2.0 Energy in the 21st Century
2.1 Rising energy needs of the world
Energy is an indispensable part of our everyday lives. All around us, energy is needed to perform daily tasks. Cooking, commuting, working and recreation all involve some forms of direct or indirect consumption of energy. As the world progresses, our energy consumption levels have increased tremendously and this can be attributed primarily to the exponential increase in the world’s global population and the increasing dependence we have on technology today.
The world has experienced an era of rapid progress and developments over the last century. There have been numerous breakthroughs and discoveries in sectors like technology, medicine and agriculture. These factors have
…show more content…
Renewable energy is known to be a ‘cleaner’ form of energy as consumption of this kind of energy will not produce carbon based emission gases that contribute to global warming. Moreover, renewable energy sources are abundant in supply as they are self replenishing. However, there are still limitations associated with its use.
The first being its cost. Renewable energy plants need to be substantially large, much larger than a fossil fuel plant, in size in order to supply the needed amount of energy9. As such, a large capital amount is needed to set up a renewable energy plant. Besides this, the maintenance cost of such a plant can be quite expensive as well. As such, it would be more economically viable to stick to producing energy from fossil fuels.
The second limitation is the reliability of supply of renewable energy. Renewable energy supply is dependent on nature. Taking the example of a solar energy plant that is dependent on sunlight for production of energy. During rainy seasons or winter when the day is shorter, solar energy production may be limited. As our energy needs does not change, we cannot afford to be at the mercy of Mother Nature when it comes to the production of
“Every once in a while, a new technology, an old problem, and a big idea turn into innovation” this quote by Dean Kamen explains that when there is a problem we create new technology to solve this problem, and when we create new technology we have innovation. This was like the 1920’s as problem turned into innovation. The 1920’s was a time of advancement from new inventions used in and outside the home, to technology that changed everyday life which impacted the decades to come. The 1920’s was a decade of numerous advancements “that shaped the future and impacted decades to come” (Alchin).
1.1 Background of the Research Technology has always develop for a long time. Until today, it is still develops at a stunning pace. As a matter of fact, technology has touched every aspect of life; from the way we move by using a horse changed into automobile, from walking on the land to flying in the air and reach farther distance. The products we are using in our daily life also produced by the technology. Under those circumstances, including the economy, politics, and also society, are affected by technology.
Our technology and the way people have lived their lives have advanced for the duration of many generations, because of the Industrial Revolution in England. Although people may have perceived that the Industrial Revolution incorporated many negative consequences for the society because of long-term injuries and illnesses, it was actually a positive step for the society. The Industrialization’s positive effects were increased productivity of industries, better financial opportunities, and population growth. Finally, these positive effects is what has led the advances of what the people of this generation have currently.
What are some advances in science, medicine, or technology that are part of the setting? What are the benefits and the disadvantages of these technological advances? The main advancement of science, medicine, and technology is the process of being unwound. A benefit of this process is the fact that someone could get say a heart transplant or a lung transplant whenever they needed it.
Technology Convergence The term “Technology Convergence” refers to the evolution of technology. It is the transition where new and old media collide. It is a process where technological devices share or borrows features of other products to acquire multi functionality. Past technologies were only designed to handle minority tasks.
1. Thesis Title Nuclear energy: it's efficiency sufficient to justify danger? 2. Thesis Description Thesis statement: Although nuclear energy has been proposed as a solution for our energy requirements it is not reliable because of issues regarding safety, nuclear waste storage. It is possible in a medium-long period of time to replace it with renewable energies.
Scientists have found that renewable energy is a path towards the future for a clean and safe environment. Throughout all the studies and findings, there is a continuing fret whether people should be able to use a traditional way of energy or renewable energy, solar power. Solar energy is seen to be effective since there has progressively been more places that are benefiting from solar usage; however there are also some who disagree. Solar energy sources are derived from natural sources and is implicated throughout our daily lives. From the lights in the streets to the computers we use at home.
For many years now, it has been debated which of the new and upcoming renewable and sustainable energy sources if the best to use. Energy create from wind, is a very favourable contented in this debate as it is a very good alternative energy source. Wind energy is used all around the world. Humanity has been using wind energy for over 100 years. For example, we used to (some still do) use the wind energy to grind grain in old fashioned wind mills..
Non- fossil fuel energy has a lot of trouble producing the amount that fossil fuels can produce. This means we need to cut down on the amount of energy we use or just build a lot more production facilities. Another downside is that renewable energy relies on weather 90 percent of the time. If there isn 't rain to fill the dam the Hydro generators can 't run. If there isn 't wind for the wind turbines it wont go.
I. Introduction a. Now let me tell you one thing, are you satisfied with how our world is. If we were to stop all research and development of new technologies, would that sit well with you? I am not ok with this because I for see a vast and great future for our nation and this future is set to begin in the stars. Our nation the United States needs to boost its efforts in the exploration of outer space and as well as be the front runner in this pursuit for new knowledge. b.
Instead of burning fossil fuels that will be depleted within short generation, alternative energies such as the wind turbine or solar panels needs to be implemented to sustain and care for the resources that remain. The concept of reducing our Carbon footprint in the world is the more modern way of looking at sustainable living, in which the World realises humans have not used resources wisely. By looking at the changes over the past centuries, an International network of scientists have unanimously concluded that human society is altering natural functions in three fundamental ways. And consequently, they were able to define four basic conditions that must be met if we want to maintain the environmental services that sustain human society.
2.1 INTRODUCTION Non-Renewable Resources are resources that have the potential to be used up due to consumption or overuse, they have production, development or replenishment rate that cannot match up with the depletion rate. In short these are resources that can be finished, output exceeds input, and they are infinite. Non-Renewable resources vary from non-renewable fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and oil, non-renewable alternative energy sources like nuclear energy and deep-earth geo-thermal energy, soil, and minerals (Botkin & Keller, 2012). These non-renewable resources range from a few years, up to thousands of years to replenish. The local as well as global challenge, is that most non-renewable resources are directly exploited by humans and their existence is widely threatened were usage
Benefits of new technology Technology has grown rapidly in the last few decades and has contributed into many aspects in human life. Technology is a broad concept that has come to refer to breakthroughs in science that enables a better solution or automatic. With technology, there are many benefits that can be achieved by people. Day by day, technology made human live become easier and improved. Recent developments in technology can be seen and felt in many industries, but there are some areas that have benefited more than others.
Nowadays, people observe a huge development in modern technology, where one half of the world’s