Natural Resources and Energy

Future of Renewable Energies While the reliance of the United States on natural resources and fossil fuels must give way to renewable and sustainable resources at some point, the ability to change to new technologies is not yet here and further efforts are needed to make the United States both energy-independent and free of fossil fuels. The USA is one of the greatest countries in the world.

This is not just because of its superpower in terms of policing the entire globe, but also being with an extensive source and use of the natural resources. With the use of these natural resources, the country has been able to feed its population. This population is one of the greatest and is continually growing even with an annual admission of over 700,000 people from other countries.

With the use of the resources, the country developed a strong capacity before the world wars to feed its people, power its machines, and establish oil and coal, which are the core natural resources in the country (MacDonnell & Sarah 32-45). The discovery of every natural resource dates back to the early 1800's when a man was inventing several approaches for production. The expanse of the natural resources begins with an extensive coverage of land, one of the best and largest in the world.

The plentiful offerings from the Appalachians, the desserts, semi-arid and arid areas, extensive river flows and sources, water coverage involving lakes and mainly seas from the broth of the American natural resources. These resources have been there for the entire time the country has been in existence (Cubbage, O'Laughlin & Peterson 7, 33). Even with the above being the case, there are very large concerns about the use of such resources including pollution, global warming, sustainability and other things.

There are some people that are strongly pushing and prodding for renewable and sustainable energy sources to replace the natural resources that ostensibly polluting and/or finite in nature. Even so, there are many others that suggest that even though it would be nice to wean off of petroleum and coal, that is certainly not going to happen in the near future given the voluminous number of cars and other items that rely on one or both.

Beyond that, many of the renewable energies being touted rely on electricity and so much of that power source is coal-driven in nature. Lastly, there is the concern that renewable energies, while present, often cost more for the same amount of energy and/or have "chicken and egg" problems involving whether the clean items themselves or the infrastructure to support them is going to have to happen first (Jacobs).

Methods The study will acquire most of its information from online databases, books and journals of varied type's websites, newspapers, among others. The use of accredited and scholarly sources will ensure there is an equitable study process that reveals the immediate history of the natural resources in the United States of America, and how it has seen a vast growth in the country's economy. Results The United States of America is a resourceful country. The study reveals that much of the production within the country is from the natural resources.

At the same time, it is easy to see that that the United States will have to shift to better and cleaner sources of energy to retain their dominance and that the process of doing so will be long-lasting and deliberate in nature in many ways. Even so, the study has also revealed that the stability of the country's economy is based on the natural resources.

From the study results, it can be proved that the economy of the United States has been anchored on the natural resources besides innovation and technology but that the country will have to shift towards better energy sources as the country continues to develop (MacDonnell and Sarah 63). The people are the major part of the natural resources. The use of the natural resources has provided somewhat an advantage for the country to invest, engage, and technologically produce for its growth and economic success.

Further, the country, for many decades now, has invented and used coal, oil, and gas, land mass, coastline, farmland, and water. Right before the First World War, agricultural production was already taking place. The early settlers found rich and fertile soils of the Great Plains covering 502,000 square mile areas in Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains.

The discovery and full use of the country's 95,000 miles of shoreline besides great lakes bordering 50 states has been a contributory factor to the development of the economy as it has seen a contribution of $220 billion to the Gross Domestic Product, creating over 2.6 million jobs between its generations in the early 1800s to 2009. The 80% provision of rivers, streams and lakes offer water used in the country for various purposes. The use of water has been there since the establishment of the country (Lindstrom 56).

Oil, gas, and coal are the major contributors to the country's energy system. The country has been with the largest reserves of coal of around 500 billion short tons. This energy source was used to provide for the country during the revolution. After the civil war, it was used for various purposes, all including oil and gas. Today, the world depends on this country for many sources of these materials.

The use of these energy sources, right from the times of their discoveries before the war, up to today, has seen a general growth and development in the country's economy. The country has seen a historical and gradual development of its technological and innovative systems right from the realization and use of the diverse natural resources (Cubbage, O'Laughlin, and Peterson 36).

As for what the energy sources of the future are or should be, there are a number of them that have or will probably rise out of the options that exist as the future drags on. Just a few examples include solar power, biomass, recaptured heat and energy from the use of other energy sources, hydrogen, wind power and others. All of these are present and progressing on one level or another. However, there are challenges that are infrastructure-related or similar in nature (CEF).

As noted before, plug-in electric cars often subsist off of power sources that are coal-fired in nature. An example not mentioned yet is that many "green" cars and power sources require a lot of extra payment and investment, thus making these solutions less than affordable for many buyers (Jensen & Shughart). That all being said, progress is being made (Danko). For example, even with the fact that solar power is not always available due to the sun setting as.