Why the world should explore alternate sources of energy - Research Paper Example

ny single source of energy, such as, petroleum products or gasoline for long, the time is not far away when we will become short of these sources of energy. In this paper, we will discuss why the world should explore alternative energy sources. “A surge in the price of crude is threatening global growth for the first time in decades and spurring a desperate surge in interest in energy alternatives” (Valdmanis). The world is really in need of alternate sources of energy to meet industrial and daily requirements of life.

A single or a couple of sources of energy cannot serve us for a long time. We can take example of whale oil, which was being used in the early 19th century not only as lubricants but also as fuel for the lamps. At that time, no one thought that the whale stock would ever face shortage. However, by the mid of 19th century, whale stock became very short and the world had to shift to some other source of energy to meet different requirements. Similarly, nuclear energy is also at the door of risk.

People used to think that nuclear energy is one of such forms of energy, which can serve the electricity needs of Japanese people for a very long time. However, what happened to the nuclear plants of Japan due to tsunami is not hidden to anyone. Japan had to close many of its nuclear plants because the damage to the nuclear reactors resulted in discharging harmful radiation. That was the time, when Japanese government stopped producing most of its electricity using nuclear plants and started exploring alternate sources of energy to meet the requirements of life.

Today, most of the developed countries are taking steps to explore renewable energy sources to cope with the expected scarcity of oil and gas. Sterzinger states, “There is a growing recognition that achieving security and climate stability will require a massive development of renewable energy projects” (16: 81-91,198). Renewable energy refers to continuous and natural energy sources such as