Renewable and Fossil EnergyBy: Noah Long

Research Question My Question: Should the United States government work towards sustainable energy now or later?

Answer: I believe that a major growth towards sustainable energy right now will have a negative impact on the United States.

Research Used Google search engine to find broad spectrum of information.

Found News articles and Analysis of Energy Situation in the United States and to the whole world.

Found Articles that had research and opinions from scientist and professionals on the topic.

Findings The United States uses about 18.8 million barrels of oil a day

One barrel is the equivalent of 42 gallons

The discovery of more oil underneath United States Soil.

The plan to create the Keystone XL pipeline

Findings Keystone XL pipeline connecting oil from Canada to the gulf coast of Texas.

Construction will create a lot of jobs.

Will be a help in the stabilization of our economic hardships

More Findings North America contains 1.7 trillion gallons of untouched oil underground

Enough oil to run America for almost 250 years

Also holds 4244 trillion cubic feet of Natural gas.

Enough gas to run America for 175 years

More Findings Most efficient Solar panel can convert 23.5 to 28.5 percent of the Suns energy into useable electricity.

An area of 100 mile by 100 mile of Solar panels could provide energy for the entire Southwest region.

Same amount of area that has been stripped mined for the mining of coal.

Findings Continued Because of recent findings carbon dioxide levels have been reduced a lot

Energy companies are using natural gas more than the dirtier coal as the recommended fuel.

Natural gas emits 45 percent less carbon dioxide then coal does.

Findings Continued The recent construction of solar and wind farms haven't impacted the total carbon dioxide emission enough to make that much of a change.

A lot of land and resources are needed to create solar and wind farms.

For the cost and land area used to create solar and wind farms create little amounts of energy compared to oil and natural gas.

Work CitedHanman, Peter. "Scientists Edging Closer to Creating 'holy Grail' of Renewable Energy World." The Sydney Morning Herald. N.p., 29 Nov. 2012. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://www.smh.com.au/business/carbon-economy/scientists-edging-closer-to-creating-holy-grail-of-renewable-energy-world-20121128-2aecc.html>. "How the U.S. Should React to the U.N.'s Recognition of a Palestinian State." The Week. N.p., 12 Nov. 2012. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://theweek.com/article/index/236273/is-america-on-the-verge-of-becoming-the-worlds-biggest-oil-producer>. "Article." Renewable Energy Sources in the United States. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2012. <http://www.nationalatlas.gov/articles/people/a_energy.html>.  Smith, Charles H. "We're No. 1 (and No. 3)! Surprising Facts About the U.S. and Oil."DailyFinance.com. N.p., 28 Feb. 2012. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/02/28/surprising-facts-about-us-and-oil/>. "Editorial: Dark Side of Solar Energy." The Orange County Register. N.p., 30 Nov. 2012. Web. 1 Dec. 2012. <http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/solar-379273-times-acres.html>.