The Future of Energy: Guiding Decisions with Evidence

To reduce the negative environmental impacts of an ever-growing human population, and increasing demands for energy as technological advances continue, individual countries, states, cities and even households could shift their energy sources to those that are renewable. However, not all locations are equally amenable to any form of renewable energy. For this Assignment you will assess your own location, existing energy use, and the advantages and disadvantages of different energy sources.

Be sure to explore the following resources to begin your research in order to support your ideas with accurate facts. While the provided resources focus on the United States, you are welcome to explore the energy situation within your own state of residence, one that you would like to live in or have visited in the past, or an international location. To focus your discussion, only use one region for your entire argument.

Review the Unit 4 Assignment resources.

For additional information on different energy sources review the Science Center Resource. 

Your Assignment should be a compare-contrast essay written using APA formatting. The Assignment should include a title page, introduction, and conclusion. The paper will require you to include details from research including the course materials and sources you locate on your own. Use APA format to cite your sources of information, both within parenthetical citations and also within a reference page at the end of the Assignment.

Your paper should include all the following parts.

• Assess your own energy use. Think about how you rely on different types of energy throughout your day. Identify the energy source you use to do the following tasks and indicate if the energy source is renewable or nonrenewable.
  • The main energy source you use to heat your home if applicable
  • The main energy source used to cool your home if applicable
  • The main energy source you use to run your household appliances (reminder: if you use electricity you will need to do some research to determine what energy source is used to generate your electricity)
  • The main energy source you use for transportation
• Using the provided materials, determine, and discuss both the renewable source of energy that would be the most appropriate, and that would be the least appropriate for use in your chosen location. Explain how you arrived at your decisions, so it is clear why one is the most appropriate and why one is the least appropriate.
• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the energy sources you currently rely on as well as the two renewable energy sources you identified above. Include both the economic (costs/benefits) and ecological impacts of each.
• In your opinion, should the US pursue the use of more renewable energy sources going forward? Should any policies be put in place to encourage people to use more renewable energy sources? Support your position with reputable sources.