How The World Views and Uses Fossil Fuels

How The World Views and Uses Fossil Fuels
Alvarez & Arnold (2022) note that there is an increasing effort by the world to move to renewable and clean energy sources from fossil fuels such as coal. Fossil fuels are non-renewable resources formed on earth for millions of years from plants and animal remains. The three primary fossil fuels in all industries and sectors are coal, oil, and natural gas (International Energy Agency, 2021). They generate electricity, power vehicles, and heat homes and businesses. Renewable energy is power harnessed from biological sources replenished in cycles and short timescales, such as sunlight, rain, wind, tides, hydroelectric, and geothermal (McKinsey Global Institute, 2022). Renewables are attractive because they are often less expensive, cleaner, and more sustainable than fossil fuels. The debate between fossil fuels and renewable energy is ongoing, with many supporting the move toward a carbon and net zero worlds.
The past decade has significantly shifted how the world views and uses fossil fuels. In the '90s and the early 2000s, coal and oil were abundant and cheap resources that would fuel the globe’s and America's energy needs (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007). However, the International Energy Agency (2021) notes that fossil resources have become scarce and extremely expensive to mine in the 2020s. Additionally, they are considered dirty and dangerous as they contribute to adverse climate change and global warming. Furthermore, the legacy multinational companies of the fossil fuel age have been forced to change their ways to accommodate green and renewable energies through government policies and regulations (McKinsey Global Institute, 2022). Consequently, leading to an increase in the cost of mining and transportation of coal and oil, while the renewable energy costs, such as wind and solar, fall, primarily due to accessible and advanced harnessing technologies.
Clean energy sources are replacing Fossil fuels. Morse (2019) notes that the past decade has seen a significant increase in public awareness of the dangers of climate change, which has led to the cleaning up of fossil fuels. This has led to a growing movement to phase out coal-fired power plants and a move toward cleaner energy sources. Browning & Sharafedin (2021) indicate that while during the Covid-19 pandemic, coal demand was high, the future of coal is still uncertain. Indeed, the past decade has shown a growing appetite for cleaner energy sources and a greater need for environmental sustainability.
In the United States, the future of fossil fuels is shrouded i...