The Future of Electricity

Electricity is used everywhere, from lamps to TVs and iPhones. But have you ever wondered where it comes from? The

answer to many is simple - power stations. But what do they run on? Power stations run on fossil fuels. But what are fossil

fuels?

Fossil fuels are made from decomposing plants and animals. This fuel is formed over an extremely long period of time -

more than a million years! Some examples include oil and coal. They are what we use to power our homes. That doesn't

sound that bad... does it? Though we need to look at the ramifications of using such fuels. And... they are not good... at all.

When burning these fuels to transfer them into electricity, gases such as carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide are formed.

These gases are detrimental to the environment and us. These gases are responsible for the polar ice melting, floods

occurring and much much more. The change to renewable electricity has to happen fast before it is too late. The change to

electricity which does not leave a scar on our planet Earth has to happen now. We have to change 64% of electricity coming

from fossil fuels to 0% within 50 years. But how?

Solar panels transfer energy from the Sun into electricity. Wind turbines convert kinetic energy from the wind into electricity

Renewable energy can come from wind, solar, water, food, and more. Renewable energy has the potential to completely

replace fossil fuels. We can make the 2% of world electricity which comes from solar energy rise like all the other

renewables. We can, we just have to make that little push. We can also start using and investing in hydrogen, air, ethanol

and electric powered cars instead of using a petrol or diesel ones as these are very bad for the environment.

In fact, according to Our World In Data, nearly a quarter of CO2 emissions from energy comes from transport. Many people

say that you should just switch to an electric car then you’re fine, your car does not let out emissions. This is not true. The

electricity that we use to charge the batteries in electric cars could come from fossil fuels so then what is the point of the

electric car. It would only be truly worthwhile if your car was electric AND you had a 100% green energy tariff AND your car

was made out of 100% green energy resources. So, is it really that easy to be completely green? The future of electricity is

still undecided. Continuing to use fossil fuels will cause irrevocable damage to the Earth. In addition, fossil fuels will not last

forever. In fact, oil will only last approximately 50 more years at the rate we are currently using it. This is yet another reason

why we need to change to renewables quickly.

Petrol Car Electric Car

References:

Non-renewable energy: National Geographic BBC Bitesize

Renewable and Non- renewable energy resources - Our World In Data.org : CO2 emissions from transport