It is estimated that we use over 580 million trillion joules every year which is equivalent to about 13865 million tons of oil . We rely heavily on energy as it is very important in our daily lives from heating and cooling our homes, lighting office buildings, to driving cars. But where do we get all this energy from? The answer is energy sources. Primary energy sources take many forms, including nuclear energy, fossil energy such as oil and coal, and other renewable sources which include wind, solar, geothermal and hydropower. These are all forms of energy sources that we use every single day so when considering what energy sources to use one must consider the following four factors which are availability, technological changes, cost, and the impact it has towards the environment.
When choosing what energy sources are going to be used , there are many factors that need to be considered. The first thing is the accessibility of a source, when talking about accessibility we need to consider is how easy it is to extract the source and how long it would last. A great example would be fossil fuels. These were formed millions of years ago in tropical swamps that have been compressed slowly over time. Therefore fossil fuels will only have formed under certain conditions in a select number of countries whose geologic past undergoes those conditions such as South America and Russia. The availability also affects the cost of the energy source, along with how much people are paid to produce it. For example, the easier it is to access the source then the less people it needs to produce or extract it. Then the cost of the energy will be cheaper. However, if fuel source is deep underground then this increases the cost of accessing that energy source, therefore increases the price of it.
Technology has made big advancements over time, and as it advances we can make new energy sources available or improve the efficiency of current energy producing technologies. An example is renewable energy and how it has improved over the years because of technological advancements, such as the development of solar panels being able to generate electricity even on cloudy days with no sunlight. As a result in 2019 alone, 407,346 GWh of renewable solar energy was generated which is enough to power over 37 million homes, and other renewable energy sources such as wind turbines have become more efficient and so these are being used in more countries. Improvements in technology also help open up more opportunities in energy sources. Accessing energy resources such as extracting oil, natural gas, geothermal energy, or water deep underground has become easier thanks to the development of a drilling technology called fracking. So when discussing technological changes in regards to the energy source, what needs to be considered is whether or not we have the technology to harness the energy source and whether or not we need to develop new technology in order to use said source.
The environmental impact of the energy source is one of the most important things to be considered. As mentioned before, accessibility of an energy source sometimes means people are using environmentally sensitive areas to find new sources of energy. These areas are put at risk as the desire for energy is greater than the desire for environmental protection. This can be seen with the mining for the raw materials like fossil fuels for energy can also cause environmental problems with loss of habitats, noise, pollution, etc. An example would be in Indonesia where the main energy source is fossil fuels. Because of this the air pollution worsens, and millions of people suffer through day-long blackouts because gas-powered electricity generators fail. Other than that there are many health risks that air pollution causes such as respiratory and cardiovascular diseases as well as lung damage. From this we can see why it's important to consider all possible factors when choosing an energy source, because Indonesia 40% of the world’s geothermal energy stores thanks to it being located along the equator and on top of a ring of active volcanoes. Indonesia has the potential to harness many renewable energy sources, yet because of how cheap and plentiful coal and fossil fuels are, it is difficult for renewable energy to compete.
To conclude this essay, there are many factors that need to be considered when choosing an energy source because the energy source can impact many things. From technological advancements to damaging the environment and risking the deterioration of human health, there are many important things to consider. Because of this, we need to properly choose the energy sources that are fit to the situation and environment.
Bibliography
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