Web. 12 Nov. 2016.

PHILLIPS, ALEXANDRA. "The US Shale Boom." Harvard International Review 35.4

(2014): 67. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.
"U.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA - Independent Statistics and Analysis."
What Is U.S. Electricity Generation by Energy Source? - FAQ - U.S. Energy Information
Administration (EIA). N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.