In my opinion, the idea in article 1 is the most important thing to the engineering profession. In other words, engineers need to develop new energy sources which are environmentally friendly, renewable and affordable.
In the article, the writer expressed his concern over the huge consumption of the Earth’s finite resources by the growing human population. Currently, finite resources like fossil fuels are the most important sources in energy production around the world. In 2005, it was estimated that only 13.7% of the energy production in the world came from renewable sources, such as hydroelectric, nuclear power and solar energy.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) believes that global oil production will peak between 2013 and 2037, after which global oil production will begin an irreversible decline. With 86.3% of the world’s energy production currently coming from the burning of fossil fuels like petroleum, what will happen to us in the future if we do not develop enough alternative energy sources to replace petroleum? Simple tasks like driving your child to school will cost you a lot due to the lack of energy sources. On a bigger scale, the world’s economy will fail and nations will fight against each other for the limited energy sources.
Hence, engineers should act now in developing alternative energy sources that will stop us from depending so much on petroleum. However, it is a challenge for engineers to achieve the goal because it is not easy to stop people from depending on the easily accessible petroleum available. Besides, as pointed out by the writer, it is hard to convert the sun’s energy into useful forms or in other words, making solar power and also nuclear fusion feasible technologically and economically.
Nonetheless, engineers must take up the challenge in developing the best alternative energy source to provide a better future for us. In conclusion, I strongly believe that an engineer’s most important role is to develop new energy sources to overcome one of the current major concerns of human.
Grillot, M. J. (2007) World Energy Overview: 1995-2005. Retrieved August 22, 2008, from http://www.eia.doe.gov/iea/overview.html
In the article, the writer expressed his concern over the huge consumption of the Earth’s finite resources by the growing human population. Currently, finite resources like fossil fuels are the most important sources in energy production around the world. In 2005, it was estimated that only 13.7% of the energy production in the world came from renewable sources, such as hydroelectric, nuclear power and solar energy.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) believes that global oil production will peak between 2013 and 2037, after which global oil production will begin an irreversible decline. With 86.3% of the world’s energy production currently coming from the burning of fossil fuels like petroleum, what will happen to us in the future if we do not develop enough alternative energy sources to replace petroleum? Simple tasks like driving your child to school will cost you a lot due to the lack of energy sources. On a bigger scale, the world’s economy will fail and nations will fight against each other for the limited energy sources.
Hence, engineers should act now in developing alternative energy sources that will stop us from depending so much on petroleum. However, it is a challenge for engineers to achieve the goal because it is not easy to stop people from depending on the easily accessible petroleum available. Besides, as pointed out by the writer, it is hard to convert the sun’s energy into useful forms or in other words, making solar power and also nuclear fusion feasible technologically and economically.
Nonetheless, engineers must take up the challenge in developing the best alternative energy source to provide a better future for us. In conclusion, I strongly believe that an engineer’s most important role is to develop new energy sources to overcome one of the current major concerns of human.
Grillot, M. J. (2007) World Energy Overview: 1995-2005. Retrieved August 22, 2008, from http://www.eia.doe.gov/iea/overview.html
2 comments:
It's inevitable that fossil fuel will be depleted one day. Knowing this issue, engineers have taken their effort to develop all kind of energy sources to replace fossil fuel. Some of them have been introduced to the world, such as water fuel. However, the applications of the newly developed sources are still very limited, and the world is still depending on fossil fuel. Thus, more effort is required, not only from engineers and scientists but also the public, to overcome the problem. While engineers and scientist are researching and developing, the public should take the initiative to limit fossil fuel consumption.
Agree. Finding a new energy source is ultimately the most important challenge that engineers will deal with. Almost all of the engineers' creations require energy to function properly, and most of them depends on fossil fuel directly or indirectly. Once the depletion of fossil fuel occurs, there will be a chaos in the world. Additional attention should be given by engineers to this.
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