Fossil fuels are a widely used source of energy across the world, with millions of people depending on their use to survive. While fossil fuels are by far the largest source of energy, providing 80% of the energy in the world, there are some downsides to the use of fossil fuels. Many people have come forward and suggested alternative energy sources to fossil fuels, and while they don’t pose the same problems as fossil fuels, they have their own downsides, and overall, I believe that fossil fuels are still the best energy source that we can use as of right now.
Fossil fuels are created when carbon-rich organisms are buried beneath sediments and eventually decompose to create a carbon store that can be used to create energy by burning them. The burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide and many other pollutants that significantly contribute to global warming, which is why many propose switching from burning fossil fuels to other alternative methods of generating energy. There are many types of fossil fuels, each with its own benefits and downsides. Coal, oil, and natural gas are fossil fuels currently used around the world. Coal is currently used extensively throughout the world, with China, India, and the US with the highest use rates in the world. Oil is also widely used throughout the world and is often extracted from offshore drilling sites, some of which have experienced disasters that have polluted the seas, such as the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Natural gas has been inaccessible until recent decades, and uniquely releases more methane gas rather than carbon dioxide, which makes its emissions cleaner than those of its counterparts, oil, and coal. However, the process of extracting natural gas can often result in environmental damage.
While there are many obvious downsides and problems that accompany the use of fossil fuels, the current dependence of the world on fossil fuels makes it practically impossible to eliminate entirely the use of fossil fuels in favor of cleaner energy sources, such as solar power, wind power or water power. The greenhouse gas emissions of the fossil fuels cause many environmental problems and are a leading contributor to global warming, and while admittedly, these are serious and urgent issues, clean energy sources produce their own set of problems and challenges that make it impractical to rely entirely on them.
Solar energy is often seen as a fantastic method of producing energy without any pollution, this stance neglects to consider types of pollution that are not gaseous. The materials that are used to make photovoltaic cells, or solar panels, are often not recyclable and therefore contribute to the physical pollution of the Earth, which damages ecosystems and animal habitats. Some estimate that by the year 2050 there will be 50 million metric tons of waste produced annual from solar panels alone. Photovoltaic cells are also fairly inefficient compared to fossil fuels. Due to their inefficiency, it takes up a lot of extra area that could be used for housing, agriculture or as a nature reserve. Photovoltaic cells are also fairly expensive, which means most people can’t actually afford to convert to solar energy, much less whole countries. It would cost significantly more to use solar energy for all the production that is currently reliant on fossil fuels, than it would be to continue to use fossil fuels. Photovoltaic cells are also not always reliable, as their function is determined not only by the time of day but also by the weather. In places with naturally wet and cloudy climates, solar energy will not provide enough power. Overall, these issues make it unwise to convert large amounts of energy production to solar, at least until it becomes more effective and less costly.
Wind energy is also held to be one of the best and cleanest ways of energy production so far. And yet only a small fraction of the world’s energy comes from wind power, and there are considerable disadvantages to using wind power which make it a bad idea to rely heavily on it. Wind energy has many of the same problems that solar energy does, in that it is inefficient, expensive and can damage habitats. Wind turbines are inefficient in that they only convert about 59% of wind energy, and that is in areas where there is significant amounts of wind. There are many places where there simply isn’t enough wind for wind turbines to create enough energy to power anything. Turbines are also expensive to create and maintain, with a price of over $2 million per turbine. This, accompanied by maintenance, installation and transportation puts wind energy at an extremely lofty price range, one that most countries can’t afford to pay, given how much production relies on energy. Wind energy also requires land to put the turbines, often land that is taken from wildlife areas. These huge structures pose a danger to birds who often fly into the solar panels, including endangered species such as eagles, and underground animals whose homes are disrupted by the large masses being put underground to support the turbine. Overall these disadvantages make wind power a bad replacement for fossil fuels.
Water power is generated by the movement of water through turbines. Hydroelectric power requires the construction of dams and turbines that disturb the environment surrounding the running water source, and removes habitat from the animals in the area and can displace human settlements that are affected by the dam. This can be detrimental to the ecosystem, for miles along the river that's being affected. The dams and turbines are also expensive to build, and depending on the water flow of the area, may not create enough electricity to warrant the cost. The water supply can also affect the effectiveness of the hydroelectric power source, as areas with smaller rivers and less water supply won't be able to rely on the water power as a consistent and large enough power source, which means some areas will have to rely on other energy sources, such as fossil fuels.
While no one can negate the fact that fossil fuels contribute extensively to greenhouse gas emissions, and are damaging to the environment, completely replacing fossil fuels with cleaner, renewable energy sources is not an effective way to lessen the environmental impacts of finding energy sources. All cleaner energy sources are limited by cost, and can still contribute environmental damage in different ways. They are also limited in their efficiency, and are therefore not the ideal solution to replacing fossil fuels. Slowly phasing out the use of fossil fuels as more effective and less expensive clean energy sources may be a viable option, as could developing methods of carbon capture, which is removing carbon dioxides from the atmosphere to lessen their polluting effects.
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