Can we use Renewable Energy?

One of the largest problems that our world faces is the lack of a source of renewable energy that can replace oil. Sure, there are multiple different types of renewable energy that can be used, but the practicality of each one of them is questionable, especially with the technology that we have now.

Currently, Renewable energy, as of 2018, makes up about 24% of the world’s energy supply. The Center for Climate and Energy solutions predict that the number will go up to 45% by 2040.

But between the five major possible renewable energy sources, - wind, solar, hydro, biomass, and geothermal - they have their current limitations that make them unable to be used on a widespread and cheap scale.

Wind energy requires turbines that must be far from cities. As a result, transporting the energy from the rural areas to the city requires an extremely large amount of money that is not viable for the current usage of electricity.

Solar energy has a similar problem to wind energy in that exporting it to places that do not have lots of sunlight, like Alaska and Canada, would require extremely large amounts of money to implement. In addition, homes that have ample space to be able to implement solar panels are extremely limited, especially in big cities.

Hydro energy, also more commonly known as hydroelectric energy, is the idea of generating electricity through running water via dams. However, as of right now, the energy required in order to pump water requires fossil fuels, and hydroelectric energy disrupts waterways and affects aquatic life in the area.

Geothermal energy is capturing the energy that is released from radioactive decay underneath the earth’s surface that escapes from underneath the Earth’s crust. However, being able to harness Geothermal energy is extremely costly and the infrastructure is extremely prone to earthquakes.

Biomass is using organic matter that comes from plants and animals as an alternative fuel source. The problem with this, however, is that there is not any widespread technology that can allow for biomass to be used as a fuel source.

Yet, many climate scientists still believe that there is hope for a transition to cleaner, more renewable energy. Most, if not all, of the renewable energy sources have problems that can be solved with funding in order to find a cheaper and more reliable solution.

Funding can solve a lot of the problems that arise with renewable energy. With funding, scientists can find out how to be able to store energy gathered from solar and wind power and effectively transfer it to cities and places that need it the most. As a result, they can effectively decrease the long term cost and increase the amount of renewable energy used.

Biomass and geothermal energy require funding to be able to create new technology that can help harness the energy. We need to better understand how these renewable energy sources can be used, and better equipment to be able to use them.

In the end, whether or not we can use renewable energy solely depends on whether or not we can put enough funding into research that will allow us to be able to find cheaper and more reliable ways to implement renewable energy.

Without the funding, we can never hope to be able to replace oil as a reliable widespread fuel source, and our world will fall deeper into the impacts of climate change.