Conserving Energy

The world depends on electricity, which is a form of energy, mostly obtained from coal. In addition, generating electricity through coal also produces greenhouse gases which cause global warming. Coal is also estimated to run out by 2050, therefore if we don't conserve our world's energy supply, the world would run out of coal and oil, and would have to turn to other energy sources which are not so easily obtained. To conserve energy, we can switch off any electrical appliance such as the fan, television, computer and many more, when they are not in use.

There are 3 main reasons to conserve energy, to save money, to protect the environment and to protect the human health.

?

There are a few ways to save money and conserve energy at the same time. One of them is to implement an energy system that can reduce the pollutants that can cause global warming. By doing so, each household could be paying $530 less for energy costs. But why wait for national plans to save money? By using a compact fluorescent bulb for lighting, instead of an incandescent light bulb one could save around $67 his electricity costs, assuming that the bulb is used to its maximum.

?

Energy provides us with electricity, heat, transportation and more, of which everyone should have. However, most of methods using to generate energy cause some problems that will hurt the environment; one of them is global warming. Causes for global warming include but not limited to, when gasoline-powered cars release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Acid rain and mercury pollution are mostly caused by the electricity plants that use coal to generate electricity that is used to power most homes and businesses. Water pollution and habitat destruction are caused by the mining and drilling operations that are required to extract fossil fuels from the Earth. Radioactive waste is a byproduct of every nuclear power plant.

However, there are sources of energy that renew themselves and cause no harm to the environment. Some people have already used these forms of energy by using a solar power and hybrid cars, which uses the Sun's energy to generate electricity, which cause a much lower environmental impact. Therefore, conserving energy will reduce pollution causing a large drop in the greenhouse gases emitted.

Lastly, and probably the most important part about conserving your energy is protecting your health. Ground-level ozone is caused by the pollution from the gases vehicles emit, industry, consumer products and power plants.

On days when the ground-level ozone is very high, coughing, throat irritation, chest discomfort, reduced lung function and aggravated asthma could be caused. Children and the elderly are the most vulnerable to such breathing problems. One particular study estimates that 30,000 life spans are being reduced due to air pollution caused by electricity production alone. In addition, electricity production releases 81 tons of mercury, a very toxic metal, into the atmosphere every year according to the EPA.

With global warming around, these problems will only go for the worse. Global warming brings about an increase in insect populations that carry infectious diseases. Maladies like Dengue Fever, malaria, cholera and encephalitis are predicted to spread because of global warming. Extreme weather is caused by global climate change, thus putting people in danger. The number of floods, storms and heat waves will also increase, thus causing the number of deaths caused by these problems to increase too. Conserving energy reduces the greenhouse gases emitted, thus reducing global warming, mercury pollution. Reducing pollution can save lives. Therefore, we should conserve energy to protect the health of yourself and the people around you.