Out With the Old, In With the Renewable
Margaret Wright - October 6, 2003

I pull into the gas station down the street and immediately feel light-headed. It wasn’t the fumes; it was the price - $2.01 a gallon. Ouch. In addition to emptying out my wallet it got me thinking about our nation’s dependency on fossil fuels and about the necessity of developing alternative energy sources. I first started thinking about the United States and oil when we began the war in the Middle East. Many called it an oil war, arguing that the U.S. has entered many objectionable alliances to ensure a supply of oil that would meet the demand of our daily lives that depend on it so much. Fossil fuels are energy-rich substances derived from ancient plants and microorganisms, and include petroleum, coal, and natural gas. They are an enormous part of our everyday lives, and are used in transportation, manufacturing, residential heating, and in industries that generate electric power.

Whether or not we should have taken the hint then, there are other problems with fossil fuels aside from our aggressive tactics to obtain oil. Gasoline prices have soared now that political unrest in major oil-producing countries has caused the world market to become erratic, and experts predict gas prices will remain unstable because of a chronic shortage in U.S. refinery capacity. The oil prices on Long Island have been especially high, as oil companies attribute the extreme price rise to refinery shutdowns caused by the blackout in August. The gas prices, which are at their highest levels in more than two years, are expected to stick until 2004. After January 1st, prices will rise in all of New York State when a ban on a key additive takes effect.

The military action in the Middle East and the exorbitant gas prices are just one aspect of the questions surrounding our energy supply. Fossil fuels are the most widely used resource for power. However, they cause many environmental problems that force us to reevaluate their use. Petroleum is refined into gasoline and other fuels such as diesel and jet fuel. The oil industry is responsible for a considerable amount of environmental pollution. Oil spills are a common occurrence, and factories and utilities that burn oil release sulfur dioxide and other pollutants into the air. Oil and gas have virtually taken the place of coal in most industrialized countries, although after the jump in oil prices after 1973 the use of coal has been increasing. In the United States, most of the electricity is generated by burning coal. However, coal is even more dangerous for the environment than oil. The burning of coal releases several impurities into the air such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which cause acid rain when they react with water vapor. When acid rain enters the water cycle it can jeopardize the quality of our forests, soils, lakes and streams.

The refinement and burning of fossil fuels releases large amounts of greenhouse gases, such as carbon monoxide. These gases absorb and retain solar heat reflected off the earth’s surface, which is the cause of global warming. The increase in global temperature threatens to disrupt weather and ocean currents, and it contributes to polar ice cap melting. The combustion of fossil fuels also releases ash into the air, which is a major source of air pollution. This is especially a problem in big cities where large concentrations of cars produce fuel ash.

Even if fossil fuels were of no harm to the environment the fact still remains that they are a non-renewable resource. We have a limited amount of reserves, and the only way we can prolong our supply is by discovering new fuel deposits. At the moment, fossil fuels are being consumed faster than they are produced by the earth, and so we will eventually exhaust these non-renewable resources. It is unclear when in the future they will be used up, but we need to prepare ourselves.

The current buzz is coming from hydrogen cars, which are propelled by hydrogen-powered fuel cells. They mix stored hydrogen with oxygen from the air to produce electric power. Hydrogen is a potentially unlimited renewable source of fuel, and is available from a number of energy sources, such as natural gas, water, and biomass. The fuel cells emit only water vapor, and are therefore pollution free. Nevertheless, fuel cells currently cost several times as much as ordinary engines, and as with the electric cars, there are only a limited number of filling stations in the U.S. Auto manufacturers continue to explore hydrogen cars, and expect them to be on the popular market by 2010.

Although there are problems with both these new technologies, they are worth looking into for their priceless benefits to the environment. In late 2002, the Department of Energy announced their plan for a national hydrogen car fuel network. They hope to reduce American’s dependence on oil as well as curb the greenhouse gases causing global warming. President Bush has made a $1.2 billion proposal, called Freedom Fuel, to encourage the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

The issue of alternative energy should extend beyond transportation. As global energy consumption continues to rise each year, it is becoming necessary to investigate alternatives such as solar and wind power. Nuclear energy is one way of generating electricity without relying on fossil fuels, but it raises a number of safety issues. Worries over radiation, waste disposal, and accidents still exist today.

Water is a natural and renewable resource that is readily available, and it can produce power by falling from a higher to lower level by means of waterwheels or hydraulic turbines. Hydroelectric plants are cheaper to run, but the development of hydroelectric power requires a large capital investment.

The Sun’s light and heat sustain every living being on Earth, and can be collected as a source of power. Sunlight can either be collected by flat plates mounted on rooftops that turn heat into fluid, or by concentrating collectors that reflect the Sun’s rays from a large area to a small, focused area. Concentrators provide carrier fluids at higher temperatures and are more effective. Since solar energy is not reliable, excess energy collected during sunny periods must be stored.

Wind power is harnessed from wind and converted into mechanical energy. Spinning rotors may be attached to electric generators to turn wind energy into electrical energy. Wind is a clean and renewable source of energy, and modern wind turbines have already been installed in countries such as Germany, Denmark, China, India, and the U.S. Like solar power, wind power is not always reliable and sometimes the wind may not be strong enough to push wind turbines to full capacity. This does not affect consumers when the wind energy system is connected to an electrical network. The growing market for wind power is encouraging investment, and the cost of wind-generated electricity is already competitive with coal-fueled plants.

There are more energy alternatives as well, including geothermal, biomass, and ocean power. While some of these energy systems may not be one-hundred percent reliable on their own, they may be coupled with each other to keep power steady. For instance, a wind energy system could be connected to a hydroelectric power grid to compensate during windless days. The benefit of all these options is that they are derived from natural and renewable sources that put less strain on the environment. The major obstacle to the widespread use of these resources is their high cost relative to fossil fuels. These technologies are relatively new, but as they grow and markets expand they may be able to shift towards mass production, which will reduce the costs significantly.

Clearly there are a number of ways to reduce the use of fossil fuels and the nations’ dependence on oil. While not all these methods have been perfected yet, they show great potential and innumerable benefits. Current events show the increasing troubles with fossil fuels – we can’t ignore the staggering prices of gas when we fill our cars every day. We should pay attention to the ongoing development of hydrogen cars to ease the strain on both our wallets and the environment. Hopefully this trend towards a reduction of the use of fossil fuels will creep further into our lives, revitalizing our power systems without depleting our precious resources.