Understanding of Present Energy Issues Faced by the World - Essay Example

Running head: Energy Issues Energy Issues [Click here and type [Click here and type your s CONTENTS Introduction 3 Energy Issue 3 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) Oil Drilling Controversy 4 Should Society Act Now to Forestall Global Warming 5 Will Hydrogen End Our Fossil-Fuel Addiction 6 Power Plants for State-of-the-Art Pollution Control 7 Nuclear Power Revival 8 Environmental Science and Environmentalism 9 Energy in Different Types and its Qualities 9 Benefits of Biodiversity 10 Ecosystem Preservation 10 Use and Abuse of Soil 10 New Crops and Genetic Engineering 11 Sources of Greenhouse Gases and Fossil Fuel 11 Recycling 11 References 13 References 13 Introduction This reflective paper represents the basic understanding of present energy issues faced by the world. A review would be given in this paper which would also highlight several other issues related to the energy sector. The situation of the energy sector has changed significantly over last few years and vast development has been carried out in several energy fields. People are making use of energy more than before, which has also increased the demand and prices of energy consumption; for example, the increase of oil prices. Energy Issue Energy is basically a scalar physical quantity which is conserved in nature and consumed for any kind of work. It exists in many forms, such as, light, heat, electrical, kinetic, sound, thermal energy, elastic, gravitational, potential energy, mechanical energy, and many others. The fact with the energy is that it remains constant; even while transforming it into other forms. This principal is known as conservation of energy. Over time, energy is transformed and used for several purposes. For example, use of energy as fuel for transportation, use of electricity for domestic and commercial use, use of power in the industrial sector, use of nuclear power, and so many others. However, massive use of energy has created many energy issues which are affecting the environmental conditions of the globe and also affecting the human health. Some of the major energy issues would be highlighted in this reflective paper along with their affect on the environment by using daily life examples for the convenience of the readers. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) Oil Drilling Controversy (Gallup, Frank Newport; 2006, p104) The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is situated in the north Alaskan coast (United States) with 80,000 kilometers of area, and has been an ongoing political controversial platform between the Democrats and Republicans since the year 1977. The question lies here is to decide whether to start drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or not According to the researchers, this area comprises of massive oil reforms, whereas the opposing group is against this decision since it could affect the wildlife breed in this area if oil drilling is allowed by the government. According to the estimate by the USGS, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is capable enough to produce 5.7 billion to 16 billion barrels of crude oil and natural gas which could be very beneficial for the economy of the United States. But on the other hand, the security wildlife present in this area cannot be guaranteed due to the constructive drilling work for the oil reforms. This has created a debate between the groups and controversy for the government since the government is unable to decide whether to go in favor f the drilling or to go against it. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Oil drilling would bring many monetary benefits to the people and the economic state of the country. It would increase job opportunities, working and business opportunities for individuals and companies. It would also attract the attention of foreign investment in the region, while giving a competitive edge to the economy of the country. Nonetheless, the oil drilling would help in lowering the high oil and fuel prices for the public. Not only this, but it would also reduce the cumulative net expenditures on the import of crude oil and liquid fuels to high extents. Apart from all these positive points, huge population of Americans is against the oil drilling because it has got many flaws and drawbacks in the oil drilling project. They believe that oil drilling would damage the natural beauty of the land, and would irreversibly damage the protective wildlife range of animal breed present in the refuge area. It is also said by the opposing group that it would not make big difference in the oil prices and supplies, and would increase the pollution instead. This is because the oil production process would also require manufacturing of roads, hotels, airports, drill sites and gravel mines which would ultimately acquire the entire area and would also finish the entire beautiful range of animals within. There are many conflicts on this piece of land and the issue is still in the controversial stage, but if agreed to go for drilling, the intact area of ANWR would become commercialized along with many environmental, wildlife safety issues, human health issues and indigenous animal breeding issues which are needed to be taken seriously (Luntz, 2007, p167). Should Society Act Now to Forestall Global Warming (Droege, 2008, p47) Global warming is basically the radically increasing amount of global temperature in earth's environment, air and oceans. The growing temperature of the surface of the earth is a matter of considerable thought and debate which has created many severe issues for the health and environmental aspects of the earth. The heat and climatic changes are stored into the earth's environment which are increasing the temperatures with the passage of time, resulting in sever climatic changes and bad environmental or health aspects. These usual yet major issues include longer period seasons, increased volume of heavier than before rainfalls and decreased volume of snow, unexpected weather conditions, raising levels of sea surfaces around the globe, and destruction of rainforests. All these climatic changes happened are severe but they can be mitigated if proper precautions and preventive actions are taken by the people, governments and countries around the globe. The climatic changes happened till now are damaging the earth surface and environment very badly, but there affects can be minimized if the society starts acting right now to forestall global warming. It is now time to act in order to preclude the hazardous affects of global warming from the face of the earth so that the upcoming generations could be prevented and provided with healthy environment, air and water. The increasing temperature is a continuous threat for the safety of human health and environment of the earth. That is why, the society must join hands together in order to stabilize the carbon dioxide volume of the atmosphere so that the rising temperature could be lessen down, which would also help ultimately in settling the rising sea levels around the globe. All the people and governments are needed to be aware from the hazardous affects of the global warming and they should come up with procedures through which the environment could be made safer for humans and for the future generations. If the society does not act now, it might get too late to control the growing impacts of global warming. The small window of opportunity is open, the choice is clear and the time is very short to come up with the perfect solution. Will Hydrogen End Our Fossil-Fuel Addiction (Zerbe, 2007, p126) Fossil fuels have delivered significant and drastic progress in the energy sector and have helped in covering many necessary needs of humans at present. But the addiction of fossil fuel is not so good for the mass production of energy if compared to the ratio of needs of the daily consumption by humans. Previous energy transitions, such as wood to coal and coal to oil were evolutionary, but oil cresting would become activist and radical if not taken serious. The increase in the fossil fuel usage has paved way to many climatic changes and temperature increase along with the rising sea levels around the globe. These climatic changes are because of the increase in carbon dioxide volume in the environment which is produced due to the use of fossil fuels. In order to control the increased and still increasing amount of carbon dioxide, alternate fuels such as hydrogen is used in place of fossil fuels. Hydrogen fuel can be generated by the wind, solar and other renewable fuels. Right now, hydrogen has not replaced the fossil fuels completely globally but it is expected that hydrogen can act as the key to replace the present state of fossil fuels as they are expected to be much cheaper than gasoline and natural gas. For this reason, companies have come up with the idea to develop hydrogen fuel based vehicles, machinery and daily utilities which could consume hydrogen instead of fossil fuels. Although, the success of hydrogen economy could be years away from today, but it is not impossible because hydrogen energy provides clear air and less emission of hazardous gases in the environment. At present, hydrogen fuels cannot stop or control people's addiction from fossil fuels, but it can help in reducing it to high extents. What could be done till then is that the emission of dangerous gases and chemicals can be lessen down as much as possible so that the addiction of fossil fuels could be minimized while keeping the environment clear and safer for human health. Power Plants for State-of-the-Art Pollution Control (Reitze, ELI; 2005, p125-132) Pollution and global warming is one of the most ongoing considerable debates in the present age. The increasing pollution is the significant contributor to polluted air, acid rains, smog, haze, childhood asthma and other severe respiratory problems. This is why, different and new ways are developed everyday which could help in controlling to pollution and cleaning the environment for the safety of human health. One of the major steps taken for pollution control is development of power plants which reduces multiple pollutants with the help of electrical accessories. Power plants are recommended to install latest state-of-the air pollution control apprentices and procedures so that it could be beneficial to reduce air emissions and mitigate the alleged violations. State-of-the-art air pollution control is the new technology which works against pollution by using modern electrical technologies and reduces the amount of hydrogen, nitrogen oxides and other chemicals from the environment. If this technology is not present in the existing power plants, then the government or the responsible department for that particular power plant should upgrade it with the modern technologies. This also helps in maintaining good condition of the power plants so that they could cooperate in controlling pollution to full extents. However, power plants are not mandatory for the society to adopt, but they are very helpful in cleaning the pollution and maintaining safer environment and healthy air for humans. Power plants can act as one of the sources to minimize the affects of pollution so that the air, water and environment could become safer for the future generations. The initial investment in setting up useful power plant could be very high, but it's after effects are always in favor of the environmental control. Nuclear Power Revival (Henry, Bill Bradley; 2005, p50) Nuclear power is considered one of the most powerful, yet most hazardous and dangerous source of energy which could be used against other nations in the world. Normally, the nuclear power is believed to be a dirty power which could destruct and destroy the natural assets of the world within no time. Perhaps, it is about time to revive nuclear power for some fuel opponents. The world is developing and nations are using modern technologies in science and research field, and nuclear power could be used as a form of renewable energy for different purposes, which is more beneficial and useful as compared to the solar and wind energy. Nuclear energy is the form of energy in which many multinational companies and even nations are interested to raise their standard of research with the help of nuclear power. This energy has gained popularity over time because the there has been a worldwide increase in the demand of fossil natural gas fuels, and people are not willing to cope up with the increasing prices of fossil fuels everyday. It is feared by many nations that over time, the international energy supply could be demolished so it is about time that a new and stronger form of energy should be introduced to people that is more powerful and easy to adopt. It is now up to the private business and private industry sector to increase the volume of energy produced by the nuclear power. Environmental Science and Environmentalism (Sullivan, Agardy, Clark; 2005, p13) Environmental science and environmentalism are a bit different from one another. Environmental science can be defined as the appearance used to cover the entire range of scientific regulations which are brought together to realize, comprehend and supervise the natural environment and many other connections among chemical, physical and biological components. On the other hand, environmentalism is a broad philosophy which centers on the concern to live in harmony with the global ecosystem and enhancement of natural environment. Energy in Different Types and its Qualities Energy is present in different types; such as, mechanical, thermal, electrical, light, sound, wind, electromagnetic, kinetic, nuclear, hydraulic, geothermal, solar energy, and many others. The quality of energy is different in different forms of energy because their transmission and transfer laws are dissimilar from one another. The only one major quality they have is that the energy remains the same, no matter how it is transferred to other source to work out (Brooks, 2004, p94). Benefits of Biodiversity The benefits perceived by biodiversity are many, but some of them are; it provides food for humans and animals, it provides pharmaceutical and medicinal resources, it provides breeding stocks and population reservoirs, it provides wood products and ornament plants. Apart form all these, biodiversity is capable enough to protect water reservoirs, soil formation and its protection, storage and cycling of nutrients, absorption and breakdown of pollution, ecosystem maintenance. Moreover, the benefits include preservation of cultural values, facilities of recreation and tourism, facilities of research, education and monitoring (MEAP, 2005, p122). Ecosystem Preservation Ecosystem preservation is basically the process of protecting and restoring the ecosystems; such as, wetlands, watersheds, estuaries and several other sensitive areas which needs attention to be protected from other harmful aspects around. Use and Abuse of Soil The effective use of soil includes gardening, irrigation, cultivation, farming, agriculture, mining and construction work, dam construction, and many others. The ways through which soil is abused are; soil erosion, massive use of irrigation, water and wind erosion, soil acidification, desertification, and soil salination. New Crops and Genetic Engineering The modern technology helps in the production of new crops through the process of genetic engineering. Genetic engineering and the new crops are associated in this way that foods are formed from crops which whose genetic structure and composition has changed and modified through a different process known as recombinant DNA or gene splicing, to give the plant desirable attributes and qualities. Sources of Greenhouse Gases and Fossil Fuel Several sources of greenhouse gases include water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen dioxide, certain industrial gases, heat, sunlight, and smoke. These sources usually come from one major source of heat and gas emissions primarily coming from the use of fossil fuels by humans. Fossil fuels are basically non-renewable form of energy which is consumed by humans while carrying out their work to produce power mechanically or electronically. Recycling If used in better words, recycling can be regarding as the life saver for the environment of earth. It is the process through which used materials are re-processed and made re-usable so that it could save energy and natural resources as much as possible and minimize the hazardous affects of waste production through waste management. References Alec Gallup, Frank Newport; 2006, The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion 2005, Published by Rowman & Littlefield, p104. Frank I. Luntz, 2007, Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear, Published by Hyperion, p167. Peter Droege, 2008, Urban Energy Transition: From Fossil Fuels to Renewable Power, Published by Elsevier, p47. Michael J. Zerbe, 2007, Composition and the Rhetoric of Science: Engaging the Dominant Discourse, Published by Southern Illinois University Press, p126. Arnold W Reitze, Environmental Law Institute (ELI); 2005, Stationary Source Air Pollution Law, Published by Environmental Law Institute, p125-132. James S. Henry, Bill Bradley; 2005, The Blood Bankers: Tales from the Global Underground Economy, Published by Basic Books, p50. Patrick J. Sullivan, Franklin J. Agardy, James J. J. Clark; 2005, The Environmental Science of Drinking Water, Published by Butterworth-Heinemann, p13. David Brooks, 2004, On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (and Always Have) in the Future Tense, Published by Simon & Schuster, p94. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Program (MEAP), 2005, Ecosystems and Human Well-being, Published by Island Press, p122. Read More