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Johnson 1
Breyhauna Johnson
Instructor: Malcolm Campbell
English 1102
January 22, 2014
Topic Proposal: A Green World Awaits
Introduction/Overview
I have been studying renewable energy for a couple of years now with a focus of solar
panels. My research has mainly been about the implementation of solar panels for residential use
and the economics of solar panels/ PV systems. I went into depth about how solar panels work,
how the PV systems operate, etc. For my inquiry project this semester, I’d like to focus a little
more on renewable energy as a whole. Although I have studied renewable energy, I want to
research the current impact of renewable energy globally and the role it may play in the future. I
will be researching the economics of renewable energy now and the projected values. I will
research the current usage of renewable energy and the future usage. I will explain how we as
supporting members of the “green world” will help implement these renewable energies. I will
do this by comparing the renewable energy sources to the nonrenewable energy sources. I will
be advocating for renewable energy, but I will give both the pros and cons of renewable energy
versus nonrenewable energy. I will be studying the on-going controversy of renewable energy
and why some critics believe it is a horrible idea. This will provide me with the information I
need to form a report on the current impact of renewable energy and the future potential it could
provide.
Renewable energy is not widely incorporated into our system of energy production.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, only about ten percent of world
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energy consumption is from renewable energy sources. Countries like Brazil, China and
Germany make up most of this worldly percentage. These countries have seen the advantages
that renewable energy production brings versus nonrenewable energies and are taking steps to a
cleaner world.
I have spoken to many of my peers and faculty members here at UNC Charlotte and at
NC State about this topic. This has provided me with a lot of the information I have about
renewable energy. I have visited many online sites including the EIA.gov, and Ren21.net which
provides several status reports about renewable energy. The library has so many books about
renewable energy and specific books that compare nonrenewable energy sources to renewable
ones. There is also one specific book called The future for renewable energy: prospects and
directions which has provided to be very helpful while researching the future potential for
renewable energy.
The concept of renewable energy is quite a large controversy worldwide. Some critics
believe it may be too expensive, while others say we won’t be able to solely rely on renewable
sources to provide our energy needs. Renewableenergyworld.com has articles and lists the most
popular topics that people have talked about when debating renewable energy. TED Talk
provides questions, debates and ideas that people have about renewable energy.
Theconversation.com has a whole topic section on renewable energy where people can start
conversations and ask questions like TED Talk.
Initial Inquiry Question(s)
Why haven’t we implemented a bigger worldwide usage of renewable energy resources
for our energy production?
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My Interest in this Topic
I’m interested in renewable energy because I’d like to pursue my career working with and
researching it. My first interests with renewable energy came in the summer of 2012 when I
completed an engineering research project on solar homes at NC State University. This was a
well-paid summer program that taught me about renewable energy, mainly solar panels/ PV
systems, and mentored me while I completed and presented my project. This was sponsored by
the National Science Foundation and I earned a NSF Young Scholar certificate for completing
this program. Ever since that summer I’ve wanted to work with renewable energy and solar
panels. I wanted to continue my research throughout school and hope to learn so much more
about it through this project.
I know what renewable energy is and the difference between renewable and
nonrenewable sources. I already know that renewable energy doesn’t make up much of the
world’s energy consumption. I know about several renewable energy sources and have an idea
about how each one works, but could learn more about this. I know some about nonrenewable
resources and the dangers of nonrenewable resources today. I know some about where
renewable energy started and how it has gotten so far today. I hope to learn more information
about every one of these questions though. I also hope to learn about other countries’ decisions
on renewable energy and why countries other than the U.S. (a first world country) are
implementing it while the U.S. isn’t.
Next Steps
I will be going to the Atkins library on campus to find other interesting books about
renewable energy. I will also be visiting the TED Talk page to look at all the conversations and
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debates that are happening. I will also be looking for speakers and various conferences held on
renewable energy. I will also be studying more questions I have on renewable energy like: What
effects do our current energy sources have in the future of our energy production? Does current
renewable energy usage play a role in future renewable energy usage?