If each region of the country was independently powered by renewable resources, we could reduce our carbon footprint to a miniscule fraction of what it is today. Each region in the United States has some form of a renewable resource, which is able to sustain reliable power to the people living in the area. On the east coast wind power is a viable option. The amount of energy we could potentially harvest from offshore wind turbines is substantial enough to supply power to most rural and suburban communities. The fact the continental shelf gradually slopes off into the Atlantic makes wind farms a great option. In the midwest a combination of wind power and solar power could produce enough energy to sustain small rural communities, but a majority of the power would still come from large power plants. The reason for this is the midwest does not have a large potential for renewable power. On the west coast the potential for solar energy is very large especially in the south-west states like Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. If large solar powerplants were constructed in these areas much of the power demand could me met. The west coast also has a potential for wind energy, but the fact the continental shelf quickly drops off into the Pacific reduces the viability of large wind turbines, unless new technology for floating turbines is developed. Large cities such as New York and Los Angeles may have a demand which proves to large for renewable resources to sustain, but that’s where nuclear power comes in. Nuclear power is capable of supplying mass amounts of energy to areas which demand high amounts of power. Nuclear power would supply enough power to make up the difference if said renewable resources ever failed to produce. By shifting our dependence from fossil fuels to nuclear and renewable power we can reduce our emissions, and possibly reverse the effects of global warming.
Clean Power
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