Energy consumption increases by the second, and so does the world's population. Such growth implies shrinking reserves of non-renewable sources of energy. Therefore, we cannot afford to disregard the idea of developing alternative means to solve the economic and environmental crisis. Environmental protection depends on adequate energy supplies, since the production of these fuels bring a substantial amount of carbon dioxide emissions. These emissions and other air pollutants collect in the atmosphere creating a thickening blanket, trapping the sun's heat and causing the planet to warm up. Hence, by developing renewable sources of energy, we may achieve energy conservation as well as higher effectiveness in using these means. This essay provides an analysis of two of many alternative energy sources available. It discuss a type of bio-fuel such as biodiesel and also the contributions of geothermal power, as well as the characteristics of each resource.

The Environmental Protection Agency states that the demand for energy has surged in recent years at an average rate of 4.3%, which implies a growth of 3.5% per capita. Both rates reveal a significantly higher number than average. In the early 1970s, 69% of the total increase in demand for energy was supplied by oil. In the present days, the United States is the top oil consumer in the world and thus the primary driver behind the expansion of pollution and new forms of dirty fuels. The components of these fuels are difficult to access such as raw materials including tar sands, oil shale and coal. Oil companies are scraping up hundreds of thousands of acres of wildlife territory to mine tar sands-deposits of fine sand that contain small amounts of crude bitumen. Oil shale is a sedimentary rock that when heated to extreme temperatures, can be converted into liquid petroleum, which can be further refined into transportation fuel. Coal-a black or dark-brown combustible mineral substance-generates twice as much heat-trapping carbon dioxide as produced from ordinary gasoline. In addition to global warming, the use of these non-renewable fuels continues to harm countless wildlife habitats, and also contributes to the production of hazardous and toxic wastes that pollute our air and water as well (NRDC). As a consequence, the question of what are the benefits of using renewable means such as bio-fuels arises, not only among consumers but also within governmental institutions. Biodiesel-a bio-fuel-is a clean burning diesel fuel made from natural renewable sources such as soybeans and vegetable oils. The most common blend is known as B20, a blend of 20% pure biodiesel and 80% petroleum diesel. Although it is a fuel-burning way of producing energy, biodiesel is one of the most environmentally friendly of all energy sources. It is the only alternative fuel to have fully completed the health effect testing of the Clean Air Act, which means that it can be safely considered an environmentally friendly form of producing energy, and one that should be seriously looked at by governments and businesses all over the world.             

The Department of Energy has been supporting research into cellulosic energy, which has been also criticized as a "wasteful political concession to the farm lobby," but the technology to produce it remains in its early stages (D.O.E). While biodiesel can be used as an additive in diesel for car, aircraft and train engines, as well as heating oil, and ethanol as an energy-efficient motor fuel, the need for the replacement of outdated heating and cooling systems is undeniable.  One of the lesser known renewable energy sources is geothermal electricity.

Could geothermal power be the solution to satisfy our energy needs? Geothermal power takes the heat from the earth, and applies it to heat and cool houses and businesses and even runs large farms and provides energy for greenhouses. Resources of this type of energy range from the shallow ground, to hot water and rock found a few miles beneath the Earth's surface, and also deeper. Agencies like The Department of Energy support the U.S. geothermal industry. Such organizations endorse that it provides diversity, and consequently security in domestic energy supply options. Geothermal energy possesses many advantages, economically and environmentally, which make it a viable solution, but at the same time it carries certain flaws. Its economical advantage relies on its existence in almost every place. Hence, it would help in reducing our dependency on foreign oil. It would also be a great relief to our environment, since the energy can be extracted without burning fossil fuels. Furthermore, geothermal fields produce merely one-sixth of the carbon dioxide generated by a natural gas power plant and nearly no nitrous oxide or sulfur gases-which cause corrosion.

Unfortunately, the energy industry has been delayed in its development of new facilities mostly for economic and social reasons. Since unlimited supply availability can no longer be taken for granted, renewable energies must be taken into consideration immediately. We must be aware of hasty and false measurements being taken to fix short term energy deficits,-such as offshore drilling-that may lead to environmental problems that will haunt us for a long time to come.  Although the prices of these green energies may be higher to consumers, for rather a short period of time, we cannot take the risk of ignoring the problem. Despite the challenges we might face with storage, distribution and spills of some of these new energies, the negative impacts on our environment produced by fossil fuels exhibit a much higher risk. For these reasons, addressing deficiencies in the administration of energy constitutes a high priority for public and private sectors. Governments must take the necessary steps to educate the public and implement the use of alternative means. We must take the initiative to become more environmentally conscious and demand such changes. We must realize that the development of green energies is the key to a flourishing and sustainable future for our planet. Renewable energies will contribute to job creation and may be the answer to an overall economic recovery.

Patricia Maisonnave