Ethanol Essay

Have you ever wondering where your electricity comes from? How your car uses gasoline to run? What about how these things impact our environment or how we are going to keep producing them? As a country, we need to start looking ahead to the future and planning for what is to come. Currently, 86% of America’s energy comes from petroleum, natural gas, and coal. All of these resources will run out eventually. We need renewable energy sources that will keep producing in a clean, more efficient way for a long time. Before committing to an idea and going all the way with it, we need to compare all the different energy sources available to the U.S. and choose the one that is best for everyone.

The time has come, we’re running out of fossil fuels and we need an alternative. That is where renewable energy comes in; The best part about it is that it is renewable so it will always be available to us, and we can acquire this energy through solar, water, and wind power. There is a lot of controversy as to whether we should rely on renewable energy, because some say it is not cost effective. However renewable energy can pay for itself, is available nearly everywhere through various methods of obtaining it, provides numerous amount of jobs and economical benefits, and it will not harm our environment.

One of the fastest growing energy sources in the world, wind power is a globally advantageous renewable resource.

Each year the cost of designing, building, and maintaining renewable energy infrastructure and technology decreases. This trend is most prominently visible in the solar and wind industries which have both “seen stock prices jump since Congress approved an extension of tax credits for renewables” in late 2015 (Warrick). One cause for the renewable industry’s growth is the influx of investors. In November 2015, Goldman Sachs “quadruple[d] its investments in renewables to $150 billion,” a trend that has only become more prevalent in 2017 (Warrick). Part of the strong appeal of renewable energy is that it pays itself off over time. Instead of paying an electric bill every month, year after year, one can pay to have solar panels installed, that while initially expensive, never require additional payments. Not only are they free after the initial payment, some electric companies pay customers for installing panels and investing in clean energy. Many people complain that renewables produce far less power per dollar than coal, natural gas, and oil. While this may be true, the gap is quickly closing as renewable technology improves and prices drop. The convenience of only needing to pay once for renewable infrastructure far outweighs the greater power output that non-renewables provide for

Since the gasoline and fuel oil shortages of the 1970’s, the topic of renewable energy has been

The cause for this great rate of growth in wind power is contributed to tax incentives and state laws mandating renewable energy research. The nation 's total Wind power production is relatively low but some states like Iowa are investing in it heavily. Wind power produces 4.7 percent of the United States electrical energy and makes up over thirty percent of Iowa 's energy (American Wind Energy Association). Wind energy is gaining a lot of traction in northern states but almost does not exist in the southern states. When it comes to reliability wind energy is inferior to Hydropower. In order for a wind turbine to work wind speeds need to be around 8-55 mph and they are only efficient at wind speeds above 30 mph, anything below that minimal (National Wind Watch). This makes wind turbines less reliable because the wind can vary wildly throughout a day. Wind power also comes with some environmental impacts too. Wind Turbines kill tens of thousands of birds a year do to Turbines essentially being giant metal fans (Hosansky). Bats are especially affected because they rely on echolocation to see and giant moving blades confuse them into running into the blades.

One of the great parts about wind energy is that it has a large amount of positives to the environment and hardly any negative effects. Because wind energy uses the wind for the energy there is no emissions generated from the energy produced. It is estimated that the use of one million kWh of wind power can save around 600 tons of carbon dioxide emissions (Saidur, Rahim, Islam, & Solangi, 2011). Therefore, it is easy to see that the widespread use of wind power can help mitigate climate change. This is critical to help stop climate change and the United States is uniquely positioned to be the leader in curbing climate. When the United States starts heavily investing in alternative energy sources other countries will likely follow suit, which will be key to reducing global emissions.

In contrast, some believe that renewable energy is a key factor involved in helping the economy to grow. Many jobs are created in the manufacturing and running of renewable energy plants. The renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies created 8.5 million new jobs and $970 billion in revenue in the year 2006 (Langwith, “Renewable Energy is Economically”). The American Solar Energy Society says by 2030 it could generate up to $4.5 trillion in revenue for the U.S and create 40 million new jobs. This would represent one in every four jobs (Langwith, “Renewable Energy is Economically”). This shows how vital it is to get renewable energy companies in the U.S. It is important to build a stable economy again and do it all while helping the environment.

Based on my research, I have noted some significant long term positive impacts of renewable energy that should be taken under consideration. In this paper you will find information related to supply and demand for energy, U.S. dependence on foreign energy and why we should rely on renewable energy more so that we can relieve our dependence from foreign sources.

Wind energy is a clean, alternative source of energy that does not produce greenhouse gas emissions and can be produced domestically. While wind energy accounts for a small overall portion of the energy produced in the United States, the potential for wind energy is significant. Nevertheless, there are some obstacles that delay the widespread use of this technology, including intermittency of wind, cost, and public policies that deter their implementation.

Well we all know that the energy system is very unstable because the total energy available on the earth is limited, and man has exploited all the conventional technologies to fulfill his needs. By the use of these conventional technologies, the world also has a disability, with problems such as global warming. Consumption of energy by man increased gradually as his wants also increase. The conventional energy resources mainly include fossil fuels, but research shows that this fuel source will be depleted completely in approximately 20-25 years. This could cause major setbacks around the world. As a result, we need an alternative source of fuel that could keep the world running on its wheel. One possibility is ethanol. Chemically extract

Wind is a natural, replenishable source of energy. With the invention of wind turbines, it has made it possible to convert wind into the energy people can use in homes and businesses. Earth's climate is rising continually, and if humans don't begin to change the use of nonrenewable sources to renewable, the planet will have devastating consequences. Today's consequences range from climate change, polar caps melting, and oceans rising. Recent achievements in wind energy are making it a popular renewable source worldwide; however, the United States Congress needs to establish a bill that guarantees long term support through tax credits to encourage the growth of wind energy.

temperature changes of the sun and the sun is a constant variable of energy, making wind power renewable. While wind seems to be a good option and is the fastest growing energy source in the world, with the United States planning to rely 20 percent of its electricity on wind power by 2030, the benefit it produces does not entirely contribute to decreasing global warming. Wind power generates only a small portion of the nation’s energy and will reduce insignificant amounts of carbon dioxide emission in the air. Wind power is also unstable and difficult to find an applicable area to built them. The tall and enormous wind turbines require high wind to

Fossil fuels are having great impacts toward nature such as global warming and greenhouse effect. Plus, the depletion of it contributes to the rising price of petroleum. Therefore, wind power rise as it is a source of clean, non-polluting renewable energy (Nash, 2008). This type of energy generation provides us with loads of benefits environmentally and economically.

The studies conducted over the past 10 years reveal that the need for fossil fuel as an alternative source of energy is on the rise (Machol and Rizk 79-95). The studies revolve around a central idea that the future demands for electricity are probably going to be higher due to the advancements that are brought in by the contemporary century. Sources show that wind energy is the most viable source of energy to provide a solution to the problems emerging from the dominant by fossil fuel in the energy sectors. However, the studies tend to reveal that most countries have continued to use fossil fuels and fewer strategies to harness wind energy. The studies show that the United States was the only country that