Sustinable Energy Development In The 21st Century
Sustainable energy development in the 21st century is of utmost importance to society and our way of life. Currently, the world’s economy is fueled by petroleum products and other fossil fuels. Gasoline and diesel power our vehicles; coal burning plants heat our homes; natural gas heats our food. This has been ideal during the 20th century, but 21st century challenges necessitate new innovations.
The first major challenge is to find a suitable replacement to power our vehicles. With peak oil either having already occurred or possibly occurring within this century, gasoline is not a reliable source of fuel.I found some more information here. Electric car technology has made enormous strides in the past decade and several automakers are rolling out hybrid and electric cars in 2012 and onwards. With the government setting new limits on emissions and requirements for renewable energy goals, these cars will likely get more and more popular as time goes on.
As far as generating the electricity need to power those cars, heat our homes, and give us light, there are a variety of technologies currently in use and being expanded. Solar panels are the cleanest and easiest ones. They can be placed anywhere, and a relatively small number is all that is needed to power a home. Nuclear energy is also a technology in use that can be expanded. The most ideal solution would be for nuclear fusion power technology to be fully developed, as it would provide easy, cheap energy.