Nowadays, when ecological problems are becoming more and more severe, people are looking for alternative sources of energy that are greener, safer and more sustainable. That is the reason why countries and huge corporations infest a sufficient amount of money into developing solar farms, hydroelectric dams and other green energy sources. These improvements are really important, however, it would take long years for fossil fuels to be replaced, because of the cost of green energy and humanity’s energy consumption.
First of all, the prospect of total substitution of fossil fuel as an energy source seems unrealistic nowadays, because use of energy is genuinely huge. The sad truth is that green energy can supply us only with 20 percent of our needs, while the other 80 percent is produced utilising coal, oil and gas. There are examples of countries, where wind turbines generate enough power for heating and light, but it is only for individuals’ needs. Unfortunately, by the current moment there is no way to generate enough green power to support factories work and provide every house with electricity.
Secondly, even if we assume that green energy is not a dream, we should take into account that prices of electricity and heating would skyrocket. We all take for granted relatively affordable prices for that, but it is a credit for the availability of fossil fuels. Coal and oil mining is significantly cheaper than construction of wind farms or solar plants, while efficiency of fossil fuels is higher. I hope that somewhen technologies of green energy production will be developed for better, but this moment has not come yet.
In conclusion, despite the undoubtable fact that the development of alternative energy sources is a real need in the modern world, we should think about it in a realistic way. According to the current state of the energy industry, the total replacement of gas, coal and oil by wind, waves and sun power seems to be unreal.