Our world is slowly dying, and mankind is the killer. Decades of polluting the environment while squandering natural resources are taking their toll on the planet. Now I ask you, is this the legacy we want to leave behind for future generations? It is time for us to step up and implement alternative energy resources on a much grander scale. Renewable energy is the future of the world because it is bountiful, clean and cost effective over the long term. In this presentation I will first briefly explain what renewable energy is, and then discuss its benefits. Webster's defines renewable energy as "an energy source capable of being renewed by natural ecological cycles."" This illustrates the many different types of renewable energy in use today, and this graphic shows to what extent. As can be seen, the majority of our energy comes from fossil fuels which produce tremendous carbon emissions. Some resources are naturally much more abundant than others. For instance, sunlight and geothermal heating are nearly infinite in supply, and are renewed constantly. Others take a little more time and management to be a viable resource, such as bio-fuels, which have to be grown and processed. A few other examples of renewable resources are wind driven turbines, and hydroelectricity. Now that we better understand what renewable energy is, we can move on to discuss a few of their benefits and why they are so vital.
The first benefit of renewable energy to the environment can be found in its name, it's renewable. That means that these resources are, for all intents and purposes practically unlimited, unlike fossil fuels, which are dwindling and cannot be replenished. With such a huge population on this planet the demands for energy are great. According to the Renewables 2014 Global Status Report "renewable resources accounted for approximately 19 percent of the world's power demands." However, the United States is far behind on this curve.