Sustainable_Energy

In recent times, the debate surrounding sustainability has been carried on with increasing urgency due to widespread concern about the problem of ensuring the long-lasting prosperity of human society. A prosperous society is a highly developed one in which every member of the community derives benefits from a stable and wealthy economy with basic social services, effective core infrastructures, high standards of education and many practical applications of advanced technology. In order to achieve and maintain affluence, mankind has taken a great deal from nature and caused damage which is threatening not only the current generation but also the life of humankind in the future. Given the rapid increase in global population and its consequences in the last century, some hold that sustainable population growth is the only key to a thriving civilization hereafter. However, sustainable energy is argued to have an important part in that progress. With regard to the inextricable relationships between energy and the economy on the one hand and energy and the environment on the other hand, the essential role of sustainable energy in ensuring the future of our society will be examined in this essay. Firstly, sustainable energy is likely to be the backbone of the future world. Generally, almost every economic activity needs energy in order to maintain healthy conditions and thus be able to gain more profits. In particular, energy is derived from various kinds of sources to provide for the fundamental needs of the civilization, e.g. lighting, heating, cooking, manufacturing and sustaining transportation (Hodgson 2010, p1). Moreover, Glover and Economides (2010, p5) highlight that the material affluence of the community is encouraged and created by the act of using energy. Throughout history, the discovery of new sources from wood, coal to oil, together with the development of advanced technology for deriving and delivering energy, have fostered the world’s economy and raised the standards of living in many countries. However, it is important to note that the majority of the world’s energy supply comes from fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum and natural gas which are not infinite. According to Minqi Li (2007, p452), 80% of the world’s energy supply comes from the three aforementioned elements, specifically 34% for oil, 25% for coal and 21% for natural gas. These figures clearly show how heavily the world is dependent on non-renewable fuel sources, which leaves future generations vulnerable when considering the possibility that these vital sources of energy are running out. As estimated, with current consumption rates, oil will be used up after 40 years, while it is 60 years and 230 years for natural gas and coal respectively (Hodgson 2010, p22). The need to secure power for future development efforts now becomes more pressing, which in turn confirms the necessity of sustainable and renewable energy sources, namely solar, wind, tidal, wave, geothermal and biomass. In fact, the global wind and solar energy sectors have been growing at a considerable rate. As noted by Zahedi (2010, pp2209-2210), wind energy has increased 15 times in capacity from 6000MW to 120,000MW in the period of 1996-2008 globally; solar energy also has seen a remarkable increase, with the average developing rate higher than 25% every year from 1994 to 2007 on the worldwide scale. That progress is the indication of the world’s increasing focus on the issue of future energy. Although renewable energy accounts for only 17% of total world prime energy (Bilgen et al., 2008) at present, with this pace of integrating into the world energy network, it is possible that sustainable energy will become the main key to resolving the problem of energy security for many generations to come. With a secured power supply, the prospect of a strong and flourishing economy becomes brighter and therefore effectively contributes to the development of human society. For this reason, sustainable energy will clearly have significant impact on the prosperity of humankind in the future. Secondly, sustainable energy contributes to future generations’ prosperity by maintaining healthy environment which is important to the existence of every living creatures including human being. Generally, the exploitation and utilization process of energy resources is likely to have effects on the environment. Particularly, contemporary civilization is not only reliant on but also suffering from the use of fossil fuels due to their detrimental impacts such as the degradation of ecosystems and more importantly, global warming. Among the three most consumed fossil fuels, coal is considered to be the most harmful to the environment (Maugeri 2010, p46). Every stage of coal’s life, i.e. extraction, transportation and combustion, can cause damage to the environment due to its content of potentially poisonous elements, like sulphur, mercury, arsenic and heavy metals (Maugeri 2010, p46). Also, there are environmental risks associated with petroleum industry. Oil spill from offshore platforms and oil tankers’ accidents can cause devastating consequences to coastal and marine habitats. Furthermore, the combustion of oil, coal and natural gas not only provides energy but also release substantial amount of greenhouse gases which are the main causes of the rising of the earth’s average temperature (Minqi 2007, p454). This effect could be the reason for glacier melting, and subsequently, the rising of sea level. (Bilgen et al. 2008). Moreover, global warming is shown to have significant influence on the rising of flood level caused by intensified tropical storms (Mousavi 2011, p594). Because of global warming, humankind will possibly have to experience more severe weather patterns, such as frequent and prolonged drought, devastating hurricane and intense flooding. These consequences from the use of fossils fuels can probably threaten civilisation’s progress and prevent future generations from achieving prosperity. In order to reduce harmful effects of fossil fuels while still ensure adequate energy supply for the future development, sustainable and renewable energy is probably the promising solution. Renewable energy derived from the sun, wind, and the sea is environmentally friendly and inexhaustible. The transition from fossil fuels to these vast and clean energy sources will help decrease greenhouse gas emissions and preserve healthy ecological conditions. Subsequently, instead of struggling with environmental consequences, with sustainable energy, human society will continue to develop and uphold its progress. With this in mind, it is clearly seen that future prosperity will depend substantially on sustainable energy. In conclusion, future prosperity of society requires a secured energy supply for economic development and a healthy environment without potential threats of destroying the fruits of civilization. Considering the serious reliance of current world on fossil fuels and the harmful effects of deriving energy from those finite sources, sustainable energy has been shown to be the key to material affluence – the ultimate goal of humankind, now and hereafter. Although there remain many difficulties on the way to a complete sustainable energy solution, it is encouraged that governments, organisations and companies promote and support further research and development. Eventually, future generation will probably have the benefit of a flourishing and thriving society as a result of present efforts.