Years ago, I was a pupil in the elementary school. At that time, the only electric thing that existed in my family was light bulbs. Those light bulbs were very similar to the one Tomas Edition had invented one hundred years ago. I thought those light bulbs were very useful to my family, but the television that was in my neighbor’s house was just an entertaining tool. Without light bulbs, we would light candles to bring us light in the house, and we could still live well. At the present, however, like many people, I totally have changed my point of view to the significance of the electricity, and regard electricity as a daily life necessity. Except light bulbs, people need many other kinds of equipment requiring electricity, such as: phones, computers, refrigerators, air-conditions and so on. Therefore, currently, electricity has already become a part of most people’s life. According to this fast pace of development, humans will relay on electricity much more in the future. What does the future electricity look like? Two significant parts I want to mention in this paper are electricity generation and electricity transmission.
In this modern technology era, electricity demand is constantly increasing with individuals and in society. There are different points of views toward the future of generating electricity. On the one hand, a majority of voices are positive about developing more renewable energies (solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass, etc.) in the near future (Islam, Hasanuzzaman, Rahim, Nahar, & Hosenuzzaman, 2014). For instance, M. A. Islam and his companions stated that renewable energy will ultimately fulfill 80% of total energy requirement in the end of this century even though natural gas will temporary play a main role in the coming two or three decades (Islam et al., 2014). Apparently coal, one of the fossil fuels will gradually decrease its role in the future due to its excessive carbon emissions. In addition, David Biello stated as well that renewable energy and natural gas may become main sources for electricity in the near future in the United States (Biello, 2010). On the other hand, renewable energy could not satisfy all of the future’s energy needs. Applying nuclear energy is a very debatable issue from decades ago until now. According to Alan McDonald (2008), nuclear energy will have a very different future in each particular country around the world regarding its own experience and perspective to nuclear power. In general, Asian countries, especially China and India, tend to build more nuclear power plants now and will continue in the future, since they need electricity in large quantities. In comparison, some developed European countries would decrease the use of nuclear power plants, and instead they will lay special stress on developing renewable energies. Obviously, each nation has its own plan to satisfy its particular electric demand.
Electricity transmission is another key element to the future of electricity. The current electricity transmission may waste electricity and have some security problems. However, smart grid systems are able to provide a more efficient transmission and cut down the potential safety hazards, such as environmental pollution due to the process of the electricity (Islam et al., 2014). Moreover, a smart gird is able to achieve more accurate date and analyses, more flexible managemen and mutual communication with customers. In the article, Islam and his partner writers suggested applying the smart grid system to the sustainable energy generation, and it will open a new page to meet both social and environmental needs in the future.
To conclude, there are more than one options to optimize the future of electricity. It could be choosing a better power resource, sustainable energy, or improving electric grid efficiency, which will be a good choice. Meanwhile, when we are trying to get power, we should be concerned about our planet, where it is not only our home but also our next generations’ living place. Besides the ideas I have mentioned above, I believe that humans have the ability to solve our electricity problems and ultimately meet our future needs. It even could be something else to substitute electricity at some future date.
(by XN)
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References:
- Biello, D. (2010). Where will the U.S. get its electricity in 2034? Scientfic American. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/where-will-the-us-get-its-electricity-in-future/#
- Islam, M. A., Hasanuzzaman, M., Rahim, N. A., Nahar, A. and Hosenuzzaman, M., “Global renewable energy-based electricity generation and smart grid system for energy security,” The Scientific World Journal, vol. 2014, Article ID 197136. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/197136
- McDonald, A. (2008). World nuclear position. https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/49204734548_zt.pdf
- REN21. (2012). “Renewables 2012,” Global Status Report.
- REO. (2012). “Renewable energy outlook,” World Energy Outlook. http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/media/weowebsite/2012/WEO2012_Renewables.pdf.
