Selection 16

Reinventing the Energy System

Christopher Flavin and Seth Dunn

This article begins to talk about the trend of energy use. It started in the industrial revolution when coal was used and at the time no one expected oil to cause such a huge impact in society and the way our cities are built. And now that we are running out of fossil fuels the next century could also have as big a change in the energy system as when oil became popular.

Oil is becoming a scarcer resource since it takes millions of years to form as fossil fuels in the ground. The fact that we are running out of it along with the huge environmental impact of the carbon that is released from burning fossil fuels is causing an increase in demand to find new energy sources.

New energy systems have been developing and are in use today. Modern wind turbines, LED's, solar photovoltaic cells, thermovoltaic cells, and a solar power water splitter are just some of the new technologies that help us save and create energy more efficiently. Some countries are more suited for certain types of technologies because of their location. However the use of sustainable energy resources needs to be developed world wide, this means that poorer countries will need help from more developed nations. But just increasing our technology will not be enough. We need to reduce our consumption rate world wide, especially in more developed countries like the U.S. where the rate of energy consumption is the highest. The sooner we can shift to the efficient use of renewable energy the better for our planet and future generations.