One of the greatest threats currently faced by humanity is that of a deteriorating environment. For the last several decades, pollution has become a major concern for many countries worldwide. One of the greatest contributors to severe pollution are fossil fuels. Because of their accessibility and availability, they are the most widely used energy resource. Whole societies rely on these fossil fuels to provide them with heat, electricity, and consequently all other important aspects of daily life.
On the other hand, in recent decades we have also seen the rise of nuclear energy. While it is renewable, cleaner, cheaper, and more efficient, there are still large debates regarding the full implementation of such an energy source worldwide. These reasons stem mostly out of concerns for safety, but also because there are huge financial stakes in the fossil fuel industry, where not everyone is keen on losing such a source of income. There is a wide consensus by now that nuclear energy plants are completely safe if following all safety procedures properly. It is also overall extremely cheaper, since it is completely renewable (Sims et al. 2003).
There are warnings that fossil fuels are well under way to being completely used up, which means that humanity will sooner or later find itself in need of rethinking its energy supply options. Considering the dire environmental implications of burning fossil fuels, it would be wise to turn to nuclear energy as soon as possible. With enough effort by the decision makers of all countries, we may soon see a planet that operates on completely clean, renewable and sustainable energy.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sims, Ralph E.h., Hans-Holger Rogner, and Ken Gregory. "Carbon Emission and Mitigation Cost Comparisons between Fossil Fuel, Nuclear and Renewable Energy Resources for Electricity Generation." Energy Policy 31, no. 13 (2003): 1315-326.
