PROBLEM SOLUTION ESSAY

                   HOW TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM OF ENERGY CRISIS?

Man employs technology to meet his needs or maintain his standard of living. However,today’s high technology uses so much energy that soon all our resources will be exhausted.Without such energy, industrial production will decrease, agricultural output will drop,transport will be restricted, and standard of living will decline. In other words, the world is on the verge of an energy crisis unless certain measures are taken. The two most commonly proposed solutions to this global problem are reducing the energy waste and developing cheap and convenient energy.

The first solution, reducing the amount of energy waste, is possible to do in a variety of ways.Some of these methods are to improve the efficiency of appliances and vehicles and to encourage people to use more public transportation, bicycle. Such methods would certainly mean more energy saved. Nevertheless, such efficiency and conservation methods are only temporary solutions and do not answer the question what will happen when we have run out of fossil fuels. Besides, not all nations are aware of any recycling or efficiency methods.Neither do they have the technology and money to implement these methods.

The second and a more reasonable solution is using a cheap and convenient alternative energy. This is what scientists have been working on for years. Such sources as solar energy,wind power and wave power have proved to be insufficient or inefficient. It is only nuclear power that remains to be the sole alternative energy to scarce fossil fuels and to meet the world’s growing energy requirement. To illustrate, it is possible to obtain 3 weeks of electricity for a city with a population of 1000, using 20 tonnes of nuclear energy, whereas 120.000 tonnes of coal are required to generate the same amount of energy. Unfortunately, it is true that nuclear plants pose risks to the environment and people. However, the advantages of nuclear energy outweighs its drawbacks because nuclear plants are not only economical but

also more efficient in comparison to our finite sources.

In conclusion, since power demand is increasing while our sources have been decreasing steadily, it is essential that a permanent and efficient solution be implemented to maintain our standard of living. Reducing energy could be a possible solution but it can only extend the life of fossil fuels, which will inevitably run out in time. Therefore, it is necessary to exploit the energy stored in the atom. This provides a long-term and economical solution to the problem.If we address the problem with short-sighted solutions, their long-term consequences are bound to be very undesirable.