The Future of Energy: Guiding Decisions with Evidence

In order 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 have the opportunity to shift their energy sources to those that are renewable. However, not all locations are equally amenable to any particular form of energy. For this Assignment you will assess your own location, existing energy use, the advantages and disadvantages of different energy sources, and ways to reduce energy demand through conservation.

Be sure to explore the following resources to begin your research and to support your ideas with supporting 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, and also an international location. In order to focus your discussion, be sure to focus on a specific region.

Your Assignment should be written in an essay format, with an 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 project.

Your paper should include all of the following parts.

• Assess your own energy use: What forms of energy do you currently rely on and where do they originate from? Be sure to consider the energy that you use at home, during travel, and at work or in school. Include at leastfive specific examples. Consider whether each energy source is renewable or nonrenewable.
• Using the provided materials, determine which renewable sources of energy would be the most and least appropriate for use in your chosen location. Be sure to discuss three forms of renewable energy, with one of these three being the energy form identified by your instructor. Explain how you arrived at your decisions. For example, you may find that solar energy is not a potential resource due to seasonal changes making sunlight inconsistently available throughout the year.
• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the energy sources you currently rely on as well as the three renewable energy sources you identified previously. Include both the economic (costs/benefits) and ecological impacts of each.
• Describe how technological advancements have facilitated the implementation of renewable energy technology. Be sure to examine how technology has influenced our ability to generate and distribute renewable energy to a broader consumer base over time.
• In addition to using alternative forms of energy, energy conservation is also a significant way in which ecological impacts can be reduced on the environment. Determine areas where you may already practice energy conservation and also identify at least three ways in which you can reduce your energy use at home, work, or in other areas you engage in on a regular basis.