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ShuYiNeoh
Mrs.Park
ENGL106i
2/12/2015
TacklingtheFutureEnergyChallenge
Energycomesintheformoffossilfuelsandrenewableenergysources.Thegreen
technology,alsoknownasrenewableenergycomingfromsourceslikewind,geothermal
andwavesappealedtotheworldpopulationasitprovidessolutiontotheproblemwe
needtosolve.Generationofenergyintheformofwind,andsolarstartedtogarnerthe
attentionofpubliccompanies,researchersandgovernment,inthepastdecade.Besides
beingrenewable,itdoesnotleavebehindcarbonfootprintlikefossilfuels.Theshortage
offossilfuelsisthebiggerreasonbehindthealternativeenergyscientistsislookingfor.
However,in2015,theincreasedinproductionofoilinUnitedStatesissaidtobethe
highestinthepast30years,provingthattheoilmaynotbeofshortage.UnitedStates
managedtoincreasetheirproductionremarkably,controllingthemarketprice,lowering
it,producingabout45to50USDperbarrel.Thisfactorattractedalotofinvestortoleave
behindrenewableenergy,andinvestedinnaturalgasinstead,asnaturalgasremainsthe
cheapestformofenergy.Thisactionwillincreasetheprobabilityofabiggerenergy
challengetofaceinthefuture.
Thefondnesstowardsthistopic,centeredongreenenergy,stemfromyoung.My
exposuretogreenenergybeganwithmagazineslikeNationalGeographicandDiscovery.
Suchmagazinesfocusonpredictingthefuturechallengesthepublicmayface.Ihave

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encounteredseveralarticlesaboutwatershortage,onhowthetechnologyfordesalination
ofseawater is vitalto countries likeSaudi Arabia,andSingapore. There arearticles
covering issues far beyond food shortage and global climate issue. However, what
excitedmemostwhenreadingthesemagazineswastodiscoverthecreativityinhumans
infindingsolutionstotheseglobalproblems.Inalmosteveryissue,Iwouldreadpersonal
story ofthe invention of advance devices and technology to overcome challenges in
everyfield.Ichosetheenergysectorasmytopicbecausethisissueisgrowingeveryday,
andyetsolutionstotheproblemisstilllargelyinprogress.Readingmagazineswasa
hobbywhenIwasyoung,andknowingthatthereisaproblemoutthere,Iaminclinedto
solve it. Majoring in Chemical Engineering will allow me to explore my dreams of
creatingsolutiontothisproblemthatgrewupwithme.
Therearesomemainproblemstobeaddressedurgently,largelyrelatingtomy
interest,greenenergy.Theglobalpopulationhavetoadmittherewillcomeatimewhen
our main source of energy, petroleum and natural gas will reach the bottom of
production,leavingmankindwithnoalternativesolutiontothisproblem.Lackingof
investment in sectors like green energy will bring about troubles towards the future
seeing the rise of petroleum price will happen somewhere in the near future when
petroleum is depleted, as the society remain largely dependent on petroleum. Global
citizencannot denythatthe futureofenergy generationdepends onhow technology
shiftsthereliancefrompetroleumtootheralternativeenergysource. Asthesociety
becomesawareoftheseproblems,solutionhastobeformulated.

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Everywhereonthefaceofearth,thesupplyanddemandofenergyisvitalforthe
everydaylife.Itisnecessarythatmankindscreativitybedevotednotjustonimproving
currenttechnology,butalsofindingwaystosustaintheenergydemand.Energyisthe
stability oftheeconomy,an importantfactor inpoliticalstabilityanda challengeto
scientistsallaroundtheworld.Myownpersonalopinionisthatpeopleshouldbeaware
oftheenergychallengelyingaheadofus,andthattheyshouldrisetotheoccasionof
tryingtosolvetheproblem.Thediversityofthissectorisalsoveryimpressive,seeing
thatallformsofscience,regardlessofbiology,chemistryorphysicscancontributetothe
solutionofenergyproblems.Takingonthechallengerequiresthecombinationofallthe
science,toinventthefutureofmankind.Hence,thistopicislargelyafflictedtoeverypart
ofsocietywithinthesciencecommunity.
Throughthisresearchpaper,Iwillanswerthreeresearchquestions.Iwillexplore
furthertowhatextendprivatesectors areinsupportoftechnologyandresearchthat
providesolutiontotheproblems.Besidesthat,Iwillalsolookintotheenergyplanand
policybytheUnitedStatesgovernment.Inaddition,Iwillalsoanalyzetheprogressof
scienceandtechnologyinsolvingenergychallenges.Allinall,theimplicationsfromthis
researchistobeabletoknowthedifferenttypesofenergyresearchongoing,andwhat
percentage of the total energy research is in the renewable energy sector, instead of
naturalgasandpetroleum.Inordertoachievetheresults,Iwillbeinterviewingsome
suitablecandidates.