Fossil Fuels Free Essays

Fossil fuels have been a widely used source of energy every since the Industrial Revolution just before the dawn of the 20th century. Fossil fuels are relatively easy to use to generate energy because they only require a simple direct combustion. However, a problem with fossil fuels is their environmental impact. We will write a custom essay sample on Fossil Fuels or any similar topic only for you Order Now Not only does their excavation from the ground significantly alter the environment, but their combustion leads to a great deal of air pollution. Fossil and nuclear plants are capable of producing significant amounts of power. Plants in the gigawatt (billions of watts) range are common. Modern cities need large amounts of reliable electricity, more than what many alternative sources can currently deliver. Businesses should educate people about what benefits they can get out of nuclear versus fossil fuels. One of the leading and biggest Corporations in nuclear filed is Exelon Corporation. The Exelon Corporation could educate citizens of the United States about the need to get off fossil fuels, the relative improvement begot from nuclear and counter society’s misconceptions on the dangers of nuclear energy. Background/ Context of Issue. The cost for building and operating a power plant is lower for fossil fuels. This remains true even though environmental concerns have added to their costs. For the short term, these fuels are the easiest to produce. Nuclear fuel, though much less of it is needed, requires significant, costly refinement to bring the ores to useful purity. At the end of its productive life, a nuclear plant must be decommissioned, a costly process. We burn fossil fuels to get energy from them. This is called combustion. Technically, the products of combustion are carbon dioxide and water. But with most fuels combustion is incomplete. Ashes escape into the air or accumulate in the furnace, requiring disposal. In 2009, carbon dioxide is seen as a major factor in global warming. Spent fuel nuclear fuel rods, no longer able to make power, are still highly radioactive. They must be carefully stored for at least hundreds of years. Interstate shipments of radioactive wastes are controversial; no one wants the potential for nuclear accidents in their home state. Nuclear power has seen two major applications: large, stationary electric ower plants and propulsion for naval vessels. The heavy shielding around a reactor limits other uses. Nuclear aircraft engines and other applications have been explored, but the heaviness of the reactor and the chance of contamination from accidents keep these from serious consideration. Fossil fuels are used in things as small as lighters and big as power plants. In liquid form, they can be conveniently stored and distributed. Hazards such as t oxicity and flammability exist but don’t pose long-term problems the same as nuclear fuels do. Reserves entail many complex factors. Geologists can determine the extent of proven reserves, though these can be over- or understated for political reasons. New finds are reported frequently. Consumption, which determines how long reserves will, last, is variable, driven by economic conditions. At current rates of use, the world has enough coal for 200 years, oil for 40 years and natural gas for 60 years. Uranium reserves are good for 50 years, though technologies such as breeder reactors can, in theory, stretch that to more than 1,000. Currently, the United States and most of the world is locked into what could be called the fossil fuel economy. Our automobiles, trains and planes are fueled almost exclusively by petroleum products like gasoline and diesel. A huge percentage of our power plants use oil, natural gas and coal for their fuel. If the flow of fossil fuels to the United States were ever cut off, the economy would come to a halt. There would be no way to transport the products that factories produce. There would be no way for people to drive to work. The whole economy, and in fact the whole of western society, currently depends on fossil fuels. While fossil fuels have played an important role in getting society to the point it is at today, there are four big problems that fossil fuels create: Air pollution – When cars burn gasoline, they would ideally burn it perfectly and create nothing but carbon dioxide and water in their exhaust. Unfortunately, the internal combustion engine is not perfect. In the process of burning the gasoline, it also produces: * Carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas * Nitrogen oxides, the main source of urban smog * Unburned hydrocarbons, the main source of urban ozone Catalytic converters eliminate much of this pollution, but they aren’t perfect. Air pollution from cars and power plants is a real problem in big cities. It is bad enough now that, in the summer, many cities have dangerous levels of ozone in the air. Environmental pollution – The process of transporting and storing oil has a big impact on the environment whenever something goes wrong. An oil spill, pipeline explosion or well fire can create a huge mess. The Exxon Valdez spill is the best known example of the problem, but minor spills happen constantly. Global warming – When you burn a gallon of gas in your car, you emit about 5 pounds (2. 3 kg) of carbon into the atmosphere. If it were solid carbon, it would be extremely noticeable — it would be like throwing a 5-pound bag of sugar out the window of your car for every gallon of gas burned. But because the 5 pounds of carbon comes out as an invisible gas, carbon dioxide, most of us are oblivious to it. The carbon dioxide coming out of every car’s tailpipe is a greenhouse gas that is slowly raising the temperature of the planet. The ultimate effects are unknown, but it is a strong possibility that, eventually, there will be dramatic climate changes that affect everyone on the planet. For example, if the ice caps melt, sea level will rise significantly, flooding and destroying all coastal cities in existence today. That’s a big side effect. Dependence – The United States, and most other countries, cannot produce enough oil to meet demand, so they import it from oil-rich countries. That creates an economic dependence. When Middle East oil producers decide to raise the price of oil, the rest of the world has little choice but to pay the higher price. Stakeholders One of direct stakeholders in this case is The United States government, which monitors nuclear companies through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The NRC regulates reactors through inspection, licensing, and performance assessments. Since 1990s, nuclear build has been efficiently ruled out until the year 2006, following review if the energy policy overturned opposition of the government towards new nuclear. In order to facilitate new nuclear formation, the government has implemented various measures like streaming planning process, making sure that regulations are well equipped in order to pre-license designs regarding new created proposals (World nuclear Association, 2013). Exelon Corporation is one of the nation’s leading competitive providers of energy with almost $23. 5 billion revenue annually. The company participated in all stages of energy business that is from generation to the competitive sales of energy to transmission and finally to delivery. Exelon provides energy services and products to almost 100,000 public and business sector customers as well as almost one million of residential customers. The company’s employees are usually devoted to safety. In this case, they are highly skilled employees and simultaneously receive training in order to make their safe job practices safer. Every employee has 100% accountability (Exelon’s, website). Exelon’s commitment towards the environment is essential to their corporate strategy. Their objectives include capitalizing their environment leadership as well as providing safe, clean, affordable and reliable electricity that caters transition of the American to sustainable future energy. However, the company’s early dedication to responsible, low carbon energy venture has enabled it creating advantage to their stakeholders while limiting their impacts towards the environment (Exelon’s website). Because of the pluralistic society that the United States has, special interest groups can have a large negative impact on nuclear companies by protesting or picketing. Previous Solutions Different ways have been tried to let the public accept the fact that nuclear power resources are better off then fossil fuel resources. Driving electric cars will be one way when we can use renewable energy to charge the cars. United Arab Emirates: One way the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) was able to increase public support for its nuclear power was through a public outreach program. According to a poll conducted by the research consultancy firm TNS, the ENEC was able to increase public awareness of nuclear power by 13% over last year (Mustafa). The success of ENEC’s public awareness campaign can be seen through the increase of respondents in favor of UAE using nuclear power (Mustafa). The percent of people who supported nuclear power increased from 66% to 82% in one year. The respondents of the poll were so much in favor of nuclear power they are even willing let a plant be built where they live (Mustafa). The USA is the world’s largest producer of nuclear power, accounting for more than 30% of worldwide nuclear generation of electricity. * The country’s 104 nuclear reactors produced 821 billion kWh in 2011, over 19% of total electrical output. There are now 102 units operable and three under construction. * Following a 30-year period in which few new reactors were built, it is expected that 4-6 new units may come on line by 2020, the first of those resulting from 16 licence applications made since mid-2007 to build 24 new nuclear reactors. However, lower gas prices since 2009 have put the economic viability of some of these projects in doubt. * Government policy changes since the late 1990s have helped pave the way for significant growth in nuclear capacity. Government and industry are working closely on expedited approval for construction and new plant designs. Recommendations We advise using edification about nuclear power to transmit the pros of nuclear power and make it a further generally suitable energy and educate populace about it. Media (Discovery channel NAT GEO) is a great tool to give awareness about the benefits of nuclear power over fossil fuels and rebuild nuclear powers reputation. Nuclear is power is safer than other resources but it is seemingly as dangerous. Learning programs have raised knowledge about nuclear power and results in approval like in the United Arab Emirates. We also suggest having stakeholder seminar discussions and citizens’ panels like other developed nations. Stakeholders get empowered when they are involved in decision making. Conclusion We can conclude that replacing the petroleum fuel used in the entire fleet of U. S. vehicles with ethanol and biodiesel in the next four years, even in blended form would significantly, though temporarily reduce CO2 emissions. This change would replace the exponential growth rate of CO2emissions with a linear one which continues to be problematic because it is still consistently increasing. Furthermore, this drastic measure would not sufficiently reduce greenhouse gas emissions to permanently curb global warming. Thus, using alternative fuels for transportation ought to be supplemented with other significant changes. This does not even take nto account the economic, environmental and moral problems and questions which arise in the shift from the production and transportation of traditional petroleum fuels to biofuels. And, of course, this study has been limited to the United States, which contributes a small (though significant) percentage of greenhouse gas emissions. Clearly, ethanol and biodiesel are environmentally responsible alternatives to petroleum-based g asoline and diesel, and are a good transitional option in what needs to be global effort in slowing greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. How to cite Fossil Fuels, Papers Fossil Fuels Free Essays Fossil Fuels, which include coal, oil, and natural gas, are a non-renewable energy source that were formed from the decomposition of plants and animals that were deposited in the Earth around 300 million years ago. These fossil fuels, after being removed from the Earth, are converted into energy and this energy is essential to modern society (Chughtai Shannon, 1998). Over 85 percent of America’s energy demands are met by the combustion of fossil fuels, which means that America requires large amounts of oil, coal, and natural gas in order to generate the power that is needed to keep the country in operation. We will write a custom essay sample on Fossil Fuels or any similar topic only for you Order Now Fossil fuels are used to power homes, heat homes, provide transportation, and to power exploration (Chughtai Shannon, 1998). Without fuel there would be no energy and without energy the world would come to a virtual standstill. While fossil fuels have proven essential to the industrial revolution and the creation of society as we now know, fossil fuels pose a danger to the world, to the ecosystem, to animals, to plants, and to humans. The exploration and extraction of fossil fuels cause destruction to the natural environment and upsets ecosystems which can not only harm the natural beauty of the world, but can interrupt the food chain which is essential to life. The Impact of Exploration and Extraction The destructive power of fossil fuel exploration and extraction is a major concern for environmentalists and starts with how each fossil fuel is discovered and removed from the Earth. Because of the destructive nature of fossil fuel exploration and extraction environmental groups around the world are trying to show the negative impact of fossil fuels on the environment. Environmental groups are trying to block oil exploration in the Georges Bank, a vast underwater plateau that stretches from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia and has been among the world’s most fertile fishing grounds, because they show evidence that oil exploration could, â€Å"could disrupt the fragile ecological environment at Georges Bank at a time that authorities are trying to restock declining fish populations† (Klein, 2005). Exploration and extraction of fossil fuels from marine environments can cause untold damage to ecosystems and marine life that can completely change not only the underwater environment, but can also profoundly impact the lives of those who rely on the marine ecosystem to survive; including humans. According to different scientific studies, seismic blasting can damage reproductive organs, burst air bladders, and cause physiological stress in marine organisms. It can also cause behavioral modifications and reduce or eliminate available habitat, alter fish distribution by tens of kilometers, and damage planktonic eggs and larvae (Quijano, 2008). Klein reports, â€Å"some recent studies have indicated seismic testing impairs the hearing mechanisms of fish can kill fish eggs and larvae, and drive marine mammals — including rare whale species — from their feeding grounds (2005). The destruction of natural fish habitats has been shown to lower local fish populations and to interrupt the breeding and migration habitats of fish populations. Not only do local communities often rely on fish that are disrupted by underwater exploration and extraction of fossil fuels, but other marine animals and ecosystems can be affected by sudden and irreversible changes. Coal mining, often in heavily wooded and mountainous regions throughout the world, destroys habitat that is home to many animal species. In Canada, open-pit mining in the region of Jasper National Park has interfered with and destroyed the habitat for up to 5,000 song birds and the breeding grounds of the largest breeding population of Harlequin Ducks in Alberta (Barber ; Gelfand, 2005). In addition to the birds, the mine is thought to further threaten the already endangered grizzly bear population in the region. Additionally, coal mining, as well as other factors, is reported as a major threat to the critically endangered Sumantran Tiger in the Kerinci Seblat National Park in Sumatra. Mining operations in the area are destroying the remainder of the tiger’s natural habitat and is not only reducing where the tiger can live, but is also reducing food populations for the tiger and forcing more human interactions (Linkie, et al. , 2003). Oil exploration not only harms the natural environment, but it can be destructive to natural cultures and to indigenous people. Indigenous people are more in tune with nature and live with the land, and are less likely to exploit or destroy nature to suit their lifestyles; however, when they are displaced by oil companies, large portions of the natural environment fall to exploration and drilling. A report from Doctors Without Borders in 2002, showed, â€Å"oil development in the western Upper Nile region of Sudan has caused mass displacements of civilians, bombings and burning of civilian homes† (Babych, 2002). Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced or killed and their land was stripped in order to erect oil facilities. Oil exploration is also reported to be a major cause of displacement of the indigenous people of Columbia. A reported 28,000 or 10 percent of the population has been forced from their ancestral lands in order to allow outside nations, led by the United States, to explore for oil and coal in the regions (Lari ; Kurtzer, 2008). Oil exploration around the globe often occurs in regions where tribes of people have lived for hundreds of years and these people are now being unnaturally forced from the land. Clearly the exploration and extraction of fossil fuels is having a major environmental impact around the globe and is harming the natural environment, natural ecosystems, animal populations, and even human lives. The impact of fossil fuels goes beyond the concerns of global warming and the extraction of fossil fuels further threatens the Earth and the natural environment. What is Being Done Unfortunately, little is being done by government agencies in order to protect the natural environment or the indigenous people when it comes to exploration and extraction of fossil fuels. The government of the United States, and the governments of other industrialized nations, must continue to explore for new sources of fossil fuels in order to secure quantities for the future and often this means ignoring the global impact that fossil fuel exploration and extraction has on the environment. While the Government, led by the EPA, passes legislation to clean up the environmental impacts of consuming fossil fuels, little attention is paid to ending the harmful exploration and extraction issues. The majority of America’s fossil fuels are obtained from other nations and the U.  S. government relies on these nations to study and lessen the impact of fossil fuel exploration and extraction. In order to correct the harm that is being done, more attention and more resources must be put into lessening or eliminating the environmental impact of extracting fossil fuels from the Earth. The Sierra Club states, â€Å"Extraction of these fuels, such as drilling for oil or mining coal, often destroys forests, mountains, coastlines, and other natural areas. When crude oil is transported by sea to refineries, leaks and spills can destroy marine life for huge areas† (2008). Many environmental groups and human rights organizations are working to protect the environment from fossil fuel exploration and extraction, but an international policy must be enacted in order to address the issue on a global scale. An international policy must be written and adhered to by all nations if the world is to be protected from these harms. While global warming, oil spills, mine disasters, and other issues receive worldwide media attention, the impact of fossil fuel exploration and extraction receives little, if any, media coverage. The media covers only the stories that involve the impact of burning fossil fuels and ignore any stories that show the impact on the environment of extraction. More advocacy is needed and governmental controls are required to reduce the global environmental impact from the exploration and extraction of fossil fuels. Environmental groups and human rights organizations must continue the fight in order to gain an international policy and gain the required public support and media attention. While the impact of the use of fossil fuels is well-know, the public must be informed on the impact of finding and removing the fuel from the Earth. Bibliography http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/08/05/exploration_on_georges_bank_okd/ How to cite Fossil Fuels, Essay examples