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C3-Project

Final Draft

Implications of using
alternative energy sources on The U.S.A

Faisal Al-Tamimi Student ID 200555902

BLSS - Group 2
Kate, C.

Liverpool International College

Content:
Faisal Al-Tamimi Kate, C. 2010 words
Student ID 200555902
BLSS -C3 Project Page 1
Abstract 3

Introduction 4

Importance of being power independent 4

The alternatives 6
Solar energy 6
Wind power 6
Nuclear energy 6
Coal and other sources 7

Implications of obtaining the alternatives: 8


Environmental 8
Economic and social 8
Political 9

Conclusion 9
Bibliography 10

Faisal Al-Tamimi Kate, C. 2010 words


Student ID 200555902
BLSS -C3 Project Page 2
Abstract:
The U.S.A has been trying to find alternative sources of energy to replace oil.
They started funding the researches in the 1970s because of the oil crisis.
Although they could find different sources of environmentally friendly
energy, they were still in their infancy and the dependence on oil alternatives
have made a slight change since oil has various advantages upon them. This
project will discuss the available alternatives followed by the implications on
the U.S if they obtain them. Then in the conclusion it will argue about the
possibility of achieving this advantage.

Faisal Al-Tamimi Kate, C. 2010 words


Student ID 200555902
BLSS -C3 Project Page 3
Introduction

Power and producing energy, have been a human concern since ages starting from lighting
the fire in Stone Age until operating factories and industries in recent days. Generating power
has passed through several stages in different ages. First wood was used as energy, then coal
and finally oil which has become one of the most important issues in the universe. The world
now is in a race to find a replacement of oil in case it runs out; however the absolute solution
has not been discovered yet. In this essay the issue of finding alternative sources of energy
will be discussed mainly in the USA since it is the world’s greatest power and depends on
imported power, funding research on this field. Also the implications of the USA having new
sources of energy from the political, economic and environmental aspects will be examined.
Finally, the possibility of obtaining alternative sources of energy other than oil and gas will
be analysed.

Importance of being power independent:

The USA as the world’s greatest power should look for its full independence. However the
1973 embargo approved the opposite, the Arabic countries in Middle East stopped their oil
exports to the USA and western countries as punishment for their supply to Israel in their war
against nearby countries in Middle East. That incident had a massive impact on U.S, a
reduction in speed limits to 55 mph, 400% rise in oil prices and gasoline stations had to close
down (ccds.charlotte.nc.us, Horton 2000). Also it had an impact of increasing in domestic oil
production (see graph below). Since then the U.S realised how important to be power
independent and started thinking seriously about finding a new source of energy because the
oil was used as a political weapon. Moreover ‘Alternative may be a national catastrophe’ a
statement by the USA president Jimmy Carter in 1977 (www.pbs.org, 2008). These are all
evidences approve the USA needs for alternative sources of energy.

Faisal Al-Tamimi Kate, C. 2010 words


Student ID 200555902
BLSS -C3 Project Page 4
Source: Energy Information Administration.

Comment: In this diagram the increase in domestic oil


production from 48 states can be noticed as a reaction
of the embargo in 1970s, also the slight rise in Alaska
production.

Even though the USA started seriously thinking of researching the alternatives, it is not easy
as it seems to be. Oil has many advantages over other sources of energy. Firstly, oil is a liquid
which made it is simple to store it and transport it to overseas countries by pipes and ships.
Secondly, as liquid available underneath the surface a large amounts can be produced with a
little effort for example The Gawar field is producing around 4.5 million barrels per day with
small amount of power consumed to extract it which reduces its cost. In addition, burning oil
produce huge amount of energy and heat unlike the other sources of energy. (Blanchard, 2005
p14, 15)

Faisal Al-Tamimi Kate, C. 2010 words


Student ID 200555902
BLSS -C3 Project Page 5
The alternatives:

Solar energy:

To start with the implication of the U.S having the alternatives, there is a rising question
about the alternatives to replace oil and gas. Actually there are many sources of energy to
replace and each one of them has its advantages and disadvantages. First of all, there is solar
energy or it can be called the ‘lost power’. The earth receives 10,000 times power from the
sun than it consumes which is a great power that can stop the dependency on fossil fuel; also
this energy operates the nature in our planet as well (El-Hinnawi & Biswas, 1981).
Furthermore, solar energy has great advantages as a sustainable energy generated and
consumed without producing greenhouse emissions. On the other hand, several difficulties
occur when using this sort of power. First, it cannot be applied in urban areas where the
skyscrapers block the sun. Also direct release of heat from other sources like nuclear, fossil
fuels and other stored energy may lead to climate disaster. At the end the most difficult
problem is dealing with the technology since the current capabilities cannot fully use sun’s
radiations. But still using the solar energy is the most sustainable choice (El-Hinnawi &
Biswas, 1981).

Wind power:

Along with solar energy, there is another type of renewable energy which is the wind power.
Like solar energy, this sort of power has several weaknesses since it rely on the air in open
areas. Also it has a similar problem to solar energy, which is its dependency on weather and
low efficiency in closed area that could block the air as well as the wind speed varies between
throughout America (Gipe, 2004). For example, it is more difficult to locate winds turbines in
the south west of USA where wind speed is approx 5.6 m/s generating at most 200 w/ m 2
(www.eere.energy.gov,2006). On the other hand this sort of power generation is functional
for remote areas where it is difficult for electricity supplies to reach and environmentally
harmful for agriculture to establish polluting power stations nearby. This technology is
developing steadily in America which has recorded an increase from 0.070 to 0.178
Quadrillion Btu between 2001 and 2005 (Energy information Administration, 2007) and it is
hoped to be more efficient in the future.

Nuclear power:

Faisal Al-Tamimi Kate, C. 2010 words


Student ID 200555902
BLSS -C3 Project Page 6
In addition to that, humans discovered a new source of energy which is the most productive
source i.e. the nuclear energy. This sort of energy is produced in units called nuclear reactors,
uses uranium in order to extract power and each ton of uranium generates what several
million barrels of oil can produce (library.thinkquest.org, 1996) . According to the EIA Energy
Information Administration there are 104 units in the U.S filling around 8% of the U.S needs
for energy in 2006. Along with all these advantages there are several disadvantages for this
type of power. First, it sends radiation that may cause illness for people within a long range.
Also what is known as melting may bring great consequence for the creatures in earth as it
happened in Russia in 1986 when Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded causing scores of
deaths. However countries in the world now are in race to gain this developed technology that
can save loads of funds.

Coal and other sources:

Other than these three sources which are commonly used, coal comes as a source of energy. It
used to be the main source before oil and it importance has been declining until the oil crisis
of 1970s. However coal is less efficient than oil in a way that burning 3.5 units of coal equal
to one unit of oil (Blanchard, 2005, p266). Although coal is environmentally unfriendly since
it produces CO2 emissions, it still used as cheap way of energy production which can be an
alternative of oil. Additionally, the U.S has got many sources of energy (see table below)
such as hydro electric that the water is the way to produce it. These are all source of power
that the U.S.A is trying to obtain however the question is what will happen if the U.S obtains
the alternatives? And how can USA benefit from that?

This table represents U.S energy consumption distributed by the source of energy in 2004-
2006 (Quadrillion Btu):

Energy Source 2004 2005 2006


Total 100.413 100.756 99.960

Fossil Fuels 86.191 86.451 85.307


Coal 22.466 22.785 22.511
Natural Gas 22.993 22.886 22.518
Petroleum 40.594 40.735 40.217
Electricity Net Imports 0.039 0.084 0.060
Nuclear Electric Power 8.222 8.160 8.208
Renewable Energy 6.261 6.404 6.844
Source: Energy Information Administration (www.eia.doe.gov, 2006)

Faisal Al-Tamimi Kate, C. 2010 words


Student ID 200555902
BLSS -C3 Project Page 7
Comment: from the table above U.S dependency on fossil fuel can be noticed, especially in
petrol. However, the technology and dependency in renewable sources of energy is in a slight
increase which can be sign of improving and substituting.

Implications of obtaining the alternatives:

Environmental:

The answer for that question is obtaining energy from different sources will have many
consequences on the U.S in the environmental, economic, social and political aspects. First,
global warming and climate change has been the most environmental issue in the world. So
the U.S.A as the most developed country that has the highest rate of CO 2 emissions in the
world which is around 24% and that is caused mainly by the burning of fossil fuel and
depending on them (Crabtree, 2002). In addition, the U.S is facing critics towards their
environmental status so developing the renewable sources of energy which has non
ecological effects which would have a great influence on the American position as friends of
the environment since they also reject Kyoto protocol that recommend industrial countries to
reduce their greenhouse emissions (Crabtree, 2002).

Economic and social:

In addition to that, by having the technology to produce new types of energy, America will
gain technological and economic advantages. In the world there are several developed
countries that depend mainly on the imported power and trying to be power independent.

This table shows the top ten petroleum net imports in the world in 2000:

Ran Country Consumptio Productio Net Imports


k n n
1. United States 19.5 9.0 9.8
2. Japan 5.6 0.1 5.6
3. Germany 2.8 0.1 2.7
4. South Korea 2.1 0.1 2.0
5. France 2.0 0.1 2.0
6. Italy 2.0 0.1 1.8
7. Spain 1.5 0.0 1.5
8. India 1.8 0.7 1.1
9. China 4.6 3.2 1.4
10. Taiwan 0.8 0.0 0.8
Source: www.eia.doe.gov

Faisal Al-Tamimi Kate, C. 2010 words


Student ID 200555902
BLSS -C3 Project Page 8
It can be noticed in the table that most of countries are in top economies in the world so their
independence and fulfilment for their basic needs (power and electricity) will be important
and America as the sole owner of the technology will have the advantages in investing in
their markets which will allow it to gain profit. Also it will have the opportunity for America
companies to expand and have control over energy industries in these countries which if this
happens, will reflect on a significant economic growth for U.S. Moreover America can then
provide the petrol for cheaper prices for its citizens that will help in reducing the inflation and
increasing the incomes. An evidence of this can be the rise in inflation that was followed by
oil crisis in the 1970s and 1980s which reached approximately 70$(Energy information
administration, 2001).

Political:

At the end and most importantly, as mentioned before in the project the oil embargo of 1973
was the realization of oil as political weapon since it is the most demanded source in the
world. So if the U.S has fully succeeded in depending on the alternatives, it will provide more
freedom on its foreign policy and its war against terrorism. For instance, what happened to
the U.S in 1970s was valuable evidence of what can occur if the same problem repeats itself.
In addition to that the U.S is trying to protect its security in case the oil runs out and there
will be no sollution.

Conclusion:

The U.S.A has been trying seriously to develop new sources of energy to replace oil since
1970s embargo, because at that time it realised how dangerous it is to have all the oil fields
controlled by a group of nations that share the same culture and point of view since it risked
us national security. So that aspire the U.S to fund research in developing the alternatives and
they succeed in finding the roots. However the technology is still in its infancy and the
current figures shows a very slight increase in the consumption of the alternatives. At the end,
finding the replacement at this level is apparently difficult. However, in the future that can
happen and if it does, it will be a great success to the U.S and a benefit the world as well as
the environment.

Faisal Al-Tamimi Kate, C. 2010 words


Student ID 200555902
BLSS -C3 Project Page 9
Bibliography

 Blanchard R.D.(2006).The Future of Global oil production. United States of America:


McFarland & Company, Inc.
 Crabtree, V. (2002, 4th June). Oil, Pollution and the Kyoto Protocol. Retrieved on 19
February, 2008, from http://www.vexen.co.uk/USA/pollution.html
 El-hinnawi, E. & Biswas, A.K. (1981).Renewable sources of energy and the
environment. Dublin: Tycooly International Publishing LTD
 Energy information administration. (2001). Figure 4. Movements in the World Oil
Price and Inflation. Accessed on 1 April 2008 from
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/economy/images/figure_4.gif
 Energy Information Administration. (2006) Crude Oil Production and Crude Oil
Well Productivity, 1954-2006. Accessed on 1st March, 2008 from
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/pdf/pages/sec5_6.pdf
 Energy Information Administration. (2006). U.S. Energy Consumption by Energy
Source, 2002-2006. Accessed on 28th February,2008 from
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/solar.renewables/page/prelim_trends/table1.pdf
 Energy Information Administration. (2007). U. S. Energy Consumption by Energy
Source. Accessed on 1st April 2008 from
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/solar.renewables/page/trends/table1.html
 Gipe, P. (2004). Wind power. London: James & James ( science puplishers) LTD
 Horton, S. (2000). The 1973 Oil Crisis. Revealed on 19, February 2008 from
http://www.ccds.charlotte.nc.us/History/MidEast/04/horton/horton.htm
 Nuclear physics past, present and the future. (1996). Accessed in 3 March, 2008 from
http://library.thinkquest.org/3471/index.html
 Renewable Energy Consumption and Electricity Preliminary 2006 Statistics. (2006).
Accessed on 2nd March, 2008 from
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/solar.renewables/page/prelim_trends/rea_prereport.html
 The President's Proposed Energy Policy (2008). Revealed on 3 March, 2008 from:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/filmmore/ps_energy.html
 Top Petroleum Net Importers, 2000. (April 12th, 2001) accessed on 1st March 2008
from http://www.eia.doe.gov/security/topimp.html

Faisal Al-Tamimi Kate, C. 2010 words


Student ID 200555902
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 Wind Energy Resource Potential. (Sep 14th, 2005). Accessed on 2nd March, 2008 from
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/wind_potential.html

Faisal Al-Tamimi Kate, C. 2010 words


Student ID 200555902
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