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Jayson Haddon

Scott Dorsch

English 102

15 October 2019

The Renewable new way to Damage our Society

With the constant question of are our means of producing electricity harmful to the

atmosphere, we need to evaluate how we plan to produce electricity as we move forward. Are the

actions that we are taking moving us closer or further away from what we want to achieve? This

is a question that everyone on this planet should consider for it is a concern to everyone. Our

world runs on the production of electricity. Without the steady and healthy production of

electricity, our way of life would change. Therefore, this question needs to be considered and

made an action. Is renewable energy doing more harm to the environment than fossil fuels or

nuclear? I believe that the mass change we are trying to achieve in such a short amount of time

will result in more harm being done through the production and use of renewable energy than

good will come from it.

In 1882 the first coal-powered power plant was built with the help of Thomas Edison.

This would mark the evolution of our species with this new form of power and mark the road of

which we have marched on for a long time, the path of carbon-emitting power production. The

next hydrocarbon to be burned for electricity was natural gas and oil. On the other hand, the use

of the natural force to do work for humanity has been used since the start of mankind. The first

wind turbine to produce electricity was created around 1887 and the first solar panel to produce
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power was created around 1954. These are the tools plus others, such as wind and geothermal,

that society has been using to produce electricity in a green and renewable way.

While some people believe that the use of renewable energy will result in a cleaner

world, other people believe that the production of energy will be harmful to people. Those

people that believe that the use of renewable energy will reduce the number of lives lost believe

that switching to renewable energy will require less mining accidents, less transportation

accidents, and the reduction of carbon in our atmosphere which will reduce the amount of people

harmed from pollution. This would result in fewer lives being lost in the production of

electricity. However, some people believe that all energy sources, even renewable energy, has

already harmed or killed many people and will continue to do so. This means that we should use

the energy source that requires the least amount of production, labor and overall pollution to save

lives. According to Dev Millstein, who is a Research Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National

Laboratory, who uses atmospheric science tools, specifically meteorological, climate and air

quality modeling and satellite observations, to inform policy and economic decision-making

processes, said “Over the last decade, the wind and solar industry experienced high growth while

major changes to the power sector substantially reduced emissions of criteria pollutants and

carbon dioxide”(5). Here Millstein explains that as we increase the amount of electricity that is

produced by renewable energy the less carbon dioxide is in the air, and the healthier it will be for

people. On the other hand, Herbert Inhaber, who has a Ph.D. in physics and mathematics and has

done over 100 research papers on energy-related concepts, said “The production of the metals

needed in many unconventional technologies requires that coal is burned, and this coal will

produce air pollution, which in turn causes public health effects… public risk is produced by the

necessary back-up system, required for when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't
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blow”(page 15). Here Inhaber explains that during the production of the steels and other

materials required to be specifically built for wind and solar, requires fossil fuels to be burned

and people are being hurt from the transportation. The production of these special resources and

the production of electricity from more fossil fuels when the sun doesn’t shine adds up to the

continual harming of humans from the production of renewable energy. In conclusion, there has

been a connection between the increased amount of renewable energy created better

environments for life to live in, while, on the other hand, there is also the fact that with the

production of these new sources of renewable energy will come at a cost to people and the

environment.

Some people believe that using more renewable energy will result in more land and

ecosystems being saved, while other people believe that to power the ever-expanding world with

renewable energy will result in the completed destruction of our ecosystems by converting a lot

of land to the production of renewable electricity. Those that believe that renewable energy can

be built anywhere in areas that the space is already being used, will result in better optimization

of land. While, those that believe if the world was to be completely powered by renewable

energy, it would result in the clearing of millions of acres. According to Lester Brown, who is a

United States environmental analyst, founder of the Worldwatch Institute, and founder and

former president of the Earth Policy Institute, said, “Early photovoltaic installations were

typically small-scale—mostly on residential rooftops. Now, in addition to millions of rooftop

installations, thousands of utility-scale solar projects are under development or construction”

(page 3). Here Lester explains that the world has gone from building solar panels on the roofs of

houses to building large arrays. This shows that solar panels can be built in large arrays or on

unused space like the roofs of homes. On the other hand, Arran Lomas, who is a Youtuber with
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over 2 million subscribers who makes videos on education materials, said “To build a solar field

an area of over 5,000 meters squared must be clear, this means that to power the United

Kingdoms using only solar and wind would require 25% of the land's surface would have to be

cleared”(Lomas, 00:06:30 – 00:08:00). Here Lomas explains that trying to power just the country

of England would require millions of miles of land to be cleared, which would result in the

disruption of wildlife and loss of that land for other use. In conclusion, some would say that

renewable energy saves space on this Earth because it can be built almost anywhere, while others

believe that in the process of powering our countries with only renewable energy, a lot of space

and ecosystems could be lost.

While some people believe that renewable energy can produce enough electricity to

power our modern society, other people believe that renewable energy does not have anywhere

near the capability to power our ever-increasing world. Those that believe that renewable will

power the world believe that technology will advance, and we can build enough solar and wind

farms to power the exponential population. While those that believe renewable energy will not

be able to power the increasing population and has noticed the decrease in green energy as more

renewable energy is made. As said by Grant Smith, who is the senior policy advisor for energy,

“A 2015 analysis conducted by researchers at Stanford University and the University of

California at Berkeley found that 100% wind and solar power —… energy storage and other

advances to complement renewables — could provide electricity to the U.S. more reliably than

the current system by 2050”(para 9). Here Smith explains that with recent analysis and a bit

more technology it would be very easy to power the United States with 100% renewable energy.

On the other hand, Michael Shellenberger, who is an American author, environmental policy

expert, cofounder of Breakthrough Institute and founder of Environmental Progress, argues “The
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world is at risk of losing four times more clean energy over the next 15 years than we lost over

the last 10 years”(para 17). Here Shellenberger argues that as the world is pushing for more

renewable energy, it is causing a decrease in the amount of clean energy produced. This is

causing an overall decrease in the amount of electricity that is being produced by renewable

energy as fossil fuels must compensate. In conclusion, some people believe that renewable

energy can power the world, while others believe that renewable energy is causing a decline in

renewable energy.

Some people believe that renewable energy will be able to produce electricity 100% of

the time, while other people believe that there is no way that renewable energy will be able to

support the grid 100% of the time. Those that believe that it can support the grid see creative

ways to support the grid using all types of renewable energy and batteries. While those that do

not believe that renewable energy can power the grid 100% of the time see that sometimes the

sun doesn’t shine, or the wind doesn’t blow, or the turbine breaks down. As said by

Lappeenranta University of Technology, who is a pioneering science university in Finland,

bringing together the fields of science and business since 1969 with over 6000 students, “For

maintaining stability, there is a series of technical solutions, from rotating grid stabilizers to

newer electronics-based solutions.” (para 6). Here Lappeenranta University of Technology said

that there are methods that are being used and being thought of that can maintain renewable

energy 100% of the time. On the other hand, Robert Bryce, who has been writing about energy

and politics for three decades, during which he has covered everything from Enron’s bankruptcy

and the digitization of drilling rigs to nuclear energy and the future of batteries, said “Today 90%

of the horsepower we use comes from oil, natural gas, and coal… the key attribute of

hydrocarbons is their reliability. Renewable energy is dandy, but it cannot provide the
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gargantuan quantities of always-available power.” (page 6) Here Bryce explains that although

renewable energy might be a great source of power, it simply cannot produce the ever-increasing

amount of electricity that is needed for our society. In conclusion, some people believe that

renewable energy can power the grid 100% of the time by using different systems, while others

believe that renewable energy right now does not have the capability to power the grid 100% of

the time.

The America people have become so desensitized to the energy that we use. We spend

energy faster than we know what to do with it and we don’t even care about it. We don’t take the

time to think about the machine that must go into powering this grid. Three billion people spend

a large part of their day collecting wood or dung just to power simple machines to keep their

house warm or the lights on. We as Americas go up and down an elevator a couple times a day

while leaving the lights on a home. We have no respect for the wonderful cheap electricity that

we get from hydrocarbons, we just complain about how this renewable energy is the better

solution and how we want it now. To switch from this oil using machine we have become, to the

renewable energy that people want, would take decades, not years. This is advertising 101, create

a sense of urgency to get people to buy your product. While with the years we have left to live

with global warming continuously warming up the Earth, billions of dollars are being thrown at

making more renewable energy. I honestly believe that if we continue the path we are making for

the push for more renewable energy, that we will find ourselves in a position that we don’t want

to be in, and then we will blame it on something else.

Works Cited

Brown, Lester R. “Fossil to Solar & Wind.” World Policy Journal, vol. 32, no. 2, June 2015, pp.

9–13. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1177/0740277515591536

Bryce, R. (2011). Power Hungry The Myths of ""Green"" Energy and the Real Fuels of the

Future. New York: PublicAffairs.

Inhaber, Herbert. Is Solar Power More Dangerous Than Nuclear?,

https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/publications/magazines/bulletin/bull21-

1/21104091117.pdf.

Millstein, Dev. “The Climate and Air-Quality Benefits of Wind Andsolar Power in the United

States.” Vol. 2, no. 17134, 14 Aug. 2017, p. 5.,

https://www.nature.com/articles/nenergy2017134.epdf?referrer_access_token=yMt5OV

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ower_is_hurting_the_envir onment.
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us-possible-yes/547135/.

staff, Science X. “Can We Get 100 Percent of Our Energy from Renewable Sources?” Phys.org,

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sources.html.

Thoughty2. “Renewable Energy Is a Scam.” YouTube, YouTube, 3 Aug. 2019,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL6uB1z95gA&t=510s.