With biodiversity in mind, what type(s) of energy sources do you think the United States should use? Explain and justify your choice(s)
The United States should use renewable energy sources to supply its energy needs. This is because renewable energy takes a significant part in minimizing greenhouse emissions. The use of renewable energy can minimize the use of fossil fuels, that are the main sources of the United States’ carbon emissions. According to Renewable Electricity Futures Study, NREL, (2019) , 80% renewable energy production is feasible with the technology currently present, which include hydropower, geothermal, biopower, concentrating solar power, solar photovoltaics, and wind turbines. As such, the electricity demands can be met across the country daily, throughout the year. Moreover, variable sources like solar and wind power can offer nearly half of US electricity and the other renewable sources can provide the remaining (Dagher, Bird & Heeter, 2017) .
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In addition, the U.S. should consider renewable energy as it offers considerable benefits for the climate, economy, and health. It substantially minimizes global warming emissions, creates jobs, improves public health among other benefits. Due to the fact that many renewables do not require water for cooling, the water requirement is dramatically reduced for power generation in comparison to fossil-fueled power generators (Aslani & Wong, 2014) .
The use of renewable energy can only be realized by having the right measures and policies in place. According to Mai, Mulcahy, Hand & Baldwin, (2014) t he United States already has the tools to significantly begin ramping up renewable energy. However, there is need to improve the electricity grid with enhanced transmission infrastructure to incorporate a large quantity of renewable production and integrate highly advanced grid planning to uphold reliability.
Ultimately, what the United States needs is a long-term clean energy source which obviously can be obtained from renewable energy and policy. The purpose of the policy is to develop long-term renewable energy market, motivate and underpin renewable energy integration, place a cost on carbon emission, and increase research and development funding (Mai, Mulcahy, Hand & Baldwin, 2014) .
References
Aslani, A., & Wong, K. (2014). Analysis of renewable energy development to power generation in the United States. Renewable Energy , 63 , 153-161. doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2013.08.047
Dagher, L., Bird, L., & Heeter, J. (2017). Residential green power demand in the United States. Renewable Energy , 114 , 1062-1068. doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2017.07.111
Mai, T., Mulcahy, D., Hand, M., & Baldwin, S. (2014). Envisioning a renewable electricity future for the United States. Energy , 65 , 374-386. doi: 10.1016/j.energy.2013.11.029
Renewable Electricity Futures Study | Energy Analysis | NREL. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.nrel.gov/analysis/re-futures.html
