CER Document

Ilysah
Argument: Renewables are the energy source of our present and
future.

Con - No, renewables should not be the energy source of the present and future.

COST

Claim: Renewable energy is expensive and more time consuming than fossil fuel
products

Evidence (include a source): http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-

explains/2014/01/economist-explains-0
Solar panels arent cheap with installation, they can cost $5 per watt, or
$15,000 for an average home 3kW system
Its a 20 year investment you'd be making to get all your money back
It costs a lot to develop renewable energy stations in both research and
manufacturing the components needed for them to be successful
Solar intensity, wind or water, is not available in all locations.
That means you will still have to create an infrastructure for
transporting the energy that may not be better than what is already in
place which is more MONEY
Many governments are putting money into renewable sources of electricity,
such as wind turbines, solar farms and hydroelectric
Countries with large amounts of renewable generation, such as
Denmark and Germany, face the highest energy prices
MANY renewable generators only produce power when the sun shines or
when the wind blows.
Wind turbines for example spin only about a third of the time.
That means countries which have a lot of renewable generation must
still pay to maintain traditional kinds of power stations ready to fire up
when demand peaks.
Energy from these stations also becomes more expensive because
they may not run at full-blast!

Reasoning: Cost are high for renewable energy and can drive companies to
make bad decisions because they dont have enough money from not producing
enough energy due to bad weather. Weather locations are a big issue as well
because not every state/country has the same amenities as everyone else.

ENVIRONMENT

Claim: Renewable energy depends on weather that we cannot control

 Evidence (include a source):
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/us-could-switch-mostly-renewable-
energy-no-batteries-needed-180957925/
Wind and solar power is dependent upon the weather
Solar is only available on sunny days, not during storms or at night
Wind turbines dont work when the wind doesnt blow enough or when it
blows too much
Solar emits 0.2 pounds of CO2
Hydroelectricity emits 0.1-0.5 pounds of CO2
It is not possible to produce energy in such conditions, we might have to
reduce our energy consumption.
Even if many of them are adopted, in some areas the predicted
ongoing climate change could make them inoperable within 50 years.
To produce large amount of energy, large amount of solar panels and wind
farms have to be set up
For this, large areas of land is needed to produce such massive
amount of energy on large scale which means tearing down parts of
our natural fields
Reasoning: Basically renewable energy still emits CO2 and and is very
dependent on the weather meaning it wont always work because we cannot control
it. Large amount of lands would need to be manufactured on and its time
consuming.

HEALTH EFFECTS
Claim: Renewable energy emits CO2 which is bad for our health.

Evidence (include a source):

http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-energy/renewable-energy/public-benefits-of-renewable-
power#.WS0EZhMrIch

CO2 is bad for our health and renewable energy still emits some CO2
Solar emits 0.2 pounds of CO2
Hydroelectricity emits 0.1-0.5 pounds of CO2
Danger is that sharp rises of cost in energy prices will drive manufacturers to
set up in less green countries which might mean citizens end up consuming
more carbon, through imports
Reasoning: We may not be able to trust manufactures who are struggling with how
expensive renewable energy is. CO2 is bad for our health and renewable energy still
emits it into our earth which is also bad for the environment.
INFRASTRUCTURE

Claim: We cannot produce that much energy due to weather changes

Evidence (include a source): https://futurism.com/renewable-energy-is-great-but-

it-cant-save-our-biosphere/
Renewable sources cant produce that much of energy in short span of time
Solar intensity, wind or water, is not available in all locations
Meaning you will still have to create an infrastructure for transporting
the energy that may not be better than what is already in place which is
more money
You can build a solar panel, you can build a wind farm, but you cant
guarantee at any one point in time that youre going to get electricity out of it
because of weather changes
Solution is to go carbon free but that will take a lot of time and
planning.

Reasoning: We are not guaranteed anything especially with the weather.

Building a whole manufacture and spending so much money on something we may
not know will work all the time because of the weather is basically a gamble. Are you
willing to bet that?

SUSTAINABILITY/LONGEVITY

Claim: Renewable energy wont work in the long run

Evidence (include a source): http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/pros-and-

cons-of-renewable-energy.php
20 year investment youd be making. Do you really want to wait that long to
get all your money back?
The U.S can be powered by electricity but can only be achieved with the right
policies and measures in place.
Work to improve the electricity grid with increased transmission
infrastructure to integrate a high amount of renewable generation
Incorporate more advanced grid planning to maintain reliability
Governments will end up extending the life of dirty coal plants to serve as
back-up when renewable generation is low or when over-ambitious renewable
roll-outs run out of steam. It will not be good for the long run
If producing a renewable energy device costs more energy than it produces
then why go for it?

Reasoning: In the long run you have to wait 20 year to get a full refund back of
saving from your solar panels. Governments will go back to the easy route when
renewable energy is not producing enough energy/money. So why even try using
renewable energy if they will go back to using coal when its not working?