Josiah Henry Eng 101 Danny Mayer 8/26/09 Josiah…What a waste of energy. My father, due to my hyperactivity, always used to say to me “Josiah…. what a waste of energy”. A funny story but how true that is today in an American society that wastes so much on a earth that so little left to give. It also would appear to me that the only time that we really seem concerned about the energy issue is when it hits our wallets in such a way that we tend to be forced to look at the issue.
Please allow me to introduce some statistics that have been caught up in my mind that I received from Energy Information Administration, official energy statistics provider of US government. China consumes five point six million barrels of oil daily while Japan only consumes five point five million barrels daily. America on the other hand consumes twenty million barrels daily. Also did you know that America imports 54% of its oil? These numbers are so staggering to me. I can not even conceive to think about the way the earth is being treated as such that we should take advantage of it.
Driving our cars all over the place has been drastically apart of Kentucky society. It is what we, as Americans, have been doing for centuries now. I looked for statistics about oil in Kentucky and found a report given by the National research council on coal. I soon found out that Coal provides 90% of Kentucky’s energy as well as 20% of the country as a whole energy. It also went on to talk about the pollution of the enevirontment and how coal constitutes 43% of all damage to plants.
Along with the online report a debate had ensued between one person wanting to use re-usable energy and one wanting to continue on the path we are currently on as well as maybe developing nuclear energy. It was a heated discussion and the argument seemed to rage on and on. The argument for Trueblue was that even if we covered the whole earth in solar panels it would not make a dent in the energy consumption of the world. Trueblue went on to say that nuclear and coal are the way to go. Proud2Balefty pronounced that we should seek and find a renewable energy
My question would have to be what happens after all the natural resources have run out and the earth has nothing left to give. Eventually the earth will run out of natural resources and then what will be the solution. And with the nuclear solution what will we do with all the waste. I know that France’s main source for power and energy comes from nuclear according to an IFA press release. France is also the leading explorer in finding new ways to make renewable energy and use them in every day life.
They also promote this in their government by offering tax returns for houses that use energy efficient ways to conserve. It seems America in general is a little bit behind on the times. I wonder what America will do next in helping our own predicament. Shall we use space exploration and go to another planet to consume all of its resources. I would propose that we find a different resource in which we can be able to renew and make ourselves. I also feel until then we should slow down on our consumption.
We must find ways to save energy as well as new ways to make energy. New developments are being made on already reusable energy that we have such as solar panels. In California a new solar panel system is being researched at this time. Solar energy according to (The Webster’s Dictionary) is “Solar energy is the energy received by the earth from the sun. This energy is in the form of solar radiation, which makes the production of solar electricity possible: utilizing the sun’s rays especially to produce heat or electricity. The new form of solar energy is similar to paint. In good time a lot of houses in California will be able to coat the siding as well as possibly the roof in order to be able to produce energy for a house. Also wind energy is currently under development. Wind energy is using turbines on a stick stuck up on a hill in order to catch the wind and use it so that they may produce that energy to things like electricity. They are currently working on new ways to get more out of the rotation of the turbine.
Also according to the American Wind Energy Association the stock in wind power is continuing to go up. I do believe investors are beginning to see the importance of investing in future energy possibilities. I saw a bumper sticker while I was riding through Lexington which stated “renewable energy is homeland security”. How true that is if we were to find a profitable energy source. Our stock market would increase our country would be pulled out of debt (eventually). We would have so many opportunities to change the world.
Until then I do feel as if we should slow down in general with our energy consumption. I currently live with my older brother and his wife. We are very conscious about our consumption of energy. We do not use a dryer and tend to use drying racks for drying our wet soggy clothes. Granted, it takes a lot longer for them to dry by not using a dryer but we still manage ok. In the summer time we tend to not use energy by turning our air conditioning up a great deal and instead open the windows and use fans to circulate the air.
While during the winter time we tend to just layer up our clothes and covers and turn the heat down. The house we live in of course is an older house and does not have insulation in between the walls. So it would really be a waste to use such energy to heat up the house because for this reason. I believe that there is all sorts of ways we can save energy and stop the consumption of energy that outweighs and out consumes any other country by four times. There is hope for a better tomorrow, with in our own hearts.
