Analysis of news article in relation to macroeconomic concepts Term Paper

Analysis of news article in relation to macroeconomic concepts - Term Paper Example It is important to strengthen the Canadian economic vision that is built on innovation and knowledge, which is driven by a diverse and successful university sector (Yusuf & Nabeshima, 2012). Using this approach, the Canadian government can fully realize the contributions made by universities, especially those that are business-engaged. This paper aims to discuss the role that universities can play in growing the country’s GDP and in decreasing the rate of unemployment. Universities at the Center of GDP Growth A permanent hike in university funding, for instance, by use of taxpayers’ money, could emerge, as a cornerstone for the government to increase Canada’s GDP. A report by the Universities of New Zealand and NZIER concluded that an increase of government investment in universities would lead to a permanent and significant increase in the country’s GDP. In illustrating how increased funding would affect the economy, they modeled an additional $200 millio n in university research and funding over the next five years (Yusuf & Nabeshima, 2012). ... The Canadian government, at present, invests just more than $1 billion every year in universities with a similar amount supporting university students financially (Yusuf & Nabeshima, 2012). The Canadian government increased investment levels significantly in education following a report by KPMG Econ Tech in 2009. The report called, for increased university funding, to boost the Canadian productivity levels nationally by 4.6% by the year 2040. The same report also estimated that the implementation of these recommendations could also add up to 6.4% to the GDP. It is important for the government to increase university learning and teaching base funding by 10% by 2020 and ensure that they maintain internationally competitive funding levels (Yusuf & Nabeshima, 2012). It could be expected that implementation would do more for living standards and GDP than any single reform that is publicly identified and costed. Boosting university investment could lead to a more skilled and smarter, work force and improve wealth distribution that would reduce the two-speed economy problem where there is a boom in some sectors while others continue to struggle. The cumulative benefit to the treasury from these reforms taken over the period between 2010 and 2040 is projected at $325 billion, which is the public funding that is required for Canada’s major future needs (Yusuf & Nabeshima, 2012). This information also confirms that investment in universities from the government will continue to provide a dividend in productivity for many years to come. Expanding university reach in Canada is central to the productivity agenda fronted by the Canadian government. In this century, the

What does it take to become a successful leader in today's business Research Paper

What does it take to become a successful leader in today's business world - Research Paper Example An essential requirement for the business leader of today is to clearly understand major societal and environmental forces that shape business. Central in creation of value is knowing where and how to respond to societal demands in terms of the daily running of business. This calls for s strong sense of vision and emotional intelligence. The core of leadership in business still remains; leaders should be able to motivate employees, inspire and foster the spirit of teamwork among the people they lead so as to achieve common business goals. But the business environment has undergone tremendous changes in the past few decades presenting new management challenges to the business of today. They have to work in an environment with more challenges and expectations while leading teams in accomplishing the set business objectives. The implication of all these is that the modern business requires more than managers; people who can lead by vision and create the working environment in which the common vision is shared by everyone one involved. With the evolving purpose of the business leadership role, modern leaders must approach their work with a different perspective, lead change across & beyond the boundaries of business and effectively work in collaboration with relevant stakeholders in achieving the missions (Gitsham and W ackrill, 2012). A leader in the modern business world must keep up with developments in technology. Technological trends especially in business are evolving at the speed of lightning and this renders even a management tool that rocked the business world just in the past few years completely obsolete. Some leaders may face great challenges but keeping the pace would mean taking advantage of technological tools to the competitive benefit of the firm. The leader should be capable of utilizing tools such as social media and at the same time an environment in the firm where technology

Criminal Law as a product of Social Engineering Essay

Criminal Law as a product of Social Engineering - Essay Example When the number of inmates the various prisons also increases as a result of the high rate of crimes, then the catering of these inmates becomes another head-ache of the government. All these things do not allow governments especially in developing countries to be able to use the scarce resources they have on more useful and profitable things which will bring them more income to be able to develop their economies. This when studied further will in a long term becomes another cause of crime. This is because when a country's economy is very poor there will be no jobs for the citizens hence poverty will be on the increase. These citizens therefore in an attempt to be able to earn some money to feed themselves and their families tend to engage in criminal acts. This makes the whole process become more or less a viscous circle. The governments not only will not be able to generate more revenue to improve their economy ,but also they will not be able to provide the basic amenities all thei r citizens may need. these include good drinking water,electricity,medical services and so on. When it comes to the social effects crime has ,it is quite obvious that communities where crime rates are high ,the younger generations or citizens grow up to become very violent people .This is because they are e always surrounded by violence and this affects them psychologically. It makes them believe in nothing else but violence and illegal ways as the only way to get what they want. They have not even the slightest idea about what peace is really about or even what the laws of their country are and their significance. If a country or community has its younger generation who are supposed to be the future leaders of that community have such a character and wrong perception, you would agree with me that that community really has a lot to do to have a good future. Social engineering as labeled above as a very important issue in the combat against crime ,can be described as the use policies that are base don the findings of social science to deal with social problems of which crime is no exemption. Policies made by governments come in different forms, but the one that comes to light in this context is the regulatory policies. This policies as the name implies, are meant to give limits to individuals and co-operate bodies in their decision making and actions. These policies when made serve as a guideline or step to step actions or procedures the government needs to follow in order to be able to achieve a set goal. Before policies are made, various things are taken into consideration ,these include the purpose for which the policy is been made. These is when the governments need the ideas of the experts in the specific sector within which the policy is been made. that is whether it is an education, health, est. policy. When it comes to policies o f social engineering ,the ideas of experts in the social sciences are needed in order to structure out the policies in such a way to be able to achieve its set goal or purpose .Social science involves of how groups of people behave ,often in effort

SUMMERY CULTURE OR EDUCATION EVENTS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SUMMERY CULTURE OR EDUCATION EVENTS - Essay Example By the 20th century, ballet dance had become a concert dance with many version coming up. There are different ballet styles including the classical ballet based on the traditional French accomplishments and movements. Neoclassical ballet shares many feature with the classical style except that it involves higher speed tempos and application of modern technical feats. Contemporary ballet contains a lot of modernity influence in terms of art; however, its fundamentals are based on traditional moves but permits a greater range than the classical style (Wolf, 1998, p44). Holi festival is celebrated during the spring; it is the festival of colors and love for one another. The festival originated with the Hindus but soon spread among non-Hindus outside Asia. However, its impact is felt in regions of the world dominated by the Hindus. The celebration starts with a Holika bonfire during the night and the next day is a free for all to play with points. Both men and women, boys and girls, old and young play with the paints. The fight with paints everywhere and anywhere irrespective of social status or age is a fair game. Greetings are in the form of playing with points. The word Holi have its origin from the name Holika who was sister to demon king Hiranyakashipu who were burnt by Vishnu symbolized by the bonfire (Ester, 2009, p34). The celebration have cultural significance of bringing people together, it is a day that marks and end to past quarrels and rebuild the broken bonds, people pay debts, forgive debts as well as enter into new deals with family members. The origin of shaolin art can be traced back to the three forms of self-defenses of Asian origin, The Shaolin Temple where the art is called temple boxing or just boxing. The monks had developed five fighting stances attributed to unique animal behavior; they include the crane, tiger, snake, leopard and the dragon. Yoshida and Komatsu clans of Japan stances and movements together with

Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 Essay Example for Free

Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 Essay Descriptions of the main aspects of the regulatory environment which will protect the public from fraud within corporations are going to be provided in this paper. A special attention to the Sarbanes – Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) requirement; along with an evaluation of whether Sarbanes-Oxley Act will be effective in avoiding future frauds based on their implemented rules and regulations. The main aspects of the regulatory environment are based on the different laws and regulations the different governmental institutions such as federal, state, and local developed to create control over business practices. The regulatory environment creates a positive business financial operational environment as well as efficiency in management, integration of capital flow and domestic savings. For instance, the Securities Act of 1933 which provides regulations and laws to those offering corporate stocks to the public (University of Phoenix, 2014). Another regulatory environment is the Securities Act of 1934. The Securities Act of 1934 regulates and uses laws for trading stocks on markets that are consider as secondary markets like the New York Stock Exchange. The Securities Act of 1933 also provides the requirements for financial reporting and auditing for corporations (University of Phoenix, 2014). When looking at the history of the business environment regulatory compliance has been part of the process of conducting business. In addition, in most industries the different organizations are going to find different rules and regulations that are presented by the government, requiring companies to follow them. In the event, these are not followed the business will be confronted with penalties for not following the regulations that are clearly defined by the government. As time progresses, many regulations were created to help and prevent fraud against the public. Some of these regulations include the requirement of state filing, and laws to create fair lending to the public. An example of this is the Securities and Exchange Commission also known as the SEC. The SEC is a major aspect of the regulatory environment. â€Å"The mission of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation † (SEC, 2013, para. 1). In today’s environment, many are utilizing the market as a way to secure their future. The way to secure the future is by purchasing and paying for a home, pay for children college tuition, as well as any  other expenses. As investors, it is important that the SEC does protect these individuals. According to the SEC (2013) â€Å"the common interest of all Americans in a growing economy that produces jobs, improves our standard of living, and protects the value of our savings means that all of the SECs actions must be taken with an eye toward promoting the capital formation that is necessary to sustain economic growth† (para. 4). The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (2013) states â€Å"the laws and rules that govern the securities industry in the United States derive from a simple and straightforward concept: all investors, whether large institutions or private individuals, should have access to certain basic facts about an investment prior to buying it, and so long as they hold it† (para. 6). To ensure this rule is followed by ever organization the SEC requires public companies to make the appropriate financial state available to the general public. Making this statement public, future investors as well as current investors can clearly see and determine whether or not the investor wants to purchase, sell or hold an investment. The SEC (2013) also states â€Å"the result of this information flow is a far more active, efficient, and transparent capital market that facilitates the capital formation so important to our nations economy† (para. 7). The SEC is proactively working with other major markets that participate in environmental securities to certify that this guideline is being followed. One of the SEC functions is to supervise the participants in the area of securities world. The securities would include the areas of securities exchanges, securities brokers and dealers, mutual funds as well as investment advisors. Another function the SEC provides is the promotion of disclosure of market related information and to maintain appropriate dealings. In addition, as a yearly procedure the SEC submits civil enforcement actions to those individuals and companies violating any of the securities laws. The infractions can include accounting fraud, trading misconduct, and providing deceptive as well as false information in regards the company’s procedures or securities. In doing this yearly event and disclosing market related data, it allows the SEC to protect companies and individuals against fraud. The SEC is an organization that works closely with other institutions to ensure rules and regulations are implemented and followed by the public. Some of the institutions that work with the SEC include Congress, self-regulatory organizations such as stock  exchange, federal departments, the state securities regulators, and different private sector. The Securities and Exchange Commission is one of the main regulatory environments that assist to protect the public from fraud that a corporation can commit. Another regulatory environment that collaborates with the enforcement of the rules and regulations is the Sarbanes – Oxley Act (SOX). The Sarbanes – Oxley is a regulatory act â€Å"passed by Congress in 2002 in response to a series of massive corporate frauds (i.e., Enron, WorldCom)† (University of Phoenix, 2014, p. 3). When Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oley Act, it was â€Å"to provide greater protections to investors, creditors, and other stakeholders† (University of Phoenix, 2014, p. 3). SOX will provide greater protection by â€Å"reducing unethical corporate behavior† (University of Phoenix, 2014, p. 3). The SOX play a major function with the SEC because not only this also helps protect the public from fraud a corporation can commit, but because this can provide solutions to issues, the SE C is confronted with based on fraudulent accounting practices. A scandal and major concerns on how American Corporations are governed was the Enron and WorldCom scandal of a series of massive corporation frauds. As a result, the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002 were developed. The act was established to improve transparency, and to create new standards for accounting firms, for management at senior level, for executives, and for board members of public companies. According to Corporate Secretary (2014) a condition this act present is that companies are required â€Å"to have robust internal control systems that can be built into their compliance processes to promote integrity and accuracy within their business operations (para. 2). With the passing of the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act, Congress intent was to help reduce unethical behavior and to eliminate future corporation scandals. As a result of the creation of the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act the penalties for fraudulent financial activities are more severe (Corporate Secretary, 2014). The Sarbanes – Oxley Act has played an important role in the regulatory environment which will protect the public from fraud within corporations. Even when this act has played an important role it is clear the implementation of the act by legislation is not going to solve the problem of fraud. However; with the implementation of The Sarbanes – Oxley  Act, of The Securities and Exchange Commission, The Securities Act of 1933, and The Securities Act of 1934 it has assisted with minimizing fraud as well as to create transparency when companies are following rules and regulations presented by the gover nment. References Corporate Secretary. (2014). Ten events that have changed corporate governance. Retrieved from http://www.corporatesecretary.com/articles/regulation-and-legal/12277/ten-events-have-changes-corporate-governance/ University of Phoenix. (2014). Week 1 Study Guide: Introduction to Financial Reporting. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, ACC561 Accounting website. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (2013). The Investors Advocate: How the SEC Protects Investors, Maintains Market Integrity, and Facilitates Capital Formation. Retrieved from http://www.sec.gov/about/whatwedo.shtml U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (2013). Codification of Staff Accounting Bulletins. Retrieved from http://www.sec.gov/interps/account/sabcodet1.htm

Enron Accounting Scandal: Changes to SAS 99

Enron Accounting Scandal: Changes to SAS 99 The Enron accounting scandal is one of the most shocking nightmares in the professions history. Enron rises to success quickly after its establishment in 1985. However, despite attracting huge share prices, the company files for bankruptcy in December 2001 and its share value plummets from $92 to $0.67 within a span of one month. The question that most stakeholders still have is how such a huge company, one of the most promising in the United States, comes crumbling down overnight. The underlying problem in Enrons case is the lack of sufficient accounting oversight to ensure that the figures executives post reflect a true and fair view of the companys position (McLean Elkind, 2003). Massive deregulation and the lack of an independent accounting firm to audit Enrons books helps to keep the con going for years. Though the company starts failing in the late 1990s, it is not until late 2001 that the world realizes what is going on behind the scenes. Main players in the scandal including CEO Jeffery Skilling, Enron former CEO Kenneth Bay and innovative CFO Andrew Fastow are all convicted of insider trading and fraud related charges. Arthur Andersen LLP, the accounting firm that fails report Enrons misrepresentation is closed and convicted for obstructing justice, though this conviction is overturned. The SEC works with a tight regulatory framework looking to prevent companies from pulling stunts like the ones in Enrons case. However, there are loopholes that allow Enron to thrive. Among them is a mechanism that allows companies to influence the progress of their share values on the stock market. Mark-to-market accounting allows Enron to peg its share value on the market price, rather than the value reflected on its books(Collins, 2006)On top of this, allowing companies to hedge their stock using SPVs in the balance sheet represents a failure in preventing companies from unfairly influencing the progress of their stock value. These are only basic aspects that Enrons exploits, but there is a bigger safeguard of them all, an independent audit firm. Arthur Andersen LLP fails in its obligation to provide a true and fair view of Enrons operations. This allows the company to continue its fraud over an extended period of time. At this time, rather than report to the board of directors, t he audit firm directly reports to the company executives, which limits its independence significantly, as well as introduce a loophole in the mechanism that allows executives to perpetuate their own interests at the expense of the shareholders (McLean Elkind, 2003). Changes to SAS 99 Communication of potential fraud: SAS 99 improves look to ensure that there is greater oversight against corporate fraud. As a result, the reporting framework has been expanded to include more than just management. The board of directors and other stakeholders are now more engaged in the communication of fraud process (Thomas, 2002). Furthermore, the obligation of the independent auditor has shifted and they now cover a wider stakeholder scope, which means that offering information to management alone is not enough. Failure to provide a thorough breakdown of the audit to other stakeholders now amounts to a failed engagement. Fraud risk factors: auditors heavily rely on information that they gather in the course of an engagement to make a decision about the nature of a companys financial statements. However, revisions to SAS 99 means that they can now establish ways to detect fraud by assessing the audit environment. That is, auditors can rely on more than just the financial information that a company presents to determine whether or not there is any misrepresentation in the information sent to the public or board of directors. Greater auditor independence: SAS 99 reviews what is expected of an independent auditor in the course of an audit engagement. The greatest transformation that occurs to SAS in this regard is to distinguish the role of management from that of auditors. Initially, there is a small line between the auditor and management to the extent that the auditors are allowed to have other interests that are connected with management. What this change in the standard does is to eliminate the conflict of interest by drawing a line between these two key stakeholder groups when it comes to preventing accounting fraud. Greater independence not only comes because of regulations, but also a greater scope in the number of stakeholders that auditors report to (Thomas, 2002). Clients illegal operations: SAS 99 does provide a new perspective when it comes to reporting illegal acts that the audit discovers are conducted by the client. Initially, failing to report these acts fell under the jurisdiction of criminal justice and was labelled as obstruction of justice. However, SAS 99 offers a fresher approach to the issue by outlining procedures and obligations of an auditor when it comes to reporting and handling perceived illegal operations by the client. Therefore, for the first time, the auditor does have a responsibility under accounting principles when it is suspected that there are illegal acts by the client. References Collins, D. (2006). Behaving Badly: Ethical Lessons from Enron. Dog Ear Publishing, LLC. McLean, B. Elkind, P. (2003). The Smartest Guys in the Room. New York: Portfolio Trade. Thomas, W. (2002). The Rise and Fall of Enron. Journal of Accountancy. Retrieved from http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2002/apr/theriseandfallofenron.html

Strategies to Meet Energy Demands in the UK

Strategies to Meet Energy Demands in the UK 1.0 Introduction The question of how Britain will be able to meet its energy demand in the next 10 10 years is a matter of concern for the British Government. With aging nuclear plants, replacing these with cleaner and more energy efficiency plants is going to be a challenge. This dissertation aims to investigate the governments proposals to construct a new generation of nuclear plants and rely more on renewable technologies, whilst meeting the energy demand in next 10 20 years and cutting C02 emissions. 1.1 Aims If Government proposals for new nuclear plants and renewable technologies will be able to meet Britains energy demands 1.2 Objectives Is the current proposals the only answer Can they meet their targets of cutting C02 emissions whilst meeting demand Will they be able to construct the nuclear plants on time Have all issues been addressed, such as safety concerns when considering constructing the nuclear plant. Should renewables have a bigger contribution 1.3 Rationale The British Government have been concerned with the gap of meeting the British demand in the next 10 20 years. With aging nuclear plants and questions surrounding what is going replace these, and the commitment of meeting targets to cut C02 emissions. The government has proposed to build a new generation of nuclear power stations and rely more on renewable energy to meet these demands. The conversational decision on this issue has raised further questions on whether this will be enough to make sure Britain does not suffer power black outs in the medium term. Experts in the nuclear sector have also questioned the proposals in terms of are these nuclear plants going to be build on time, who is going to pay for these plants and will the design be right to avoid any health and safety issues. Other plans that the government proposes includes relying more on renewable energy to meet demand. Heavy investment will be needed to meet this target and it remains to seen if this will be enough to meet the demand. 2.0 Literature Review 2.1 World Energy Demands Energy is fundamental in how we all lead our lives. As the years goes by and the higher the world population grows, this means that global demand for energy can only increase. The UN has predicted that as of 2005, 6.5 billion made up the worlds population, and this could grow up to 9.1 billion within 45 years (Asif and Muneer 2007). If the worlds population reaches this figure, then the world is going to face a challenge to meet the energy needs of all of these people, especially with the emerging nations such as China, India and Brazil. 2.2 Energy Usage We use energy in all ways of life and we use them in a number of ways. Areas that energy is used includes Buildings Industry Trasport Buildings Buildings consume over 60% (International Energy Outlook, 2009) of energy produced around the world. Buildings are split into domestic householders and commercial buildings. Domestic buildings usage includes space heating, lighting, air conditioning, ventilation, and general electrical appliances. The volume of the property will determine its final energy consumption. The bigger the property, the more heating and lighting it will need to make it into comfortable surroundings. For residential buildings, the physical size of the structures is one key indicator of the amount of energy used by their occupants (International Energy Outlook) Commercial buildings can include offices and government buildings such as schools and hospitals. Commercial buildings are of a similar nature to domestic buildings, but will be to a much bigger scale. For example, an office could consist of a dozens or even hundreds of computers, compared to maybe one in a domestic house. Industry Industry consumption uses around 29% (International Energy Outlook) of the total energy produced around the world. Industry energy usage includes manufacturing metals, chemicals, materials and agriculture. The industry uses the energy it receives to operate manufacturing assembly lines, processing, space heating and lighting. Transport Transport uses the vast majority of oil that is consumed around the world. Transport energy accounts for cars, trains, planes and lorries. In comparison with the other energy sectors, the transport is largely constricted to oil and cannot operate with the other fuel options. In IEA (International Energy Agency) countries, the transport sector is taking an increasing share of oil demand (Taylor) 2.3 Threats to World Energy Supply As the demand for energy grows, the threat of not producing this energy increases. 2.3.1 Fossil Fuels Fossil fuels currently produce the majority of our energy needs and take many forms. Developed countries use oil, gas and coal and all of this fossil fuel usage heavily contributes to climate change because of the C02 emissions that they produce. Developing countries will use firewood etc and in comparison to the developed countries, the developing countries will produce alot less C02 because of their methods of producing energy. As well as the effects of the fossil fuels, the fuel reserves will decrease as the years and decades go on, particular since the demands for fuels will only rise. The security of getting these fuels is also a concern because of the political divides in the Middle East, where the biggest oil fields are. The political differences between the EU and Russia are also a concern because Russia is biggest exporter to the EU. The energy policies of Britain and France take these threats into account and are putting in place measures to reduce the threat. The threats t hat Britain and France predict is the increasing importation of these fuels, at the same time as demand goes up and the political strains increase. Our increasing reliance on imports of oil and gas in a world where energy demand is rising and energy is becoming more politicised (Meeting the energy challenge, 2007). 2.3.2 Oil Out of all of the fossil fuels, oil is the most precious and scarce. It is the primary source that we use to power our transportation system, to produce energy and used to make many different types of products. The worlds energy demand is expected to grow by 45% in the next 20 years; therefore, the demand for oil is expected to rise by 26% over the same period. Even if we do maintain the optimum amount of oil production over the next 20 years, it is very unlikely that the energy demands will be meet by oil. Oil Prices The issue of the oil peak production and its decline is much debated and opinions vary from a number of sources. One thing that is certain is that oil is not a re-newable fuel and as demands for energy increases year by year, production for oil will increase and this will deplete oil reserves more quickly. The steady growth of spot oil price exploded suddenly in the second halve of 2007: in only twelve months, the price of oil nearly double from $74/barrel on July 2007 to $147.27/barrel on July 2008 (Matutinovic, 2008.) This was a huge hike in a short space of time, caused by the demand from China and India, together with unrest in the Middle East were the main reasons. This increase in price however was short lived and to the present day is back to a manageable price. However, in the future the price will increase and stay there due to a number of factors. Energy demand going up, meaning that supply and demand will be squeezed. The political unrest in unstable regions where the largest oil reserves are As the price of oil increases, so will the price of energy and we this may become uncontrollable over the long term. Security of Oil As mentioned before, the majority of oil reserves are contained within unstable regions or countries and countries that have political issues with the most developed countries. This includes the Middle East, which holds the most of the oil reserves and is almost always unstable. As the developed countries own oil reserves decrease, the importation of oil will increase from these regions and if the regions were to decline further, this may affect security of supply of the energy needs of these countries. The most important implication of such distribution of proven oil reserves is that future oil increasingly dependence on politically instable Middle East (Matutinovic) 2.3.3 Gas In the past natural gas was not used globally to produce energy and by domestic householders. It is becoming increasingly important to meet energy demands around and in particular, the EU region. As with the issues with oil, gas reserves in the European Union and USA regions are dwindling and these regions are fast becoming increasily reliant on Russia and Middle East for their supplies. The UK in particular as a large proportion of its power produced by gas power stations and this has been addressed within their energy policy of the intention to decrease the importation of gas in the long term. However, in the short medium term it is anticipated that Europes dependence on gas will go from 36% up to in 69% (Weisser H, 2005) even with the issue of climate change, as natural gas is less pollutant than coal and oil. Looking at Russia, by far the biggest supplier, for analysing the security of supply equation one has to account for the fact that this countrys energy policy is not only d etermined by economic interest but a least equally by geopolitical, foreign policy and security consideration (Weisser). Political Issues The country with the most natural gas reserves is Russia. As each year goes by, the EU will have to import gas from Russia more and more. The political relationships between Europe and Russia are not the best. This was brought about by the dispute between Russia and the Ukraine over the gas supply. This in turn reduced the supply to Europe, as the pipe goes through the Ukraine to supply Europe. This brought tensions between the EU and Russia, since then Russia has threatened the supply to Europe and dramatic price increases. Apart from the Russia, the Middle East is the second biggest exporter and like oil, is vulrable to political unrest and this may affect supplies to their customers. Gas Prices Gazprom is the biggest gas provider in Russia and world. With demand for gas going to increase in the coming years, this will give the power to increase prices to the EU and other regions. If this were to happen, this would lead to higher costs for the UK to produce power and this would lead to higher power costs for domestic householders. The price of gas will also have to increase to fund investments to find new gas fields and pipes that transport the gas. The main reason for dual gas pricing has been to provide a gas subsidy to the Russian economy. (Spanjer A, 2007) 2.3.4 Coal Coal was the first significant fossil fuel to be used by humans and was the spearhead for the industrial revolution. It is used by both developed and developing due to its availability and value Consumption Developing countries use 55% of the world consumption of coal, which includes China and India. It is predicted that this is going to rise to over 65% in the morelonger term. The availability of coal is vast, which is the primary reason why it is used so much. It is found all over world, including vast reserves in the UK. It is predicted that if the current trend of excavating coal were to continue, it may take up to a few hundred years to exhaust the earths supply. As the coal reserves are spread all over the world, this gives an advantage to the other fossil fuels of providing a greater security of supply. Because of the inevitable decline in world reserves of petroleum and natural gas and rising demand for energy, coal is a major alternative along with nuclear power to meet these meets. (Yilmaz A O, Uslu T, The role of coal in energy production Consumption and sustainable development of Turkey, Energy Policy 35, 1117 1128, page 1, 2007) Cleaner Coal In the future, it is anticipated that cleaner coal power stations are to be constructed as coal is seen as a fuel that will meet the energy demand for the medium term. This is seen as a way of meeting the energy demands because of the reserves of coal offering a much higher security of coal, but also a way to reduce the emissions that coal gives off when used to produce energy. 2.4 Climate Change The issues that are associated with climate change go back over one hundred years when scientists were discovering that greenhouse gases were interfering with the atmosphere. Over the course of history to this present day, the understanding of climate change has jumped dramatically over the past 10 years and scientists are beginning to see the potential effects that may have on the earth if we do not tackle the roots of the problem. 2.4.1 Energy Production Energy production accounts for the vast majority of the green house gases that is produced. Energy accounts for over 80% of the global anthropogenic GHGs (Quadrelli R, The energy-climate challenge: Recent trends in CO2 emissions from fuel combustion, IEA, Elsevier, page 2, 2007). These green house gases are a direct result from using fossil fuels in producing energy. The world energy supply is still very much dependant on fossil fuels to produce the energy needs for the world population, even with the growth of renewable energy. As stated before, the worlds energy demand is expected to grow significantly over the next 20 30 years as a direct consequence of a rising world population and the rapid development of China and India. 2.4.2 C02 Emissions All fossil fuels contribute to green house gases, some more than others however. Coal is the biggest contributor of C02 emissions and this will just increase as coal becomes more popular, especially with China and India. An Energy production accounts for the vast majority of the green house gases that is produced. Energy accounts for over 80% of the global anthropogenic GHGs (Quadrelli R, The energy-climate challenge: Recent trends in CO2 emissions from fuel combustion, IEA, Elsevier, page 2, 2007). These green house gases are a direct result from using fossil fuels in producing energy. The world energy supply is still very much dependant on fossil fuels to produce the energy needs for the world population, even with the growth of renewable energy. As stated before, the worlds energy demand is expected to grow significantly over the next 20 30 years as a direct consequence of a rising world population and the rapid development of China and India. 2.4.2 C02 Emissions All fossil fuels contribute to green house gases, some more than others however. Coal is the biggest contributor of C02 emissions and this will just increase as coal becomes more popular, especially with China and India. An increase of C02 emissions in the last 35 40 years has been substantial and the total amount of C02 emissions due to burning of fossil fuels reaches to about 26 billion tons. (Saito S, Role of Nuclear Energy to Future Society of Shortage of Energy Resources and Global Warming, Journal of Nuclear Materials, Elsevier, 2009). These countries will have to find a guaranteed supply and this fuel will become cheaper than oil and gas over the longer term. These countries will have to look to coal to meet its energy demands for its growing population. If the projections are correct, coal will become more popular amongst the developed nations. This will increase green house gases and that is with the policy of constructing clean coal power stations. The oil and gas sectors will still have a very important part to play in the long term, but it is projected that dependence on these fuels will decrease slowly as the price goes up and the security of supply is not guaranteed. 2.4.3 Biggest C02 Producers The biggest polluters seem are the countries with the biggest economic development, the rapid development of some countries meaning a higher energy demand and the countries population. The United States was the biggest polluter due to its economic power and industrial size. However, as China has grown rapidly, this has pushed it to become the worlds biggest polluter. This is because China has seen significant economic growth and has required it to increase its energy production to meet its industrial growth. 2.4.4 Affects of Climate Change The affects of climate change will be catastrophic if the current trend of C02 emissions continues. Climate Change threatens the basic elements of life for people around the world access to water, food production, health and use of land and the environment (THE STERN REPORT, Executive Summary (Long), page 6, 2006). Rise in sea levels The affect of the earth heating up will mean the two polar ice caps melting, making the global sea levels rising. This will mean that countries or regions with a low altitude could mean land being lost. Global sea rises will mean millions of people being displaced and having to find alternative areas to live. Vegetation areas These areas could change the whole global landscape, in terms of the areas where crops could be grown. This could mean areas where crops are grown just now, will not able to grow in the future and this again may displace millions of people, especially in the more developing regions such as Africa. Weather systems There is current evidence that the weather pattern is already changing. The likelihood of this worsening is very real if climate change is not tackled. This includes an increase in category 5 hurricanes, increased flooding and an increase in heat waves due to temperature rises. Temperature rises will also lead to sever forest fires in regions such as Australia and California. 2.5 Financial Implications of Climate Change As well as the physical implications of climate change, the financial consequences may well be as bad for all countries if climate change is not tackled and heavy investment put in place 2.5.1 STERN REPORT The STERN report was produced to assess the potential damage that climate change could inflict on economies around the world. The evidence shows that ignoring climate change will eventually damage economic growth (THE STERN REPORT, Executive Summary (Long), page 2, 2006). The report consists and focuses on a number of issues The affects of climate change on the economies The costs of putting in control measures to reduce the affects of climate changes The investment needed to change to an infrastructure that omits less C02 emissions The report highlights the relation of GDP in relation to the increase in temperatures. There seems to be a trend in that for every one degree that the temperature goes up, then 1 per cent of GDP is lost. As well as the GDP, the biggest affect that climate change could have on is the developing countries, particular Africa. The report highlights that the ability to grow crops will reduce and water supplies will decrease dramatically and this will displace millions of people. 2.5.2 Investment The STERN report also points out that investment is now needed to prevent much higher costs being incurred in the longer-term. The report comments that such investment should include the acceleration of cleaner and renewable energy. 2.6 Energy Policies Energy policies are produced by governments to help them plan their countries energy production for the long term, set targets for cutting C02 emissions and evaluating their methods of producing energy. 2.6.1 Contents of Energy Policies The contents of energy policies will wholly depend what country it is, how much GDP it produces and how confident they will be in making sure that they can meet their targets Energy Policies will usually contain the following Security of supply Evaluation of their current energy production methods Methods of making sure that they have sufficient ways in meeting demand Outline any new ways in producing their energy Ways in which they will tackle climate change Their policies of using renewable energy to produce power. 2.7 Renewable Energy Policies Renewable energy is essential for meeting the commitment to cut C02 emissions, to ensure the world can meet the energy demands, security of supply and eventually leading to cheaper energy in the long term in comparison with fossil fuel produced energy. Renewable energy technologies have increased dramatically in the last 5 years. Its essential to have renewable energy in a countries energy policy to help meet all these commitments. To the present day, 73 countries are thought to have included a renewable strategy within their policy. Between 2004 and 2008, over $120 billion of investment has put in place to increase the usage of renewables. Although this investment is substantial, it is predicted that that this type of investment will have to be spent every year to help renewables get to a level to produce energy to a stage where it can compete with coal and gas. While most renewable fuels are free, renewable energy projects have high up-front costs (Sawin J L, National Policy Documents, International Conference for Renewable Energies, page 5, 2004). Renewable Energy types include Solar Power Wind Power Hydro Geothermal Biomass Tidal Power 2.7.1 Wind Power Out of all of the renewable technologies, wind power is by far the most used around the world. Wind power was the largest addition to renewable energy capacity (Renewables Global Status Report 2009, REN21, page 11, 2009). Wind power comes in two forms either on shore or off shore. Wind power is particularly used throughout the EU due to its climate. Wind power production percentage throughout the EU varies, with Germany being the most productive country within the EU. 2.7.2 Solar Power At the end of 2007, solar power production accounted for around 0.5% of the power produced. As with the wind power restrictions, solar power is more effective where countries are better situated to get sun on a regular basis. Also as solar power is expensive to build in comparison to the more conventional power stations, this currently makes it unviable to construct until capital costs come down. 2.6.3 Other Renewables The other options of renweables make up a tiny proportion of energy production, in comparison to the wind and solar. Heavy investment is needed to bring these up to level where they will be seen as a potential energy source as the other options. 2.8 Nuclear Energy Nuclear power has is fast becoming one of the main sources of power for a few countries within the EU and the USA. Apart from the Western countries, nuclear power is fast becoming the one of the major sources of producing energy. There over 100 hundred power stations currently being built in Asia and alot more are being planned. Nuclear Power alone wont get us where we need to be, but we wont get there without it. (Abu-Khader M M, Recent Advances in Nuclear Power: A Review, Nuclear Energy 51, 225 233, Elsevier, 2009) 2.8.1 Production Nuclear power currently accounts for around for 14 per cent of the power produced around the world. It is expected that this will grow rapidly over the longer term as the worlds most developed countries construct more plants to meet energy demands. 2.8.2 Why Nuclear Nuclear power has big advantages over the current main sources of power production. Security of Supply Nuclears raw material is more readily available than other fossil fuels. This gives it a more guaranteed security of supply of generating the energy needed. Importing uranium is expensive to import, however it can be stored for several years and makes it less of a concern. Price Rises Nuclear power is less of risk of being the subject to a large price rise. This is because it is cheaper to run the power plant in comparison to gas and coal power stations. 2.14 Bar Chart Showing Predicted Price Rises for Each Fuel Type (Adamantiades A, Nuclear Power for Sustainable Development: Status and Future Prospects, Energy Policy 37 5149 5166, 2009) A doubling in the price of Uranium would cause a 5-6% increase in the total cost of generation, while a similar increase in the price of natural gas would lead to 65% increase in gasfired costs. ((Adamantiades A, Kessides I, Nuclear Power for Sustainable Development: Current Status and Prospects, Energy Policy, Elsevier, page 2, 2009). Climate Change As with renewable energy, nuclear plants produce little or no C02 emissions. As the world is becoming increasily concerned with climate change, severe cuts of C02 emissions are being set and nuclear is seen a key player in reducing these emissions. 2.8.3 Safety Concerns After the tragic accident at Chernobyl, it was understandable that nuclear power got a bad reputation around the world, with some countries even banning it altogether. However, since safety factors in constructing and operating a nuclear plant have improved greatly and the idea of nuclear power is taking off again. During the past two decades, nuclear power plants have also achieved increasingly higher capacity factors with the same or greater levels of safety (Adamantiades A, Kessides I, Nuclear Power for Sustainable Development: Current Status and Prospects, Energy Policy, Elsevier, page 12,2009). 2.15 Bar Chart Showing Fatalities by Fuel Type (Adamantiades A, Nuclear Power for Sustainable Development: Status and Future Prospects, Energy Policy 37 5149 5166, 2009) The most obvious risk of operating a nuclear plan is exposing the public to radiation poisoning, with Chernobyl being the best example. Strict measures are now in place to greatly reduce such a tragedy happening again. This includes conducting risk assessments and putting in control measure to reduce the risks. 2.8.4 Nuclear Waste The debate of nuclear waste was one the biggest obstacles for the new generation nuclear plants being constructed. Although the storage of nuclear is major concern, the technology is in place to manage safely and effectively. In comparison with the waste that fossil fuels produce, it is signifcently less. 3.0 Methodology My method of research was to use a mixture of both quantitative and quantitative research methods. 3.1 Quantitative and Qualitative Research The method of using quantitative is and will be limited, in comparison with the other forms of data collection. This has used up to this point for comparing statistics, figures and forecasts. This is based on using journals, government reports and reliable websites being used to gather this information to allow me to compare the above. It will be my intention to continue this form data collection when completing my dissertation The method of using qualitative will be the form of research that the bulk of dissertation will be based on. This is based on sources from journals, books, government reports, reliable websites, interviews and case studies. It will be my intention to continue with this form data collection when completing my dissertation. Journals This form of gathering data has helped me gather the majority of my information. I have gathered peoples perceptions, thoughts and opinions of this subject. Information gathered was mostly opinions in the form of text, graphs and diagrams. Government Reports This has allowed me to focus on the subjects that I need to concentrate to be able to answer my aims and objectives. Information gathered included factual statistics and text. Websites This form of sourcing of information allowed me to gather some of quantitative and qualitative information. I made sure that these websites were reliable websites and that the information was as accurate. Information gathered included graphs, statistics and text. 3.2 Interviews My intention is to organise three interviews with three different organisations. This is to allow 3 different opinions based on the subject of my dissertation. This will include getting opinions on people who are involved with the nuclear programme, the renewable sector and an organisation that represents somebody/something for which the nuclear plants or the rapid construction of renewables may have negative consequences. 3.2.1 Initial Contact and Organisations My initial contact to arrange interviews was via e-mail. I asked them for an interview by introducing myself, the reason for the interview and the topic of my dissertation. My first contact was Mr David Cameron, of the Scottish Renewables trust. He kindly agreed to an interview in his Glasgow based office and agreed that I would be in touch when I am ready to conduct the interview. My agenda for this interview is to get his views on the developments of the renewables sector, the developments of the nuclear sector and will this be able to meet the energy demand My second contact was Mr Peter Dobson, of Scottish and Southern Energy who are directly involved with the nuclear program within the UK. My contact with him came about because of the close relationship that my employer and SSE have. My agenda for this interview will be similar to my first contact My third contact I hope to be the Scottish Wildlife trust. I have still to make contact with this gruop. My agenda for this interview will be to get the developments on both nuclear and renewables development in the UK and how this could affect the British ecosystem. When it comes to conducting the interview, I will stress the confidentially is the most important issue when conducting this interview and will ask them to make me aware that a particular question can not be answered without their confidentially being breached. 3.2.2 Interview Technique and Agenda My intension is to make the interview semi-structured. This will allow me to prepare a set of questions that I will ask all three participants, with the possibly of other questions being prepared depending on the organization. By having a semi-structure interview, it will allow me to get the information that I will require, while allowing any other questions or conversations to happen during the interview, as some topics may come to light during the interview. I shall prepare the questions before the interview takes place and sent the interviewees the prepared question paper and the agenda beforehand. 3.3 Case Studies It will be my intention to focus on two case studies. One will be in the form of concentrating on one of the chosen nuclear sites. I will give information on the suitability of the site, the energy that will generated, the benefits of having this plant and the health and safety implications of having the plant at this location. The form of collecting data will involve the use of journals, construction information, site location, government reports on this site and information coming from interviews. My other case study will focus one of a key renewable project that has been constructed in recent times. I will give information on the characteristics of the site, the e Strategies to Meet Energy Demands in the UK Strategies to Meet Energy Demands in the UK 1.0 Introduction The question of how Britain will be able to meet its energy demand in the next 10 10 years is a matter of concern for the British Government. With aging nuclear plants, replacing these with cleaner and more energy efficiency plants is going to be a challenge. This dissertation aims to investigate the governments proposals to construct a new generation of nuclear plants and rely more on renewable technologies, whilst meeting the energy demand in next 10 20 years and cutting C02 emissions. 1.1 Aims If Government proposals for new nuclear plants and renewable technologies will be able to meet Britains energy demands 1.2 Objectives Is the current proposals the only answer Can they meet their targets of cutting C02 emissions whilst meeting demand Will they be able to construct the nuclear plants on time Have all issues been addressed, such as safety concerns when considering constructing the nuclear plant. Should renewables have a bigger contribution 1.3 Rationale The British Government have been concerned with the gap of meeting the British demand in the next 10 20 years. With aging nuclear plants and questions surrounding what is going replace these, and the commitment of meeting targets to cut C02 emissions. The government has proposed to build a new generation of nuclear power stations and rely more on renewable energy to meet these demands. The conversational decision on this issue has raised further questions on whether this will be enough to make sure Britain does not suffer power black outs in the medium term. Experts in the nuclear sector have also questioned the proposals in terms of are these nuclear plants going to be build on time, who is going to pay for these plants and will the design be right to avoid any health and safety issues. Other plans that the government proposes includes relying more on renewable energy to meet demand. Heavy investment will be needed to meet this target and it remains to seen if this will be enough to meet the demand. 2.0 Literature Review 2.1 World Energy Demands Energy is fundamental in how we all lead our lives. As the years goes by and the higher the world population grows, this means that global demand for energy can only increase. The UN has predicted that as of 2005, 6.5 billion made up the worlds population, and this could grow up to 9.1 billion within 45 years (Asif and Muneer 2007). If the worlds population reaches this figure, then the world is going to face a challenge to meet the energy needs of all of these people, especially with the emerging nations such as China, India and Brazil. 2.2 Energy Usage We use energy in all ways of life and we use them in a number of ways. Areas that energy is used includes Buildings Industry Trasport Buildings Buildings consume over 60% (International Energy Outlook, 2009) of energy produced around the world. Buildings are split into domestic householders and commercial buildings. Domestic buildings usage includes space heating, lighting, air conditioning, ventilation, and general electrical appliances. The volume of the property will determine its final energy consumption. The bigger the property, the more heating and lighting it will need to make it into comfortable surroundings. For residential buildings, the physical size of the structures is one key indicator of the amount of energy used by their occupants (International Energy Outlook) Commercial buildings can include offices and government buildings such as schools and hospitals. Commercial buildings are of a similar nature to domestic buildings, but will be to a much bigger scale. For example, an office could consist of a dozens or even hundreds of computers, compared to maybe one in a domestic house. Industry Industry consumption uses around 29% (International Energy Outlook) of the total energy produced around the world. Industry energy usage includes manufacturing metals, chemicals, materials and agriculture. The industry uses the energy it receives to operate manufacturing assembly lines, processing, space heating and lighting. Transport Transport uses the vast majority of oil that is consumed around the world. Transport energy accounts for cars, trains, planes and lorries. In comparison with the other energy sectors, the transport is largely constricted to oil and cannot operate with the other fuel options. In IEA (International Energy Agency) countries, the transport sector is taking an increasing share of oil demand (Taylor) 2.3 Threats to World Energy Supply As the demand for energy grows, the threat of not producing this energy increases. 2.3.1 Fossil Fuels Fossil fuels currently produce the majority of our energy needs and take many forms. Developed countries use oil, gas and coal and all of this fossil fuel usage heavily contributes to climate change because of the C02 emissions that they produce. Developing countries will use firewood etc and in comparison to the developed countries, the developing countries will produce alot less C02 because of their methods of producing energy. As well as the effects of the fossil fuels, the fuel reserves will decrease as the years and decades go on, particular since the demands for fuels will only rise. The security of getting these fuels is also a concern because of the political divides in the Middle East, where the biggest oil fields are. The political differences between the EU and Russia are also a concern because Russia is biggest exporter to the EU. The energy policies of Britain and France take these threats into account and are putting in place measures to reduce the threat. The threats t hat Britain and France predict is the increasing importation of these fuels, at the same time as demand goes up and the political strains increase. Our increasing reliance on imports of oil and gas in a world where energy demand is rising and energy is becoming more politicised (Meeting the energy challenge, 2007). 2.3.2 Oil Out of all of the fossil fuels, oil is the most precious and scarce. It is the primary source that we use to power our transportation system, to produce energy and used to make many different types of products. The worlds energy demand is expected to grow by 45% in the next 20 years; therefore, the demand for oil is expected to rise by 26% over the same period. Even if we do maintain the optimum amount of oil production over the next 20 years, it is very unlikely that the energy demands will be meet by oil. Oil Prices The issue of the oil peak production and its decline is much debated and opinions vary from a number of sources. One thing that is certain is that oil is not a re-newable fuel and as demands for energy increases year by year, production for oil will increase and this will deplete oil reserves more quickly. The steady growth of spot oil price exploded suddenly in the second halve of 2007: in only twelve months, the price of oil nearly double from $74/barrel on July 2007 to $147.27/barrel on July 2008 (Matutinovic, 2008.) This was a huge hike in a short space of time, caused by the demand from China and India, together with unrest in the Middle East were the main reasons. This increase in price however was short lived and to the present day is back to a manageable price. However, in the future the price will increase and stay there due to a number of factors. Energy demand going up, meaning that supply and demand will be squeezed. The political unrest in unstable regions where the largest oil reserves are As the price of oil increases, so will the price of energy and we this may become uncontrollable over the long term. Security of Oil As mentioned before, the majority of oil reserves are contained within unstable regions or countries and countries that have political issues with the most developed countries. This includes the Middle East, which holds the most of the oil reserves and is almost always unstable. As the developed countries own oil reserves decrease, the importation of oil will increase from these regions and if the regions were to decline further, this may affect security of supply of the energy needs of these countries. The most important implication of such distribution of proven oil reserves is that future oil increasingly dependence on politically instable Middle East (Matutinovic) 2.3.3 Gas In the past natural gas was not used globally to produce energy and by domestic householders. It is becoming increasingly important to meet energy demands around and in particular, the EU region. As with the issues with oil, gas reserves in the European Union and USA regions are dwindling and these regions are fast becoming increasily reliant on Russia and Middle East for their supplies. The UK in particular as a large proportion of its power produced by gas power stations and this has been addressed within their energy policy of the intention to decrease the importation of gas in the long term. However, in the short medium term it is anticipated that Europes dependence on gas will go from 36% up to in 69% (Weisser H, 2005) even with the issue of climate change, as natural gas is less pollutant than coal and oil. Looking at Russia, by far the biggest supplier, for analysing the security of supply equation one has to account for the fact that this countrys energy policy is not only d etermined by economic interest but a least equally by geopolitical, foreign policy and security consideration (Weisser). Political Issues The country with the most natural gas reserves is Russia. As each year goes by, the EU will have to import gas from Russia more and more. The political relationships between Europe and Russia are not the best. This was brought about by the dispute between Russia and the Ukraine over the gas supply. This in turn reduced the supply to Europe, as the pipe goes through the Ukraine to supply Europe. This brought tensions between the EU and Russia, since then Russia has threatened the supply to Europe and dramatic price increases. Apart from the Russia, the Middle East is the second biggest exporter and like oil, is vulrable to political unrest and this may affect supplies to their customers. Gas Prices Gazprom is the biggest gas provider in Russia and world. With demand for gas going to increase in the coming years, this will give the power to increase prices to the EU and other regions. If this were to happen, this would lead to higher costs for the UK to produce power and this would lead to higher power costs for domestic householders. The price of gas will also have to increase to fund investments to find new gas fields and pipes that transport the gas. The main reason for dual gas pricing has been to provide a gas subsidy to the Russian economy. (Spanjer A, 2007) 2.3.4 Coal Coal was the first significant fossil fuel to be used by humans and was the spearhead for the industrial revolution. It is used by both developed and developing due to its availability and value Consumption Developing countries use 55% of the world consumption of coal, which includes China and India. It is predicted that this is going to rise to over 65% in the morelonger term. The availability of coal is vast, which is the primary reason why it is used so much. It is found all over world, including vast reserves in the UK. It is predicted that if the current trend of excavating coal were to continue, it may take up to a few hundred years to exhaust the earths supply. As the coal reserves are spread all over the world, this gives an advantage to the other fossil fuels of providing a greater security of supply. Because of the inevitable decline in world reserves of petroleum and natural gas and rising demand for energy, coal is a major alternative along with nuclear power to meet these meets. (Yilmaz A O, Uslu T, The role of coal in energy production Consumption and sustainable development of Turkey, Energy Policy 35, 1117 1128, page 1, 2007) Cleaner Coal In the future, it is anticipated that cleaner coal power stations are to be constructed as coal is seen as a fuel that will meet the energy demand for the medium term. This is seen as a way of meeting the energy demands because of the reserves of coal offering a much higher security of coal, but also a way to reduce the emissions that coal gives off when used to produce energy. 2.4 Climate Change The issues that are associated with climate change go back over one hundred years when scientists were discovering that greenhouse gases were interfering with the atmosphere. Over the course of history to this present day, the understanding of climate change has jumped dramatically over the past 10 years and scientists are beginning to see the potential effects that may have on the earth if we do not tackle the roots of the problem. 2.4.1 Energy Production Energy production accounts for the vast majority of the green house gases that is produced. Energy accounts for over 80% of the global anthropogenic GHGs (Quadrelli R, The energy-climate challenge: Recent trends in CO2 emissions from fuel combustion, IEA, Elsevier, page 2, 2007). These green house gases are a direct result from using fossil fuels in producing energy. The world energy supply is still very much dependant on fossil fuels to produce the energy needs for the world population, even with the growth of renewable energy. As stated before, the worlds energy demand is expected to grow significantly over the next 20 30 years as a direct consequence of a rising world population and the rapid development of China and India. 2.4.2 C02 Emissions All fossil fuels contribute to green house gases, some more than others however. Coal is the biggest contributor of C02 emissions and this will just increase as coal becomes more popular, especially with China and India. An Energy production accounts for the vast majority of the green house gases that is produced. Energy accounts for over 80% of the global anthropogenic GHGs (Quadrelli R, The energy-climate challenge: Recent trends in CO2 emissions from fuel combustion, IEA, Elsevier, page 2, 2007). These green house gases are a direct result from using fossil fuels in producing energy. The world energy supply is still very much dependant on fossil fuels to produce the energy needs for the world population, even with the growth of renewable energy. As stated before, the worlds energy demand is expected to grow significantly over the next 20 30 years as a direct consequence of a rising world population and the rapid development of China and India. 2.4.2 C02 Emissions All fossil fuels contribute to green house gases, some more than others however. Coal is the biggest contributor of C02 emissions and this will just increase as coal becomes more popular, especially with China and India. An increase of C02 emissions in the last 35 40 years has been substantial and the total amount of C02 emissions due to burning of fossil fuels reaches to about 26 billion tons. (Saito S, Role of Nuclear Energy to Future Society of Shortage of Energy Resources and Global Warming, Journal of Nuclear Materials, Elsevier, 2009). These countries will have to find a guaranteed supply and this fuel will become cheaper than oil and gas over the longer term. These countries will have to look to coal to meet its energy demands for its growing population. If the projections are correct, coal will become more popular amongst the developed nations. This will increase green house gases and that is with the policy of constructing clean coal power stations. The oil and gas sectors will still have a very important part to play in the long term, but it is projected that dependence on these fuels will decrease slowly as the price goes up and the security of supply is not guaranteed. 2.4.3 Biggest C02 Producers The biggest polluters seem are the countries with the biggest economic development, the rapid development of some countries meaning a higher energy demand and the countries population. The United States was the biggest polluter due to its economic power and industrial size. However, as China has grown rapidly, this has pushed it to become the worlds biggest polluter. This is because China has seen significant economic growth and has required it to increase its energy production to meet its industrial growth. 2.4.4 Affects of Climate Change The affects of climate change will be catastrophic if the current trend of C02 emissions continues. Climate Change threatens the basic elements of life for people around the world access to water, food production, health and use of land and the environment (THE STERN REPORT, Executive Summary (Long), page 6, 2006). Rise in sea levels The affect of the earth heating up will mean the two polar ice caps melting, making the global sea levels rising. This will mean that countries or regions with a low altitude could mean land being lost. Global sea rises will mean millions of people being displaced and having to find alternative areas to live. Vegetation areas These areas could change the whole global landscape, in terms of the areas where crops could be grown. This could mean areas where crops are grown just now, will not able to grow in the future and this again may displace millions of people, especially in the more developing regions such as Africa. Weather systems There is current evidence that the weather pattern is already changing. The likelihood of this worsening is very real if climate change is not tackled. This includes an increase in category 5 hurricanes, increased flooding and an increase in heat waves due to temperature rises. Temperature rises will also lead to sever forest fires in regions such as Australia and California. 2.5 Financial Implications of Climate Change As well as the physical implications of climate change, the financial consequences may well be as bad for all countries if climate change is not tackled and heavy investment put in place 2.5.1 STERN REPORT The STERN report was produced to assess the potential damage that climate change could inflict on economies around the world. The evidence shows that ignoring climate change will eventually damage economic growth (THE STERN REPORT, Executive Summary (Long), page 2, 2006). The report consists and focuses on a number of issues The affects of climate change on the economies The costs of putting in control measures to reduce the affects of climate changes The investment needed to change to an infrastructure that omits less C02 emissions The report highlights the relation of GDP in relation to the increase in temperatures. There seems to be a trend in that for every one degree that the temperature goes up, then 1 per cent of GDP is lost. As well as the GDP, the biggest affect that climate change could have on is the developing countries, particular Africa. The report highlights that the ability to grow crops will reduce and water supplies will decrease dramatically and this will displace millions of people. 2.5.2 Investment The STERN report also points out that investment is now needed to prevent much higher costs being incurred in the longer-term. The report comments that such investment should include the acceleration of cleaner and renewable energy. 2.6 Energy Policies Energy policies are produced by governments to help them plan their countries energy production for the long term, set targets for cutting C02 emissions and evaluating their methods of producing energy. 2.6.1 Contents of Energy Policies The contents of energy policies will wholly depend what country it is, how much GDP it produces and how confident they will be in making sure that they can meet their targets Energy Policies will usually contain the following Security of supply Evaluation of their current energy production methods Methods of making sure that they have sufficient ways in meeting demand Outline any new ways in producing their energy Ways in which they will tackle climate change Their policies of using renewable energy to produce power. 2.7 Renewable Energy Policies Renewable energy is essential for meeting the commitment to cut C02 emissions, to ensure the world can meet the energy demands, security of supply and eventually leading to cheaper energy in the long term in comparison with fossil fuel produced energy. Renewable energy technologies have increased dramatically in the last 5 years. Its essential to have renewable energy in a countries energy policy to help meet all these commitments. To the present day, 73 countries are thought to have included a renewable strategy within their policy. Between 2004 and 2008, over $120 billion of investment has put in place to increase the usage of renewables. Although this investment is substantial, it is predicted that that this type of investment will have to be spent every year to help renewables get to a level to produce energy to a stage where it can compete with coal and gas. While most renewable fuels are free, renewable energy projects have high up-front costs (Sawin J L, National Policy Documents, International Conference for Renewable Energies, page 5, 2004). Renewable Energy types include Solar Power Wind Power Hydro Geothermal Biomass Tidal Power 2.7.1 Wind Power Out of all of the renewable technologies, wind power is by far the most used around the world. Wind power was the largest addition to renewable energy capacity (Renewables Global Status Report 2009, REN21, page 11, 2009). Wind power comes in two forms either on shore or off shore. Wind power is particularly used throughout the EU due to its climate. Wind power production percentage throughout the EU varies, with Germany being the most productive country within the EU. 2.7.2 Solar Power At the end of 2007, solar power production accounted for around 0.5% of the power produced. As with the wind power restrictions, solar power is more effective where countries are better situated to get sun on a regular basis. Also as solar power is expensive to build in comparison to the more conventional power stations, this currently makes it unviable to construct until capital costs come down. 2.6.3 Other Renewables The other options of renweables make up a tiny proportion of energy production, in comparison to the wind and solar. Heavy investment is needed to bring these up to level where they will be seen as a potential energy source as the other options. 2.8 Nuclear Energy Nuclear power has is fast becoming one of the main sources of power for a few countries within the EU and the USA. Apart from the Western countries, nuclear power is fast becoming the one of the major sources of producing energy. There over 100 hundred power stations currently being built in Asia and alot more are being planned. Nuclear Power alone wont get us where we need to be, but we wont get there without it. (Abu-Khader M M, Recent Advances in Nuclear Power: A Review, Nuclear Energy 51, 225 233, Elsevier, 2009) 2.8.1 Production Nuclear power currently accounts for around for 14 per cent of the power produced around the world. It is expected that this will grow rapidly over the longer term as the worlds most developed countries construct more plants to meet energy demands. 2.8.2 Why Nuclear Nuclear power has big advantages over the current main sources of power production. Security of Supply Nuclears raw material is more readily available than other fossil fuels. This gives it a more guaranteed security of supply of generating the energy needed. Importing uranium is expensive to import, however it can be stored for several years and makes it less of a concern. Price Rises Nuclear power is less of risk of being the subject to a large price rise. This is because it is cheaper to run the power plant in comparison to gas and coal power stations. 2.14 Bar Chart Showing Predicted Price Rises for Each Fuel Type (Adamantiades A, Nuclear Power for Sustainable Development: Status and Future Prospects, Energy Policy 37 5149 5166, 2009) A doubling in the price of Uranium would cause a 5-6% increase in the total cost of generation, while a similar increase in the price of natural gas would lead to 65% increase in gasfired costs. ((Adamantiades A, Kessides I, Nuclear Power for Sustainable Development: Current Status and Prospects, Energy Policy, Elsevier, page 2, 2009). Climate Change As with renewable energy, nuclear plants produce little or no C02 emissions. As the world is becoming increasily concerned with climate change, severe cuts of C02 emissions are being set and nuclear is seen a key player in reducing these emissions. 2.8.3 Safety Concerns After the tragic accident at Chernobyl, it was understandable that nuclear power got a bad reputation around the world, with some countries even banning it altogether. However, since safety factors in constructing and operating a nuclear plant have improved greatly and the idea of nuclear power is taking off again. During the past two decades, nuclear power plants have also achieved increasingly higher capacity factors with the same or greater levels of safety (Adamantiades A, Kessides I, Nuclear Power for Sustainable Development: Current Status and Prospects, Energy Policy, Elsevier, page 12,2009). 2.15 Bar Chart Showing Fatalities by Fuel Type (Adamantiades A, Nuclear Power for Sustainable Development: Status and Future Prospects, Energy Policy 37 5149 5166, 2009) The most obvious risk of operating a nuclear plan is exposing the public to radiation poisoning, with Chernobyl being the best example. Strict measures are now in place to greatly reduce such a tragedy happening again. This includes conducting risk assessments and putting in control measure to reduce the risks. 2.8.4 Nuclear Waste The debate of nuclear waste was one the biggest obstacles for the new generation nuclear plants being constructed. Although the storage of nuclear is major concern, the technology is in place to manage safely and effectively. In comparison with the waste that fossil fuels produce, it is signifcently less. 3.0 Methodology My method of research was to use a mixture of both quantitative and quantitative research methods. 3.1 Quantitative and Qualitative Research The method of using quantitative is and will be limited, in comparison with the other forms of data collection. This has used up to this point for comparing statistics, figures and forecasts. This is based on using journals, government reports and reliable websites being used to gather this information to allow me to compare the above. It will be my intention to continue this form data collection when completing my dissertation The method of using qualitative will be the form of research that the bulk of dissertation will be based on. This is based on sources from journals, books, government reports, reliable websites, interviews and case studies. It will be my intention to continue with this form data collection when completing my dissertation. Journals This form of gathering data has helped me gather the majority of my information. I have gathered peoples perceptions, thoughts and opinions of this subject. Information gathered was mostly opinions in the form of text, graphs and diagrams. Government Reports This has allowed me to focus on the subjects that I need to concentrate to be able to answer my aims and objectives. Information gathered included factual statistics and text. Websites This form of sourcing of information allowed me to gather some of quantitative and qualitative information. I made sure that these websites were reliable websites and that the information was as accurate. Information gathered included graphs, statistics and text. 3.2 Interviews My intention is to organise three interviews with three different organisations. This is to allow 3 different opinions based on the subject of my dissertation. This will include getting opinions on people who are involved with the nuclear programme, the renewable sector and an organisation that represents somebody/something for which the nuclear plants or the rapid construction of renewables may have negative consequences. 3.2.1 Initial Contact and Organisations My initial contact to arrange interviews was via e-mail. I asked them for an interview by introducing myself, the reason for the interview and the topic of my dissertation. My first contact was Mr David Cameron, of the Scottish Renewables trust. He kindly agreed to an interview in his Glasgow based office and agreed that I would be in touch when I am ready to conduct the interview. My agenda for this interview is to get his views on the developments of the renewables sector, the developments of the nuclear sector and will this be able to meet the energy demand My second contact was Mr Peter Dobson, of Scottish and Southern Energy who are directly involved with the nuclear program within the UK. My contact with him came about because of the close relationship that my employer and SSE have. My agenda for this interview will be similar to my first contact My third contact I hope to be the Scottish Wildlife trust. I have still to make contact with this gruop. My agenda for this interview will be to get the developments on both nuclear and renewables development in the UK and how this could affect the British ecosystem. When it comes to conducting the interview, I will stress the confidentially is the most important issue when conducting this interview and will ask them to make me aware that a particular question can not be answered without their confidentially being breached. 3.2.2 Interview Technique and Agenda My intension is to make the interview semi-structured. This will allow me to prepare a set of questions that I will ask all three participants, with the possibly of other questions being prepared depending on the organization. By having a semi-structure interview, it will allow me to get the information that I will require, while allowing any other questions or conversations to happen during the interview, as some topics may come to light during the interview. I shall prepare the questions before the interview takes place and sent the interviewees the prepared question paper and the agenda beforehand. 3.3 Case Studies It will be my intention to focus on two case studies. One will be in the form of concentrating on one of the chosen nuclear sites. I will give information on the suitability of the site, the energy that will generated, the benefits of having this plant and the health and safety implications of having the plant at this location. The form of collecting data will involve the use of journals, construction information, site location, government reports on this site and information coming from interviews. My other case study will focus one of a key renewable project that has been constructed in recent times. I will give information on the characteristics of the site, the e