Even though fossil fuels helped to drive the industrial revolution and increase our material prosperity, their extraction has caused a terrible impact in the environment and continues to damage this planet. This is the reason why renewable resources should be used to generate energy. The main problems with the use of fossil fuels are that it damages the environment and is very expensive. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, petrochemicals and their byproducts, such us dioxin, are known to cause an array of serious health problems, including cancers and endocrine disruption. The transportation of these fuels can be very expensive, not to talk about the costs of the accidents that can occur when these materials are taken overseas. But these accidents are not only expensive to the human pocket, they also harm the environment in an immeasurable way. An example of this is the Exxon Valdez spill, which took place on March 23, 1989 at the Prince William Sound in Alaska. This was the largest spill in the history of United States. The Exxon Valdez spilled about 125 Olympic-sized swimming pools. There were about 2,800 sea otters and 250,000 seabirds killed by the spill. Harbor seals, bald eagles, killer whales, and salmon were also greatly affected.
The extraction of fuels is also very expensive. The price for oil is even higher than the price of gold and this is the reason why different countries and companies fight for pieces of land that contain petroleum. In fact, many people think that the war in Iraq is not to end terrorism but to protect our won oil supply. Finally, the fourth problem would be the greenhouse effect. The extraction and use of fossil fuels, helped by the global warming, cause carbon dioxide, water vapor, ozone, nitrous oxide, halocarbon gases, and methane which cause the greenhouse effect.
Oil production is thought to be peaking, and easily extractable supplies of oil and natural gas may not last half a century more. Moreover, our use of coal, oil, and natural gas entails substantial environmental impacts. For these reasons, most scientists and energy experts, as well as many economists and policymakers, accept that the world's economies will need to shift from fossil fuels to energy renewable sources that are less easily depleted and gentler on the environment. Now let me talk about the types of energy resources. First, biomass energy which was the first energy resource our species used. In the rural areas this energy mostly comes from the burning of trees and is used for heating, cooking, and lighting. Now, considering the global problem of deforestation, it is clear that biomass is renewable only if it is not overharvested. Biomass also comes from other resources that can be burned to produce biopower, generating heat or electricity, and biofuels, used to generate power for automobiles. We also have hydroelectric power. This resource uses kinetic energy of moving water to turn turbines and generate electricity. The main advantage of this resource over fossil fuels is its cleanliness because no carbon compounds are burned in its production. Third we have solar energy. There are two kinds: passive and active solar. For the passive solar, buildings are designed and building materials are chosen to maximize direct absorption of sunlight. In contrast, active solar energy collection uses technological devices to focus, move, or store solar energy. Next we have wind energy, which also uses kinetic energy into electrical energy. Wind power is the fastest growing energy sector today. In fact, meteorological evidence suggests that wind power could be expanded in the United States to meet the electrical needs of the entire country. Other renewable resources are: geothermal energy, which uses the vapor and the heat under the earth; ocean energy, which uses the power of waves to generate energy; and finally, hydrogen.
The debate over drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a thoroughly modern debate, pitting the culturally new concept of wilderness preservation against the desire to exploit a resource that has come to guide the world's economy in the past 150 years. However, people have used -and fought over- energy in one way or another for all of our history. Renewable energy resources promise several benefits over fossil fuels. As they replace fossil fuels, they help alleviate air pollution and the greenhouse gas emissions that drive global climate change. Also unlike fossil fuels, many renewable resources are inexhaustible on time scale relevant to human societies. And finally, developing renewables can also help diversify and protect against supply restrictions such us those caused by the 1973 oil embargo or by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
In conclusion, fossil fuels are a very important resource in these times. Certainly, they have helped society become civilized and because of them we have many luxuries such as cars, heating, electricity, running water, and many more. But we can not forget that our biggest luxury is our planet and it is being damaged by the excessive extraction and use of these fuels. This is why people around the world should support the use of renewable resources. By doing this, we will not only have a chance to restore the environment, but can also still have a comfortable and much healthier way of life. As David Suzuki, a famous Canadian environmentalist once said, "We are playing Russian Roulette with features of the planet's environment that will profoundly impact generations to come. How long are we willing to gamble?"
Marisabel Pozo
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