The blog titled “The Energy and Climate Problems of the World – How to Solve them?” talks about how the world has an energy problem and we are in need of a solution. Oil is currently humanity’s main energy source, and we are starting to run out of it, and we know for a fact that it has many detrimental effects to the environment. The author believes that we are in need of alternative energy sources, but they should not be used to the extent or in such a way that they cause new problems.
Although the author brings up a good idea, he does not explain or back up his opinion with enough evidence. It is true that we need to look for alternative solutions for energy production besides oil, because as we know it does harm the environment, especially after the oil spill this year, and there are also limiting amounts of the resource. However at this point, every alternative source of energy does indeed have negative impacts in one way or another. He is being unrealistic in saying that we need to find a solution that has no negative impact whatsoever, since at this point, there is no such thing.
One of his arguments is that energy economization is important. This in fact is true; cutting down on the amount of energy we use could be helpful in the diminishing of energy needed to be produced and the effect on the environment. However, he goes on to say “one must also stop using energy on activities that do not result in any added comfort, do not give gain of any sort, or give only marginal resulted value.” However, consumerism is a big problem with people these days. I cannot see it being very effective by telling people what they are and are not allowed to use energy for. Even with all of the advertising that goes around about the need to be environmentally aware about energy conservation, many people have not changed their way of life to help out. Expecting that people will only use energy for activities that give a valued result is not pragmatic. The author says that if we are able to use our energy sources more effectively, then the world’s energy need could drop by as much as 30%. That seems like an unrealistic number. In order for there to be that much of a decrease, there would have to be some serious changes.
For the majority of the points that are brought up, the author does point out the pros and sometimes the cons to that specific alternative energy source. He dismisses all of them as a solution to the problem at hand. Although he does not give a good enough explanation to why they are not the best choice.
Bio fuels can reduce our dependence on unstable foreign sources of oil. The author’s reason for not using bio fuels is that “it is unethical to grow cop just for making bio-fuel, since that can cause food shortage and rise of food prices.” This is a misleading statement. It would only affect food supply if the regular crops for food were replaced by the crops grown for bio-fuel. Which is probably not what would happen. Instead forested areas or fields would be converted into agricultural fields. Another con to bio-fuel technology is that there is also discussion that the energy needed to convert the crops into bio fuel is so much that there is no environmental benefit.
Solar panels are an option. The author states however that there is a “limit on how much solar cell panels you can mount before the environment is disturbed.” This is not a very good explanation for why we cannot depend solely on solar energy. Although solar panels are a good way of transferring solar energy into usable electricity, there are many negative aspects to their use. In order to produce enough electricity, there needs to be an immense number of solar panels, this is both very expensive and there are not enough places for the solar panels to go. Large areas of land would have to be transformed into solar panel farms, which would obviously detract from other uses such as agriculture for example.
The author then begins to talk about windmills, which can produce larger amounts of electricity than solar panels. He states that “there is a limit on the number and extent of wind-mill parks you can set up before the environment is heavily disturbed.” Once again he does not go into enough dept as to what the cons of wind mills are. In order to produce enough electricity, there is a need for large amounts of wind mills, which take up lots of space. This source of energy is also not useful if you are in an area where there are not normally high amounts of wind, or in any area, on a day when there is no wind.
The author talks about hydroelectricity, he says that it is a good source but there is a limit to how much we can use it before it starts to be too detrimental to the environment, but he never explains why. One of the major cons of hydroelectricity is the need for a large enough reservoir. Constructing a large reservoir is a major challenge, both in terms of time and money. In some cases, constructing a reservoir or damming a river at a certain location may lead to adverse ecological effects on its immediate surroundings.
In a way the author is being considerate of other points of views. Even though the author is trying to prove that there is currently no perfect source of energy, he does point out the positive aspects of those sources. He does not just simply negate all of them. He tries to show both sides of the situation.
The author’s argument that we need alternate sources of energy is very accurate. He further tries to argue that no current alternative sources are good enough since they lead to damaging effects on the environment. However he needs to learn to better argue his point. He brings up many different alternative energy sources, and explains why they are a good idea, but then states that they are not the best solution because there is a limit to how much you can use it before it affects the environment negatively. Although he never states how it can be detrimental to the environment. The author is very repetitive in his explanations, and does not provide enough evidence as to why sources are not an appropriate solution.
By Stephanie Moloughney
Reference:
Unknown, . "The Energy and Climate Problems of the World – How to Solve them?." Environment Studies. Jimit Patel, 06 nov 2010. Web. 07 Nov 2010.
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