Faculty of Education and Liberal
Studies
Module:
Academic Writing 11
Module Code:
COM2014
Lecturer:
Students:
Delroy Garrison
Id#:
Date:
April 10, 2017
Topic: Alternate sources of energy cannot effectively replace the use of
fossil fuel
Narrow topic: Alternate sources of energy cannot effectively replace
fossil fuel as Jamaica’s primary source of energy.
Audience: Jamaica’s energy consumers that are considering the prospects of using alternative sources of energy and are optimistic that its implementation will reduce the cost of energy and the environmental impact of producing this energy.
Audience: Jamaica’s energy consumers that are considering the prospects of using alternative sources of energy and are optimistic that its implementation will reduce the cost of energy and the environmental impact of producing this energy.
Purpose: To convince Jamaicans and energy consumers in general that their
optimism towards the use of alternative sources of energy will solve neither
their financial problems nor the world’s environmental problem.
Thesis statement: Despite the need for more environmentally friendly and
cost effective sources of energy, a lot of people fail to believe that alternate
energy sources can effectively replace fossil fuel as Jamaica’s primary source
of energy because alternative sources of energy are erratic and the transition to alternative sources of energy may incur an innitialvery high cost.
Claims
I.
The
implementation of alternate sources of energy is hindered by its technicality
and unreliability/intermittency which are not factors which affects fossil fuel.
A.
Our
government neither has competent technical staff nor capacity to address the
national energy sector issues concerning implementation of alternate energy on
a comprehensive basis. (Luton, 2014).
B.
Essentially,
alternate sources of energy are unreliable due to its inability to produce
energy at a constant rate. (The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2010).
C.
Intermittency is a characteristic of
alternate energy sources which requires a large amount of additional
infrastructure in order to counter the large fluctuations in energy output.
(Schalk, 2013)
II.
The implementation of alternative sources of
energy will prove very expensive, especially as it concerns the energy and
transportation sectors.
A.
Alternate
sources of energy generally requires capital intensive installation costs and their
sometimes higher-than-desirable operational costs. (Twidell & Wier, 2013).
B.
An increase in the use
of alternate energy sources would result in higher electricity prices. (Luton,
2014).
C.
The
automotive industry would pose the greatest financial challenge as almost
everyone has a vehicle that is powered by gasoline or diesel which are
by-products of fossil fuel. (Ayers, 2011)
Counter Claim
III.
There
are those who argue that alternate sources of energy can and should replace the
use of fossil fuel as it provides substantial benefits in terms of environment and lowering the import bill.
A.
Alternate sources of energy are not
hazardous to the environment since they produce nearly no pollution. (Shahzad, 2015).
B.
The
implementation of alternate energy will reduce dependence on imported fuels which
will overtime spur economic development. (Twidell & Wier, 2013).
Refutation
IV.
Although alternative sources of energy produces little
pollution and reduces the importation of fossil fuels, its implementation will negatively
impact the physical environment and cause sluggish economic growth.
A.
Many of the alternative energy systems destroys animal
habitats and release pollutants or toxins into the environment. (The Royal
Society of Chemistry, 2010).
B.
“The need for rapid economic growth makes it unlikely that
the world will give up on readily available fossil fuel. Currently, fossil
fuels provide 81% of the world’s commercial energy supply” (Lackne, 2015, p.8).
References
Ayers,
J. (2011) “Sustainability” Limitations of 'Non-Renewable' Energy
Sources. (1st ed.). USA: Chapter
7, retrieved February, 20, 2017 from: www.sage.org/journals
Caribbean Council for
Science and Technology. (1999). Renewable
energy in the Caribbean , where we
are; where we should be. CCST99 report. Pdf version retrieved February, 20, 2017 from: www.sage.org/journals
David, L. (2012). Energy sources pros and cons. Online
article, accessed February 18, 2017 from;
www.readinga-z.com
Helen, C. (2009). 'Can alternative energy effectively replace
fossil fuels?’ MBBS Greenpeace International:
online articles accessed February, 20, 22017 from: www.ProCon.org.
February, 20, 2017 from: https://www.journals.elsevier.org/renewable.
Haymes,
A. & Byrnes, G. (2011). “Sustainability Limitations of 'Renewable' Energy. Pdf version retrieved
February, 18, 2017 from: www.sage.org/journals
Lackne, K. (2015). Comparative
Impacts of Fossil Fuels and Alternative Energy Sources., Published
by the Royal Society of Chemistry, page 8, Pdf version, retrieved February, 20, 2017 from: www.rsc.org
Lenzen, M. 2008. "Life cycle energy and greenhouse gas
emissions of renewable energy: a review."
Energy Conversion and Management. Pdf version, retrieved February, 18, 2017 from:www.sage.org/journals.
Luton. D, (2014). JPS Cautions That Alternative Energy Drive
May Push Electricity Prices, online
news article retrieved February, 20, 22017 from: www. The gleaner.com/archives/alternative
energy/
Royal Society of
Chemistry. (2010). Comparative Impacts of Fossil
Fuels and Alternative Energy Sources. Issues in
Environmental Science and Technology. USA: Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, Pdf version,
retrieved February, 20, 2017 from: www.rsc.org
Schalk, C. (2013). “The Fundamental Limitations of Renewable Energy”. Online article: accessed
February
18, 2017 from; www. The usmessageboard.com/energy
Smith, L. (2012). Electrical sciences. (1st ed.). EBook accessed February 18,
2017 from; www.googlebooks.com
Shahzad. U. (2015). “The Need for Renewable Energy Sources” Pakistan:
International Journal of
Information Technology and Electrical Engineering. Department of Electrical Engineering, Riphah International University,
Faisalabad. Pdf version, retrieved February,
20, 2017 from: www.sage.org/journals
Timmons. D., Harris. J.
& Roach. B, (2014) “The Economics of Renewable Energy”. USA: Tufts University
Global Development And Environment Institute, Pdf journal, retrieved February, 20, 2017 from: http://ase.tufts.edu/gdae.
Turkenburg. W. (2008).
“Renewable Energy” The Netherlands: Utrecht
University, Pdf journal; accessed February 18, 2017
from; www.iiasa.ac.at/web/home/research
Twidell. J. & Wier. T. (2011). “Renewable energy resources” (3rd
ed.). England: CRC Taylor & Francis.
EBook accessed February 18, 2017 from; googlebooks.com
Essay
Introduction
Does your
idea of forward thinking and environmental protection include; wind farms that
chops birds from the sky… or solar parks that murders trees… or even dams that
destroy the salmon population by cutting off their route to breeding ground
upstream?... I did not think so.
Today, fossil fuels are by far the dominant energy source in industrial
economies, and the main source of energy production growth in developing
economies. However, the twenty-first century has seen focus being directed away
from conventional sources of energy which are fossil fuels towards renewable/alternate
energy sources such as solar, wind, hydro and geothermal energy. This is motivated by many factors including;
concerns about environmental impacts, limits on fossil fuel supplies and
prices. Irrespective of the need for more environmentally friendly and cost
effective sources of energy, alternate energy sources cannot effectively
replace fossil fuel as Jamaica’s primary source of energy because alternative
sources of energy are erratic and the transition to alternative sources of
energy will be very expensive.
1st body
paragraph
The implementation of alternate sources
of energy is hindered by its technicality, unreliability or intermittency which
are not factors which affects fossil fuel. While the technology already exists to
implement alternative energy, the technicality of these system makes wide scale
utilization difficult and unattractive.
In addition, Luton (2014) posits that the government neither has competent
technical staff nor capacity to address the national energy sector issues
concerning implementation of alternate energy on a comprehensive basis. By
their nature, alternative energy cannot be conjured up in each moment that we
need energy; some days the wind does not blow, the sun does not shine and
Hydropower may be unavailable during drought periods. Essentially alternate
sources of energy are unreliable due to their inability to produce energy at a
constant rate. (The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2010). The reason
that fossil fuels are so widely used is that they have large amounts of
conveniently concentrated energy, readily available to perform work while
alternate sources are considered intermittent.
Intermittency is a characteristic of alternate energy sources which
requires a large amount of additional infrastructure in order to counter the
large fluctuations in energy output. (Schalk, 2013). For example, a gallon of
gasoline contains about 37 kWh (kilowatt hours) of potential energy while A
typical 3’ x 6’ solar panel can generate about 0.2 kWh in one hour of bright
sunshine (Haymes and Byrnes, 2011). The sun would need to shine on such a panel
for 185 hours (about a month, assuming six hours of bright sun per day) to
provide the same energy as a gallon of gasoline.
2nd body paragraph
The implementation
of alternative sources of energy will prove very expensive, especially as it
concerns the energy and transportation sectors. The issue of costs is central to
the question of whether or not alternative energy sources can replace fossil
fuels. As stated by Twidell
& Wier, (2013) Alternate sources of energy generally requires capital
intensive installation costs and their sometimes higher-than-desirable
operational costs. Additionally, it is not true to say that electricity prices
will reduce with the implementation of alternate sources of energy. In fact, while
countries such as Germany have decided to rely primarily on solar power, mainly
for environmental reasons, that decision has pushed up the price of electricity
for Germans due to the cost of solar generation and storage equipment. In
essence, at some point, adding too much alternative energy becomes expensive, proving true Luton (2014) point that; Increased use of
alternate energy sources would also result in higher electricity prices. With higher energy
costs, buildings, manufacturing and transportation networks would have to be
redesigned to use less energy. The
automotive industry would pose the greatest financial challenge as almost
everyone has a vehicle that is powered by gasoline or diesel which are by-products
of fossil fuel (Ayers, 2011). Transition to
alternate energy can only be accomplished by replacing existing infrastructure to
accommodate these new energy sources and this will incur a very high
implementation costs which will translate to higher cost of alternative energy.
Counterclaim
There are those who argue that alternate sources of energy
can and should replace the use of fossil fuel as it provides substantial
benefits in terms of environment and lowering Jamaica’s import bill. As is
known by all; alternative energy helps in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions,
reducing Jamaica’s carbon footprint, and compliance with international
conventions on environment protection. Additionally, Shahzad (2015) in his article
“The Need for Renewable Energy Sources” alluded to the fact
that alternate sources of energy are not hazardous to the environment since they
produce nearly no pollution. Over the period of 2008- 2016 Jamaica spent
approximately 12 billion US dollars on oil imports. Alternative energy taking
the place of fossil fuels is expected to yield the benefit of a reduced importation
bill. Twidell & Wier (2013) agrees that the implementation of alternate
energy will reduce dependence on imported fuels which will overtime spur
economic development.
Refutation
Although alternative sources of energy
produces little pollution and reduces the importation of fossil fuels, its
implementation will negatively impact the physical environment and cause
sluggish economic growth. There is some merit to
the argument that alternative energy is expected to yield the benefit of better
environmental conditions but on the contrary, there are concerns about the sheer size
of the windmill and solar parks necessary to replace fossil fuels. Many of the
alternative energy systems destroys animal habitats and also release pollutants
or toxins into the environment. (The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2010). Rational
scientific analysis shows conclusively that renewable energy cannot ever
deliver on the very basis that it has been sold to the public. It is against
this backdrop that one can agree with Lackne (2015) that “the need for rapid economic growth makes it unlikely that
the world will give up on readily available fossil fuel. Currently, fossil
fuels provide 81% of the world’s commercial energy supply” (p.8).
Conclusion
Regardless of what the world is made to
believe, the reality of the issue is simply this. Because alternate energy
sources are erratic and expensive to implement, they alone cannot meet demand
in areas of the First World with high population density and energy
consumption, hence, their inability to effectively replace fossil fuel. Alternative energy is crucial in mitigating the impact of
energy production on the environment. Notwithstanding the myriad challenges of
their development; technicality, intermittency and expense, society will
eventually adopt alternate energy, since fossil fuels are limited in supply. Current economic activity depends
overwhelmingly on fossil fuels and as such consumers
could be saddled with unnecessary energy cost if the State fails to find the
ideal balance between fossil fuels and alternate energy rather than trying to
replace it. No single solution can
meet our society’s future. The solution instead will come from a family of
diverse energy technologies that share a common thread; that is, they do not
deplete our natural resources or destroy our environment.
; the world is moving
towards alternative sources of energy however it may be some time before
alternative sources of energy is able to effectively replace fossil fuel. In the period 2004–2009, the annual growth
rates in renewable energy investments were 32% for financing technology
commercialization, 45% for financing the construction of projects, and 85% for
financing equipment manufacturing. This fast-tracking of alternative energy
technologies into the commercial mainstream is beginning to change the energy
paradigm, although much more growth will be needed before renewables can become
the world’s primary source of energy (Twidell and Wier, 2013).
and is only created over geologic time. Thus the
question is not whether society will shift to renewable energy, but when.
Fossil fuel reserve lifetimes may be extended by new technologies for
extraction, but the need to minimize the damaging effects of climate change is
a more immediate problem than fossil fuel depletion. Alternative energy will be adopted when
fossil fuels have become scarce enough that they are more expensive than
renewables, i.e. when fossil fuels are economically depleted. If the worst
impacts of rising temperatures and climate alteration are to be avoided,
society needs to, not replace fossil fuels but rather make better use of fossil fuels, saving them for other applications and for future
generations.
There is a global focus on alternative energy and clean energy
solutions, and Jamaica has been consistently ranked as one of the places in the
region where the possibilities are endless,the government neither have competent
technical staff nor capacity to address the national energy sector issues concerning
implementation of alternate energy on a comprehensive basis. (Luton, 2014). By their nature, most alternative energy outputs cannot be
matched to demand as easily as fossil fuels. Natural sources of energy cannot
be conjured up in each moment that we need energy; some days the wind does not
blow, and the sun does not shine. Hydropower may be unavailable during drought
periods, and biomass crops experience crop failures, just like food crops. Most alternate energy sources have low capacity factors and
are less consistent than fossil fuels. Essentially alternate sources of energy
are unreliable due to its inability to produce energy at a constant rate. (The
Royal Society of Chemistry, 2010).
Growing concerns over the consequences
of climate change should severely limit future access to fossil fuels. A forced
choice between energy and environment could precipitate a major economic
crisis, an environmental crisis, or both. Averting such a crisis will be
difficult, because fossil energy resources are an essential part of the world’s
energy supply. Furthermore, most of our energy comes from burning fossil fuels,
which adds the greenhouse gas CO2 to the atmosphere, intensifying global
warming. The use of fossil fuels
should be decreased and those of renewable sources of energy should increase to
protect our earth and the quality of life. This is because they are cleaner and
do not produce poisonous harmful gases. (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2010).. Alternate sources of energy are not hazardous to the environment
since they do not require any sort of mining and drilling and produce nearly no
pollution. (Shahzad 2015). will reduce dependence on
imported fuels, minimize conflicts related to the mining and use of limited
available natural resources, and spur economic development, creating new jobs
and regional employment. (Twidell and Wier, 2013). There are those who argue
that Alternate sources of energy can replace the
use of fossil fuel as it provides substantial benefits in terms of climate,
health and economy.
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