Energy: Are We Using the Wrong Kind? Should We Use Alternative Energy?

Our life on this planet revolves around who has what. Imaginary value is given to resources that we use and cannot get back, commerce and trade is practiced daily for these resources and we ignore any idea or notion that what we are doing is wrong.

We only do what we know, and we will repeat it in an endless loop because we are comfortable that way. Our way of transportation, our homes, our places of freedom and enjoyment, they all require some sort of this energy and we will endlessly use it until it is gone. We know what it is causing, and we know we could be trying something different, but we simply don't.

There are two general sources of energy that we use, these being petroleum and electricity. Petroleum is a mix of hydrocarbons that are used to make fuels like gasoline, kerosene and diesel oil. Electricity is a grouping of physical phenomenon in which an electrical charge can cause lighting, a current etc.

Electricity currents are always conducted through a wire of some sort. So, when we look at these types of energies from a bird's eye view, they seem great and natural, something that we could use without bringing harm to ourselves. Yet, that's where we are wrong. The over extensive use of these two can bring about many direct negative effects on our earth and on our lives.

Petroleum liberates carbon dioxide into the air when used, causing the retention of heat and has become the biggest factor on the global warming scenario. The use of this energy and the accidents we have had with this has already brought death to our planet, especially in our waters. Oil spills have largely devastated our oceans and its aquatic life, leaving huge percentages of the living species dead or caught.

The damage of most of these incidents such as Sea Island Installations and tankers like Castillo de Belver and Amoco Cadiz have produced great loss and irreversible harm to our ecosystem. It doesn't mean we learned though. More mistakes like these occurred with time. Maybe there was more preparation in case of incidents like them happening again but it didn't stop it from really happening and doing what it was going to do to our world when it did.

The other biggest use of oil happens in our vehicles and our factories. We continually go everywhere in cars, liberating carbon dioxide into the atmosphere without a care in the world, more focused on getting from work to home as fast as possible and what we are going to eat later. There's no need to point fingers, we know we do so. Then there are the big corporations, the companies and factories that run on oil to function properly, constantly releasing its gases straight into the sky.

Companies like these and their extensive reliance on this system has made some places inhospitable and damaging for fauna, flora and human life. A good example of this is China. People cannot go outside without a surgical mask on because of the high degree of pollution, and it's an irreversible scenario that they are going to have to deal with and they are doing nothing to remedy it. Cars, motorcycles and companies still run fervently in places like these because a change to another kind of energy is too much to do.

The drilling is also one of the most dangerous and unspeakable activities our world and economy thrives on, looking for more and more of this rich oil so they can continue using, leaving craters in their wakes, always focused on finding more.

The other energy overuse we are not paying attention to is electricity. Most people wonder why we would even worry since we are just using currents of electricity continuously through organized systems that lead to "infinite" energy to our houses and offices.

There is a huge consumption of carbon dioxide when we use electricity though! Our electricity is also generated by fossil fuels and we use electricity more than anything else, leaving every light on, the TV on for background noise and our computer to stalk people on Face book when we could just as simply have a window open, music playing from our phone and stalking the same people through the phones browser! It's a rather simple and satirical example but it is only to put into perspective how much we use of it and how much we don't need. Let me clarify though, the electricity isn't what is destroying our environment, it is the way we are getting it, and it is not the oil that is causing global warming, it is how we look for it and use it. We need to turn to a better and cleaner way of energy.

• Solar energy: for now known as the cleanest and most bountiful source of energy, it is the solar power that we can easily convert to thermal or electrical energy. With the use of easy to use solar panels, we could start converting our world into a cleaner and better place for the next generation to thrive in. Energy by solar power can be collected, in a sense, by photovoltaic, concentrated solar power and solar heating.

• Wind power: normally collected through wind turbines, it is kinetic energy given by the force and movement in the wind currents that can be converted into electrical energy. Wind turbines work both in land and water but are better in land so they do not cause oxidation or obtrusion in our oceans.

• Hydro power or water energy: this is energy received from the ongoing currents of the waters, may it be a small river, great lake, or even the oceans. It is one of the most famous ways of getting energy, most popular in places like Norway and Brazil.

These are the best ways to attain energy, produce it safely and environmentally friendly without investing into ongoing damages into this earth. Soon, most of our cars will run by solar power engines or electrical energy that can be recharged at home. All we have to do is join into this project along with the rest of the world to facilitate changes and improve in the general well being of our ecosystem and ourselves. The destruction, the fatal accidents, the continual misusage of the earth's energy has to stop now.

Our future could come to an abrupt stop if we don't adapt. The question now is, what are you willing to do to stop that? You can learn from these past mistakes made by our race, what our new ways of attaining energy are and how we can begin implementing them in our daily lives.

We can no longer leave peaceful lives watching TV at home without knowing how we are getting all these comforts without lifting a finger. This is not free or infinite, what we are doing now. This is harmful and has to be corrected before it is too late.

You can start learning about retention of solar energy through solar panels, how wind turbines are placed and their durability and usage, how hydroelectric plants are similar to coal plants but work with the gravity and current of the water and how our countries are trying to put all these into the system and get rid of the continually deteriorating oil usage. Learn, improve and get ready for a different future. We can't keep living like this anymore.

Article by: Steven Gutiérrez