Can The World Run on Alternative Energy Sources?

The first issue in this argument is defining what actually is an alternative source of energy. In this article alternative energy sources will refer to renewable sources that will hope to replace fossil fuel burning methods that are not only harming the planet but have a very limited life cycle. The forerunners of the new renewable initiative are wind and solar power, which although not without their flaws are realistically the biggest prospects for a planet totally reliant on alternative energy sources. In the last few years the cost to produce and operate wind and solar farms can now compete with the burning of fossil fuels, and as a result many richer countries are investing more and more into what they think is a potentially subsidiary to unsustainable energy generation. Countries such as Norway have even managed to generate 98% of their energy from renewable sources, in contrast to counties such as the UK that generate just 12%; although that figure is set to increase in the near future. The fact is that in terms of generation alternative energy sources can evidently produce enough energy to supply a whole country, but for the world to run off of renewable energy there would still need to be a drastic change in the domestic and transportation uses. Cargo ships and aeroplanes are two imperative parts of modern life, yet are nowhere close to being ran off of renewable sources, and couple this with an increasing energy demand and in the near future the answer looks negative.

The global trend shows a world increasing in the reliance of fossil fuels.

At this current time alternative energy sources have some big disadvantages. The problems stem further than simply the immense cost to implement a system with even a hope of generating enough power, and rather ironically there is still the issue of renewables having a detrimental effect on the local environment. At this current time it's simply not true to claim that any energy generated is carbon neutral considering that the manufacturing of huge wind turbines is a process that requires a heavy emphasis on fossil fuels, and that's a rather minimal effect on the environment compared to say biomass, which would need approximately 10% of the world's total land area to generate enough energy on a global scale. To put that figure into perspective 10% of the world's land area is currently used for agriculture, and when you consider the environmental impacts of farming then you start to realise that alternative energy sources really aren't all that good. Other alternative methods don't get much better either. Hydroelectric power requires huge dams that destroy not only aquatic ecosystems but the whole surrounding area as well. Wind turbines are hugely expensive for their relative power output and murder anything that flies in the vicinity, generating a lot of noise in the process. Ethanol is a net energy loss that takes 70% more energy to produce than it can theoretically generate, and both tidal and geothermal are reliant on the local environment which doesn't make them a global solution.

Even after you go through the individual faults of each alternative method there is still the combined issue of reliability. Unlike fossil fuels alternative energy sources are not consistent, applying especially to wind and solar power that wouldn't be able to adapt to power influxes at times when wind and sunshine levels are at their lowest. It's no good saying we should simply store energy for these instances since we currently have no way of storing that amount of electricity, and you can't run on backup generators since they would be idle most of the time, and what business would want to operate a powerplant that's losing money the majority of the time? Even the richest governments on the planet would agree that financially that solution isn't sustainable in any way. In a world that relies on alternative energy sources there would be a high possibility of blackouts, and in modern society an event like that would be catastrophic.

 You can't deny that despite their various downfalls, energy generated from fossil fuels have been very effective in the modern world, and getting nations to switch to alternative sources is a tall order.

An even bigger problem is trying to get the world to stop relying on the very effective and readily available fossil fuels. Sure the prices of fossil fuels will keep rising at a steady rate, but it's very hard to suddenly adopt a new energy strategy when you already have a system that's cheaper and more efficient. Why would a country such as Saudi Arabia want to switch to alternative energy sources when their economy practically runs off the oil industry? Abandoning the fossil fuel system would not only send various markets tumbling, but also lose national economies thousands of jobs. I'm not saying a gradual phasing of the global energy mix would necessarily be a bad thing, but to say the world can run solely on alternative sources is misguided. You try telling China, a country that burnt four billion tonnes of coal in 2012, that alternative energy sources would be a better solution for their ever expanding population, industry and economy. Telling British citizens that electric cars are better for the environment than their petrol powered equivalents did very little to increase sales, so why would the Chinese government think any differently? Electric cars out of interest are a very good way of showing the lethargic attitudes of the public towards alternative energy. Only 119,000 electric cars were sold in the US throughout the whole of 2014, by far the biggest global market for them, yet still dwarfed by the demand for cars powered on fossil fuels. Electric cars simply aren't ready to replace or even compete with conventional methods at this current time, and that's the same story with the majority of alternative energy schemes.

It's hard to imagine an overpopulated city in a poorer country reliant on alternative energy in the near future. The prospect simply isn't sustainable or appropriate technology for a developing country.

But the biggest problem by far is implementing alternative energy solutions into poorer countries. How a developing nation is supposed to switch to sustainable energy sources when they can barely manage with burning fossil fuels is something that needs to be addressed. The original question can quite simply be answered with a huge no if developing countries are taken into account, as alternative energy sources can only be funded by economically advanced countries with an already solid energy supply. Not only could poorer countries not afford huge fossil fuel saving schemes, but they don't have the ability to implement technology that is way too advanced and expensive to maintain. I'm not saying that it's impossible for less developed countries to make a contribution, and in fact countries such as Lesotho generate electricity solely through alternative methods, but unfortunately that's an anomaly caused by exceptional circumstances and only on a small scale. The reality is that fossil fuels are a necessity for developing nations, and governments in these areas have far bigger priorities than the threat of global warming.

Alternative energy sources are possible in developing countries, but nationwide programmes are very unlikely to be funded by governments that have other priorities with limited resources.

For alternative energy to become a global reality there would have to be a level of acceptance from both society and world powers. If there is no demand for initiatives such as electric cars or cleaner energy solutions then there is no hope of their even being widespread coverage. At this current time there are steps being taken so that more economically developed countries are creating a demand for this expanding industry, but the figures show that this method of generating power is still in the minority, and will continue to be until further research and refinement is undertaken. Even in the near future it's unlikely to see a shift towards alternative energy sources for personal transport, and despite the global trend increasing for these expensive product I have to conclude that in the near future there is no realistic chance that even the developed world could run on alternative energy sources alone. Statistics show that fossil fuel use was the same today as it was ten years ago. It seems that only when humanity does deplete the Earth of fossil fuels then a forcible change will be noticeable.