Identifying Alternate Energy Resources for the Future Essay

How the United States Can Lessen Its Dependence on Fossil Fuels

While the debate over the precise date when peak oil will arrive continues, some experts argue that the world has already passed this milestone and the world’s growing hunger for energy resources will inevitably deplete them entirely regardless of the precise date involved. Against this backdrop, identifying ways that the United States can lessen its dependence on fossil fuels represents a timely and essential enterprise for the nation’s security at home and abroad. To this end, this paper provides a review of the relevant literature to explain the significance of this problem and ways the United States can incorporate renewable alternative fuel sources such as wind and solar power into its current energy grid. Finally, a recommendation concerning a viable strategy to reduce America’s dependence on fossil fuels and the rationale in support thereof are followed by a summary of the research and important findings concerning the need for the United States to lessen its dependence on fossil fuels in the conclusion.

Review and Analysis

Significance of the Problem

At present, oil, coal and natural gas are the three most significant sources of fossil fuel energy that are used by the developed countries of the world, and there has been little economic incentive to identify viable replacements for these resources since they are all relatively cheap and the infrastructure that is required for transporting and using them is already in place (Deal, 2010). The list of renewable alternative energy resources that could replace these fossil fuel resources is well known to most Americans, with solar and wind power representing two of the most commonly cited by experts today. In addition, other renewable energy resources such as biomass, hydrogen cell or tidal power as well as hydro- and geothermal power have also been mentioned as potentially viable replacements for fossil fuels. Indeed, some experts even suggest that it may be possible to harness the sun’s energy by collecting it in outer space and beaming back to collection stations on earth.

By contrast, the 800-pound gorilla in the renewable resource room -- nuclear energy – which also has the most to offer -- appears to have lost much of its appeal in recent years. This diminished interest in nuclear energy is despite a proven track record of safe operations in the vast majority of its applications around the world due to rare but high-profile incidents such as Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant that was severely damaged by a major earthquake in 2011 or the Chernobyl meltdown incident in 1986 in the former Soviet Union, both of which resulted in the release of radioactive emissions that adversely affected surrounding human habitations.

Moreover, even if the entire international community launched a Manhattan Project-level initiative right now, there may not be enough time left to fully develop and deploy sufficient alternative energy initiatives to completely replace the enormous amounts of fossil fuels that are currently being used by the United States and other heavily industrialized countries. Further exacerbating the current overreliance on fossil fuels is the growing demand for energy from the so-called “BRIC” counties (i.e., Brazil, Russia, India and China) as well as other countries with rapidly burgeoning middle and upper classes.

Against this backdrop, identifying the most suitable renewable energy resources is certainly essential for protecting the nation’s interests and ensuring the well-being of its citizens, but time is running out and there are a number of constraints in place that limit investments in these alternative technologies, including most especially the continuing availability of cheap oil from the Middle East. In addition, the seeming torpor that has gripped America’s political leadership when it comes to renewable energy has been replaced by a concerted effort to derail the most promising renewable resources, including solar power.

Indeed, even while this paper was being written, President Donald Trump took the extraordinary action of invoking expensive tariffs on imported solar equipment, including solar panels. For instance, according to a report from Eckhouse, Arinatter and Martin (2018), “In the biggest blow to the renewable energy industry yet, the U.S. will impose duties of as much as 30% on solar equipment made abroad, a move that threatens to handicap a $28 billion industry that relies on parts made abroad for 80% of its supply” (para. 2). These newly imposed duties on imported solar equipment are expected to cause the loss of tens of thousands of job in the renewable energy sector and this initiative continues the current administration’s track record of ignoring the harsh fossil fuel realities that are facing the world today, including its recent withdrawal from the Paris climate control agreement and reversal of several Obama-era power plant emission regulations (Eckhouse et al., 2018)..

Even under optimal circumstances, however, renewable energy technologies remain constrained by a number of technological and logistical factors that will require resolution before any of these…