I can’t speak for everyone out there, but I find it easier to be aware of the receiving end of our energy grid than I do about the sources of it all.
After a little research, I was surprised to find the whole process is much more involved than the wall socket I plug my latest SkyMall purchase into. According to the Energy Information Administration, North Carolina residents and businesses consume roughly 2,705 trillion BTUs of energy annually. To put that figure into perspective, that’s over a third of the energy Mexico uses every year (we have one-twelfth of their population). All that energy has to come from somewhere, and here in North Carolina the biggest three sources are coal, petroleum and nuclear power. While our current grid does a fine job of keeping the lights on, further examination reveals the hidden costs.
Coal is abundant in North America, but its harvesting is risky to workers and often involves habitat destruction. Besides coal’s cheapness, North Carolinians reap few economic benefits from its use, as most of the coal burned in N.C. plants come from West Virginia or Kentucky. Additionally, an overwhelming body of scientific evidence pegs coal as a danger to the planet and human health, due to the amount of particulate matter released during combustion.
Petroleum, like coal, is composed of ancient organic material that has largely been exempt from our planet’s carbon cycle for millions of years. It has many uses, but it is largely used to fuel our vehicles and to generate electricity. Burning petroleum releases slightly less particulate matter than coal, but much of the dwindling supplies left in the world are tied up in politically unstable regions or under polar icecaps. While many groan about the cost of a gallon of gas, the price we pay at the pump is superficially low, as it is backed by hundreds of billions of dollars in government subsidies.
Like coal and petroleum, nuclear power is capable of generating substantial output, but has the added benefit of being emission-free. On the downside, reactors are incredibly costly to build. While it is not a bad choice in the interim, there is the daunting question of what we should do with all of the nuclear waste left over after the process is said and done. (We currently have over 60,000 tons of radioactive waste stored in America.)
Needless to say, there is a lot to be desired in North Carolina’s energy grid. What we really need in our state are more energy sources that can provide us with the power output of petroleum and coal, while diminishing foreign energy reliance and localizing the economic benefits. Many renewables currently on the table in North Carolina can help make this happen, but only if our government steps up to the plate.
Governor Pat McCrory has taken the issue under his wing, kicking off his term by advocating the development and further use of various energy sources within our state. Increasing the diversity of our energy portfolio is a good start, with “unleash North Carolina’s energy resources” serving as his administration’s go-to phrase on the subject. Deciphering this agreeable yet vague goal is tricky, but as students we can write letters, post, tweet and re-tweet the issue to the surface, encouraging legislators to “unleash” responsibly. Already the first permits for hydraulic fracking, a form of natural gas mining that carries serious water quality risks, will go into effect for 2015. If enough of the public voices opposition to this, legislators may be willing to shift more of our grid over to renewables.
