Nuclear energy, coal, crude oil, and natural gas are all types of non-renewable energy. Scientists and society frequently question and look into which form of non-renewable energy is the most efficient, cost effective, and least harmful to environment.
Nuclear energy poses positives such as a reduced amount of fossil fuels, a lesser amount of fuel needed, reliability, competitive costs, and efficiency. However, with these benefits there are some disadvantages such as the amount of time nuclear waste must be stored to be safe, nuclear plants only last so long, and radioactive explosions can be impossible to contain if systems fail. The positive outcomes of using coal is that coal energy is an affordable energy source, it is easy to burn, it produces high energy upon combustion, it is inexpensive, abundant, and is known to be a reliable energy source. Just like nuclear energy it has its downs. Coal creates greenhouse gas emissions, mining destruction, generates tons of waste, and emission of harmful substances such as mercury sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, selenium, and arsenic. Crude oil is beneficial because it generates heat, the petroleum can be used in clothing, furniture, insulation, cars, and food. This means that it is a significantly large part of everyday life. Oil can be easily transported by pipelines and oil power stations can be built almost anywhere. The downsides are that burning oil produces carbon dioxide gas, burning oil pollutes the air, oil is becoming more and more expensive, and producing electricity from crude oil is more expensive in comparison to coal or gas. Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel. Its positives are that it burns cleanly and there is no soot or ash residue, it eliminates the need for an underground storage tank, and it is non-toxic. The negatives are that it is flammable, when it burns carbon dioxide, monoxide, and other carbon compounds are emitted, installation of a pipe can be expensive, and its milage is lower than gasoline. A few of these examples of non-renewable energies have issues with greenhouse gas emission. The one that stood out the most personally was nuclear energy because it has the looming issue of nuclear waste that has to be stored for hundreds of years until it is no longer radioactive. This becomes a problem because there can sometimes be issues with the storage in which the systems may fail and spills can happen.
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