The alternative energies that most money has been invested in so far are solar and wind energy. One of the reasons that these energy sources are so popular is because of the availability of the fuels and the amount of research already conducted into their viability and possible uses. Solar power is probably the most effective and available energy that homeowners can use to help do their bit for the renewable energy cause. Photovoltaic tiles are easily and quickly installed on the roof, in the garden, on the shed or just about anywhere that you have a little spare room; and they aren't the eye sores that they once were. Solar panels can be used to heat water, your house or your pool or for providing your entire house with electricity. They are without doubt the easiest way for you to help protect the environment.



Around the world.

The 1980s saw enough wind and solar power sources installed in California alone to power over 10 million homes but that's still a small drop in the ocean. Nearly 80% of the fossil fuel reserves in the world are coal, but coal mining is decreasing with every day that passes, and not because of a lack of resource but because of the cost of extraction. These fossil fuels only form naturally and they take millions and millions of years to reform; this means that when we've run out of fossil fuels we can't just wait for more to appear, we need to act now to find sustainable, ecologically friendly renewable energy sources.

Cleaner Fossil Fuels.

Even if we were to find a sustainable amount of fossil fuels it still has diverse effects on the world we live in. The burning of fossil fuels has been proven to be directly responsible for the phenomenon of global warming, which scientists believe will eventually kill all vegetation on this planet. However, there are new technologies being developed that enable us to remove 99% of the side effects associated with burning fossil fuels and safely turning them into power. Regrettably though, this simply isn't an option.

The way forward.

The fact is that whether we safely produce energy using fossil fuels or not, it simply isn't going to be an option for much longer. Future generations aren't going to be offered the luxury of debating this issue, because without research now it is highly probably that the world will run out of fossil fuels long before we come up with a workable alternative. A number of worldwide committees have been set up in order to discuss and implement the best way forward regarding energy consumption; because of this many countries finally began to take the problem seriously. Many billions of dollars are being thrown into funding research and production of the various fossil fuels as well as trying to discover new sources of alternative energy.