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Renewable Energy Change Vincent Nguyen Sub Topics: • Environmental Damage • Renewable Source Options • Public Opinion Environmental Damage (Background and Argumentative) Author: J Kousen teaches high school biology and water analysis in Hobart, Indiana. Title: Human Impact On the Natural Environment Contributions: The source talks about how in the past, human nature often helped benefit the natural environment through the creation of artificial environments and soil cultivation. Now, human pressure on natural environments is greater than before in terms of magnitude and efficiency in disrupting nature and natural landscapes. It explains how much damage has been done to the environment and what led to the damage. Then the source goes on to argue that without any change in current methods of energy retrieval and also how humans treat pollution/waste, then the rate of climate change is going to only further increase. Environmental Damage (Background and Argumentative) Author: John P. Houldren PhD. is a professor in the Energy and Resources Program at California Berkeley. Title: Human Population and the Global Environment Contributions: This article argues about how environmental damage is due to the population size and the population growth over the years. It talks about how the scale of damage is constantly increasing due to the population requiring more and more since it keeps on growing. The environment gets more and more polluted and torn down generation after generation. Over many generations, the agriculture and hunting has caused the natural balance to be disrupted. Natural preys and predators are extinct causing there to be an imbalance. At the end, it explains that the environment is at the brink of permanent damage so if we act now, then there is a chance of bringing back what was once a thriving ecosystem. Environmental Damage/ Renewable Source Options (Background) Author: British Broadcasting Corporation Title: Energy Resources Contributions: This article explains in detail about each individual nonrenewable energy source such as coal, oil, natural gas, biomass, and wood. It lists the advantages and disadvantages of each non-renewable source as well as where it comes from. Statistical data is then shown for the estimated length of time left for the fossil fuels. Then, it goes and compares the different types of renewable energy sources of solar, wind, tidal, wave, geothermal, hydrological, biomass, and wood. It explains the same as the nonrenewable but also warns that biomass and wood can only be renewable if trees and crops are replanted. Lastly, the source explains how countries can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions by 80-95% if they reduce the demand for energy and increase the supply using renewable sources. Renewable Source Options (Background and Argumentative) Author: Seth Atchue Title: How Reliable is Solar Power? Contributions: This article is on the SunWorksUSA website which provides information about solar energy and how it can benefit customers. This article talks about how cost efficient solar energy is and how it is plentiful. The prices of solar power are increasingly dropping allowing the installations of more panels. It helps me argue for energy renewal change and is part of the answer to the research question of how efficient are the renewable energy sources and how it effects the environment. It talks about the downsides of solar energy due to location such as the UK where the sun may only shine for less than half of the day and also how the battery to store the energy is still being improved on. Lastly, it explains that solar panels last typically 25 years or longer and how it stores its energy generated by the sun. Renewable Source Options (Background and Argumentative) Author: Mike Conley Title: Let’s Run the Numbers Nuclear vs Wind and Solar Contributions: It addresses more than one of my research questions by providing data and different solution options to my topic. It was able to answer how clean these renewable sources are and how efficient. It explains what would happen if we do not take action and change our current methods. In the article, it provides statistical data and tells how much it would cost to power the entire country using each source of energy. It provides evidence through citing many credible government and environmental company websites where it received its statistical data from. Renewable Source Options (Background) Author: National Renewable Energy Laboratory Title: Learning About Renewable Energy Contributions: This article describes all the current possible options of renewable energy sources. It goes beyond just the wind, solar, nuclear, and geothermal. It talks also about how the ocean, biomass, and hydrogen are able to create energy as well as being renewable. The article is able to list the pros and cons of each source of energy and how certain sources are better than others at specific locations. It talks about how the technology is advancing for each source and how it is currently being used. Renewable Source Options (Background) Author: U.S. Energy Information Administration collects and analyzes energy information to promote the sound policy making and the public understanding of energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment. Title: Nonrenewable Energy Explained Contributions: The article explains what non-renewable energies are and why they are harmful to the earth. The nonrenewable energy sources come out of the ground as liquids, gases, and solids. It informs that all fossil fuels are nonrenewable but not all nonrenewable energy sources are fossil fuels. Also, the article talks about each nonrenewable energy source and how it is beneficial and harmful. Using statistical data, the source explains about each non-renewable energy source and how much is required of each to reach a certain energy level compared to what it would require a renewable energy. Public Opinion (Argumentative) Author: Mark Brandly Ph.D. teaches economics at Patrick Henry College and is a member of the Board of Scholars of the Virginia Institute of Public Policy. Title: The Case for Nuclear Power Contributions: Dr. Brandly makes a case for why nuclear power is the best source of renewable energy compared to the other available options. He answered one of my research questions about is there a societal push that is required to occur in order to change? He talked about how misunderstandings about nuclear power has made the industry a political target. He acknowledges the downsides of nuclear power and also provides evidence for why public opinion on nuclear power plants are so low. Lastly, he provides statistical data on how efficient nuclear energy is and how little uranium is needed to power the whole country. Public Opinion (Argumentative and Background) Author: United Nations Environment Programme is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda and serves as an advocate for the global environment. Title: Climate Change Mitigation Contributions: This source provides a lot of background information about non-renewable energy and renewable energy. It talks about the benefits of the use of renewable sources of energy being less polluting. Change to renewable energy needs to occur soon because it is a key element in the effort to avert climate change. It explains that the public opinion is the first step to creating a big change to how the US and the world gets its energy. The public has to agree and help make the conversion possible or else the current methods are going to stay in place. Public Opinion (Argumentative and Background) Author: Yale Title: Yale Project on Climate Change Communication Contributions: This poll has been conducted by Yale on adults in the United States. It asks about what are the adult’s beliefs, risk perception about climate change, and policy support. Within those three categories, questions were asked with the adults answering yes, no, or maybe. The polls showed an estimated percentage of the adults in each state and how they view climate change. This helps in many ways because it shows statistical data for public opinion to help my argument and also it shows that the public are not too concerned about the current effects but are in favor for a change in public policy to combat climate change. Synthesis The subtopic of environmental damage was support by “Human Impact on Natural Environment” in which J Kousen explains how in the past, humans cultivated the land making richer soil and created new environments which benefitted the who ecosystem where as now a days, we are greatly damaging and destroying our environment through pollution and deforestation. Professor John P. Houldren argues in “Human Population and the Global Environment” that the damage to the environment is due to the human population growing at such a rapid pace so the requirement for more and more energy is causing the environment to suffer. This leads to the article “Energy Resources” in which BBC lists each non-renewable and renewable source to explain their pros and cons and how countries can reduce their carbon footprints by decreasing the demand for energy and increasing the supply using renewable sources. My subtopic about renewable energy options was backed up in the source “How Reliable is Solar Power?” Seth Atchue talks about how solar power has been effective in other countries such as Germany and that it can be used to power the US to reduce carbon emissions up to 90%. In both “Let’s Run the Numbers Nuclear vs Wind and Solar” and “Learning About Renewable Energy” by Mike Conley and NREL respectively, they talk about the pros and cons of each source and how much it would cost to power the entire country. Mike Conley also argues that nuclear power should be used much more due to its relative small size compared to the power it can generate and that the United States should follow the lead of France in creating more nuclear generators. “Nonrenewable Energy Explained” by the U.S. Energy Information Administration give background information about where the nonrenewable sources come from, their pros and cons, and compares how much resources it would require between nonrenewable and renewable energy methods to reach a certain energy level. My argument for why public policy is important for any change to occur is supported by Professor Mark Brandly in his article “The Case for Nuclear Power” where he argues that the misunderstanding and the lack of information given to the public about nuclear power has caused the public opinion to be negative towards building more generators. In the “Climate Change Mitigation” article by the UNEP improves my argument of public opinion being important by explaining that the first step to any change is by changing the opinion of the general public because without their support, the change is not going to be possible. Lastly, the “Yale Project on Climate Change Communication” is a poll on the view of the public in the US which shows statistical data and the percentages of US adults' opinion on different topics surrounding climate change and environmental damage.