Rodriguez 1

Athena Rodriguez

Susan Zelms

English 1102 - 026

May 18, 2016

Alternative Energy

Fossil fuels are the most common energy source that is used around the world

because they are made of oil, coal, and natural gas. Many people are not informed that

Earth has a little amount of fossil fuels for everyone in the world. Researchers have

predicted that fossil fuel will be limited by the year 2088 (The End). There will still be

fossil fuels around, but they are going to be hard to find in the environment and there is

only a limited amount of it. They have encouraged people to start using hydropower,

solar power, and other alternative energies because these energy sources can be used

many times. Alternative energy is a renewable resources that are found in the

environment that can be used unlimited times. Using alternative energy as an energy

source is good thing because it keeps the environment clean, has unlimited renewable

resources, as well as economic benefits.

Many people know that fossil fuels produce carbon dioxide; carbon dioxide is bad

for the environment because it causes global warming. When carbon dioxide is being

produced, it goes up into the Earths atmosphere. When carbon dioxide stays in the

Earths atmosphere, the Earth becomes warmer; hence global warming. As temperature

increases on Earth, the polar ice caps in the North and South Poles will melt. Thus, the

water level in the oceans will increase every year. Some scientists have noticed that many
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polar bears in the North Pole have a hard time finding a shelter because the polar ice caps

keep melting and breaking which makes them swim for miles until they find a safe polar

ice cap to stay at. Many people believe that global warming is happening because this

past winter has been the warmest winter that was recorded.

Fossil fuels can also cause pollution. When people burn off fossil fuel from their

car, it produces nitrogen oxide and the air becomes polluted. Some people say that air

pollution can harm a persons health, They can irritate the lungs, cause bronchitis and

pneumonia, and decrease resistance to respiratory infections (The Hidden Cost).

People are encouraging others to find ways to decrease the use of fossil fuels in order to

reduce air pollution in the environment. If everyone keeps using fossil fuels, our

environment will become more polluted and harm peoples health.

Unlike fossil fuels, alternative energy does not harm the environment; carbon

dioxide is the main cause of global warming. Many electric companies produce more

than one-third of carbon dioxide emission in the United States (Benefits of

Renewable). Most of these companies use coal and natural gas to generate electricity

into peoples homes. Many alternative energies use renewable resources to produce

energy; these renewable resources are wind, sunlight, water, and many more. These

renewable resources do not produce any carbon dioxide when it is being used. When the

public decided to switch from fossil fuels to alternative energy, the carbon dioxide

emission would decrease. Having to reduce the carbon dioxide emission in the United

States would decrease the chance of global warming from happening.

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However, some people do not believe in global warming because they think that

global warming is not happening right now. In the article, Heres Why People Dont

Believe in Climate Change, briefly explains the reasons why people think global

warming does not exist. Natasha Bertrand, the author of the article, surveyed about three

thousand people in the United States on why they dont think global warming exist. One

reason is that people do not notice that the climate does not change. The other reason is

that the temperature changes because it is part of the environment. Another reason is that

there is not enough scientific evidence that the temperature on Earth is getting higher

(Bertrand). These are the top three reasons why some people do not believe in global

warming. Many people believe that the temperature fluctuates from time to time because

it is part of the natures cycle. That is why many people in the United States do not

believe in global warming

Since alternative energy cannot produce carbon dioxide, it does not contribute to

any kind of pollution. Generating electricity from alternative energy can have a benefit in

the publics health from not having pollution in the environment, Replacing fossil fuels

with renewable energy had been found to reduce premature mortality and lost workdays,

and it reduces overall healthcare cost (Benefits of Renewable). People can live a better

and healthier life when there is no pollution in their environment. Many oil companies

are to blame for water contaminations because they carelessly drill underground for oil

supply. Once the oil is contaminated the peoples water supply, many people will get sick,

and sometimes people are forced to leave their home due to water contamination. When
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oil companies stop drilling for oil underground, there would not have any water

contamination.

There are a variety and unlimited amount of natural resources that alternative

energy uses to create energy. According to Power Technology, the top three alternative

energy that are used around the world are hydropower, wind power, and solar power

(The Worlds Most). These alternative energies use renewable resources that are easily

found in the environment and have a plenty amount of it. Hydropower gets its energy

from water by turning turbines in the dam, wind power gets energy from wind by turning

the wind turbines, and solar power gets energy from sunlight which the solar panels

collect it and use the energy later on.

In the article, "Hydropower Facts, Hydropower Information- National

Geographic", some information about hydropower and how it creates electricity is

explained. The article briefly states that a hydropower plant contains an electric plant,

dam, and a reservoir. The dam controls the flow of the water in the plant and the water

would go through the turbines and generate electricity. The flow of the water determines

how much electricity is being created. The engineers in the dam controls the flow of the

water when electricity is needed. The electricity can travel over long distance through

electric lines to go to homes, factories, and many more. Hydropower provides one-fifth of

the worlds electricity. China, Canada, Brazil, United State, and Russia are the top five

countries that uses hydropower in the world (Hydropower Facts). People round the

world have easy access to water to create a dam that collects water from rain or melted

snow to produce electricity in their country.

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For hundreds of years, people have been using wind power as an energy source.

Sailors would use sails to catch the wind and travel around the world, and farmers would

use windmills to grind grains (Wind Power). Now, people use wind power to generate

electricity, Most wind energy comes from the turbines that can be as tall as a 20-story

building and have three 200-foot-long (60-meter-long) blades (Wind Power). The

wind would spin the turbines and powers the generator to create electricity. The biggest

wind turbine can power about six hundred house and a small turbine can power a single

home. The wind turbines are located in spacious and windy areas to produce energy.

Just like hydropower and wind power, solar power is another alternative energy

that can produce electricity. Solar power uses solar panels to collect energy from the

sunlight, When sunlight hits the cells, it knocks electrons loose from their atoms. As the

electrons flow through the cell, they generate electricity (Solar Power). The electricity

that is being generated from the solar panels would go a battery as a storage to use the

energy later on. Solar power is used by everyone; many people are using solar power to

generate electricity at their homes or businesses. There is a middle school in my

community uses solar power to generate electricity at the school.

Still, some people argued that there are some disadvantages for using these

alternative energies. For hydropower, building dams in rivers can destroy or disrupts the

animals habitats (Hydropower Facts). Many land animals are forced to leave their

habitat because people are destroying their homes by building a dam. Once the dam is

created, the oxygen levels in water becomes low because the people in the dam controls

how much water can go through the dam. Thus, making the fishes die due to low oxygen
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level in the water. There are many disadvantage of using wind power. Many people have

complained about the noise that the wind turbines make. The rotating blades on the wind

turbine kills more birds than a typical car, power lines, or a high-rise building do. (Wind

Power). If there is no wind on the wind farm, the wind turbines would not generate

electricity. Solar power can only generate electricity when the sun is out; it can only

collect energy during the daytime. If it is cloudy during the daytime, the solar panels

cannot collect any energy since the sun is being hidden away by the clouds.

Not only that there is abundant amount of alternative energy and keeps the

environment clean, it also benefits the economy. Many alternative energy power plants

create more jobs for people across the country, More than 119,000 people worked in

solar-related industries in 2012, while wind energy development employed 75,000 full-

time workers across the US (Renewable Electricity). A power plant needs a large

number of people working there in order to keep the electricity going. Working at an

alternative energy power plant has more labor to a typical power plant because workers

need to keep maintaining the machines in order for the electricity running. For example,

workers at a solar power plant, people need to keep an eye on solar panels to make sure

that it is collecting energy from the sunlight. When one of the solar panels stops

collecting energy, the workers have to change the solar panel immediately for the energy

to keep going.

Since alternative energy create jobs for many people, it also gives benefits to many

rural areas. Many rural areas have some type of alternative energy project going on in

their community, typically a wind power project. In a rural community, the local
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government and the landowner benefit from each other because they are getting profits

from one another:

Local governments collect property and income taxes and other payments

from renewable energy project owners. These revenues can help support

vital public services, especially in rural communities where projects are

often located. Owners of the land on which wind projects are built also

often receive lease payments ranging from $3,000 to $6,000 per megawatt

of installed capacity, as well as payments for power line easements and road

rights-of-way. Or they may earn royalties based on the projects annual

revenues. (Benefits of Renewable)

The landowner would have a wind turbine in their property, the wind turbine would

generate electricity. The local government would have to give the landowner a profit for

creating electricity. The landowner would have to pay the local government their property

and income taxes for having a wind turbine in their property. The local government uses

the taxes in their community. One of my teachers in high school, told a story that his

neighbor has a small wind turbine in their property. The wind turbine would generate

electricity around his neighborhood. Sometimes the electric company would have to pay

his neighbor because the neighbor is generating electricity for their house.

Using alternative energy has many advantages to the public, it keeps the

environment clean, there a variety and unlimited of energy sources, and has economic

benefits. In about seventy years, Earth will have a limited amount of fossil fuels for

everyone. People need to start using alternative energy because everyone cannot rely on
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fossil fuels in their lifetime. If people start to use alternative energy now, it can benefit

the future because they will realize how bad fossil fuels are for everyone and the

environment.
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Works Cited

"Benefits of Renewable Energy Use." Union of Concerned Scientists. N.p., n.d. Web. 17

Apr. 2016.

Bertrand, Natasha. "Here's Why People Don't Believe in Climate Change." Business

Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 25 Nov. 2014. Web. 14 May. 2016.

"Hydropower Facts, Hydropower Information- National Geographic." National

Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.

"Renewable Electricity Standards Deliver Economic Benefits (2013)." Union of

Concerned Scientists. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2016.

"Solar Power Energy Information, Solar Power Energy Facts - National Geographic."

National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2016.

"The End of Fossil Fuels." - Our Green Energy. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.

"The Hidden Cost of Fossil Fuels." Union of Concerned Scientists. N.p., n.d. Web. 23

Apr. 2016.

"The World's Most Used Renewable Power Sources." Power Technology. N.p., 15 Jan.

2014. Web. 04 May 2016.

"Wind Power Information, Wind Power Facts - National Geographic." National

Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2016.