Because this course covers topics on a global scale, it is important that you approach your selected topic in terms of its global relevance, this is the reason for the guidelines to identify the appropriated United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG).

CRITERIA:

Your research paper should introduce your topic from the frame of reference of the UN SDG, establishing the topic\’s relevance globally, and then proceed with the thesis of your research topic. The following objectives should guide your paper:

Clear analysis of the topic (why it is important)–this requires review of the literature;
Questions or issues you are attempting to address
Approach(es) you apply (what needs to be done and how would you go about it)
Assessment of the status of the topic over the next 10 years (2030), i.e., what changes are likely to take place, what will be the same, what new questions, etc.
MINIMUN of five (5) pages.

Describe your research topic and submit in the space provided below:

Topic:
[type here]

 

 

 

 

 

• Open this link to UN Sustainable Development Goals and use the interactive feature to learn more about SDGs.
• Review the 17 goals and locate the goal in which your topic fits.
• If you have already identified a research topic, make sure (and use) the respective goal from the SDG as backdrop that answers the question “So what?”  In other words, anchoring your topic to one of these goals lends credibility to your research effort . . . it matters!
• If you have not identified a research topic, then locate one of the goals among the SDG and use it to develop a topic that meets your particular interests.

Please use this strategy to assist in identifying a relevant and meaningful research topic.
– The completed research paper is due November 21

Access to Affordable and Clan Energy

 Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Course

Instructor’s Name

Date

Describe your research topic and submit in the space provided below: 

Topic:
Access to Affordable and Clan Energy

Introduction

The world is still facing several challenges that need serious attention to be addressed. In an attempt to acknowledge and address the challenges, the United Nations developed a total of 17 sustainable development goals (also called the global goals) in 2015 (UNEP, n.d). The 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) aim at achieving decent lives for everyone on a healthy planet by 2030. One of these global goals is to ensure people around the world gain access to fordable, reliable, sustainable, and clean energy. The number of individuals using dirty fuels across the world is still high due to population growth and slow progress in rolling out renewable energy (UNEP, n.d). In that regard, the purpose of this paper is to discuss affordable and clean energy and how it can be achieved.

Importance of The Topic

The selected topic for this assignment is access to affordable and clean energy. This topic is important because dirty fuel is one of the major challenges the world is currently facing. As stated above, the number of people using dirty fields across the world is still high, which makes the need for clean and sustainable energy an urgent issue (NRDC, 2018). Despite this problem, the global demand for fuel/energy continues to increase and is expected to increase by 50% over the next 30 years due to population growth and economic development. Furthermore, the use of unclean energy is associated with devastating consequences to people and the environment. Therefore, the most important aspect of affordable clean energy is the environmental benefits.

Clean and renewable sources of energy preserve the world’s natural resources and reduce risks of environmental disasters such as fuel spills and those related to gas leaks. Clean energy causes several environmental and economic benefits, including a reduction in air pollution (UNEP, n.d). Renewable clean energy also has inherent cost savings, as there is no need to extract and transport fuels, such as with oil or coal, as the resources replenish themselves naturally. Therefore, this is a very important topic to exploit to preserve the environment and improve the living standards of people around the world.

Some of the Issues the Topic Is Trying to Address

This topic is related to the United Nations SDG goal number seven (7). There are several problems associated with dirty sources of energy such as petroleum, coal, and others, that this topic is trying to address. Fossil fuels are the main source of energy currently that has caused serious harm to the environment as well as people globally (NRDC, 2018). Fossil fuels include coal, crude oil, and natural gas. Some of the problems that access to affordable, clean, and renewable sources of energy will address include land degradation, food insecurity, water pollution, emissions, climate change and global warming, and related health hazards.

Unearthing, processing, and moving underground oil, coal, and gas involves an enormous toll on the earth’s landscape and ecosystem. Mining for instance takes a big portion of land including forest and whole mountain tops (NRDC, 2018). As a result, critical wildlife habitat land, which is important for breeding and migration is destroyed. Another serious problem with fossil fuels is water pollution. Oil, coal, and gas development results in myriad threats to the waterways and groundwater.

Many people in low-income countries use firewood as fuel which leads to deforestation and leading to land degradation. Coal mining activities wash acid runoff into streams, lakes, and rivers (NRDC, 2018). Coal mining dumps large quantities of unwanted rocks and soil into the water streams. Another problem associated with fossil fuel is oil spills and leaks, both during extraction and transportation, which in turn pollutes drinking water sources and freshwater or ocean systems (NRDC, 2018). Fracking and its toxic fluids have also been found to contaminate drinking water, a fact that the Environmental Protection Agency was slow to recognize. Greenhouse gas emission is a major problem associated with unclean sources of energy.

Fossil fuels, for instance, lead to the emission of harmful pollutants even before they are burned. In the United States, for instance, about 12.6 million Americans are exposed to daily toxic air pollution from active oil, gas wells, and transport and processing companies (NRDC, 2018). The pollutants include benzene and formaldehyde chemicals. Benzene is associated with leukemia and blood disorders while formaldehyde is a cancer-causing chemical. The greenhouse gas emission from unclean sources of energy cause climate change and global warming. Climate change leads to food insecurity among other problems (NRDC, 2018). All these problems can be addressed by establishing readily available renewable clean sources of energy.

Approaches To Achieving Affordable Renewable Clean Sources of Energy

Clean energy is those that work without posing negative environmental impacts such as the release of greenhouse gases. There are several approaches to achieving clean energy. Sunlight is the most abundant and freely available source of energy on Planet Earth (TWI, 2021). The amount of energy that reaches the earth in just one hour is sufficient to meet total energy requirements for the planet for the entire year. Since solar power is limited by time of the day, solar panel/energy is used for both domestic and large-scale levels. Wind power is another option for achieving clean energy. Wind farms are recognized for a good contribution of power/energy in the United Kingdom (U.K) and other several countries.

Water is another clean source of energy that can help address the issues discussed above. It is not a new issue that hydroelectric power is one of the most commercially developed resources of clean energy. Hydroelectric power is acknowledged as the most reliable source of energy compared to wind and solar power (TWI, 2021). Allows for the easy storage of the energy that is generated so it can be used in line with demand.  Geothermal power is under improvement to be readily available. All these sources of energy should be enhanced both in developed and developing countries to improve the Planet Earth.

Establishing these sources of clean energy alone is not enough, the governments should ensure that they are accessible by managing costs. For example, the cost of electricity should be affordable to allow people more from using petroleum products for cooking and lighting (TWI, 2021). In low-income countries, the governments can initiate sponsored programs to connect electricity to villages free of charge to enhance the usage of clean energy. These approaches will address the topic by providing affordable renewable clean energy.  Because renewable energy sources don’t emit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, they do not contribute to global warming.

Status Of Affordable and Renewable Clean Energy Over the Next 10 Years

Indeed, the future of clean energy looks bright. Recent years have shown that more renewable energy capacity has been installed globally than new fossil fuel and nuclear capacity combined. Currently, renewable sources make up to one-third of the installed power capacity worldwide (United Nations, 2021). Between 1990 and 2010, the number of people with access to electricity increased by 1.7 billion globally. There has been a new drive to encourage clean energy sources which makes the future bright. Currently, hydroelectric power is the largest source of power. Additionally, the UN has put in place targets to achieve clean energy (United Nations, 2021). For instance, the UN goals state that “by 2030, ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services” all the efforts reflect a positive future for this topic.

Conclusion

Insufficient exploitation of a clean source of energy is still a major issue across the world. Unclean sources of energy such as petroleum products have detrimental effects on the planet. The UN SDG goal 7 advocates for affordable, clean, and renewable sources of energy. These clean sources of energy include solar power, water power, wind power, and geothermal power. The future of affordable clean energy is bright based on the positive progress that has been shown recently.

 

• Open this link to UN Sustainable Development Goals and use the interactive feature to learn more about SDGs.
• Review the 17 goals and locate the goal in which your topic fits.
• If you have already identified a research topic, make sure (and use) the respective goal from the SDG as a backdrop that answers the question “So what?”  In other words, anchoring your topic to one of these goals lends credibility to your research effort . . . it matters!
• If you have not identified a research topic, then locate one of the goals among the SDG and use it to develop a topic that meets your particular interests.

Please use this strategy to assist in identifying a relevant and meaningful research topic.
– The completed research paper is due November 21

 

 

 

 

References

NRDC. (2018). Renewable Energy: The Clean Facts. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/renewable-energy-clean-facts

TWI. (2021). TWI and Clean Energy: What is clean energy? how does it work? why is it so important?. https://www.twi-global.com/technical-knowledge/faqs/clean-energy#WhatDoesCleanEnergyMean

United Nations. (2021). Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all: Progress and Info. https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal7

UNEP. (n.d). GOAL 7: Affordable and clean energy. https://www.unep.org/explore-topics/sustainable-development-goals/why-do-sustainable-development-goals-matter/goal-7