Recently it seems as if the whole world has been focusing on sustainable energy. This is a wonderful thing and should be encouraged profusely. It needs to be known, however, it will simply not be enough. We, as a people, will have to change our lifestyles and our energy consumption before too long.

Sustainable or “green energy” is a rising industry and is becoming more and more common in our world. Production of green energy comes from things like windmill farms, solar panel installments, and hydroelectric dams — basically any power source that is not burning something. A notable exception to this would be biodiesel fuel, which uses corn products and other biomass in the place of petroleum-derived products to fuel combustion engines.

All over the world, green energy production is starting to appear. Coastal bays with heavy tidal shifts are being dotted with hydroelectric power plants, and thousands of houses are sporting brand new solar panels. Even here in Iowa, it is hard to miss the changes wind power has made to our landscape, and whether you think of the massive white turbines as an eyesore or an economic boon, they likely are here to stay until something even better and more advanced comes along.

The whole idea of sustainable energy is to be able to sustain energy’s production indefinitely. This is most certainly not the case with petroleum-based products like gasoline or with solid carbon-based compounds like coal. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, these fossil fuels take millions of years to form, and most need to be trapped under a large, dense rock formation called a caprock to accumulate into productive amounts.

Unfortunately, said Richard York, sociology professor at the University of Oregon, and his fellow authors John Foster and Brett Clark, simply providing green energy is not enough to break fossil fuels’ hold on our power production. In a scholarly article published last March in “Nature Climate Change,” York found traditional energy production is only displaced by one-quarter of the amount of new green energy created, and only one-tenth of the amount for electricity specifically.

This essentially means that even though green energy is being produced, fossil fuels are not really being replaced. The new energy production is either being wasted or is only fulfilling a growth in per-person energy demand.

While no one can accurately produce a timeline for the depletion of fossil fuels, it is generally agreed it is a matter of decades, not centuries. The Energy Information Administration, a subgroup of the Department of Energy, recognizes that at current energy consumption, the world has “about 50 years” of oil left. There is always a large disclaimer saying this only accounts for proved reserves, but in reality the world proved reserves have only been increasing by between 1 and 2 percent annually for the last few years.

The EIA also found that just under 10 percent of American energy is made from renewable sources. That number is expected to increase to only 14 percent by 2035, even though total energy demand looks like it will increase 50 percent by that time.

While it is true that nearly every day, advances are made that allow for a higher efficiency in gathering fossil fuels or to allow for previously unknown deposits to be tapped, the reality remains that fossil fuels are in increasing demand, yet they are totally finite. One day we are going to be wanting something that no longer exists.

It is imperative we do not just rely on the belief our energy will be clean someday and carry on as we have. That is not just a problem for engineers and inventors to solve. There are messages all over the world urging us to be more responsible and more sustainable in our lives; that change is what really needs to happen.

That change is something that we can all be a part of.

There are many ways to do this, and most of them are already common: Recycling, unplugging devices when not in use, cycling air conditioning off and countless other small changes are all good starts. Such changes may not seem like they will ever be enough to cope with our energy woes, but they sure can’t hurt.

America is a nation founded on the belief the individual is paramount, and as individual actors working together, we can accomplish great things. During World War II, Americans grew tomatoes in their front yards and recycled bike tires and lawn chairs to contribute to the effort to win the fight against global tyranny. When considered individually, these actions amounted to little. But combined with the identical efforts of tens of millions of citizens, the results were astounding.

You switching to the new fluorescent light bulbs from the old incandescent type may not seem like it has much effect, and it doesn’t. Though when we all do it, together, we make a difference. Be the difference. Earth is the only home we’ve got.