From fossil fuels to renewable energy

As the world is changing, the use of fossil fuel energy has adapted to our everyday lives. We humans have been burning fossil fuels for energy since the 1700s and in modern times, the usage of fossil fuels has increased even more greatly thereby releasing greenhouse gases.

Fossil fuels are a type of natural fuel that is formed from the remains of dead plants and animals that have been buried over millions of years. They are found in the earth’s crust and contain carbon and hydrogen, which can be burned to produce energy, such as coal, crude oil, and natural gases. Fossil fuels are one of the many examples of non-renewable energy.

Fossil fuels have a limit to their availability and as people keep using these energy sources, they gradually decrease. To use these energy sources, fossil fuels are burned using complex methods of extraction and unfortunately, these also release greenhouse gases into the environment.

Crude oil is one of the most used fossil fuels formed over time by past life and other natural matter that sank to the ocean floor millions of years ago therefore, forming sediment which over time became oil popularly known as crude oil.

Crude Oils are used to power the majority of machines, vehicles, and other equipment. Since crude oil is a fossil fuel it is a non-renewable energy and will take millions of years to be recreated. If humans can reduce our use of cars movements with cars that use such sources of fuels, we can reduce the burning of fossil fuels. More energy-saving cars can be produced and made affordable to people. It means a lot of engineers must be trained to produce these cars.

Countries like DR Congo - 96.24%, Somalia - 95.03%, Central African Republic - 91.26%, Uganda - 90.22%, and Gabon - 89.88%, mostly use renewable energy meaning they do not consume a great sum of energy from fossil fuels. More African countries can learn from them. China, the USA, and India are some of the countries that consume the most energy in the world, even so, they use fossil fuels more. Fossil fuels are depleting rapidly, and it might take another millions of years for the earth to create more fossil fuels.

As young as I am, I think about the future and how we can change it for generations to come. I want my future children to enjoy some of the wildlife from nature like polar bears, narwhales, and dolphins, and not live in a polluted city where you cannot eat fish without being disgusted by the plastic inside, a topic for another day. I want them to breathe fresh air, not polluted air. I want them to dance in the rain and not fear the rain because the acidity level is going up. Who would not want their children to easily own and rear domesticated animals and not learn that just a few years before them, polar bears and clownfish had gone extinct?

I learned that animals like the woolly mammoth or the dodo went extinct due to humans, about 10,000 years ago and I think about animals that might go extinct not because we humans depended on them for food but simply because of our everyday lives polluting and killing them all.

One somehow affordable way of reducing the burning of fossil fuels is by investing in renewable energy. This act can ensure you are saving fossil fuels, and you are using energy that might not run out. We can reduce oil spills which is a major disaster that affects humans, plants, and animals. A second solution is generating alternative sources of energy.

We can develop technologies that use natural resources to produce lots of electricity. I am worried about African countries because they need a lot of engineers who can develop these solutions.

To everybody reading this, spread the word. This is one good way to inform others about the problems that are going on in our world. This week is very important as the world leaders gather to discuss issues on climate change and I hope to add my thoughts to the conversation, especially on fossil fuels.