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What are Energy Futures?

Carmelo Spatazza
Carmelo Spatazza

From an environmental standpoint, energy futures refers to the collection of sustainable and renewable energy sources that individuals and corporations can invest in now, on the assumption that they will decrease humanity's ecological footprint, while simultaneously becoming a profitable investment, as global warming has become an increasingly widespread and widely-acknowledged threat. Going "green" is a growing trend that many have been seeking to profit from while making an impact on how resources are consumed to ensure a better future. Call it "conscionable consuming" if you will.

In recent years, scientific, environmental, and economic data from around the globe have yielded information that reveals a crisis of global energy consumption, the depletion of natural resources, and the impact of these issues on energy futures. Make no mistake, we are destroying the planet, and with the current energy infrastructures, industries, and ideals, reformation will be needed to harness new forms of renewable energy, create new job markets, and ensure that energy futures will be accessible on a global scale to benefit the global community.

Energy futures can allow individuals to invest in wind power and other forms of alternative energy.
Energy futures can allow individuals to invest in wind power and other forms of alternative energy.

The consumption and depletion natural gas, oil, coal, and other fossil fuels and non-renewable resources has been exacerbated by the exponential growth of human population and industrialization. After centuries of global innovations, contemporary environmentalists, scientists, engineers, economists, and designers have been working on the technologies needed to avert a catastrophe for energy futures. From the implementation of wind turbines that stand across the wind-whipped flatlands of the American Midwestern plains to the geothermal collectors that utilize the subterranean heat beneath Iceland's frozen tundra. Currently, the collection, storage, and utilization of solar energy using photovoltaic sensors to absorb energy from sunlight, is just one way that allows us to become more efficient energy producers and consumers.

A pumpjack oil well.
A pumpjack oil well.

The United States' domestic oil industry has always been dependent on foreign oil suppliers, and in economic terms, supply and demand has proven that depleting the world's oil and other natural resources will only result in energy and economic crises. Consumers are well aware of this fact, and have acted by supporting the creation of sustainable energy futures that utilize alternative energies such as solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, and wind sources. Harnessing the inexhaustible elements in nature for power simply makes more sense than to continue depleting the finite amounts of materials.

Workforces will also thrive in the new energy futures markets as job opportunities will become abundant with the creation and maintenance of these alternative energy sources. By helping the environment now, we can create a better future for ourselves and future generations.

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    • Energy futures can allow individuals to invest in wind power and other forms of alternative energy.
      By: Gbuglok
      Energy futures can allow individuals to invest in wind power and other forms of alternative energy.
    • A pumpjack oil well.
      By: Edelweiss
      A pumpjack oil well.