ZingPath: Renewable and Nonrenewable Energy Sources

Energy sources are needed to power our modern lives and are an important concern in homes, businesses, manufacturing, and transportation. The supply and demand of energy sources plays an ongoing and significant role in our economy and national security. Two types of energy used to power our world include renewable and nonrenewable sources. Renewable energy sources, those that are naturally replenished, include hydroelectricity, solar power, tidal power, and wind. Nonrenewable energy sources, those that are finite and will eventually dwindle or become too expensive or environmentally damaging to maintain, include non-fossil and fossil fuels. Nuclear energy is a non-fossil fuel, and coal, gas, and oil are fossil fuels. These have been used for years, and we continue to research ways to make the use of these resources cleaner and safer.

While one benefit of using nonrenewable energy sources is that they can be more efficient than competing resources, all nonrenewable energy sources have their drawbacks. For example, natural gas is not available everywhere, and its usage as fuel causes carbon dioxide emissions, which contribute to global warming. Like natural gas, coal is also not available everywhere, and burning coal causes heavy emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and other dangerous particles. Compared to fossil fuels, nuclear energy is cleaner. Although nuclear power plants do not emit harmful gases, used nuclear fuel is radioactive. Radioactive waste can threaten both people and the environment. Another problem with nuclear power plants is that they need water to produce electricity. The used water near nuclear power plants gets warmer and warmer, and this leads to the deaths of some marine life.