Linc Energy Blog

You don’t have to be a tree hugger to recognize that we need to do things differently. It has become clear that we must look to the future and diversify how we fill our energy needs.

"Not only will atomic power be released, but someday we will harness the rise and fall of the tides and imprison the rays of the sun."  --Thomas Alva Edison

 

Energy is considered renewable when its source can be replenished in a short period of time. Biomass, hydropower, geothermal, wind and solar are examples of renewable energy, and in 1998 they represented 7.4% of US energy. About 93% of the energy used in the United States is from nonrenewable sources, like petroleum, natural gas, coal or uranium. We’ve named these sources as nonrenewable because their resources are limited. Fossils fuels like petroleum, natural gas and coal are formed over millions of years, through chemical reaction from the remains of plants and animals. While we may think these resources are endless, they aren’t and it takes millions of years to produce them.

The simple economic model of supply and demand tells us that as the supply of fossil fuel diminishes, the price of this fuel increases. Without proper diversification into alternative fuels we could set ourselves up for a future energy crisis.

Additionally, it’s no secret that the use of fossil fuels hurt the environment and is linked to the thinning of our ozone layer and global warming. Without exploring alternatives we are promoting climate changes which could lead to unsounded consequences.

It’s clear that as our fossil fuels become depleted, we strive harder to retrieve them which open ourselves to severe, almost unfathomable outcomes:

• We drill the ocean floors and subject ourselves to environmental, ecological and economic devastation.
• We create new technologies to retrieve natural gas from shale and risk polluting our water.
• We build massive natural gas pipelines which rupture and cost lives.

Diversification is no longer a choice - it’s a requirement. While we cannot stop using fossil fuels, we can move forward more cautiously in fossil fuel extraction and expand our sights to alternative and renewable energy.

Let’s become better stewards of the planet.
 

Tags: gulf spill, shale extraction, coal or uranium, petroleum, solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower, biomass, renewable energy, nonrenewable energy, alternative energy, fossil fuel, energy, natural gas