Ethanol

USA over a Barrel

The cost of a barrel of oil this summer reached a record high of nearly $100. How has this happened and how much higher could oil go? The United States dependence on foreign oil is at an all time high. Nations supplying this oil are pumping at a record pace and maximum capacity. If any of these nations fail to supply the U.S. because of a terror attack or bad relations, the economy would be negatively impacted. How can the U.S. reduce dependence on imported fuels and diversify our energy supply?

In recent months, the new focus is the investment in research and development of alternative or renewable energy. Google has announced its plans to spend tens of millions of dollars in 2008 on the project known as Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal (Reuters, 2007). The U.S. government also has put in place two programs called, Solar Energy Technologies Program and The Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program. These programs will research, develop and organize solar and wind energy supply potential (Department of Energy, 2006).

Alternative Energy

What is Renewable Energy? Renewable energy means it comes from a source that's constantly renewed. For instance, the wind keeps blowing, the sun keeps shining, and the Earth keeps heating underground rocks. This energy will be around for as long as the Earth is, so we don't have to worry about running out of it. Solar and wind power is leading the way as the fastest growing technologies among countries committed to reducing the carbon footprint to the Earth’s environment. The more other countries commit to renewable energy, the more it directly contributes in driving the costs down. The cost of fossil fuel is cheap compared to the higher initial investment required with the alternative energy. Renewable energy advantages include: they do not cause green house gases, they improve. The air we breathe, they make domestic electricity, they diversify energy supply and they stimulate economy by creating jobs. Similarly, these technologies do not pollute the earth, are abundant and clean, and reduce our dependence on imported fuels. On the other hand, both renewable energies compete for land uses. The wind turbines produce noise and kill birds and bats. Some problems exist with alternative energy, that’s why it is urgent to research and develop this technology today.

Solar Power

The sun is a massive burning ball of hydrogen that outputs gigantic quantities of energy every second. Sunlight is an excellent energy source and the future of using solar power is very exciting. The Sun's energy can be used to heat and cool buildings, generate electricity, operate communication, and GPS systems and even power solar cars. The sun’s energy is clean and solar panels used to harness the energy are low maintenance.

Wind Power

Wind can play a major role in the solution to global warming. Constantly, the wind is blowing and is being wasted. Wind is also a domestic, unlimited energy source that produces no emissions,