Learn It: Sources of Energy It is estimated that at current
levels of usage, there is sufficient coal to last for about 300
years – but the world’s gas and oil supplies will run out around
the middle of the 21st century. Hence there is a growing urgency
in seeking new sources of energy, preferably renewable ones, and
in promoting energy conservation. Many of the world’s pollution
problems result from man’s ever increasing demand for energy.
The pollution of the air by motor vehicles and industry, the
fear of “another Chernobyl” (where a very serious accident
occurred in a nuclear power station in 1986), the problem of
nuclear reprocessing, and the imminent shortage of the world’s
reserves of fossil fuels are all symptoms of our desire for more
sources of cheap energy. Energy usage from different sources: As
is clear from this graph, most of the world's energy comes from
fossil fuels - oil, coal, peat and natural gas. Because they
were formed over millions of years, they cannot be reformed
during a lifetime an