1. 3. ENERGY RESOURCES SUPPORT INDUSTRIALIZATION
Muscle power was once the chief source of energy. The muscles of men, women, children, and animals provided the energy needed to plow fields, raise crops, move goods, and manufacture finished products. Today the industrialized countries of the world largely use fuels instead of muscles for energy. To produce the fuels needed, these countries constantly search for energy resources.
Fossil fuels. Today about 95 per cent of all energy generated in the world comes from coal, oil, and natural gas. These materials are fossil fuels, energy sources formed from the remains of plants and animals that died millions of years ago.
Oil replaced coal in the 1950s as the world's most important energy source. Oil was sometimes called "black gold", because chemists found so many uses for it. Oil is more than a major source of energy. It is also a raw material for making plastics, cloth, medicines and thousands of other products. Scientists now believe, however, that more than half of all the world's oil will be used up by the year 2050. This has resulted in attempts by the oil-consuming nations to rely less on oil, turning instead to other energy sources.
As supplies of some energy resources are limited people discover new ones or new ways to use old ones. Many countries want to become less dependent on fossil fuels. These countries are searching for ways to use nuclear energy, hydroelectricity, and solar energy to meet energy needs. Geothermal, wind, and tidal energy also are other alternative energy sources.
Nuclear energy. The chief benefit of nuclear energy is that the electricity it generates is relatively cheap. Because it requires only small amount of uranium, costs per unit of electricity are low.
Nuclear energy has certain negative aspects, however Construction costs for a nuclear plant are high and a safe way to move and dispose of hazardous wastes from nuclear power plants has not yet been found. What concerns most people about nuclear energy is that nuclear materials are extremely dangerous. A 1979 accident at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island and a more devastating accident at Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union in 1986 illustrate the potential danger of nuclear energy. In addition, by-products of nuclear energy can be used to make atomic bombs.
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