Non-renewable energy plays a big role in everyday life across the United States. It heats our homes, fuels our cars, and keeps our industries running. Non-renewable energy comes from fuels that cannot be replaced once they are used: coal, oil, and natural gas.
Once we exhaust our supplies, they are not replenished for at least a lifetime, if not many more. Although we always hear people talking about green energy, non-renewable energy continues to be a choice for many consumers who want energy that is easy to obtain and reliable.
Understanding the advantages and disadvantages of non-renewable energy enables consumers to make informed decisions about energy use in the future.
Although non-renewable energy gave countries many initial benefits, made them grow and develop quickly, and use fossil fuels, such energy leads to other serious problems and challenges both economically and environmentally. We will explain the pros and cons simply.
What Is Non-Renewable Energy?
Non-renewable energy comes from the natural resources found deep beneath the earth, which take millions of years to form. Coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear are the four types of non-renewable energy. Not available in abundance, these resources will eventually be depleted if people continue to utilize them at current usage rates.
Coal is most typically located in power plants to generate electricity. Oil is primarily used in transportation to fuel cars, trucks, and airplanes. Natural gas is commonly used in heating homes and cooking. Nuclear energy, coming from uranium, is used in special plants to produce electricity through nuclear fission.
In the United States, non-renewable energy still constitutes a major portion of the total energy used. This is primarily due to the fact that the system of plants and refueling has already been in place for many decades. They are easy and economical to store and transport, making their usage very convenient.
Because these resources are not available in unlimited supply, and they take so long to form, overusage could lead to them becoming scarce. That is one reason why many people are now looking for alternative energy sources.
Advantages of Non-Renewable Energy
The main advantages of non-renewable energies are that they are abundant and affordable. For example, oil and diesel are still good choices for powering vehicles.
1. High Energy Density.
Fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas contain a lot of energy per unit volume. This means that you do not need to carry around tons of fuel to produce a lot of power. A truck can drive a long way on a little bit of diesel, meaning a great deal of energy is packed in a small volume.
This makes fossil fuels ideal for airplanes, ships, and high-power machines in heavy industry, which need a strong path to deliver power.
2. Always Available.
Non-renewable energy sources can be tapped wherever and whenever required and can produce power day or night.
Unlike solar panels that only work when the sun shines, or wind turbines that only work when wind is blowing in the right direction, the fossil fuel plant can keep pumping out the juice.
This makes them vital facilities for keeping steady supplies of electricity flowing through the mains at all times, particularly if you run a factory, a hospital, a city, etc., and definitely don’t want blackouts.
3. Existing Infrastructure.
Countries have been harnessing fossil fuels for decades. Think oil refineries, gas pipelines, coal power plants, and gas stations.
Because this infrastructure is in place, it is simply so much easier and cheaper to carry on using them rather than going to all the trouble of building entirely fresh systems from scratch!
Most cars in existence today were built for gasoline or diesel, and switching them over to some other energy source ramps up the redevelopment process.
4. Cheap.
Non-renewable energy is usually cheaper than some of the newer and cooler sources of energy because there is a raft of easy technologies to tap energy from fossil fuels, and we have been doing it for a lot longer than we have been harnessing other forms of energy, such as wind and waves.
Companies have therefore had plenty of time to improve and streamline operations. This helps to keep the price of electricity and of fuels low for consumers and businesses, not to mention the fact that there are many parts of the globe where the renewable energy train is as yet still leaving the station and plugging power into sockets.
5. Easy to Store and Transport.
As fossil fuels have an infinite supply of storage space in big tanks, they are easily transported too, sometimes thousands of miles away from the source of the energy being tapped.
Lines of ships are deployed all over the Earth, moving oil from where it is cheap to where it is needed, which is usually somewhere it is not produced.
6. Economic Contributor.
The fossil fuel industries of the world make millionaires of many applications, including those who work to keep mines and drilling rigs working, oil refineries and transport systems maintained, and equipment companies operating.
The government also gets in on the act with taxes and export income. In many parts of the world, the local economy relies all too heavily on the fossil fuel industries for its growth and sustenance.
7. Technology Use.
A huge range of products, from toothpaste to clothes, all arise from fossil fuels. Oil, gas, and coal are also used in the making of plastics, fabric, fertilizers, and chemicals. This renders non-renewable energy sources vital sources of building blocks for any industry!
Disadvantages of Non-Renewable Energy
While they have a number of advantages, non-renewable resources also have many disadvantages. These include:
1. Finite and Exhaustible.
Fossil fuels present energy stored in the form of coal, oil, and natural gas originally buried deep beneath the ground by the earth over millions of years.
As these fuels are used, they can be depleted and are therefore non-renewable, constituting a long-range problem of potential fuel shortages as consumption continues.
2. Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
Burning fossil fuels releases gases (most notably carbon dioxide and methane from the burning of coal and oil) that contribute to Global warming.
These gases trap heat and can lead to rising worldwide temperatures that result in melting polar icecaps, stronger storms, heatwaves, droughts, floods, etc., and changing weather patterns leading to major changes in agriculture and flooding of water supplies.
3. Environmental and Habitat Destruction.
The extraction from the ground of fossil fuels can, in some cases, literally devastate the environment: entire mountaintops flattened for coal mining, and oil spills destroying marine life for years and even decades at a time.
Forests are cleared to make way for mines, and water quickly becomes polluted, hurting wildlife and often human habitats as well.
4. Air and Water Pollution.
A product of burning fossil fuels (not directly linked to them) is air pollution in the form of tiny particles emitted that become drawn deep into the lungs and start to damage them.
Air pollution causes smog and acid rain that damages crops and other buildings and is bad for most natural ecosystems. Oil spills are commonly in the news and are contaminating drinking water further downriver.
5. Nuclear Waste Hazards.
During normal operation, nuclear energy produces no carbon emissions whatsoever. Garbage from nuclear waste is especially toxic and remains that way pretty much for eternity, but normally for thousands of years.
If not disposed of properly, nuclear waste can seep back into the earth, causing damage to both people and natural ecosystems, and properly disposing of it is a problem and an extreme expense for local governments.
6. Volatile Fossil Fuel Pricing.
Because fossil fuels are a limited resource, their price is affected by market demand worldwide. In the past, conflict in any oil country would lead to fuel shortages around the world, and the disruption of travel and the prices of other products.
After this happened in Japan, Singapore, Europe, and the rest of East Asia, all products that relied on fossil fuels would get enormously expensive.
7. Long Transition Challenges.
Our global infrastructure relies heavily on fossil fuels, and it can appear to be an impossible feat to implement a rapid restart on clean, renewable energy technology.
Politicians guarantee a nation will give them its oil and gas money, industries resist the change that will cost them dearly, and the infrastructure that is presently out there does not look easily adaptable to the next best thing.
Economic Impact in the United States
Since the United States is still one of the largest producers and consumers of oil and natural gas, the connections to the economy remain very strong through job creation in drilling, pumping, transportation, refining, and manufacturing equipment.
Many communities are dependent upon those activities for income and further economic development. Energy prices are an important part of everyday life. When oil prices go up, gasoline gets more expensive and fuels everything that is transported.
Food (as well as other items) becomes more expensive to provide us because of shipping costs. When energy remains cheap, it helps to keep down the costs of economic development for businesses and people as well.
There is a danger in being dependent upon a non-renewable energy source. The price of fossil fuels can fluctuate wildly and suddenly due to conflict, and it is difficult for both businesses and governments to cope economically sometimes. There is also a growing issue of the clean-up of spills, pollution, and health issues connected to dirty air.
Billions of tax dollars are spent to combat these things. Finally, there is the challenge of the jobs created by wind and solar power manufacturing, which may not be able to absorb more workers.
Environmental Effects
One of today’s most significant concerns is the environmental impact of non-renewable energy. The act of burning fossil fuels releases pollutants into the air that pollute the air, water, and soil. Pollution can kill plants, fish, and animals, and may eventually even kill us if we stop trying to fix it.
Pollution of the air originates from power plants and vehicles, creating smog in its wake. This smog is very unhealthy to breathe for all things, and limits visibility.
Pollution of water can take place when oil from an oil spill or waste from the mining industry enters the rivers and eventually the ocean. This can kill fish and cause problems to the food chain, regardless of it affects humans or not.
Land damage is another issue that frequently occurs in relation to mining activities. Often, large sections of land must be removed from the maps, destroying the habitat of animals and plants that may take years to recover.
Climate Change is yet another huge factor that goes hand in hand with the use of non-renewable energy. A constantly rising temperature will result in melting ice caps, bigger storms, and perhaps even concern about rain coming and going on the wrong dates.
This would affect agriculture, the water supply, and ecosystems all across the USA. This is one of the many reasons people are demanding a cleaner source of energy.
The Future of Energy
As we in the US slowly embark upon a changing and cleaner energy future, renewable energy such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power is taking off. These sources never run out, and make very little pollution.
That being said, unfortunately, the non-renewable resources will not be going away any time soon. Surely it will be in the mix for years to come due to the existing systems we have in place and the high energy demand. The job at hand is to clean up this power as we prioritize better alternatives.
There are new technologies being put to work to help make this cleaner. There is carbon capture technology that tries to catch the carbon dioxide before it is released into the air. This certainly helps clean the energy, but sadly is a little too expensive to use, and is used in a very small part of the country.
Energy efficiency plays a part as well, since by using energy wisely, we can help cut back on the primary source. Using energy-saving appliances, or well-insulated homes and buildings, helps, too.
Moving closer to renewable and looking ahead to creating new and smarter jobs, cleaning up our air, and paving the way for a more stable energy future is the way to go. We just need to balance the current needs with benefits, and we will be making smart energy decisions.