Is Sustainability Energy a Realistic Goal in the Near Future - Term Paper Example

Is Sustainability Energy a realistic goal in the near future? al Affiliation Is Sustainability Energy a realistic goal in the near future? Introduction Since the inception of the industrial age, the ability to use and harness different energy forms has transformed billions of people in terms of living conditions enabling them to enjoy mobility and a level of comfort that freed them to perform increasingly productive tasks and is unprecedented in human history. The steady growth in energy consumption for most of the last 200 years has been closely tied to rising levels of economic and prosperity opportunities in much of the world. Humanity however now finds itself confronting a huge challenge in sustaining its energy sources. A challenging issue that has come up is whether the concept of sustainability is realizable or securable in the near future for the world. This paper argues that sustainability energy is not realizable or securable in the near future for the world. Two aspects are revealed by the above challenge. These are the overwhelming reliance on fossil fuels, in particular, threatens to alter the Earth’s climate to an extent that could have grave consequences for the integrity of both natural systems and vital human systems and that current pattern of energy use are environmentally unsustainable. Internationally, a large fraction of the world’s population, an estimated two billion people, still lacks access to several basic energy service types that would include clean cooking fuel, electricity and an adequate means of transportation. Of course, the need for a profound transformation of the world’s energy-producing and using infrastructure has been widely recognized in the mounting concern about global climate change (Al-Saleh, 2011). Presently, for these services to be provided most of the energy has to come from fuels like coal, oil, nuclear, wood. They also depend on other primary sources like waterpower, solar or wind that until they are converted into the relevant energy services that can be used by mechanics and other end use equipment, such as turbines, stoves or motors remain largely useless. With the overview of the present energy sources and its limitations, it is very clear that the possibility of the world using renewable and sustainability energy, though necessary, is not yet realizable or securable in the near future for the world. Why it is not possible The 21st century epic challenge is filling the gap between demand and energy supply with reliable, clean and inexpensive energy. This is because the landscape is gradually being changed by new sources of energy; products made from fossils continue to power our computers, fuel our cars and heat our homes. Despite the extraordinary technological advancement, rapid economic growth in countries like India and China will still require more energy. This means that research at universities, companies and national laboratories would aim to pioneer technologies that will aim to be economical and sustainably competitive with today’s fossil fuels in order to serve the developing and advanced countries. This will need restructuring of policies and support from governments that would prove to be difficult to achieve. The challenges facing energy production and usage in developing countries are increasing and significant in the sense that it is evident that the developing countries would be unable to avoid the potentially adverse and large consequences without implementing or concerting policy interventions by both developed and developing countries alike (Tainter & Patzek, 2012). Solar, wind and biofuels that appear to be most promising and significant breakthroughs are still required to make them viable sources of future energy supply in the sense that the wind would blow when and where it wants. The sun similarly, is most intense in sparsely populated areas and only shines during the day, which would leave the question on how such energies, can be efficiently stored once they have been generated during the day for use in homes at night and how they can be transported from such remote areas to big cities. This clearly points out the fact that the large-scale use of this type of energy would need a more streamlined and efficient electrical grid while being developed to allow solar and wind energy to be saved for times of peak use. This makes it not to be an alternative that would be widely implemented since its application would need extra measures to be in place that not only need investment in training but also unforeseen costs making the option not a viable option that would be widely accepted. In the future, another alternative source of energy may be centered on the vast reserves of natural gas since much of our electricity currently comes from power plants burning coal. It releases large quantities of other gases and carbon dioxide. Under these changing circumstances, it would however, demand that the energy production like the clean coal option be more efficient but also be produced more to meet the rising energy requirements of the next century. To solve issues like these, the answer would require both new cultural habits and technologies to be adopted to be fully applicable and this would take a lot of time to be fully realized or it would not be welcomed by many who may not want to alter their cultures for such measures (Del Rio, 2011). Since fossil fuels are exhaustible, a transition to an economy that runs on sustainable energy sources is, therefore, both inevitable and necessary. A near-term focus on achieving renewable energy on 100 percent basis, however, still runs the risk of attracting more criticism than support. It is clear that managing large swings and energy usage in supply through automated demand response will be important mainly in buildings that drive high electrical demands. In the last decade, the advent of low-cost smart electronics offer ways of enabling the necessary energy management. High penetration of renewable energies in the future would still need investment in both transmission and grid storage to smooth out supply intermittency and effectively be able to re-distribute power across time zones. From this perspective, its application in the near future is still not easily applicable. This is because it would still be a great challenge to create the regulatory, standard framework and incentives that would enable divergent economies to invest the capital required and make dramatic shifts in their energy mix that is required for a large scale applicable in the future. Image showing the complexity, connections and scale with Energy Sustainability Challenge Energy sources such as gas, oil, coal and nuclear within the petroleum industry are still the main players, and while fossil energy cannot be completely replaced with renewable energy, there is certainly a place for this type of natural resource. The wind farm industrial-scale that is being installed on coasts globally indicates clearly that renewable and sustainable energy can be a major power source. It is unlikely, however, that they would be able to replace the current enormous capacity coming from fossil sources. Offshore wind farms in particular have their place as part of an energy mix that is healthy and in the energy sector; they are a significant new developments even after years of challenges in insurance claims, legal wrangling, and installation issues. The tidal and wave sector, however, is lagging behind offshore wind as companies re-design, re-structure and struggle to find the balance between commercial reality and design ideas. With just one or two serious designs coming to market that offer decent potential this sector is facing a tough time, the associated power output costs, plus these issues suggest that we are many years far from commercial wave-tidal plants that can produce and operate sizeable power (Vandenbergh, Ruhl, & Rossi, 2012). The main barriers facing renewable energy are highly commercial and cost scalable, notwithstanding the legal objector’s ramifications in both environmental and political terms. Even though there are advancements in wind power technologies claiming that it can be achieved in a wide scale, this is still relatively a pipedream. Getting to 100 percent implementation of renewable energy faces economical, technical and political challenges. The development of the integration of micro-grids, storage and the development of a truly smart grid technically are substantial challenges. Getting to 100 percent renewable, implementation on the policy side raises questions such as whether it is the best use of the financial resources of a country. In addition, for such a big task to be implemented successfully there has to be political good will, which is not easily achievable in most countries. If analyzed from the aspect of an open market, for renewable energy to compete with fossil fuels it would still have to accomplish several issues, which still make it hard to achieve in the near future. It will have to overcome the intermittent nature and overcome the diffuse nature of renewable energy more efficiently than we can overcome the unrefined nature and declining reserve qualities of fossil fuels. Renewable energies, in other words, need to overcome two significant challenges to be able to displace in a fair market. The first challenge includes the fact that storage solutions have to be cheaper than fossil fuel refineries, for example in power plants. This is the challenge posed by the intermittent nature of renewable. The other challenge is that wind and solar turbines need to become cheaper if compared to raw fossil fuel. This issue is mostly identified with diffuse nature of renewables (Trainer, 2013). The other issue is the diffusive nature of renewable energy, which points out to the way energy is procured through or deploying wind and solar panels turbines or drilling/mining fossil fuels. It also points to the intermittent nature of renewable, which refers to how this renewable energy is made useful at higher levels of penetration to the society for example through smoothing out the intermittent surges of renewable energy or refining fossil fuels to electricity. Without the relevant authorities, taking into account these two issues, a complex society such as the one we live in will never be able to maintain its energy procurement. Therefore, if fossils are to be challenged with renewable energy in an open market, there has to be advancement in technology to the point where renewables can effectively compete under both these points. Burning biomass, which means the burning of dead and living vegetation globally, is considered the greatest source of renewable energy. While many people consider it as a source of renewable energy, many experts are still critical of putting this into practice. Not only can the burning of biomass lead to production of sooty deposits that may enhance air pollution and global warming, but it may still cause deforestation, but scientifically its ability to be sustainable in the future is not viable (Fridley, 2010). According to the energy report, the world can technically become entirely reliant on renewable energy sources by the year 2050. It offered 10 recommendations that would lead to a global achievement for creating a 100% renewable energy future. While it can be argued that such reports are methodical and scientific in nature, it still cannot be helped but be looked at as a utopian fiction; because of its idea that the world can unite to implement these changes seem somewhat far-fetched since there would be many issues that would have to be considered for it to happen. Harmonization is not always possible due to political or other reasons. Thus, it may not be possible to pursue a comprehensive set of policies all at once (Connors, 1998). The possibility of being able to cater for all the global future energy requirements on food, energy, water and others without running into massive difficulties such as nuclear waste, conflicting demands on land/water availability and use, unsustainable and sometimes rising commodities consumption, money frocking, and sourcing sufficient regional energy combinations will still remain a disturbing problem now and in the future. Many other sources of renewable energy, if compared to fossil fuel, remain more expensive and the majority of people, given the choice, would still choose the option that saves them the most money regardless of the larger costs (Bachhiesl, 2004). Lastly, along with the need for basic electrical services to be extended to rural areas, many developing countries face a rising demand for industrial and manufacturing energy needs that must be met by grid-connected power and to provide electricity in fast-growing urban areas. In countries that have access coal supplies that are substantial, conventional coal-fired steam-electric power plants are often the cheapest near-term option for the addition of large-scale, grid-connected generating capacity. Such investments, however, risk locking-in details. However, such investments risk locking-in decades of carbon emissions. Unless modern controls of pollution are used, environment-economic tradeoffs would be difficult to resolve, especially for developing countries that still need low-cost power. This actually means that developing countries will need to help such countries to offset the technological and additional cost of future energy implementation, for more expensive, but lower-carbon technologies that are much cleaner and safer to use (Outka, 2012). Another challenge that makes it difficult to achieve sustainability energy as a realistic goal in the near future is the fact that natural resources must be used to satisfy the needs of the current populations while also preserving it for the use of the future generations. If natural resources were turned to use for the realization of such an initiative, it would be difficult to preserve it for future generations because of the lack of proper means of harnessing such energies. The world currently is engaged in power politics where the developed and powerful nations want to take advantage of natural resources in the less developed and less powerful nations that need the same resources but lack the political will and technical knowhow. As such, it becomes difficult to achieve sustainability energy as a realistic goal in the near future because of the unrealistic competitions for such resources. It is essential to note that energy is a central part to the challenge of sustainability in terms of different dimensions such as economic environmental and social dynamics. One of the most significant challenges to the realization of sustainable energy in the near future is the issue of energy policy debates that deal with energy security. This is a national, regional and international issue. The main concern here is access to adequate supplies of energy when the need arises, in the required forms and in the most efficient costs. Many nations have been on the forefront formulating policies that promote efficient use of energy specifically from natural resources and prevent issues such as climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. However, these priorities have faced serious issues with regard to the security of energy especially the required amounts. The regulations and policies put up focus on conserving energy and protecting the sources of energy. However, the most significant element that these regulations and policies do not address is the need to have enough energy resources at the moment and also achieve sustainability in the near future (UN (United Nations), 2005). Currently, the world faces an increased demand for oil and natural gas and because the reserves a relatively cheap and readily accessible, depletion is bound to happen (peak oil) and disrupt supply and increase price shock. These are issues that are challenges for the realization of sustainable energy in the near future. The provision of energy services required to sustain economic growth and avoid lack of access to energy remains a central policy challenge in the realization of sustainable energy in the near future. Most proposals on sustainability energy focus on the sources of energy and the sustainability part of them. However, they fail to take into account the eco-efficiency of energy, issues of design and implementation of the sustainable energy infrastructure, which are very important. More must be done in the mix of energy resources and technological components and also in the development of new products and introduce them over time. Conclusion Towards a sustainable future, it is clear that a low energy path is the best way forward. However, given productive and efficient uses of primary energy, this need not mean a shortage of essential energy services. Thus, it becomes clear that towards a sustainable future, a low energy path is the best way forward. To say the least, the current energy outlook is challenging. Whether governments are chiefly concerned with environmental protection, economic growth and energy security, it is clear that the current trends in energy will have many unwanted consequences at the best and global threats and risk grave to the well-being of the human race at worst. In many ways, the situation in developing countries is more difficult as compared to that of the developed countries. Not only are there constraints obvious to the resources, but also are also important parts of the larger population that may end up lacking adequate access to the services that offer basic energy (UN (United Nations), 2005). This does not mean that more efficient or cleaner technologies will usually be the difficult or first choice tradeoffs that can always be avoided. Many sustainable energy technologies, in the near term, are likely to remain more expensive than their conventional counterparts are. As is already the case for many efficient technologies, even when they are cost-effective, powerful barriers and market failures often stand in the way. Overcoming those barriers and changing the incentives is now more a question of political coordination and will continue to be than one of adequate resources. With the above stated reasons, it is safe to clearly state that that sustainability energy is not realizable or securable in the near future for the world. References Al-Saleh, Y. M. (2011). An empirical insight into the functionality of emerging sustainable innovation systems: the case of renewable energy in oil-rich Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Transitions and Innovation Systems, 1(3), 302-320. Bachhiesl, U. (2004). Measures and barriers towards a sustainable energy system. In 19th World Energy Congress. Connors, S. R. (1998). Issues in energy and sustainable development (No. EL 98-004). Energy Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Del Rio, P. (2011). Analysing future trends of renewable electricity in the EU in a low-carbon context. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 15(5), 2520-2533. Fridley, D. (2010). Nine challenges of alternative energy. The post carbon reader: Managing the 21st centurys sustainability crisis. 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