Renewable and Non-renewable Energy Homework Help

Renewable and Non-renewable Energy
Over the years the world has come to understand the importance of sustainability in the economic, social, and also environmental dimensions. These three dimensions have defined sustainability in different ways, but the underlying focus prioritized in all of them is preservation and maintenance of a positive element that is under risk of depletion or ignorance. For instance, fossil fuels are capable of getting depleted and it is the responsibility of the world’s population to exploit them under sustainable measures to avoid their depletion. It is in line with sustainability measures that debate over the use of renewable and non-renewable energy has grown in importance. Most arguments propose an increase in use of renewable energy and controlled use of non-renewable energy, because the later is not consumed much faster than it can be replaced.
The economic model of sustainability focuses on opportunity and capital as the primary points constituting the sustainability problem. According to Robert Solow, an economist, sustainability in the economic model is perceived to be an investment problem. In essence sustainability is only achievable if people obtain returns from the use of natural resources and utilize them to come up with new opportunities which have the same in value or greater in value than the amount invested. According to the economic model therefore, spending on the poor is not promoting sustainability, because there is no immediate profit to be received which is equal to or greater in value than the money spent (Knox, 2009). Social sustainability, on the other hand, is focused with making social resources and how they can be made available to future generations in similar or greater capacity. These social resources are principles concerned with basic human rights, cultural identity, citizen action, global poverty, and corporate power among other principles. Environmental sustainability is the other sustainability model whose priority is on preserving biological diversity as well as maintaining ecological integrity. It is the objective in environmental sustainability that the health of the world’s population gets upheld (Knox, 2009).
Renewable energy is harvested from resources which get replenished in a continual and rapid fashion such as waves, rain, sunlight and the wind. In relation to sustainability, renewable energy is recommendable if the process used to harvest it does not impact negatively on the environment, the economy, or social resources. Presently the final energy consumption collected from renewable sources in the world stands at 16%. There is however, an increasing trend in the use of renewable energy sources to generate energy with wind power, having a shocking 30% increase rate per annum (Ghosh and Prelas, 2009).
Non renewable energy is energy that is harvested from resources that are capable of getting depleted; often skin of dead animals. This energy is obtained from resources that get consumed faster than they are created by nature. Examples include fossil fuels, metal ores, and aquifers. Resources like timber if exploited uncontrollably get depleted, but if they get harvested in a sustainable manner they get classified as renewable sources (Harman, 2009). Non-renewable energy is recommended only when there is no alternative energy source, but in the event that there is renewable energy that can be used, it is appropriate that the renewable energy be used.
The three models of sustainability, which are economic, social, and environmental, all promote controlled use of non-renewable energy and advocate for use of renewable energy if its harvesting is without negative implications. Non-renewable energy sources get consumed faster than they can be created by nature hence they are easily depleted. If they get depleted, human survival would be threatened, global poverty would increase (social model of sustainability). In the economic model the factor of cost is taken into account whereby the cost of non-renewable energy sources is shown to always rise whereas that of renewable energy sometimes falls to very accommodating levels (Ghosh and Prelas, 2009). Non-renewable sources like fossil fuels have been used for centuries and are associated with the increase in global warming hence, resulting in climate change and destruction of the environment.
It is this concern for the welfare of the society, the economy, and the environmental, that an increase in use of renewable energy has been experienced. The capacity of renewable energy has grown since 2004, at rates of between 10% and 60% every year (Harman, 2009). In 2009 wind energy grew in usage above all renewable technology. In 2010, the overall renewable power grew to almost 30% of the world’s energy generation capabilities. It is projected by various scientists that trends in energy use will result in solar, hydroelectric and wind power being used in entirety all over the world by 2030 (Ghosh and Prelas, 2009). However, sustainability is also considered during harvesting of energy and in Ireland, for instance, conversion of wave energy into electricity is under consideration pending determination of the environmental impact that such conversion may have. Most concern is underwater noise that might be produced during the conversion process and the impact that such noise may have on marine life.
In conclusion, sustainability is divided into a number of models three of which are the social, economic, and environmental models. Each model carries a different definition of sustainability, but they all support the use of renewable energy sources over non-renewable ones. Renewable energy sources like wave, wind, and sunlight energy, if harvested in a manner that is sustainable, will address the demand needs of the world’s population and will not get depleted. Ireland illustrates this consideration in the case of wave energy. The country desires to first determine the impact that the use of wave energy for electricity purposes may have on marine life and the aquatic ecosystem.
References
Ghosh, T.K., and Prelas, M. A. (2009). Energy Resources and Systems: Volume 1: Fundamentals and Non-Renewable Resources. London: Springer.
Harman R. (2005). The Earth’s Resources: Renewable and Non-Renewable (Earth’s Processes). Chicago: Heinemann-Raintree.
Knox, Paul. (2009). Small Town Sustainability: Economic, Social, and Environmental Innovation. Massachusetts: Birkhäuser GmbH