Reuben Brown
Mr. Wright
Government
5/5/2019
Renewable energy and wildlife conservation
It is clear to see that the burning of coal, fossil fuels, and natural gas has become a major problem in recent decades. If left unchecked these problems could affect not only the United States of America but the rest of the world as well. There are many problems posed by the burning of such materials, such as loss of habitat and an overall increase in greenhouse gasses, soil erosion and flooding are another negative effect that these practices have on the planet. It is absolutely imperative that the United States and the rest of the world as well take more initiative into protecting the planet so that the next generations will be able to life the same comfortable life as we are today.
There are many benefits wildlife conservation, such as a decrease in deforestation, which would in turn cause less soil erosion and flooding. Also with less Deforestation there would be less greenhouse gasses entering the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases are one of the leading factors in global warming, decreasing the amount of these gases in the atmosphere would play a major role in putting an end to climate change. Slowing down deforestation will also help to decrease soil erosion and flooding.
In order to fully understand how to best protect eh environment we must first know what is causing it to be destroyed. Some of the causes of the destruction of wildlife are pollution, over exploitation and use of natural resources, unregulated hunting and poaching, and global warming and or climate change. The burning of natural resources such as coal cause the Earth to get warmer over time, not only that but coal is a very limited resource which means we are going to run out of it some day. Coal can take a very long time to form in the earth, so when the day comes that we do run out it might be a very long time until we see it again. Pollution in general, such as air pollution has been estimated to have killed 4.2 million people prematurely.
There are multiple ways to start aiding in wildlife conservation. One of those ways is to put more thought into renewable energy. Energy sources such as wind power, hydroelectric power, and solar power are three of the more common and most known of the renewable energy sources. The reason that it is so important to place more thought into renewable energy sources in the future is because they emit less pollution than burning coal or other natural gasses. Not only do these renewable resources not emit nearly as much pollution but we as a planet will also will never run out of these sources of energy, coal, fossil fuels, and natural gasses will eventually run dry to the point that we can’t use them any more.
Solar panels and solar energy in general produce clean energy, which means that they do not produce greenhouse gasses that would be present when burning coal or other fossil fuels and natural gasses. Considering the fact that solar energy and renewable energy in general do not produce pollution on the level of coal and other non renewable energies, switching to renewable energy would drastically decrease the level of both air and water throughout the entire planet. Not only would solar power decrease levels of pollution in the environment, but it would also help people save money, the average cost of energy expenditure per person is around $3,000, installing solar panels would help to cut that price down rather quickly.
Solar power is not the only source of energy that would be beneficial to the environment. Wind power is yet another very viable source of energy. Wind turbines do not emit anything that could pollute the air or water, nor the they require water for cooling. Not only do these turbines require no water, they also produce less electricity from fossil fuels, which means that they have a lower total air pollution and have absolutely zero carbon dioxide emissions.
Using hydroelectric sources of energy has more benefits to the environment than just a source of energy, they can also be used for flood control and irrigation systems. Considering the fact that hydroelectric sources of energy use only water, they produce completely clean energy, which means that they do not produce air or water pollution like burning coal or fossil fuels. Hydroelectric plants can produce power to the grid immediately, which means that they can provide essential backup power during major electricity outages.
Nuclear energy produces almost no impact on the environment including air, water, and wildlife. Not only that but it also produces no greenhouse gasses or other harmful emissions into the atmosphere. There is also the fact that nuclear energy requires less land area in total but still produces the same if not more energy than other renewable energy sources. However these benefits come at a cost, nuclear energy can be very expensive to produce and can also be quite dangerous. With nuclear energy there is also the looming possibility of a nuclear meltdown, which in the worst case could be catastrophic, Chernobyl is an example of nuclear energy gone wrong.
Not only does using renewable energy help to save the environment it also can help to bolster the economy. Increasing the usage of renewable energy would also supply more jobs to the American economy. As of 2016, around 260,000 Americans were employed in the solar power industry alone. The wind industry has well over 100,000 jobs and that’s just in America. Across the world there are about 10 million people working in the renewable energy industry, with about three million working in solar power, and 1.5 million working in hydro power. With the United states and the rest of the world as well.
\overall, renewable energy is not only helpful to the environment by helping to reduce pollution that would normally occur when burning coal fossil fuels and natural gasses, but it also helps to improve the economy of not just the United States of America but the entire world as well. It is estimated that by the year 2020, there will be far more that 500,000 jobs in the renewable energy industry in the United States alone.
“Benefits of Hydropower.” Energy.gov, www.energy.gov/eere/water/benefits-hydropower.
“Is Nuclear Power Safe for Humans and the Environment?” Can Alternative Energy Effectively Replace Fossil Fuels?, alternativeenergy.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001270.
“Local Renewable Energy Benefits and Resources.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 19 Apr. 2019, www.epa.gov/statelocalenergy/local-renewable-energy-benefits-and-resources.
“Renewable Energy Has More Economic Benefits Than You Know.” CleanTechnica, 10 Mar. 2018, cleantechnica.com/2018/03/10/renewable-energy-economic-benefits-know/.
“Top Four Benefits of Installing Solar Panels on Your Home.” U.S. Green Building Council, http://www.usgbc.org/articles/top-four-benefits-installing-solar-panels-your-home.
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