Clean, Affordable, and Sustainable

Energy across North America

Pollution Punishers

Cupertino High School

10100 Finch Ave, Cupertino, CA 95014

Participants: Rishabh Shah, Aneesh Gada

Table of Contents

Section 1: Executive Summary …………………………………………… 2

Section 2: Issue Statement ………………………………………………... 4

Section 3: Root Causes..……………………………………………………. 5

Section 4: Effects of the Issue.………………………………………….….. 8

Section 5: Policy Awareness Campaign.…………………………………... 12

Bibliography………………………………………………………………….... 14

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Section 1: Executive Summary

The United States as a whole gets almost 81% of its energy through oil, coal,

and natural gas, which are all examples of fossil fuels. As the nation still highly relies on

fossil fuels as a source of energy on both a commercial and consumer aspect, switching

to alternative, clean energy will be a difficult task, only possible through government

regulation.

A study conducted by Co-Op Energy provided concerning news that if the nation

sticks to the status quo in fossil fuel consumption, all fossil fuel resources will be

depleted by the year 2060. So why is this a problem as of now? Due to a high reliance

on fossil fuels, simple tasks such as heating a home, powering a vehicle, or even

providing electricity will be stopped. The progress our country has made during the

technological revolution will all go to waste if there is no way to power our creations.

With this in mind, the choice is simple. If the nation reduces its consumption of fossil

fuels over the course of these next 40 years, technological innovation and regular tasks

will resume.

Switching to alternative, clean energy is not a simple task. Most people have a

false idea that alternative energy will end up costing them a larger sum of money than

what they pay for fossil fuel energy. While this statement holds true in the short run,

over a longer period of time it is actually statistically true that renewable energy will be

more economically viable. In fact, EnergySage calculated that after installation, solar

energy is $0.02/kWh cheaper than fossil fuels. In addition to the savings, alternative,

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clean energy produces with due time, it does not emit harmful chemicals that affect our

atmosphere, hence the description, “clean”.

Our plan is to highlight the negatives of sticking fossil fuels as our primary source

of energy and show the benefits of switching to an alternative. Next, we subsidize clean,

renewable energy so it becomes more affordable for the general public and also for

large corporations looking to switch their production processes. Finally, we raise the tax

on fossil fuels, thus causing consumers to feel more inclined to switch to a form of

clean, renewable energy.

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Section 2: Issue Statement

Imagine a world where cars are being run on algae biofuel, planes generate

energy as they zoom through the sky, and your television is powered by nuclear energy.

While this future may sound like utopia to many, it is a probable reality that can be

reached with the modern capabilities of alternative, clean energy. Over the next 40

years, our nation will be in its biggest fight against time; in the year 2060, by sticking to

the status quo of fossil fuel consumption, the nation will have depleted all of its oil,

natural gas, and coal reserves, which currently make up 81% of the nation’s energy

source. Unless we want to go back to the “dark” ages, where we cannot complete

simple tasks like cooking food, heating a house, or powering the television, we as a

society need to make strives towards switching to clean, affordable, and sustainable

energy.

The issue that we are currently tackling is quite similar to Next Generation

Nation’s sixth goal, “Ensure Sustainable, Dependable, and Efficient Clean Energy for

All.” Both our issue and NGN’s 6th goal are committed to changing the current norm of

using fossil fuels as a primary source for energy.

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Section 3: Root Causes

Fossil fuels have been harnessed into forms of energy for hundreds of years, but

why is it not a long term option if we have been using it for so long?

Root Causes of the Issue:

1. Resources are finite. Back in the early stages of fossil fuel usage, its utilization

was tremendously lower than what it is at present. While in our modern era, we

are finding ways to maximize energy efficiency, such as hybrid cars or using

artificial intelligence to turn off systems when not in use, we are still depleting

fossil fuels at a much higher rate than before:

This graph, provided by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, provides an

accurate representation of how fossil fuels are being depleted at greatly

increasing rate.

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2. Burning fossil fuels is causing a negative environmental impact. Fossil fuel

consumption essentially adds more “fuel” to the fire which is global warming.

Global warming occurs with carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels, which is

the most significant greenhouse gas in our atmosphere. This greenhouse gas

absorbs heat from the Sun and, in turn, raises the global temperature.

3. As the supply of fossil fuels decreases, the price would as well increase.

To counteract the increase in price, the government would institute a price

ceiling. With a price ceiling, the fossil fuel market would be an inefficient one, as

there would be a “dead weight lost” when the government tries to control the

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price from skyrocketing. This means that there is business being lost out on, and

as such, the economy is not being maximized.

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Section 4: Effects of the Issue

The root causes of the issue provide enough explanation on why we as a

nation need to move on from fossil fuels, but to what? The simple answer is clean,

renewable energy. By switching to renewable energy, we are helping the environment

and creating a larger market with more jobs, which in turn benefits the economy.

In the United States, most of the emissions of human-caused greenhouse gases

come primarily from burning fossil fuels such as coal, hydrocarbon gas liquids, natural

gas, and petroleum. Fossil fuels consist mainly of carbon and hydrogen. When fossil

fuels are burned, oxygen combines with carbon to form CO2 and with hydrogen to form

water. These reactions release heat that we use for energy. The amount of CO2

produced depends on the carbon content of the fuel, and the amount of heat produced

depends on the carbon and hydrogen content. Because natural gas, which is mostly

methane, has a high hydrogen content, combustion of natural gas produces less CO2

for the same amount of heat produced from burning other fossil fuels. In 2017, about

45% of U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide emissions came from burning petroleum

fuels, 29% came from burning natural gas, and 26% came from burning coal:

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These graphs show the total energy consumption and the resulting CO2

emissions from those medians of energy. One interesting thing to point out is that the

non-fossil fuels, also known as clean energy, does not have any CO2 emissions. The

same could be said about energy consumption in the electric power sector:

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The clean energy field has also improved the economy and will continue to boost

it as time progresses. Employment in the renewable energy and energy efficiency

sectors in both the United States and abroad continued to experience growth through

2016. According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), renewable energy

employment alone grew by nearly 18% between Q2 2015 and Q1 2016. The agency

reports that 3,384,834 Americans were directly employed by the clean energy industry

in Q1 2016. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, The industry

created more than 500 000 new jobs globally in 2017, with the total number of people

employed in renewables surpassing 10 million for the first time.

A benefit to renewable energy is that it comes in many forms. The benefit of this

is that jobs in this industry are not specific to just one field, but a wider variety. A

chemical engineering major could find himself working in biofuel, a electrical

engineering major could land a job in solar cells, and a mechanical engineer could find

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themselves working in wind energy. The beauty of renewable energy is that it provides

jobs to millions of people from millions of different backgrounds.

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Section 5: Policy Awareness Campaign

Switching to clean, renewable energy is of the utmost importance for this nation,

so how do we go about implementing a policy that will make this happen? Well, it first

starts with informing the public about the issue of fossil fuels. Most of America still

believes that we have sufficient fossil fuels to last us for a couple of hundred years, thus

they are not too worried about switching. This mindset will not instate change, so by

advocating this issue and spreading the word about the imminent danger, more people

would be inclined to change.

With more support, a policy must be passed to subsidize renewable energy, to

deflate its cost to the public. As more people find that the prices of renewable energy

are dropping and the benefits it brings in the long run, they will be more inclined to

change. To counteract the subsidization of renewable energy, they should raise taxes

on fossil fuels. As fossil fuels are currently still at large, the tax income that the

government can receive will sufficiently pay for the subsidization.

Through the dropping prices on renewable energy and the increased tax on fossil

fuel, consumers would be more inclined to switch, slowly positioning renewable energy

as the leading energy source in the nation.

The progress can be easily monitored by statistical data collected by the

Department of Energy at the end of every year depicting the percentage of the public

using renewable energy.

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Within the next 40 years, fossil fuels will be depleted, but our nation will be

prepared, as we will be relying on renewable energy, the better energy.

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Bibliography

● “Green Energy.” Midcounties Co-Operative Energy,

www.cooperativeenergy.coop/customer-service/frequently-asked-questions/green-energ

y/green-energy-faqs/when-will-fossil-fuels-run-out/.

● Piccirilli Dorsey, Inc. “Fact Sheet - Jobs in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

(2017).” EESI - Environmental and Energy Study Institute,

www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-jobs-in-renewable-energy-and-energy-efficiency-20

17.

● “Renewable Energy Jobs Reach 10.3 Million Worldwide in 2017.” IRENA â International

Renewable Energy Agency,

www.irena.org/newsroom/pressreleases/2018/May/Renewable-Energy-Jobs-Reach-10-

Million-Worldwide-in-2017.

● Richardson, Luke. “Solar Energy vs Fossil Fuels: How Do They Compare? |

EnergySage.” Solar News, EnergySage, 15 Jan. 2019,

news.energysage.com/solar-energy-vs-fossil-fuels/.

● “The Hidden Costs of Fossil Fuels.” Union of Concerned Scientists,

www.ucsusa.org/clean-energy/coal-and-other-fossil-fuels/hidden-cost-of-fossils.

● “The National Academies Presents: What You Need to Know About Energy.” Fossil

Fuels -, needtoknow.nas.edu/energy/energy-sources/fossil-fuels/.

● “U.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA - Independent Statistics and Analysis.”

Factors Affecting Gasoline Prices - Energy Explained, Your Guide To Understanding

Energy - Energy Information Administration,

www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=26912.

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● “Where Greenhouse Gases Come From.” Factors Affecting Gasoline Prices - Energy

Explained, Your Guide To Understanding Energy - Energy Information Administration,

www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.php?page=environment_where_ghg_come_from.

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