Electricity Summit Energy Source

Student’s Name
Tutor’s Name
Course
Date
Electricity Summit
Introduction
Fossil fuel is one of the commonly used sources of energy for domestic activities, motor cars, airplanes, and industrial uses. However, prices of fossil fuels such as oil have tremendously increased with one barrel going for approximately $140 (Hall, 43). Moreover, fossil fuels have greatly contributed to the emission of greenhouse gases such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon dioxide among others. These gases are the chief cause of the current global warming. Consequently, global warming has led to climate change which, in turn, has resulted in several parts of the earth experiencing drought and flash floods that have killed thousands of people and both the domestic and wild animals and ice on the poles melting, increasing the ocean levels. Concisely, global warming is a threat to the existence of life here on earth. Further, due to the non-renewable nature of oil, its future is unpredictable, and it will be crucial to shift to another source of energy particularly renewable one. Consequently, it is crucial to move off fossil fuels and embrace other sources of energy such as wind, solar, geothermal and hydropower. Currently, the United States produces and uses various sources and types of energy such as fossil fuels, nuclear energy, hydropower, solar and wind. In 2017, the United States consumed approximately 97.7 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu). Among the leading sectors in the consumption of energy, including electric power 38.1%, industrial 22.4%, transportation 28.8%, commercial 4.5% and residential 6.2% of the total energy production (Independent Statistics and Analysis). The three leading sources of fossil fuel energy include petroleum, coal, and natural gas, which together account for over 77.6% of the total energy consumed in the United States. Renewable sources such as wind, solar and hydro account for about 12.7% combined and nuclear electric power produces approximately 9.6% of total energy. The total energy consumption in 2017 is broken down as follows; fossil fuels such as petroleum, natural gas and coal consumed were about 80%, renewable energy consumed was 11%, and nuclear energy was 9% (Independent Statistics and Analysis). It is evident that the United States just like most other countries rely heavily on fossil fuels more than other sources of energy despite several limitations accompanying this form of energy. The country should shift the heavy dependence on fossil fuels to solar energy. Solar energy is the most viable source of renewable energy as a result of the recent invention of photovoltaic technology that has helped to solve issues such as low conversion efficiency and intermittency (Hall, 43). Solar energy will help to solve the global warming problem because it requires no gaseous or liquid fuel or transportation from one point to another. Solar energy will be discussed comprehensively in terms of places in the United States where it should be utilized maximally and the regions where the energy is abundant.
Energy Source
Production and storage of solar energy are economically more viable compared to other types of renewable energy (Hall, 43). Sunlight is free, easily accessible, ...