The purpose of this paper is to provide an environmental scan and explore issues pertaining to the scarcity of fossil fuels. It will briefly explore the transition from historical energy sources to the primary use fossil fuels. Why is this a dangerous global issue? What are the effects of said issue as it pertains to the social, economic, and political landscapes? It will also assert how Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1943) is impacted by fossil fuel depletion. Finally, some recommendations will be offered regarding fossil fuels and future exploration, implementation, and utilization of more renewable energy resources.
Discussion of Global Issue
From the dawn of civilization, mankind has sought after some sort of power source to
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As technologies advanced and more inventions became widely available, societies began to move away from use of those sources and towards fossil fuels for a variety of reasons. In England, for example. even prior to the Industrial Revolution, demand was so great and coal so much more efficient than traditional energy sources, it quickly replaced the use of biomass (wood) as the primary energy source (Allen, 2012). In addition, building upon what was already known about combustion energy and coupling that with new discoveries such as the steam engine, fossil fuels were a ticket towards progress all over the world (Mumford, 1935, p. 156). As these processes were streamlined, the 18th century saw a huge growth in transportation initiatives, urbanization and population, and the physiological needs of food, water, and shelter, all on the bottom of Maslow’s pyramid (1943), were met with greater ease. An example of this growth can be found in the United States westward expansion. The United States, still a relatively young independent country in the 19th century, would not have experienced such swift westward development without the steam engine. Although groups of people attempted to take advantage of available land out West, it was not until the first coal powered transcontinental railroads were established that the largest
Cravens shows that fossil-fuels cannot be considered as a future energy source because of its baleful impact on environment and people in society. Those people who read this article would definitely disagree of using fossil -fuels for power generation. She creates a bond between herself and the audience by finding something in common. Also, despite listing several frightening facts about fossil-fuels, she conveys that America’s electricity demand is going to rise by almost 50 percent in next two decades (583). Furthermore, she adds that all energy sources, such as the wind and sun are not going to save our planet. According to Cravens, these sources of energy are either impractical or will years to make a consequential impact, and therefore cannot be found as efficient and will be unable for supply the energy demands of United States. Carvens’s sentiment greatly affects her audience to see that nuclear energy is the only environmentally considerable energy source. Also, she gets in touch with her readers through their outlook, which helps them link with what she is trying to persuade them to see. This helps strengthen her argument and makes the audience to eventually support her case about nuclear energy.
The U.S obtains more than 84% of its energy from fossil fuels including oil, coal and natural gas. This is because people rely on it to heat their homes, power industries, run vehicles, manufacturing, and provision of electricity. It is apparent that the country’s transportation industry highly depends on conventional petroleum oil, which is responsible for global warming, thus threatening economic opulence and national security. Apart from that, increasing consumption of fossil fuels have elevated health problems in the state, destroyed wild places, and polluted the environment. After conducting Environmental Impact Assessment, projections showed that the world energy consumption would increase by more than 56% between 2010 and 2040. However, fossil fuels will cater for more than 80% of the total energy used in 2040. Sadly, it will be a trajectory to alter the world’s climate, as well as, weaken the global security environment. Importantly, the rate at which the US relies on fossil fuels needs to reduce since it has adverse effects on the planet’s supplies. The society needs to realize that fossil fuels are nonrenewable, thus taking millions of years to form (Huebner, 2003). Notably, the country can reduce dependency on fossil fuels by practicing energy conservation and efficiency,
Thomas Edison once said, “I have not failed 10,000 times. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work,” he said of his method of experimentation. “When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the ways that will work.” Up until the late 1830’s electricity was derived from many non-renewable sources such as coal, oil, and natural gases. These are also known as fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are the major energy sources that are being used in the world today. The production of fossil fuels account for more than one-third of U.S global emissions, which trap heat, steadily drive up the plant’s temperature, and create harmful impacts on our health, our environment, and our climate. Their sources are limited and depleting at a faster
In this paper, we focus on using fossil fuels causing climate change. Fossil fuels are fuels formed natural resources such as coal, petroleum and natural gas, which are the most widely used fuel and industrial chemicals in the world. Since industrial revolution, fossil fuels bring a very great quantity convenience and technological products. So we can use cars, planes and all modern products. But fossil fuels cause climate change at the same time. Greenhouse gas, nitrous oxides and a great deal of harmful gas which are from fossil fuels are causing serious environmental problems. Therefore we need to be concerned about the problems caused by fossil fuels and the solutions.
Why are we as a global society so hooked on fossil fuels? Put simply, we can’t live without it. Few people-- outside of aspiring reality TV stars and the Amish-- would be willing to give up their precious electronics and
While environmental questions are frequently channeled through practical and economic prisms, it is also appropriate to consider our econolgy as a function of morality. The ethical dilemmas which contribute to our policies and our behaviors regarding the use of fossil fuels and our attention to global climate change are frequently overshadowed by more immediate concerns of survival or mere comfort.
Throughout the entire modern age, mankind has used fossil fuels to meet its energy requirements. Coal, oil and natural gas have lit homes and powered machinery for centuries, driving civilization forward. But as human
The main social issue that we would like to address is America’s dependence on fossil fuels and the possibility of switching to environmentally friendly energy sources. Energy is the key conflict factor during our era. So new energy development is a vital project that not only can decrease the conflict that base on energy but also improve our environment, meanwhile it also can decrease the conflict that created by the environmental issues. Our audience will be mainly comprised of young adults, particularly those who already have an interest in the subject matter since the younger generations are more technologically savvy and our generation is old enough to vote. However we would also like to have some policy makers be part of the audience
The world around us mostly runs on fossil fuels in order to produce electricity; however, there will be a period that comes where we will run out of those fossil fuels. We only have so much time before a crisis hits and we have nothing left to produce the energy we need. In order for our country to produce the energy and electricity we need, we must do something about it. As a country, we must figure out how we can make the switch to using more renewable energy before it is too late and we run out of fossil fuels.
Energy is the ability for something to do work, create heat, or emit light. By this definition, energy can be anything from a sandwich to uranium. However, for the sake of simplification, this essay will focus on the United States’ consumption of fossil fuels (oil, coal, and gas), which constitute eighty-six percent of American energy (Lehrman 2). That is a lot of energy, however it becomes an even larger amount when taken into consideration that even though America accounts for only five
By the late 1800s, the world’s first coal powered electric generator was made, the world’s first electric light was used, and the world’s first hydroelectric plant was utilized. A few years later a new type of fuel was becoming well-known, petroleum. Initially it had been an inconvenience for polluting water but by the end of the century oil, turned into gasoline, powered up engines. With the spread of economical gas cars and electricity, society’s energy use rapidly increased. Power plants became massive and power lines stretched out from hundreds of miles between cities, even during The Great Depression. After World War II, the use of energy was quickly doubling every 10 years and it concerned no one.
In today’s society fossil fuels are the primary source of energy for most of the industrialized world. Utilizing fossil fuels has been very important to the industrialization development throughout the world. Industrialization in many parts of the world, energy has been needed at a much higher density then before and fossil fuels have fulfilled that need. Coal, gas, and oil are the three major sources of fossil fuels in the world. Despite other means of energy such as wind power, hydroelectric power etc., fossil fuels are still the main source of energy across the continent. Fossils fuels are critical to the function of society. “Fossil fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas) are the dominant source of energy today and will be for decades to come.” (Everett, B. October).
Fossil fuels are essential to life on earth as we know it today. Our world would certainly be much different if it weren’t for such seemingly simple things such as coal, oil, and natural gas. These basic elements of life on earth may not seem like a major concern to some people until we put into perspective how they have shaped our world today. Civilizations have been built, economies have risen and crumbled, and even wars have been fought over these precious fossil fuels. However, these fossil fuels serve us in ways we may never truly appreciate, as long as we use them as recklessly as we do now. The major entity about fossil fuels is concerning their longevity and permanence in our world, and we all know, they will be around forever.
The most of global energy production produces from fossil fuel such as coal, oil and natural gas. The vast fossil fuels generate energy which use for many purposes for instant residential, transportation and industrial sectors. While the rate consumption of fossil fuel higher than their formation leads to oil price crisis. Another concern of fossil fuel combustion is the impact on the environment. Global warming is a significant problem which results in increasing concentrations of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. These problems drive researchers and societies to search alternative energy such as switching to renewable energy or carbon-free energy to replace fossil fuels. For example Nakata et al., (2011:465) show ‘low-carbon society’
The Industrial Revolution which took place in eighteenth century Great Britain acted as a sort of gateway to the discovery and usage of fossil fuels today ("Industrial Revolution." Para 1). It was an increasingly developing time as the economic market took off due to new scientific discoveries and expansion of industrial jobs and companies ("History of Fossil Fuel Usage since the Industrial Revolution." Para 4). New energy sources emerged. Some of which included fuel and motive power (coal, electricity, petroleum, etc.) ("Industrial Revolution." Para 2). A significant energy source that