Alternative Energy Options, US Energy Information Administration

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As you know, our world is heavily dependent on fossil fuels for meeting our energy needs. In Chapter 6 of Contemporary Environmental Issues, you have read that there is concern about the possibility of reaching a peak in oil production, and even coal and natural gas will eventually run out. (Next week, in Chapter 7 of the textbook, we will read about an even more pressing reason for no longer relying on fossil fuels: global climate change.) Chapter 8 of Contemporary Environmental Issues introduces a variety of possible alternative energy sources, including nuclear power and many renewable options like wind power and solar energy.
Next week, you will be participating in a collaborative project aimed at developing an alternative energy plan for a particular community – the details of which won’t be revealed until then. For now, let’s all pool our research into what possible energy choices might be able to help us move away from fossil fuels.
In your main post this week, please
Identify two alternatives to fossil fuels that are currently available.
Discuss the barriers that keep these alternatives from replacing coal, oil, and natural gas as our primary means of energy.
Discuss the role that government plays in ensuring a transition to these renewable alternatives in a post-carbon world.
Be creative here – the ideas you explore now might become the building blocks for next week’s sustainable energy plan.
Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. Utilize at least two scholarly or reputable resources and your textbook to support your claims, using the Scholarly, Peer Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. document for guidance. Cite your sources in APA style (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., as outlined in Ashford Writing Center (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Quoted text should constitute no more than ten percent of your post.
Guided Response: Review several of your classmates’ posts and respond to at least two of your peers by 11:59 p.m. on Day 7 of the week. You are encouraged to post your required replies earlier in the week to promote more meaningful and interactive discourse in this discussion. In your reply, be sure to help strengthen each other’s ideas through constructive dialogue.