Energy Demand Essay -- Environment, Green Energy

This year, the world is predicted to burn through some thirty-one billion barrels of oil, six billion tons of coal, and a hundred trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and producing over thirty tons of carbon dioxide. Nobody really knows when the last drop of oil, lump of coal or cubic foot of natural gas will be collected from the Earth. All of it will depend on how well we manage our energy demands along with how well we can develop and use our renewable energy sources (Kolbert 349). Green energy can also be referred to as renewable energy, which requires less maintenance compared to non-renewable sources of energy (Ellis 66). Fuel for the renewable sources of energy comes from natural resources such as wind, reducing costs of production. This paper will highlight the major advantages of green energy. California was one of the first states to develop utility-scaled wind farms, and until 2000 had more wind farms than all countries combined. Furthermore, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, California’s wind power plants offset the emission of more that 2.5 billion pounds of carbon dioxide and 15 million pounds of other pollutants that would have been produced. Wind energy is most preferable because it has no waste products. Currently, California has more than 13,000 wind turbines generating electricity, of those 13,000 or 95 percent are located in three main areas: (1) Altamont Pass, (2) Tehachapi, and (3) San Gorgonio. According to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, â€Å"Wind power is a key(s) to America’s clean energy future† (AWEA 2011). In addition, A. Solway from Renewable Resources stated that, â€Å"renewable energy is pro-environment being ranked as the cleanest source of green energy and does not in any ... ...nd. However, setting up the offshore turbines has been quite challenging, as relocation of people has been a hot topic that has propped up many challenges (Twidell and Wier 76). Aside from all the positive aspects of wind turbines one of the largest arguments against turbines is the large number of bird and bat fatalities that are attributed to windmills during their migration. The birds and bats are dieing due by flying into the blades on the windmills. Taking this into account some of the measures, the green power industry has taken to try an avoid any further impact on the wildlife. One of the steps is replacing old turbines with new ones, which produce more energy. According to the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, that by comparison to communication towers, oil spills, feral cats that a very small fraction of birds is actually killed by wind related causes.