Alternative energy

Introduction
Pros
- Pro 1: Alternative energies not only can but must replace fossil fuels if we want to continue living on Earth.
- Pro 2: Many countries are already operating on significant renewable energy sources.
- Pro 3: Nuclear energy, a low-carbon source of alternative energy, is the quickest way to end dependence on fossil fuels.
Cons
- Con 1: Natural gas, a fossil fuel, is an appropriate and necessary bridge fuel to meet net-zero emissions goals.
- Con 2: The idea that renewable energies will fill the energy needs of large countries anytime soon hinders realistic change for the better.
- Con 3: Nuclear energy is too dangerous and ineffective to be a serious solution to global warming.
Alternative energy sources explained
- Biomass
- Geothermal
- Hydroelectric
- Nuclear
- Solar
- Wind
United States energy use by source
- Fossil fuel energy use
- Renewable energy
- Nuclear energy
State-by-state energy use
- 2023 state-by-state fossil fuel power consumption
- 2023 state-by-state nuclear power consumption
- 2023 state-by-state renewable power consumption
Historical timeline
- 2000 bce–1499
  - 2000 bce - Chinese first to use coal as an energy source
  - 200 bce - Chinese develop natural gas as an energy source
  - 200 bce - Europeans harness water energy to power mills
  - 1st Century - Chinese first to refine petroleum (oil) for use as an energy source
  - 10th Century - Windmills built in Persia to grind grain and pump water
- 1500–1799
  - 1590s - Dutch build windmills for multiple uses
  - 1600s - Development of coal coke in England aids iron production and helps to pave the way for the Industrial Revolution
  - 1700s - Coal begins to displace use of other energies
  - 1712 - First steam engine developed in England to pump water out of coal mines
  - 1748 - First commercial coal production in the U.S. begins in Richmond, Virginia
- 1800–99
  - 1821 - First natural gas well in the U.S. is drilled
  - 1830 - Coal becomes primary train fuel in the U.S., displacing wood
  - 1830s - First coal powered iron forges are developed in New England
  - 1830s - Ethanol blend becomes popular lamp fuel in the U.S., displacing whale oil
  - 1838 - First hydrogen fuel cell developed to generate electricity
  - 1850s - Windmill becomes popular water-pumping tool of Western homesteaders and railroad builders
  - 1859 - First commercial oil well drilled by Edwin Drake in Pennsylvania; kerosene begins to displace other lamp fuels
  - 1860 - First solar power system developed in France to produce steam to drive machinery
  - 1862 - Abraham Lincoln enacts an ethanol tax to help finance the Civil War, severely hampering the ethanol fuel industry
  - 1870 - John D. Rockefeller forms Standard Oil and develops petroleum as a major energy source in the U.S.
  - 1876 - First demonstration of generating electricity directly from sunlight in a selenium solar cell
  - September 4, 1882 - First electric plant built by Thomas Edison in New York
  - September 30, 1882 - First commercial scale hydroelectric plant goes into operation in Appleton, Wisconsin
  - 1888 - First windmill to generate electricity developed in Cleveland
  - 1892 - World’s first geothermal district heating system built in Boise, Idaho
- 1900–49
  - 1900 - First diesel engine to run on vegetable oil demonstrated at World’s Fair in Paris
  - 1901 - Birth of the modern oil industry: Lucas Gusher and the discovery of Texas’s vast Spindletop oil field
  - June 8, 1906 - The “free alcohol bill” is signed to promote the use of alcohol as an alternative to gasoline
  - 1906–08 - Studies on alcohol fuel (ethanol) find advantages over petroleum fuels such as gasoline and kerosene
  - May 15, 1911 - U.S. Supreme Court orders dissolution of Standard Oil Trust for engaging in monopolistic practices
  - 1921 - World’s first geothermal power plant is built in California
  - 1924 - First federal law established to control pollution from the oil industry
  - 1927 - First commercial wind turbines sold to generate electricity on remote farms
  - 1930s - Alcohol fuel production promoted to combat the Great Depression
  - 1935 - Hoover Dam, the world’s largest hydroelectric power plant, is built
  - 1938 - Natural Gas Act: First direct federal regulation of natural gas industry
  - December 1942 - First controlled nuclear chain reaction
  - 1946 - Atomic Energy Act of 1946: U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) created
- 1950s
  - 1950 - Petroleum becomes most used fuel in the U.S.
  - 1950s - Natural gas becomes a major fuel in the U.S. with extensive construction of natural gas pipelines
  - December 20, 1951 - First nuclear power reactor to generate electricity built in Idaho
  - 1953 - First silicon solar cell developed at Bell Laboratories
  - August 30, 1954 - U.S. Congress passes Atomic Energy Act of 1954
  - June 1956 - M. King Hubbert develops the “Hubbert’s peak theory” for measuring oil supply; peak of U.S. oil production correctly predicted
  - September 2, 1957 - Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act of 1957 passed to stimulate the development of the private nuclear energy industry
  - December 2, 1957 - First commercial nuclear power plant begins operation in Shippingport, Pennsylvania
  - 1958 - First U.S. satellite in orbit utilizes solar cells for power
- 1960s
  - 1960s - General Electric (GE) develops hydrogen fuel cells to generate electricity for Apollo and Gemini space missions
  - 1960 - First commercial scale geothermal electric plants in the U.S. built in California
  - September 10-14, 1960 - Formation of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Baghdad, Iraq
  - January 28, 1969 - Santa Barbara oil spill draws national attention
- 1970s
  - 1970 - Geothermal steam Act of 1970 passed to allow the leasing of federal land for geothermal energy development
  - 1970 - Oil production peaks in the lower 48 states
  - 1973 - OPEC oil embargo against the U.S. causes gas shortages and rationing
  - November 16, 1973 - Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act of 1973 passed to increase domestic oil supplies in wake of oil embargo
  - October 11, 1974 - Congress creates the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to replace the Atomic Energy Commission
  - 1975 - Federal involvement in wind energy development advances wind energy technology
  - December 22, 1975 - Formation of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; President Gerald Ford signs into law the Energy Policy and Conservation Act
  - 1977 - Formation of the Solar Energy Research Institute
  - August 4, 1977 - Department of Energy Organization Act is signed, creating the U.S. Department of Energy
  - 1978 - World’s first solar powered village: Tohono O’odham Reservation, Arizona
  - 1979 - Soldier’s Grove Wisconsin also claims “First Solar Village” title
  - March 28, 1979 - Three Mile Island nuclear accident in Pennsylvania creates widespread public opposition to nuclear power
- 1980s
  - December 1980 - World’s first wind farm built in New Hampshire
  - 1981 - Solar One: First large scale solar-thermal power plant begins operation in Daggett, California
  - 1981 - Construction begins on the world’s largest wind farm in California’s Altamont Pass; bird deaths from wind turbines number in the thousands
  - 1982 - First complete decontamination and decommissioning of a nuclear reactor in the U.S.
  - April 26, 1986 - Largest nuclear accident ever takes place at Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union
  - March 24, 1989 - Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska becomes the largest oil spill in U.S. waters
- 1990s
  - 1994 - U.S. begins importing more petroleum than it produces
  - April 1996 - Solar two plant demonstrates low-cost method of storing solar energy
- 2000s
  - February 2008 - First commercial cellulosic ethanol plant goes into production in Wyoming
  - December 22, 2008 - Worst coal ash spill in U.S. history in Kingston, Tennessee
- 2010s
  - April 20, 2010 -
  - March 11, 2011 - Earthquake off coast of Japan damages six power plants at Fukushima Daiichi; nuclear crisis eventually reaches level 7, the highest level possible
  - February 9, 2012 - U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approves new nuclear power plants for first time since 1978; two new reactors to be built in Georgia
  - March 27, 2012 - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces first Clean Air Act standard for carbon pollution from new power plants
  - April 17, 2012 - EPA issues first clean air rules for natural gas produced by fracking
  - February 13, 2014 - Ivanpah, the world’s largest concentrated solar power generation plant, goes online
  - September 22, 2014 - Rockefellers and over 800 global investors announce fossil-fuel divestment
  - July 31, 2017 - Two nuclear power reactors in South Carolina abandoned before construction completed
  - May 9, 2018 - Solar power to be required on all new California homes by 2020
  - March 22, 2019 - New Mexico commits to 100 percent renewable energy for electricity by 2050
  - September 20, 2019 - Three Mile Island to close, site of worst commercial nuclear accident in U.S.
- 2020s
  - April 15, 2020 - Oil and electricity demands drop during COVID-19 pandemic
  - April 2020 - Big banks refuse funds for some fossil fuel projects
  - December 9, 2020 - New York says employee pension fund will divest from oil and gas companies if not aligned with Paris agreement
  - April 2021 - Indian Point nuclear plant to close
  - May 11, 2021 - U.S. approves first major American offshore wind project
  - September 21, 2021 - China announces end to building coal-burning power plants abroad
  - November 9, 2021 - Rolls-Royce announces plans to build nuclear power plants in Britain
  - December 15, 2021 - New York City to ban new natural gas connections
  - April 7, 2022 - Stanford University engineers create solar panels that generate electricity at night
  - April 2022 - American Lung Association says switch to zero-emission transportation and noncombustion electricity could save 110,000 lives
  - September 20, 2022 - World’s largest wealth fund to decarbonize holdings
  - August 14, 2023 - Montana judge rules in favor of youth: State violated their constitutional right to clean environment
  - December 13, 2023 - Nearly 200 countries agree to transition away from fossil fuels
  - September 2024 - Three Mile Island to reopen
  - December 15, 2024 - Tankers dump 2,400 metric tons oil in Black Sea in accident
  - March 2025 - Finland set to open first permanent underground nuclear waste disposal site
  - March 11, 2025 - Solar gains outpace other energy sources in 2024
  - April 9, 2025 - Gallup reports near record high for nuclear energy
  - June 2025 - New York plans new nuclear power plant
  - October 2025 - Globally, renewable electricity generation outpaces coal for first time
  - January 2026 - Coal power rebounds, increasing U.S. emissions
Assessment quiz
1-minute survey
Discussion questions
Sources

References & Edit History Related Topics

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