Humans have been using energy for a long time now. From fire to nuclear, the amount of energy humans can generate has risen quickly. Unfortunately, consideration of the consequences of energy production has come later than the consequences themselves. Nowadays, we are faced with a fast-warming climate, a polluted environment, and around 789 million people are still being forced to rely on primitive and unhealthy fire and old-fashioned energy (“Ensure Access”). This situation is what the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal #7 attempts to resolve. SDG 7 aims to ” ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services” by 2030. It is important to improve energy, as nearly everything modern is built off of it. To reach this goal, we need to see the problems energy production currently has, think about why these problems matter to us, and figure out solutions to these problems.
Problems with Energy
Modern energy production has many flaws. One issue is the harm dealt to the environment: fossil fuels release greenhouse gases that damage the environment and climate of the Earth. In fact, energy production is responsible for about 60% of all greenhouse gases emitted by human activity (“Ensure Access”)! The negative effects of energy production on the environment will surely become more and more significant as global energy requirements continue to rise. Also, while cleaner energy has a much smaller environmental impact compared to traditional energy, these forms of energy are simply not cheap enough currently to support the economy. In fact, Europe’s recent attempt at switching over to clean energy has indirectly caused food prices in many countries to reach their highest in ten years (“The Consequences”). Another problem is clean energy’s reliability. Many clean generation methods rely on the weather: for example, solar energy depends on the sun not being covered by clouds, and wind energy depends on the weather being windy (Darwall). Currently, energy just has too many issues that need to be resolved.
Why does energy matter?
Energy has massive impacts on the lives of everyone, and there are many reasons why energy needs to become more accessible and cleaner. For one, it is used for pretty much all aspects of modern life. According to the United Nations, energy impacts everything “from businesses, medicine and education to agriculture, infrastructure, communications and high-technology” (“Ensure Access”). The more expensive energy is, the harder it is for poorer people to have any of that in their lives. Statistics from the United Nations also say that currently, 13 percent of the global population lacks access to modern electricity (“Ensure Access”). Affordable energy would allow more people to access electricity. Clean energy would also help reduce pollution and harmful emissions, which has “harmful impacts on people’s well-being and the environment” (“Ensure Access”). Clean energy directly affects your health in this way. Finally, clean and cheap energy would provide more job opportunities, create better facilities and supply more resources (Leahy). Jobs, better facilities and resources influence everyone. Non-polluting and cheap energy is a subject of top importance, and all these reasons show that.
Solutions to the problems
There are many ways to improve energy and energy production. One thing that can be done by everyone is simply to use less energy. According to the United Nations, you can save electricity by “turning devices off when they are not used” (“Ensure Access”). Another way to help improve energy is for investors, companies and governments to invest in the development of better energy sources such as clean energy (“Ensure Access”). As energy generation methods are researched, energy will become cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable. The transition away from fossil fuels and towards more renewable and sustainable forms of energy is also an important step, since our reliance on traditional energy sources is one major roadblock in fixing today’s climate issues (Ramirez). Businesses can support this change by aiming to meet their energy requirements entirely with sustainable energy (“Ensure Access”). There are lots of ways individuals and groups can help make clean, cheap and reliable energy both a possible and feasible future.
It is important to understand the issues with energy, realize the consequences of these issues, and fix these issues. We have realized the faults of energy too late and allowed the consequences of energy to occur, but better late than never.
Works Cited
“The Consequences of an Ill-Considered Green Strategy.” Indian Express, 27 Jan. 2022. SIRS Issues Researcher, explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2637764941?accountid=4047.
Darwall, Rupert. “Obama’s Renewable-Energy Fantasy.” Wall Street Journal, 06 Jul 2015. SIRS Issues Researcher, https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2262478434?accountid=4047.
“Goal 7: Ensure Access to Affordable, Reliable, Sustainable and Modern Energy.” United Nations, www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/energy/. Accessed 17 May 2022.
Leahy, Stephen. “World Lags on Clean Energy Goals.” SIRS Issues Researcher, 14 May 2017, explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2265797170?accountid=4047.
Ramirez, Rachel. “5 Alternative Energy Sources to Speed Our Transition Away from Fossil Fuels.” CNN, Cable News Network, 7 Oct. 2021, edition.cnn.com/2021/10/07/us/renewable-energy-options-climate/index.html. Accessed 15 May 2022.
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