Stopping the Energy Crisis Clock?
Less than 120 years. That’s the duration in which all nonrenewable energy will be fully exhausted. Although that sounds like a long time away, a whole lifetime away, in fact, this is a problem that needs to be addressed.
Part of the reason as to why this issue needs to be solved is because of the exponential growth of fossil fuel usage. Compared to 1950, approximately 70 years ago from the date of this article, gas consumption has risen nearly twenty times as much, a staggering increase.
It’s not unrealistic to say that, as time progresses, consumption of fossil fuels will continue to rise and thus, reduce their supply and hasten their end.
Thankfully, people have been paying attention to this issue (dubbed the energy crisis). Many have even made adjustments in varying degrees, from installing solar panels and foregoing nonrenewable resources (a relatively minor contribution) to proposing bills such as the Green New Deal, which would implement a gradual nationwide swap into renewable resources (a massive commitment). These are just two examples of how humans have been attempting to solve this problem.
Unfortunately, many of these potential methods have posed their innate issues. When it comes to adopting renewable energy resources, they either run the risk of being too costly (such as hydroelectric and solar) or unreliable (such as wind and solar), which are only available around 30% of the time.
In addition, there has been extreme pushback against any means to delay (if not outright prevent) the energy crisis when it comes to large legislation such as the Green New Deal, with some citing that it’s too expensive (with a $93 trillion, twelve zeroes worth, price tag) and will submerge the U.S. into debt they can never get out of. With all the energy crisis efforts, both large and tiny, being fought against, it begs the question of whether there is any sort of renewable energy that can check all (or even most) of the boxes that would make everyone happy.
That question was answered positively at the end of 2022. Beyond beckoning a new year, December also welcomed a new (or rather, improved) renewable energy source: nuclear energy. For the first time since the history of its experimentation, nuclear fusion/fission (the process of achieving nuclear energy) had reached a net gain, producing more energy than what it receives.
This discovery checked many boxes at first: it was reliable (with nuclear fuel being abundant in the environment) and exceptionally efficient, with a single gram of uranium being able to produce as much energy as a ton, 2,000 pounds that is, of coal. It also is a clean source of energy, an award that non-renewable energy fails to achieve.
However, like all the benefits of discovery, there are bound to be drawbacks, and this was no exception. The first major issue is the extremely advanced technological nature of fusion: it makes it tough to master and replicate easily. The second vice ties into the first perfectly, with it being simply too expensive to sustain due to the immense amount of energy needed. Finally, the stereotypical reason why people fear nuclear energy: the danger. Although this stereotype is grossly exaggerated, there is some truth to the matter. Both malfunctioning accidents (like Chernobyl and Fukushima) and long-term radioactive waste that must be stored securely are issues that just cannot be ignored.
Although nuclear energy does have some (rather large) issues, it’s important to not forget about its boons as well. From its efficient nature to being reliable and clean simultaneously, fusion is not a renewable energy source to underestimate. Regardless of what side you are on, nuclear energy brings up an important thing to think about: imagine what could be possible over the next century when it comes to technological innovation?
- https://group.met.com/en/mind-the-fyouture/mindthefyouture/when-will-fossil-fuels-run-out
- https://ourworldindata.org/fossil-fuels
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/judeclemente/2019/04/29/five-practical-problems-for-the-green-new-deal/?sh=5892345f3e8a
- https://stacker.com/science/22-biggest-scientific-discoveries-2022