Hamsa Fayed EGEE101H Prof.

Eser 01/10/2013 Initial Essay

Well I don't have much extensive knowledge about energy or power but what I do possess is fear. Fear that all the luxuries that I am enjoying as I write this (computer, charger, light, heat, TV) are all possible through a nonrenewable source that is slowly but surely decreasing.

What I do know about energy is things like renewable resources, nonrenewable resources, windmills, hydroelectric energy, solar energy, nuclear energy, and basically snip-bit caveats news broadcasts on the threat of dependence on nonrenewable resources like fossil fuels.

In class today you mentioned externalities and that word was so familiar to me but it struck a memory of a Polisci 003 class I had last semester. This term was mentioned in the context of communities needing protection from harmful pollution deriving from nearby factories. It was then the governments duty to protect these communities. This very connection and overlap of terms in both subjects is why I sought to take the course. I want to understand energy in a more holistic and comprehensive way and not just in the superficial sense of being afraid of its slow disappearance.

I want to understand the power role of of energy - like how some countries build their status as a country upon their abundance of oil or petrol. I want to understand this dependence on energy sources by some countries. This dependence, I have learned in my prior political science course, is held in rentier states like Iran. Though rentier states are conceived to have power or advantage they are inherently at a disadvantage because of their instability. So why is energy so unstable?

This is just a few things that I expect as well as desire to learn in this course. As discussed in class today, I find that this interdisciplinary field very important in my future in political science.