Alternative Sources of Energy

Introduction The world has been overly relying on oil as a source of energy to fuel most of its operations. It is important to note that as much as 80% of the world’s energy comes from fossil fuel. Unfortunately, the fossil deposits we have in the world cannot last forever. They will be depleted one day and cause a lot of problems in the world.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Alternative Sources of Energy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Therefore, efforts should be made to ensure that other sources of energy are found so that when fossil fuel gets depleted the world does not come to a halt. In this regard, many people especially in the U.S. have been concerned with the steps that the government is taking towards encouraging development of other sources of energy. Consequently, the government has been urged to reduce restrictions impeding the development of renewable sources of energy and increase funding of the same. However, to address this issue, it is better to understand some of the sources renewable energy. Solar Power Among the proposed sources of power to be used is solar energy. Solar energy is a renewable source of energy because the sun has been there and can only be absent for a very short period of time. On the same note, harnessing of solar energy is noise proof which means that noise pollution is avoided when using solar power (Boxwell 58). Similarly, solar power is environmental friendly because it does not produce any form of pollution. In addition, equipments used in the production of solar power are cheap to maintain thus the long run cost of production is low. Moreover, it is easy and cheap to install appliances of solar power. Similarly, the electricity produced from solar energy can be used to power virtually every thing that uses power (Boxwell 59). It is also important to note that the production of solar power does not lead to environmental degradation like d igging up the ground or deforestation. However, solar power has its disadvantages. To begin with, some people have argued that the initial cost of installing solar power harnessing equipment is very high. Additionally, harnessing of solar power is affected by whether and cannot be done during cloudy or rainy days and at night. Therefore, another source of energy is needed to act as a back up (Boxwell 60).Advertising Looking for essay on environmental studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Wind Power On the other hand, wind energy is also another source of energy that can replace fossil fuel. Wind energy does not emit green house gases which are dangerous to the environment. Furthermore, no fossil fuels are burnt to produce wind energy thus it does not pollute the environment (Miller and Scott 407). Besides, extraction of wind energy is more efficient given the advancement in technology. The turbines used to produce wind powe r only occupy little space at the base leaving room for other activities to be done on the ground. Moreover, wind energy is highly applicable in under developed parts of a country and can add to the tax base of the area. In addition, renewable sources of energy, wind being among them, require minimal subsidies to maintain. On the same note, the cost of producing wind power is constant and therefore prices for wind power do not fluctuate. Most importantly, wind is free and thus cost of producing wind power is low in the long run (Miller and Scott 407). It is crucial, however, to highlight that wind power has its share of disadvantages. Firstly, wind power depends on the flow of wind. On the days when the weather is calm wind power might not be generated. On the same note, the initial cost of producing wind power is quite high and individuals may not afford it (Miller and Scott 408). Lastly, power produced by the turbines is insufficient compared to power produced by fossil fuels. Cou rse of Action Despite the disadvantages of wind and solar power, their advantages are definitely more. They are renewable and therefore they will never get depleted. Sooner or later the government will have to find alternative ways of producing power. Consequently, it is high time that the government increased its financial support in the production of the two types of power (Miller and Scott 407). Reduction of restrictions is necessary but it might not be sufficient given the heavy initial cost. Similarly, renewable sources of energy, especially wind and solar power, are both economically and environmentally viable in the long run hence the need to invest in them. Conclusion The fact that the country currently satisfies most of its energy requirements should not blind our eyes. We will need to think of how we will operate in future. The fossil fuel that forms the giant part of energy source will definitely be exhausted with time.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Alternative Sources of Energy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It will be a great disservice to the future generations if we do not find sustainable energy sources. Consequently, the government has no option but to encourage the production wind and solar energy. Works Cited Boxwell, Michael. Solar Electricity Handbook: A simple. Practical Guide to Solar Energy-Designing and Installing Photovoltaic Solar Electric Systems. Warwickshire: Greenstream Publishing, 2010. Print. Miller, Tyler G. and Scott Spoolman. Living in the Environment: Principles, Connections, and Solutions. Stanford: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print. This essay on Alternative Sources of Energy was written and submitted by user Janiyah Kerr to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

CRM essays

CRM essays Most companies believe that they are doing a good job of keeping their customers satisfied... because they don't get complaints. The issue though, is that there is no effective way to allow the customer to express their frustration or the occasional complement. I have found that companies don't want to take the time to listen to the complaint and understand what the underlying reason is for the complaint. In some of the research that I have done on Customer Complaint Management, the primary objective is to get the customer off the phone. In call centre performance measurements, the focus is on Average Speed to Answer (ASA) and Talk Time (or Handle Time). Very little time is spent on root cause analysis... finding out why the customer complained in the first place. Let's take a look at some reasons why unhappy or dissatisfied customers don't complain. They don't because it's not worth their time or trouble, it won't do any good, they don't know who to complain to or they fear retribution! To this point, here are some of the reasons why customers "quit"... 68% Because of an attitude of indifference to them by service personnel Keeping customers can be easy if we treat them with courtesy, efficiency and with genuine interest! Here's another interesting tidbit of information. Research finds that customers who do complain, have a desire to maintain their relationship with the supplier or service provider, as long as they feel they are being heard and that the problem will be resolved to their satisfaction! Isn't it time that we took the customer seriously? After all, they are the reason were in business! We live in an age of choice. Building loyalty is extremely difficult, even we do it right. Customers are enticed by the attraction of something better so we need to pay attention to them. We need to listen and ...

Profitability, ROCE, Gross profit margin,Operating margin, Net profit Assignment

Profitability, ROCE, Gross profit margin,Operating margin, Net profit of British airways and Lufthansa - Assignment Example Therefore, return on capital employed ratio indicates the return generated by every investment made as capital employed. Concerning British airways, in 2012 and 2013, ROCE was 1.31% and 3.95% respectively. This means that in the year 2012, 1.31% of the company’s net profit was generated by the company’s capital employed. However, the company’s ROCE increased to 3.95 % in the year 2013 due to an increase in the net profit by  £ 197 million. ROCE can be used to determine the viability of a project. In order to maintain a higher level of ROCE, the company should improve its cost reduction strategies to increase the level of net profit. Comparatively, Lufthansa airways’ ROCE in the year 2012 and 2013 was 6.6% and 1.8 % respectively. The decrease in Lufthansa’s ROCE between the two years is attributed to a sharp decrease in the company’s net profit. this sharp decrease was caused by an increase in the operating activities. Therefore, in the year 2013, British airways had a higher ROCE than Lufthansa airways for the reason that Lufthansa airways had a higher proportion of net assets to net profit. Consequently, British airways’s net assets generated more returns than Lufthansa’s (Duncan 2009, pp. 42-44). Gross profit margin – the ratio indicates a company’s financial health after meeting the cost of sales. It also indicates the company’s ability to pay for future operating costs. Concerning British airways, the ratio for 2012 and 2013 are 95.8% and 96.2% respectively. This means that in the year 2013, 96.2 % of the total revenue were gross profit, whereas, the remaining 3.8% of sales were consumed by costs related to sales. The ratio increased compared to that of the previous year. The increase is attributed to a more than proportionate increase in the gross profit. From this analysis, it can be concluded that British airway’s level of production efficiency is high due to the effective management of cost related to sales. Comparatively, the

Moral Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Moral Philosophy - Essay Example Brock sees no difference between theses two, and I would say I have to agree. Does it really matter who is doing the killing if in fact there is killing taking place Either way the outcome is the same, I don't think it really matters who is holding the needle or who is administering the dosage. There is plenty of relevance in this debate as well to the other debate over the distinction between killing and letting die. Is there really a difference between killing somebody or simply standing by and watching or letting them die I like to think it depend on the scenario, for if you try to help them out then you are really not letting them die so to speak. But people will often try to use their belief that there is a distinction between them to try to work against the legislation of these types of programs. People will use the argument that there is a huge difference between them and that killing somebody is ethically wrong compared to letting their natural time come and letting them die. They will try to use this to block any measures to give people the choice of these types of death methods, and there may be some merit in their ideas. On t

Planning and the Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Planning and the Law - Essay Example From the research it can be comprehended that development of architectural planning and legal control on building construction in England has a long history which dates back to around 1180s. This history has generated accounts of interest for building enthusiasts. The legal control on building construction began in the English capital London which was densely populated. The buildings in the city were densely packed creating so many problems in the city and could only be solved communally. Houses could be built with thin party walls and poorly sited privies as well as gutters which could cause nuisances to the neighbors. In addition, there were complaints from the residents that one house could block light from the other. For this reasons, the authorities decided to set up building regulations that could give guidelines on building construction this was as early as 1189. During this medieval time, the greatest risk was fire outbreaks. In 1212, there was a devastating fire which huge d estruction in the city, the mayor of the city could regularly received complaints about building nuisance by one neighbor against the other. The problem of country and town planning in England worsened during the profound revolution which the country went through during the nineteenth century. The revolution in England brought about enormous growth of the country’s population especially in the urban centers.... The influx of people in the industrial town was partly as a result of the decline in agricultural activities in the countryside especially after 1850. At the begging, the conditions around the newly founded industrial towns were very appealing. For this reason, houses as well as industries drastically sprung up and were built side by side and no efforts were made for purposes of zoning or planning so to speak. People had to live within their places of work and thus they build their houses around the industries. Worse still, nobody seemed to care about the standards of building construction or even sanitation of the area. The haphazard construction of the houses and industries encouraged the spread of various diseases causing devastating outbreaks of typhoid and cholera in the industrial towns. Following the cholera epidemics that lead to loss of many lives, several commissions were formed to inquire on the causes and to give possible recommendation. Several reports were published suc h as the report by the Poor Law Commissioners in 1838and the Royal commission on the Health of Towns in 1842. These publication and other led to the enactment of a couple of legislations by parliament related to building construction in the country. Even though these Acts covered limited scope, as well as effects, they were significant in laying the basis of enduring legislative restrictions on the freedom of those who owned land to construct buildings as the deemed fit. A General Board of Health was established under the Public Health Act of 1848. This board was charged with the responsibility of ensuring that both the existing and new buildings provided

NHS: History of, and Modern Day

NHS: History of, and Modern Day Introduction Early approaches to health in the UK generally saw it as the responsibility of the individual to seek and pay for health services. However, we can see the emergence of government involvement as early as the late 1700s as Britain was emerging as an industrialised nation. This new age of wealth brought about medical advances but symptomatic of the laissez-faire (leave alone) attitudes of the time, nothing much was done about public health until the Cholera outbreak of 1831 which made government intervention essential. It took the deaths of over 100,000 people in four cholera epidemics between 1831 and 1866 to get the British government to take action to improve public health in the cities. Social reformers began to survey the living conditions of the poor and 1842 Edwin Chadwick published his Report on the Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population of Great Britain which concluded that the life expectancy of people living in the cities was about half of that living in the countryside. This was due to various forms of epidemic and endemic as a result of mainly overcrowding and the lack of drainage, ventilation and proper cleansing. Change was slow as the report offended many influential groups including water companies, corporations and public figures and the government disassociated itself from the report. Initial public health acts failed, however, after the second outbreak of Cholera in 1848 the first Public Health Act was passed which allowed Councils to set up a local board of Health if 10% of the rate payers agreed. Further public health acts were passed in 1872 and 1875, the latter completely changing public health as it forced councils to take action which included providing clean drinking water and proper sanitation. This was when we saw a concerted effort by the government to intervene in public health. Early hospitals were part voluntary, where the standards varied, and there were Local Authority Hospitals, which were developed from the workhouses. There were also Teaching hospitals, which were the best, but these charged fees. Most of the population paid for care they needed, although some were covered by national insurance. The services did not include dental care, ophthalmic services or hearing aids, specialised treatments and did not cover non insured family members. In 1942 the British economist William Beveridge produced his Report on Social Insurance and Allied Service, later known as the Beveridge report. It listed five basic problems in public health: idleness, ignorance, disease, squalor and want and proposed a scheme to look after people from ‘the cradle to the grave. Later in 1948 we saw the beginning of full government responsibility in the form of the National Health Service Act when the people of Britain were provided with free diagnosis and treatment of illness, as well as dental and ophthalmic services. Formation of the modern NHS In 1980 the DHSS published the Black report which concluded that although overall health had improved since the introduction of the welfare state, there were widespread health inequalities. It also found that the main cause of these inequalities was poverty and it stated that the death rate for men in social class V was twice that for men in social class I and that gap between the two was increasing. This report led to an assessment by the World Health Organization of health inequalities in 13 countries. The situation did not improve and in 1992 the government published the Health of a Nation, which listed numerous targets to improve public health. Approaches under the Conservative and New Labour governments saw an attempt to shift responsibility away from the state back towards the individual. Margaret Thatcher was unsure how to tackle the NHS in the 1980s, as it was so popular with the public, but eventually decided to follow her principles that she had followed on other policies, that of internal competition. The NHS was in real crisis at the time and it was felt by many that it had created aculture of dependency. The government wanted to transfer the emphasis from ‘dependence to ‘independence, by ending the benefit culture. The government believed that the NHS should be for the poorest and they actively encouraged the public to make their own provision with regards to their own health and insurance, either through company or private cover. These right wing think tank policies continue with the new Labour government in 1997 and this set about to fragment the NHS with autonomous foundation trusts. Tony Blair did not want to dissolve Conservative reforms and was attracted to use incentives to kick start the modernisation of the HNS. He was determined to boost spending to the EU average and opposed to traditional socialist values, he believed that reform needed to be in partnership with the private or voluntary sector. Waiting times were not falling and he wanted the patient to have a choice of which hospital or which doctor to treat them under patient controlled care. He states ‘I need to know how to increase the role of the private sector in health (Seldon: p44). Against much hostility within the Labour Party on 19 November 2003, the bill was passed for the formation of self funding Foundation Hospitals. These hospitals are independent legal entities which can opt out of government guidelines. Critics argue that the top hospitals are attracting investment and more money, therefore creating a two tier system. Structure of the NHS in England http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:QzBfNynbBC8w8M:http://www.hygicare.co.uk/images/hygi/clients/nhs_logos200x200.gif The NHS is divided into two separate sections. The first is primary care which is initially the first point of contact for most patients. The services are delivered by a large range of independent health care professionals such as GPs, dentists, pharmacists optometrists and podiatrists. Secondary care can be either elective care or emergency care. Elective care is generally specialist medical care or surgery, typically following a referral from a primary health care professional such as a GP. There are also tertiary care services which offer specialist care, such as hospitals for sick children. The Department of Health is responsible for running the NHS, public health and social care in England. This organisation provides organised direction, secures resources as well as setting national minimum service standards. The NHS Executive is part of the Department of Health with offices in Leeds and London and eight regions across the country. It supports Ministers and provides leadership and a range of management functions to the NHS, while the regional offices make sure national policy is developed in their own areas. In October 2002, 28 Strategic Health Authorities were created to manage the NHS at local level and act as a link back to the Department of Health. The role of the SHA is to support the local health service in improving performance, integrating national priorities into local health plans as well as resolving any conflicts between local NHS organisations. SHAs also monitor the performance of Primary Care Trusts and ensure that they meet their specific targets. The number of SHA was reduced in 2006 to 10 in order to provide a better service. There are 147 Primary Care Trusts in England, each charged with planning, securing and improving primary and community health services in their local area. They work strongly with patients, the public, GP practices to deliver these healthcare services. PCTs are allocated 75% of the NHS budget to fund services and are accountable to their local SHA. Primary Care Groups are there to improve the health of the population and they bring together GPs, community nurses, managers, social services, local communities, Health Authorities in partnership to improve services and the health of their community. NHS Trusts employ the majority of the workforce in the health service. Most of their income is generated from Primary Care Trusts and are mainly self governing, but accountable to SHA. They have to deliver results and if they dont their agreements can be withdrawn. The main types of trust are as follows. 1. Acute Trusts There are 168 acute trusts and they manage hospitals to make sure there is quality health care. They employ the vast majority of the NHS workforce. 2. Care Trusts These Trusts are organisations that work in both health and social care. They are set up between local authorities to enable close integration and benefit the local community. They usually concentrate on specialist mental health and older peoples services 3. Mental Health Trusts There are 60 Mental Health Trusts in England which provide specialist mental health services in hospitals and the local community. 4. Ambulance Trusts There are 12 Ambulance Trusts in England providing patients with emergency access to health care. 5. Childrens Trusts These are run by the local government and offer an integrated service for children. 6. Foundation Trusts There are currently 122 Foundation Trusts which are non-profit making organisation owned by members of the local community. These Trusts remain within the NHS and its performance inspection system. One significant change was in 2003 when The Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH) was set up. This is an independent body which collects information from the public so that they can be involved in health care. It represents public views on healthcare matters and provides advice and support to patients wanting to make a complaint about NHS Services. Private Health Care In an affluent society like Britain with an individualist culture, there has been increasing private health care in the UK since the 1980s when the conservative government introduced ‘market orientation in which there was compulsory tendering for ancillary services such as catering and laundry. By 1985 private contractors undertook 40% of all ancillary services. Private health care has been actively encouraged by the government to ease the burden of the NHS and although there has been substantial expansion, it only accounted for 18% of the total spending on health care in 2005. Around three quarters of those using private health care pay for it by health insurance, usually by their employers. The amount of people with private insurance has increase from 2.1 million in 1971 to 7 million by 2003. Some sorts of treatments like cosmetic surgery are only available through private medicine and there is also a tendency for people to make one off visits for minor operations to avoid lo ng waiting times with the NHS. Patients generally get better treatment for private health care and competition between companies improves the all round service. One of the major downsides is that more affluent areas attract better hospitals and services and it the lower social groups that require more health care. People that do not have the expertise about health sometimes may be persuaded under private health care to undergo operation they do not necessarily need. The private sector is made up of different types of company, the largest ones being PLCs, companies like BUPA which carry out approximately 850,000 operations each year. Another sector is smaller private limited companies and organisations such as Podiatrists and Physiotherapists. Voluntary, alternative and complementary medicine There has been a growing popularity of alternative therapies to challenge medical pre-eminence and is estimated that a fifth of the population has used some form of alternative medicine. These include professionally organised therapies such as acupuncture and chiropractic, complementary therapies such as aromatherapy and hypnotherapy and alternative disciplines such as kinesiology and radionics. Voluntary services are those which are considered not profit making and are registered charities i.e Age Concern and Mencap. They do not cover all localities and only a few are involved in the direct provision of health care. Relationship between the different types of health care Private health care often fails to care for those who need it the most, the poor and the elderly and private health care systems which are in competition with each other tend to be less efficient than the NHS. In 2002 the new labour government continued to use the private sector in conjunction with the NHS services to expand capacity, increase access and promote diversity in the provision and choice of health services (Department of Health, 2002). The NHS has pay beds which are rented out to the private sector, although these often cost more to service than the money they raise. While most patients seek conventional medicine and receive treatment from the NHS, some alternative medicine has been recognised by the medical profession. These services have been incorporated into medical practices and treatments such as osteopathy and acupuncture are now available to NHS patients. Voluntary groups contribute to care in the community and can make improvements to peoples lives, yet the ‘mixed economy of health care and the boundaries of responsibility are not always clear. Conclusion Originally the HNS was set up to be free at the point of entry and it has stayed largely unchanged for over 30 years. Since the 1980s ‘internal market, changes have taken place and new labours reforms set up Foundation Hospitals and actively encouraged the private sector. In the future there will be undoubtedly further expansion of primary and preventative health care and more commercial involvement and expansion of the private sector. References: Childs, D. (2006) Britain since 1945, 5th Edn, Routledge: Oxford. Giddens, A. (2006) Sociology, 5th Edn, Polity Press: Cambridge. History and Policy, (2009), [Online], Available at: http://www.historyandpolicy.org/papers/policy-paper-14.html (Accessed 19 Nov 2009). Marrie Barrie, A., and Yuill, C. (2008) Understanding the Sociology of Health, an introduction, 2nd Edn, Sage: London Nettleton, S. (2008) The Sociology of Health and Illness, 2nd Edn, Polity Press: Cambridge. NHS (2009) [Online] Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/aboutnhs/Pages/Authoritiesandtrusts.aspx (Accessed 22 Nov 2009). Science Museum. (2009), [Online], Available at: http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/themes/publichealth.aspx. (Accessed 17 Nov 2009). Seldon, A. (2007) Blair Unbound, Simon and Schuster: London. Skyminds. (2009), [Online], Available at: http://www.skyminds.net/politics/inequalities-in-great-britain-in-the-19th-and-20th-centuries/the-thatcher-years-the-individual-and-society/ (Accessed 17 Nov 2009). Taylor, T., and Field, F. (2003) Sociology of Health and Health Care, 4th Edn, Blackwell Publishing: Oxford.

Autobiography :: Autobiography Personal Narrative

Part 1: Family Background I was raised by both my parents while growing up. My parents barely finished high school and never went to college so they were not the type of parents who pushed college careers nor did they have any sort of college fund set aside for us. They always helped with homework but never pushed us to do better. Now that they see my accomplishments from attending college they are very proud of me and supportive for me to finish. My mom even went back to college after seeing me and my sister do it, and she got an accounting degree at the age of 40. My parents came from poor families and not many college graduates. We often had no spending money or even good running vehicles but they always gave us love and we were happy with all of the small things we had. My parents used the permissive parenting style, at least for me and my sister; they never really used any type of punishments. They would tell us we were grounded from something but the next day we would be doing the things we wer e grounded from. We were always nurtured and my parents were easy to talk to. My dad taught us many things from riding a bike to driving a car; he never gave up on us and always gave words of wisdom. There were times when were yelled at and even spanked a few times, but the good times always overcame those bad. I have 3 sisters and 1 brother who are all younger than me. Being the oldest of 5 children had its good and bad occasions. Since I was the oldest I always was given first option on things like movies, where to eat and who got to play with what toys. I was also faced with a lot of responsibility being the oldest, I was expected to watch the other kids a lot to make sure they did not get hurt. Some days I felt more like a mother than a child but they looked up to me and listened to me so I felt good. To this day I still look after them and make sure they are doing the right things and doing well in school. I think that the "birth order" material is pretty close to des cribing all of us. Autobiography :: Autobiography Personal Narrative Part 1: Family Background I was raised by both my parents while growing up. My parents barely finished high school and never went to college so they were not the type of parents who pushed college careers nor did they have any sort of college fund set aside for us. They always helped with homework but never pushed us to do better. Now that they see my accomplishments from attending college they are very proud of me and supportive for me to finish. My mom even went back to college after seeing me and my sister do it, and she got an accounting degree at the age of 40. My parents came from poor families and not many college graduates. We often had no spending money or even good running vehicles but they always gave us love and we were happy with all of the small things we had. My parents used the permissive parenting style, at least for me and my sister; they never really used any type of punishments. They would tell us we were grounded from something but the next day we would be doing the things we wer e grounded from. We were always nurtured and my parents were easy to talk to. My dad taught us many things from riding a bike to driving a car; he never gave up on us and always gave words of wisdom. There were times when were yelled at and even spanked a few times, but the good times always overcame those bad. I have 3 sisters and 1 brother who are all younger than me. Being the oldest of 5 children had its good and bad occasions. Since I was the oldest I always was given first option on things like movies, where to eat and who got to play with what toys. I was also faced with a lot of responsibility being the oldest, I was expected to watch the other kids a lot to make sure they did not get hurt. Some days I felt more like a mother than a child but they looked up to me and listened to me so I felt good. To this day I still look after them and make sure they are doing the right things and doing well in school. I think that the "birth order" material is pretty close to des cribing all of us.