Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Energy Solution Physical and Chemical Resources

Question: Discuss about theEnergy Solutionfor Physical and Chemical Resources. Answer: Introduction Energy refers to the power as a result of consumption of both physical and chemical resources mainly for the purposes of accessing light, heat and for machines to function. On the other hand, population refers to people living in a particular area or country. Society refers to an organized group of people living together in a community. An environment is a surrounding condition in which people, animals, and plant live. In order to understand how population, society, and environment are interconnected, one has to focus on the consumption of energy. Energy plays an important role in what is referred to as globalization and energy is essential because it affects most of our economic activities which are a course of concern to the modern society (Abdeen, 2012). With a growing population and globalization, the global demand for energy continues to increase which threatens the environment and society at large. Both developed and developing nations require energy and shortages would result in a complete stop of a functioning society. Areas that would be affected include infrastructure, government services, medical facilities and transportation (Chukwuma, 1996). However, in the recent years, other problems related to energy consumption include aging and degradation of power facilities and power rationing has been a cause of concern in developing nations. There are several factors that contribute to a steady supply of energy solution which includes maintenance of infrastructure, development for the generation, transmission and distribution of energy (Csom, 1993). These factors contribute to global warming which has a major impact on the environment. Other serious problems to the environment include abnormal weather patterns, cold spells, floods, rising sea levels and food shortage. With the current consumption of energy solutions, sustainability becomes a major issue of concern and calls for various strategies to slow the progress of global warming through minimizing the use of energy from fossil fuels which contributes to a higher percentage of carbon emission (Ellger Scheiner, 1997). This will require alternative energy sources like renewable energy generated by solar power or wind. When the demand for energy grows, inhabitants of a society may suffer not only from economic hardship but may also suffer from limited resources. If energy solutions continue to be generated without factoring sustainability as well as political costs, it then becomes an issue of major concern because it threatens the well-being of a functional society (Giampietro Mayumi, 2000). The growth of population has resulted in an increased demand for energy solution in order to meet basic needs which have contributed to increasing prices and as a result, there is a continuing growth in the environmental impact which directly influences on local, regional and international environmental issues such as air, ocean, water and climate pollution. The rate at which world population is growing has contributed to more than 52% of energy production. In order to address the issue of energy problems, various policies have been developed to advocate for more resources in order to improve efficiency through reducing environmental impact so that it is sustainable in the future (Han et al, 2012). Since energy is a prerequisite for material growth and lack of it directly affect the wellbeing of human activities such as transport, lighting, and cooking. On the other hand, when there is growing energy supply without factoring environmental and sociopolitical factors, energy becomes a threat to the society. Hydroelectric power is considered as an energy resource based on geographical location. Since hydroelectric power plants use barrages to produce electricity. It does not have any significant effect on the environment this is because energy is converted to kinetic energy which has no negative impact on the environment (Huesemann, 2003). However, hydroelectric plants have an effect on culture, socio-economic, ecological and hydroelectric when it is operational. This is because the surface area of a reservoir is wider than a river and as vaporization increases, the amount of humidity in the air also increases causing changes in temperature, wind, and rainfall. As a result, the animals and plants living both in land and water in areas around hydroelectricity are forced to adapt to the changing environment in order to survive. During the construction of a hydroelectric plant, social-economic factors are affected both positively and negatively since the size and the quality of land under water causes an internal and external movement that brings changes to the value of land (Kerr Mellon, 2012). On the other hand, the labor required for the construction of a hydropower plant has a positive effect through increased social amenities to the region. If the historical assets and natural resources cannot be protected then cultural values of a particular area may disappear. Thermal power plants comprise of fossil fuels, coal, and petroleum which accounts to between 30- 40 percent of the energy produced. Thermal plants require huge amounts of cooling water and for this reason; most of the thermal plants are constructed close to a lake or sea (Lankao, Tribbia Nychka, 2009). The gasses released by the funnels have a negative effect on the plants where these gasses enter the plants and destroy chlorophyll in the leaves of a plant. In addition to a thermal effect on plants, land, and human beings, it also causes air, water and soil pollution. The major effect of a nuclear plant to the environment includes emission of radioactive materials to the environment in the event of an accident. The impact on radiation also varies significantly depending on the nature of the accident, type of reactor as well as response time to mitigate the effects of a nuclear plant accident (Pollmann, Podruzsik Fehr, 2014). The radiation effect of a nuclear accident will affect water, air, and soil of the surrounding areas. However, there are strategies that have been put in place to address these issues of energy solution and among these strategies is being energy efficient where efficiency involves providing the same services but at using less energy. Another solution to the effect of energy on the environment is completely moving to a position where cleaner forms of energy are recommended for the purpose of sustainability. Therefore every aspect of human life dependent on energy solutions and as the population continues to grow, more resources is required to sustain the population growth and to grow the economy (Saka, 2014). As a result of globalization, energy solution interconnects society, environment, and population based on sustainability. Sustainable development is largely concerned with the well-being of the society as well as equity in how society, population, and environment are related to each other. Climatic factors are therefore a significant factor in sustainable development in many areas. Climatic conditions have a potential to influence the society both positively and negatively based on location and social development that has so far been attained. Whenever one is discussing energy solutions then population, society, and environment cannot be ignored because population determines the amount of energy that is going to be produced bearing in mind that consumption should not exceed production (Vance, Eason, Cabezas, 2015). When consumption exceeds production, it threatens the livelihood of people to coexist harmoniously because energy solutions have various impacts on the society and environments and an example is pollution of air, water, and land which supports plants and animals. If population increases, waste material increases in the society which is bound to bring challenges to plants and animals that the human beings consume to supplement their diet (Warham Fisher-lamb, Beddington, 2013). If the environment is polluted through various energy forms then it implies that the society will also be affected and if the society is affected human existence is threatened and therefore the global community is tasked with the responsibility of adapting to strategies and mechanism that will ensure energy solutions are efficient. Conclusion Policies should also be created in order to advocate for renewable source of energy which is considered to be safe since they have less negative impact on the environment. Efficiency and alternative sources of energy is a big step towards addressing environmental management and sustainability for the continuous growth in population across the world. Therefore one cannot discuss the environmental development and sustainability without focusing on population, society and the environment. References Abdeen, M. O. (2012). Clean energies development in built environment. World Journal of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development, 9(1), 45-63. Chukwuma, C. (1996). Perspectives for a sustainable society. Environmental Management and Health, 7(5), 5-20. Csom, G. (1993). Energy -Environment-Society. Periodica Polytechnica.Humanities and Social Sciences, 1(1), 19-27. Ellger, C., Scheiner, J. (1997). After industrial society: Service society as clean society? Environmental consequences of increasing service interaction. The Service Industries Journal, 17(4), 564-579. Giampietro, M., Mayumi, K. (2000). Multiple-scale integrated assessment of societal metabolism: Introducing the approach. Population and Environment, 22(2), 109-153. Han, J., Fontanos, P., Fukushi, K., Herath, S., Heeren, N., Naso, V., Takeuchi, K. (2012). Innovation for sustainability: Toward a sustainable urban future in industrialized cities. Sustainability Science, 7, 91-100. Huesemann, M. H. (2003). The limits of technological solutions to sustainable development. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 5(1), 21-34. Kerr, D., Mellon, H. (2012). Energy, population and the environment: Exploring Canada's record on CO2 emissions and energy use relative to other OECD countries. Population and Environment, 34(2), 257-278. Lankao, P. R., Tribbia, J. L., Nychka, D. (2009). Testing theories to explore the drivers of cities' atmospheric emissions. Ambio, 38(4), 236-44. Pollmann, O., Podruzsik, S., Fehr, O. (2014). Social acceptance of renewable energy: Some examples from Europe and developing Africa. Society and Economy, 36(2), 217-231. Saka, A. (2014). Urban population growth and the environment in china: An investigation. Advances in Management and Applied Economics, 4(1), 137-149. Vance, L., Eason, T., Cabezas, H. (2015). Energy sustainability: Consumption, efficiency, and environmental impact. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 17(7), 1781-1792. Warham, E., Fisher-lamb, R., Beddington, J. (2013). How can the environment become part of the solution to feeding a growing population? The European Journal of Development Research, 25(1), 21-27.

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