Renewable Energy: What's the Debate?.
"Coal makes up approximately 28% of the worlds total energy needs, and is consumed at an alarming rate with nearly 1 million tons of black coal burnt in Australia in one day, and is worth about five billion annually just to Australia. But coal is nonrenewable and it is predicted the worlds coal reserves would be gone within the next forty to fifty years."" (Taylor, 1). This statistic is frightening to many Americans. With the rate coal is being used up, along with other fossil fuels, what will the next generation of Americans use for power? Could you imagine coming home from work and having to stoke up the firewood in the stove to keep warm? Renewable energy is something the world should take on seriously. Renewable energy resources such as biomass, geothermal, hydropower, nuclear, solar, and wind are going to be the main sources of energy for our planet in the future.
Renewable energy is produced from resources that are constantly replaced (Renewable Energy Primer, 1). These energy sources are "renewed- as we use them. Most of the sources mentioned above are replaced by nature, but some are not. Nuclear energy, for instance, is created from a naturally occurring element that is in great abundance. In all reality some of the renewable sources are unpractical and out of reach. We have to figure out which source of renewable energy best suits our needs and will work with our geographical features.
Biomass energy is changing farming waste, grasses, trees, sawdust, or even garbage into energy by burning it (Renewable Energy Primer, 1). It can also be converted into a liquid fuel. Biomass energy, for example, is used when you burn a log in your fireplace. According to the International Energy Agency, the world derives 11% of its energy from biomass. That percentage rises to 35% for developing nations, and to 90% for the poorest nations. That statistic shows that biomass energy is already on the rise in today's society and is a definite prospect for heavy use in the future.
