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Sustainable development importance
The importance of sustainable development
Sustainable development importance
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Traditional and alternative energy source development should, essentially, be government supported and policy governed. Actions prove to us that government aid in the development of alternative energy sources greatly benefits the economy, providing more job opportunities to citizens; as a result, this leads to a sustainable environment, improves standard of living, and provides education to citizens on human impact on the environment. These changes provide countries with the foundation towards sustainability, by investing in alternative energy sources such as, wind energy, geothermal energy as a method to reduce the depletion of non-renewable energy sources such as oil and coal, thus has resulted in positive outcomes. These outcomes consists of reducing greenhouse emissions and pollution, reducing the financial burden of excessive expenditure by the government on exportation and production of energy resources, reducing the social burden of sustaining energy sources for the well-being of the future and the present generation, reducing the rate of unemployment through the creation of jobs, and reducing the rapid depletion of non-renewable resources. This paper aims to explain these outcomes more in-depth and to provide a few examples of successful government supported development of traditional and alternative energy sources.
There is one principle essential to understanding the reason for government aid in the development of traditional and alternative energy sources. This is the principle of sustainable development, which can be simply explained as a means that the current generation should only consume what they need to meet their needs, and to meet the needs and provisions required for the future generation. Many individu...
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...rbine farms saw an increase of 20% in electricity demand to be generated from these farms, and the total electricity produced from alternative energy sources was just 27% (Landgreven, 2009). In Norway, the government development of hydropower energy sources saw a 99% increase in the use of renewable energy resources, yet consequently, in the recent years saw that the total electricity produced was below 24% (Gonzalez et al., 2011, p.9). Of course, as renewable energy demand increases, the principle of sustainable development and the three essential elements sustainable economy, environment, and society make government support in development of traditional and alternative energy sources increasingly more efficient and accessible and more sustainable for the current and future generations.
The development of traditional and alternative energy resources
Alternative energy sources are renewable, and is most commonly referred to as free energy sources. There are many alternative energy sources such as hydro power, solar power, wind, biomass, and geothermal. Using alternative sources is more expensive in the long run, but it is the much safer option for our environment compared to fossil fuels. Although everything used is completely free, such as water and wind, the equipment used to generate these things are expensive. There are several pros and cons that come with the utilization of alternative energy sources.
In chapter thirteen of our book, Environment by Raven and Berg, it shows us just how important renewable energy sources are. Currently the United States of America thrives on the use of fossil fuels and nuclear power. The main problems with these types of fuel are that they are both limited and can be extremely harmful to our environment. They cause global warming, air pollution, acid rain, and oil spills (Environment), and not only that, but in the grand scheme of things, these sources really aren’t even that cheap of a fuel source. There are many alternatives to these all but outdated fuel sources.
The United States currently relies heavily on coal, oil, and natural gas for its energy. While the price of natural gas per barrel continues to plummet, the United States is constantly seeking new sources of renewable energy. Renewable energy consists of any type of natural resource (solar power, ocean power, wind power, rain, snow, etc.) that naturally and automatically replenishes itself. Renewable energy is important because it is infinite and everlasting, meaning our children and our children’s children will be able to utilize these resources long after we are gone. I believe the only way the United States and the world will see a large-scale transition to renewable energy sources is through education. Right now, it seems as though only a few pockets of people throughout the world are aware of the positive benefits of renewable energy sources. Not only is it better and cleaner for our environment, but the industry of renewable energy could also
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, over half of the oil used in the USA is imported. Most of this imported oil is located in the middle east and is controlled by OPEC members. Subsequent oil price shocks and price manipulation by OPEC have cost our economy dearly—about $1.9 trillion from 2004 to 2008—and each major shock was followed by a recession (Reduce). We may never be able to fully eliminate our need to import oil, but we can reduce cartel market control and the economic impact of price shocks by reducing our demand (Reduce). One way we can reduce our reliance on oil is through investing in renewable energy. Solar power, wind power, and hydro power are all forms of energy which come from renewable resources. Unlike oil, solar, wind and hydro electric power is abundant and can be obtained locally.
Energy is the basic necessity of daily life. Nowadays, dependence on fossil fuels for energy needs becoming lower in numerous countries due to the potential of renewable energy to supply sustainable energy to the huge populations in many developing countries who are short of clean and continues energy. Generally, renewable energy can be defined as energy that is derived from natural resources which are constantly replenished and theoretically inexhaustible. Fossil fuels on the other hand can be described as energy that cannot be renewed and will eventually diminish. Thus, in many developing countries renewable energy is the alternative energy to replace non-renewable energy or commonly known as fossil fuels. In addition, according to Sorensen (2004), there is a greater demand for renewable energy sources nowadays due to the uncertainty of fuel price rise in living expenses. Commonly, there are many types of renewable energy available in our world such as wind power, biomass energy, solar energy, hydroelectric power and geothermal energy. However, the main three example of renewable energy are hydroelectric power, solar and biomass energy (Refer to Figure 1 in Appendix 1).
Our country is currently suffering energy-wise, we have been powering with inefficient sources for years now and the harm that it is doing to the country has started to become apparent. Renewable energy is the only way to stop, or at the very least set back the inevitable downfall of our ecosystem. I think that the next big breakthrough for renewable energy is implementing off-grid communities that use renewable sources as their main sources of power, so that we can potentially escape the energy rut that we got ourselves stuck in.
Sustainable Energy development. Sustainable energy is another solution to the problem of diminishing resources. Sustainable energy is energy that is produced from a sources that is natural process like solar, wind and geothermal. Also energy produced from a source that is easily,cleanly produced and replenish-able such as bio-energy and hydrogen fuel cells. For these technologies to have a big enough effect, there must be a massive shift to their adoption. While there are those who would rightly point out the cost associated with this, the alternative is more
...based energy system at the expenses of energy resources. The complex geopolitics required Indonesia maintaining a relative stable international relationships with its allies by long-term energy supply. Through multilateral cooperation, Indonesia can easily upgrading its energy industry by setting up hydro plants and thermal plants instead of its coal plants. Importing equipment and hiring skillful experts from advanced country contributes to Indonesia auto research and management innovation in energy sector. An improvement in energy producing efficiency can great alleviate energy poverty and cut carbon dioxide emissions and to some extent better management in energy consumption.
Now days, the world is intended to be in a worst scenario ever imagined. Climates, global warming and furthermore problems. However, I have noticed new changes, universally speaking, yet renewable energy has also been popularized to our world and I addition, it became part of Sustainable Architecture. “Sustainable Architecture describes the fact that we can only exist and create with the availability of natural resources. Those resources are the foundation of our world. Sustainable architecture proclaims this fact to the world… And that is probably the most appropriate understanding of the term.”(Brooks, 92) That’s why these resources exist within our environment but only few of the people anticipated a good use for them just t increase likelihood the worlds energy efficiency and also the natural environment. Speculating Asia’s growth both in wealth and population, it has been a great risk for them consequently they had been temporizing endeavoring new ways of preventing massive energy consumptions and wastes from resources. “How can we protect our natural resource base while sustaining our socio economic gains? My answer in two words: systems and self.”(Ms. Galang, 1)
According to the International Institute for Sustainable Development, sustainable development is defined as development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. If we follow this definition, it becomes easy to see that the vast majority of the “developed” world has not, and is not developing sustainably. The idea of sustainable development requires us to consider how our action of developing will affect other countries, and future generations. Many people believe in “the butterfly effect”, where the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in one part of t...
The Earth captures around 342 W/m2 of energy from the sun. This energy is in the form of solar radiation, which the atmosphere reflects about 77 W/m2 and will absorb around 68 W/m2 of solar radiation annually. Therefore, the Earth’s surface is receiving, on average, about 197 W/m2 of solar radiation annually. This amount of energy received is roughly more than 10,000 times the amount of all energy humans consume per year. This energy can be used to produce electricity or heat. This energy source is not being used to it’s potential considering how much effort would come into effect to store and transport this energy.
So in other words, is renewable energy an affordable and successful option for South Africa. Per year South Africa uses 1.3 % of the world’s total energy. South Africa’s main energy comes from coal, but one quarter of the coal we mine is exported to other countries. In 2009 71.1% of the total energy sources in South Africa were coal and hydroelectric energy had 0,1%. The one major reason hydroelectric energy in South Africa is so low is because this country is a water scarce one, which means that the hydroelectric power stations don’t have enough water to produce electricity efficiently.
‘Development that meets the needs of the present with the ability for the future generation to meet their own needs.’ (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987) Sustainable development requires three key components: economy, society and environment, sustainable development can be success through striking balance in those factors. These three components are indispensible, they compel to depend on each other. On the other words, we can only gain a decent and energetic environment and society if the economy is strong with a healthy a stable growth rate.
With the depletion of fossil fuel resources comes speculations and debates about alternative energy sources. The world, including the Philippines, is practically dependent on a dwindling non-renewable source of energy. Today, experts are debating about and considering three options: Nuclear, Solar, or Wind Energy. Everyone has been accustomed to the bad image of nuclear energy as a result of the Chernobyl and Fukushima incidents above all others. The popular belief is that radiation from a nuclear meltdown is very harmful to humans and other living things—which is true—and that nuclear power plants are very dangerous and not ideal—which is not. According to Smith, et. al (n.d), all the nuclear disasters that ever occurred were caused by human error and natural disasters like tsunamis, not one because of system failure. Putting the false beliefs aside, with proper engineering and adequate maintenance by experts, a nuclear power plant is a very ideal and viable source of energy for the following reasons:
In addition to, a huge issue with non-renewable energy is the fact that we get most of it from foreign countries. According to a recent study done by Energy Information Administration, “58% of our petroleum comes from outside the country”, this means as some speculate, that o...