In today’s modern world, the requirement of oil as a source of power is unquestionable. But, it would be very helpful for us if instead of spending money to find a scarce resource, we spend that money to develop new sources of power such as wind and solar energy. I completely agree with this notion as the pros of these alternate fuels heavily outweigh those of oil and other traditional fossil fuels.
Firstly, the biggest drawback of using oil as a source of power is how much air pollution it does. Burning oil leads to partial combustions that in turn, emits large amounts of greenhouse gases like Carbon Monoxide. Moreover, these gases lead to ozone layer depletion which in turn, is the major cause of global warming. Many scientists and other experts have regarded emissions from oil as the biggest contributor in the cause of global warming. For example, A recent study in Canada shows that the amount of emissions caused by oil annualy, is equivalent to 9 wildfires combined.
On the other hand, clean alternates of power such as wind or solar energy do not emit any harmful gases or emissions. Therefore, these substitutes are environment friendly and align with the sustainable development goals for most governments, gaining support from them along the way. Moreover, various governments bodies provide grants to scientists/researchers and tax benefits to companies that rely on these clean and renewable sources of energy. A recent study out of UK shows the immense potential it holds for wind farms and the government has responded by providing funding to scientists and is working its way to reduce the reliance on the conventional sources of energy and replace it with wind energy.
Overall, the money that is spent on finding new sources of oil is better spent if it is used to incentivise the studies and developments of other, renewable and greener sources of energy such as wind energy and solar energy.