Introduction
Throughout the life of Mankind, man has been using fossil fuels in meeting his energy requirements. Oil, natural gas, and coal have for many years powered machines and lit homes, driving civilization forward. But as development continues to accelerate, the unsustainability of such forms of energy is becoming apparent. The supplies of global energy continue to deteriorate and the atmosphere becoming more populated. There is the need to increase search and utilization of renewable energy sources for a sustainable future.
Introduction
Civilization currently stands at a critical and alarming juncture. The current society is on the cusp of adapting and using clean energy at a scale that has never been experienced before. However, for renewable energy to continue with its rapid advancement, there is the need to take the right decisions. When renewable energy was first introduced on the global scenario, there were a lot of questions about how scalable and stable it was. Unstable policies powering future at a micro-level were exacerbated by lack of funding and technological immaturity. Clean energy installations nevertheless continued to grow until a dramatic leap that was witnessed a few years ago (Zuo and YuZhao 271-281).
Global Increase in Renewable Energy
Currently, more than a fifth of the electricity at a global level is produced using renewable energy. 2016 saw about 160W of clean energy being installed globally. This was a ten percent increase from 2015 but the cost was a quarter less compared to the previous year. New solar power has been the main boost, being the source of almost half of all the new energy capacity, wind power providing a third of the capacity, and hydropower contributing about fifteen percent. It was that first time that added solar capacity topped other forms of electricity-producing technology. Several nations have come up with steep capacity installation targeting the next ten to fifteen years after the COP21 (Zuo and YuZhao 271-281). Emerging giants like India and China, taking note of the excessive pollution levels in most of the cities, are leading this renewal energy charge. The Paris Agreement targets are still expected to be the main drivers for growth in the sector in future despite the United States withdrawal.
Drop in Costs of Renewable Energy
The last couple of years have witnessed an unprecedented drop in the costs of renewable energy production. It is emerging as the cheapest energy source for more and more nations. Both wind and solar power have gone through a notable percentage drop in production costs in mid to high teens. Such heady declines in production cost are likely to be experienced in the coming decades. Taking into consideration it increasing affordability, the use, and applications, it is offering solutions for energy security and mobility globally. The market of the electric vehicle has been growing rapidly, with countries like China and Japan being on the lead, and American and European markets starting to follow suit. Nations such as India are already targeting an overhaul of electrification of its vehicular fleet and it hopes to achieve this by 2030. The widespread and affordability of using electric vehicles is driven apart mainly by falling costs of batteries (Zuo and YuZhao 271-281). These have created room for further solutions for energy stability including grid management with the use of utility-scale batteries, wind-solar hybrid generation, and plausible alternative options for power storage like gas grid and pumped hydro to ensure an adequate balancing mechanism. However, despite these positive future projects on renewable energy and steep targets, there is need to make sure that the growing energy sector is well managed. This growth will see massive renewables being built. From such, it is very important to make sure that there are the right balancing loads from hydropower and thermal sources.
Smart Grids and Funding for Renewable Energy
The infirm nature of the power supply of renewable energy is likely to need a smart grid for its management at scale. The capacity of the energy sources that are more stable will have to keep up. However, once solutions that are more viable have been developed, it will be possible to have the renewable load balanced. Both solar and wind power are infirm in nature and this means that the electricity pricing has to match its availability. The LCOE for the renewable energy sources is plummeting (). But the enthusiasm of large-scale producers of independent power for gaining market share is resulting in competitive prices for clean energy to reduce at a rate that is unattainable. Specifically in emerging nations, in cases where funding costs are high, it is important to make sure that sufficient funding access is made available for better returns on capital employed.
Promising Alternatives for a Greener Future
The new instruments and funding mechanism advent should make sure that local companies in emerging nations are in a position to compete with global players and the growth in the fuel sector. New sources of funding are also important for cutting down on the cycle and increasing technology innovation. Apart from enabling new manufacturing techniques to come up with higher capabilities to generate electricity, funding may advance the innovation rates rapidly in areas of micro and robotics grids (Zuo and YuZhao 271-281). Developing nations are set to benefit more from such advances in technology and funding. New Communities in such nations could be powered fully by a stable supply of clean energy through a combination generation, smart grids and storage options. Electric mobility is likely to act as an emergency power source and a distributed load. The public-private partnership needs to be encouraged to enable renewable energy development to complement the progress being witnessed in the current regeneration and society.
Promising Alternatives for a Greener Future
There are a number of promising alternatives for greener and cleaner future that include:
Nuclear Energy: As the global demand for renewable energy continues to grow, nuclear energy has gained increased importance as a clean power source that is used to address the climate change global issue. Volatility in the fossil prices and the increasing concerns by different nations to be able to secure renewable energy supplies are other nuclear energy drivers. Nuclear fission is deemed to be a possible solution to the current energy crises. If proper measures are put in place to make the most of nuclear fusion for energy generation in a manner that is viable, it could emerge the main source of renewable energy across the globe. Nuclear fusion is one of the cleanest energy production processes, with low levels of emission of carbon dioxide.
Biomass and Biofuels: These include energy from animal and plant sources. Ethanol or oil from plants such as algae, switchgrass, sugarcane, corn, and poplar can be directly used or mixed with other types of fuels like gasoline and commercial diesel to produce energy. Even plant matter like dead leaves can be burnt to produce energy (Zuo and YuZhao 271-281). Biomass includes any recyclable waster from animal and plant sources can be used as fuel.
Other Promising Alternatives: With the new technological advancement, and the new insights development into the surrounding and environment, scientists are on a daily basis coming up or improving the already existing adventurous options of energy. Some of them include geothermal energy, fuel cells and wave and tidal energy. Fuel Cells work like batteries but utilize reactants form external sources unlike the case of batteries produce their own energy. If the oxidant and fuel cells are maintained properly, power may be generated continuously. The fuel cells efficiency is proportional to the energy being generated from it. They are also extremely reliable and lightweight; Geothermal energy is generated from magma in the interior of the Earth. This form of energy is a reliable source of clean energy in future. Harnessing geothermal energy requires minimal land and no fuel. It is very sustainable and relatively cheap source of energy considering the fact that the amount of heat in the Earth's surface is vast that it can never get finished (Delucchi, and Jacobson 57-65). Such a source of renewable energy will still suffice and continue to be used for millions of years in future. Oceanic energy is harnessed from oceans and considering how oceans are vast, this means that it is possible to generate large energy amounts. The generated energy from waves and tides can be harnessed to produce large amounts of electrical energy. The temperature differences that result from the varying depths can be directed to propel engines that in turn generate electric power. Despite the fact that most of these new sources of renewable energy are still in their experimental stages, if funded and researched properly, they can turn out as a breakthrough in relation to sources of energy in future (Delucchi, and Jacobson 57-65).
Conclusion
Liberalization or careful protectionism according to each nation’s requirements of the renewable energy sector is necessary to avoid affecting the energy sector growth negatively in the long run. They have to be a balance between incentives for the focus of companies on one hand and fair competition on the other hand, while at the same time achieving good returns from their investments. Different countries need to focus on manufacturing and technology commitments aimed at supporting the future of renewable energy. Renewable energy is a phenomenon that is on the upswing globally. For the future that is foreseeable, its growth is set to continue accelerating.
Conclusion
However, proper measures have to be put in place to make sure that future progress takes place in the right manner. The decisions and priorities that are being taken now will determine how future societies will benefit or suffer in relation to energy. Currently, the source of energy that is considered as being most economic and efficient is oil, in the future, when all the oil reserves will be depleted, there will be another energy source. This means that man has to remain proactive in exploring new energy firms to continue the civilization.
Works Cited
Delucchi, Mark A., and Mark Z. Jacobson. "A Plan for a Sustainable Future: How to Get All Energy from Wind, Water and Solar Power by 2030." Scientific American (2009): 57-65. Print
Zuo Jian and YuZhao Zhen. Green building research–current status and future agenda: A review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 30(2014):271-281
