Attitudinal Behaviour Essay Example for Free

Attitudinal Behaviour Essay Purpose – In order to classify individuals based on their needs, this paper aims to consider both self-stated attitudes and behaviours in a comprehensive range of daily ï ¬ nancial affairs. Furthermore, it aims to study the impacts of socio-demographic variables such as gender, age, and education. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was answered by 1,282 respondents in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Factor analysis revealed ï ¬ ve components. Based on these components a two-step cluster analysis (Ward and K-means analyses) identiï ¬ ed distinct subgroups. Linear regressions were used to investigate the impacts of socio-demographic variables. Findings – Factor analysis revealed ï ¬ ve underlying dimensions of ï ¬ nancial attitudes and behaviour: anxiety, interests in ï ¬ nancial issues, decision styles, need for precautionary savings, and spending tendency. Cluster analysis segmented the respondents into ï ¬ ve subgroups based on these dimensions with an ascending order of speciï ¬ c needs for ï ¬ nancial products. Gender, age, and education were found to have signiï ¬ cant impacts. Research limitations/implications – Real consumption behaviour cannot be observed through the survey, which limits the external validity of the study. Practical implications – The segmentation identiï ¬ es different levels of ï ¬ nancial competence and needs for ï ¬ nancial products. It allows ï ¬ nancial service providers to offer more effective advice and to meet customers on their own level to improve personal ï ¬ nancial management. Originality/value – Attitudes and behaviours in daily ï ¬ nancial affairs are examined to reveal individuals’ ï ¬ nancial competence and consequential product needs. A heterogeneous sample covers a variety of demographic groups. Keywords Personal ï ¬ nance, Savings, Questionnaires, Factor analysis, Cluster analysis, Switzerland Paper type Research paper Introduction Everyone has to manage his or her personal ï ¬ nance in one way or another. Some tend to save a lot, some like to collect information before each purchase, some like to follow their gut feelings. Private investors are not a homogeneous group but rather The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the University Research Priority Program â€Å"Finance and Financial Markets† of the University of Zurich and the National Centre of Competence in Research â€Å"Financial Valuation and Risk Management† (NCCR FINRISK), Project 3, â€Å"Evolution and Foundations of Financial Markets†. In addition, they would like to thank the Swiss ï ¬ nancial company that provided them with client data and the anonymous referee for the helpful comments. International Journal of Bank Marketing Vol. 27 No. 2, 2009 pp. 108-128 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0265-2323 DOI 10.1108/02652320910935607 individuals with various ï ¬ nancial practices combined with different levels of experience, anxiety and interest in ï ¬ nancial matters (Gunnarsson and Wahlund, 1997). In an increasingly competitive marketplace, ï ¬ nancial institutions need to emphasise customer relationships and the retention of existing customers that require an in-depth understanding of their attitudes and behaviours (Harrison and Ansell, 2002). The heterogeneous market is divided into smaller more homogeneous groups to meet speciï ¬ c needs with a corresponding business model (Jenkins and McDonald, 1997). Market segmentation relies, in the ï ¬ nancial industry, largely on socio-demographic information to deï ¬ ne segments for speciï ¬ c services (Harrison, 2000). It is questionable  ¨ as to how appropriate they are (Jorg, 2005), therefore in this study, selected aspects of ï ¬ nancial affairs such as routines and attitudes are gathered to gain insights towards signiï ¬ cant behavioural patt erns. The objective in this research is to examine the extent to which a broad range of private investors can be classiï ¬ ed into a small number of clusters in order to learn about group-speciï ¬ c needs in ï ¬ nancial affairs. More than 1,200 participants in Switzerland have answered our questionnaire with a response rate of 79 per cent. Unlike some other studies in this ï ¬ eld (e.g. Lim and Teo, 1997; Wood and Zaichkowsky, 2004), this survey is not limited to students, but includes a broader range of the public. Instead of focusing solely on savings behaviour (EBRI, 2002; MacFarland et al., 2003), the present study embraces a wider scope of daily ï ¬ nancial concerns. Thereby factor analysis exposes ï ¬ ve underlying dimensions: anxiety, interests in ï ¬ nancial issues, decision styles, need for precautionary savings, and spending tendency. We demonstrate that our respondents can, based on these dimensions, be classiï ¬ ed into ï ¬ ve distinct groups by cluster analysis where from cluster I to V, the need for action for a better handling of ï ¬ nancial matters increases: for example, the â€Å"Gut-feeling followers† show a intuitive way of decision taking, disinterest in ï ¬ nancial subjects and a lack of awareness for the need of provision which make it difï ¬ cult to argue for or to initiate remedial action. Each cluster raises key issues in meeting their needs and allows for guidance to design and adapt instruments to assist in speciï ¬ c ï ¬ nancial requirements. To illustrate how ï ¬ nancial behaviour can be modiï ¬ ed to improve personal ï ¬ nance speciï ¬ cally for each group, examples from the area of retirement savings, an important part of daily ï ¬ nancial management, are chosen (Clark-Murphy and Soutar, 2005). Linear regression further reveals that the clusters highlight socio-demographic characteristics and help generate a better understanding, although one socio-demographic factor alone does not offer enough information to detect cluster membership. The main theoretical contribution of this paper is that we segment the investors based on the revealed dimensions in attitudes (e.g., level of anxiety), together with the self-stated ï ¬ nance-related behavioural pattern (e.g., spending tendency). In this way we could identify the speciï ¬ c needs and provide different services to each subgroup. Theoretical background and literature review Individuals show considerable deviation from the expectation of rational behaviour implied by ï ¬ nancial models (Barberis, 2003). Being conscious of the empirical limitations of the homo economicus model for exploring the behaviour of private individuals, behavioural ï ¬ nance broadens the view by combining knowledge from psychology and economics ( Camerer and Loewenstein, 2004). Our study belongs to this area. However, instead of focusing on particular anomalies and biases that individuals succumb to, such as overconï ¬ dence and procrastination (Biais et al., 2005; O’Donoghue and Rabin, 1998), we broaden the scope under review by studying general patterns when dealing with ï ¬ nancial issues. Market segmentation In the ï ¬ nancial services industry, market segmentation is a common method to understand better and serve the diverse customer base with its wide-ranging needs and various behaviours (Speed and Smith, 1992). Competitive pressures from deregulation of the ï ¬ nancial services market increase the requirement for market orientation and a more intimate knowledge of the market and its segments (Gunnarsson and Wahlund, 1997). Previous research has shown that there are various beneï ¬ ts from taking a segmented approach to the marketplace: a better serving of customer requirements; a tailoring of offerings; and higher customer satisfaction (Harrison and Ansell, 2002). It can increase customer retention and create loyalty and long-term relationships that positively affect performance (Martenson, 2008). Market segmentation aims to recognise patterns of ï ¬ nancial behaviour, identiï ¬ ed by studied segment predictors to group individuals into segments according to their product needs (Harrison, 2000). Yet, marketing in the ï ¬ nancial services industry today is still predominantly based on socio-demographic features like gender and age which are easy to identify and easy to apply in the composition of groups (Machauer and Morgner, 2001). A prediction of needs from socio-demographic characteristics cannot be assumed; therefore these widely used a priori segmentations are under review (Speed and Smith, 1992). In contrast, post hoc methods entail the grouping of respondents according to their responses to particular variables, focusing on customer motivations (i.e. needs/behaviour) that are more likely to result in a service based on individual n eed (Durkin, 2005). In research, behavioural segmentation is increasingly found (Elliott and Glynn, 1998; Soper, 2002), although researchers continue to concentrate on the ï ¬ nancial behaviour of speciï ¬ c groups and selective variables  ¨ (Warneryd, 2001). This study focuses on the general population, giving a more holistic view of personal ï ¬ nancial management activities and taking attitudes and behaviour into account. Individual investors The literature on individual economic behaviour often focuses narrowly on speciï ¬ c  ¨ areas such as risk attitudes (Warneryd, 1999; Wood and Zaichkowsky, 2004) or saving (Normann and Langer, 2002; Thaler and Benartzi, 2004). Other ï ¬ elds of research target investment in securities (Barber and Odean, 2001; Brennan, 1995; Keller and Siegrist, 2006) or focus on speciï ¬ c segments such as occupational groups (e.g., dentists and  ¨ managers (Jorg, 2005)). Speciï ¬ c ï ¬ nancial issues or situations, however, are not indicative of an individual’s behavioural and attitudinal disposition toward ï ¬ nance. Rather an interest in ï ¬ nances or having certain habits related to managing one’s ï ¬ nancial means may indeed be a moderating factor to learn about behaviours and needs (Loix et al., 2005). The attitudes and behaviours toward ï ¬ nances regarded in this study focus on individual ï ¬ nancial management behaviour. It is a topic with important implications that has not been sufï ¬ ciently examined in ï ¬ nancial and economic behavioural studies (Loix et al., 2005). The subject is not covered by the extensive research on individual’s attitudes and habits towards money, as such studies focus on the meaning of money (Lim and Teo, 1997) or basic values concerning money in general as an abstract concept (Raich, 2008), and not on an individuals’ ways of dealing with his or her personal ï ¬ nance. Previous studies of private investors have used mainly behaviour-based criteria or attitudes and do not combine both aspects (Keller and Siegrist, 2006) that are the focus of this study. This study is not product-linked but wider ranging in that it examines the self-stated ï ¬ nancial attitudes and behaviour of individual investors. Attitudes and behaviours A frequently discussed question in research is to what extent attitudes predict behaviour. A direct relationship between attitudes and behaviour has often been found to be weak, but difï ¬ culties in ï ¬ nding a strong relationship might derive from  ¨ differences in deï ¬ nition and measurement (Warneryd, 1999). The more speciï ¬ c the attitude is the better are the chances of ï ¬ nding a substantial correlation with behaviour if behaviour is also deï ¬ ned as a speciï ¬ c act (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980). Therefore, deï ¬ ned questions or attitudes can have predictive power and a higher correlation of attitude to-wards behaviour has been conï ¬ rmed in studies (in a comprehensive  ´ meta-analysis: Glasman and AlbarracÄ ±n, 2006; Tesser and Shaffer, 1990). A further question is the beneï ¬ t of knowledge concerning behaviour. Whilst behaviour changes over time, there is a popular assertion that â€Å"past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour† (Ajzen, 1991, p. 202). It is a reï ¬â€šection of these ideas that leads to attitudes and behaviour being explored in this paper. Financial needs segmentation Several typologies concerning the ï ¬ nancial affairs of private investors can be found in the previous literature, but with more speciï ¬ c approaches: se gmentations are based on ï ¬ nancial maturity and knowledge (Harrison, 1994), provision for retirement (Gough and Sozou, 2005) or savings strategies (Gunnarsson and Wahlund, 1997). Loix et al. (2005) come closest to the focus of this study with the question of orientation towards ï ¬ nances but their goal is to develop a measurement scale for individual’s ï ¬ nancial management. In this study, we examine the self-stated ï ¬ nancial attitudes and behaviour through a broader basis and do not restrict ourselves only to questions concerning risk or saving. We apply the methodology of cluster analysis to identify groups of private investors in order to obtain insight into the enforcing or modifying of speciï ¬ c behaviour. Cluster analysis has become a common tool in marketing and is a well-adopted method for market segmentation as well as the applied factor analysis apparent in this paper (Punj and Stewart, 1983). The aim of the present study is to obtain a better understanding of people’s needs in ï ¬ nancial matters to provide adequate services and products. This study, based on ï ¬ nancial service consumers, identiï ¬ es distinct motivational clusters that were independent of the more established socio-demographic segmentation variables used in targeting and communicating by ï ¬ nancial institutions. This study demonstrates that, by segmenting respondents on the basis of a broader range of ï ¬ nancial attitudes and behaviour, a yield of clearly interpretable proï ¬ les can be realised and is helpful to identify those people in most need of professional ï ¬ nancial advice. This research suggests that customer’s ï ¬ nancial proï ¬ les may be useful in predicting their response to new products as well as persuading them to use existing services for the speciï ¬ c beneï ¬ ts they value. Participants and questionnaire The data come from a questionnaire that wa s completed by 1,282 respondents from various regions of the German-speaking part of Switzerland. The respondents were recruited from two sources: 53 per cent of the participants (n  ¼ 680) were clients seeking consulting advice from a Swiss ï ¬ nancial planning company, together with participants in courses in ï ¬ nancial training within the same ï ¬ rm (convenient sample). The second source was employed to avoid a client bias in the study. A total of 602 study subjects (47 per cent of the total study) were identiï ¬ ed through a combination of â€Å"quota[1] and snowball[2] sampling procedures† (Vogt, 2005) so that its composition in terms of sex, age, and other demographic characteristics came close to reï ¬â€šecting the respective proportions in Switzerland. Although not every member of the population is equally likely to be selected, the sample is composed of a wide variety of backgrounds. The diversity came from such groups as participants in a study relating to ï ¬ nancial literacy, and from different sources such as a nursing home, a group of university students, a group of teachers, company employees from four Swiss companies unrelated to the ï ¬ nancial services sector, a group of self-employed people, participants in a course for the unemployed, and a group made up of parents. The questionnaire was designed in German. Participants were ï ¬ rst asked to give their self-assessment by answering 17 questions on their ï ¬ nancial behavioural practice or attitude towards ï ¬ nancial affairs. The response format is a ï ¬ ve-point-Likert-type scale with â€Å"absolutely† and â€Å"not at all† at the two ends of the question spectrum. Subsequently, the questionnaire contains questions concerning socio-demographic variables such as age, gender, career stage, and education[3]. The age of participants ranges from 18 to 84 years old, with 58.9 per cent between 36 and 65 years old (n  ¼ 755). The natural demographic balance of men and women is reï ¬â€šected in the sample with 49.3 per cent men (n  ¼ 632) and 50.7 per cent women (n  ¼ 650). The proportion of people with a university degree or equivalent is 46.6 per cent (n  ¼ 598), whereas 33.8 per cent participants (n  ¼ 433) obtained an apprenticeship (up to ï ¬ ve years). There are 14.5 per cent participants (n  ¼ 186) who have a high school diploma as the highest educational level, whereas 5.1 per cent participants (n  ¼ 65) have only attended secondary school. There are 10.5 per cent (n  ¼ 135) participants who were studying at a university or at another institute of higher education at the time of our survey. Methodology and results Factor analysis As the ï ¬ rst step we conducted an exploratory factor analysis, a principal component analysis, in order to determine the underlying dimensions of the ï ¬ nancial attitudes and behavioural tendencies. The chosen solution with ï ¬ ve principal components was constructed using the varimax rotation technique and can explain 53.3 per cent of the total variance. Different opinions concerning what constitut es a high loading are found in the literature, e.g. 0.3 (Gardner, 2001). Here, the rotated factor loading of 0.5 was chosen as a threshold.

About Health Education Taught In Schools

About Health Education Taught In Schools Should health education be taught in schools? In this day and age, health problems play a pivotal role in Ss„Â ¢ ability to come to school, stay in school and make the best performance during their studies whether in primary schools, secondary schools or in universities. Developing the health of student can also be done well by the schools which lack healthcare resources. According to a survey of a 12.5 per cent of sample of schools in England and Wales (Williams, 1985), some 87 per cent of primary schools were teaching about health and a further 4 per cent planned to do so in the near future. The comparable figures for secondary schools were 85 per cent and 9 per cent respectively. Most people agree with that school should do more on health education, but others believe that there are also many drawbacks on health education in schools. What is health education? (http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/healthpromotingschools/)health promotion in schools is not just about encouraging children and young people to eat well and to exercise; it encompasses a much broader holistic approach. This approach is called the whole school approach, which includes promoting the physical, social, spiritual, mental and emotional wellbeing of all pupils and staff. This essay will identify and discuss the positive and negative sides of it. Recently, health education is gaining popularity in all kinds of schools among all kinds of students .It has many shining points. Developing the health, hygiene and nutrition of children is an important thing to school because it„Â ¢s difficult to children to learn when they are hungry or sick. But safe physical surroundings and advantageous psychosocial surroundings should be guarantee of a good school policy, and it also should avoid molestation, insulting language and discrimination; using drug, alcohol and tobacco isn„Â ¢t allowable of a good school policy and the same to violence and bullying. Students can improve their health-related knowledge, attitudes, skills, and stimulate the interest of children to concentrate their energy and improve their health, take precautions against disease and avoid health-related risk behaviors in a variety of health areas by health education. Firstly, health education is benefit to children„Â ¢s physiology via two aspects: h ealth eating and physical activities. Via health education, children can learn more knowledge of healthy food choices which can contribute the children„Â ¢s confidence, skills, knowledge and understanding. By learning the knowledge of choosing healthy food, it will increase children„Â ¢s consumption of complex carbohydrates, and decrease their consumption of saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, and sugar, then increase their level of habitual physical activity; after it, children will generalize these changes to other family members.

Future Energy Crisis

Future Energy Crisis Future Energy Crisis Introduction Nowadays, energy has been depicted as a basic need in the human life. For example, to type this paper I need electrical energy for computer, lighting, air conditioner, etc. from this example, its clear that we need so much energy for doing something that is simple like typing. From paragraph above we can see that humans need much energy for doing their activity even its only one activity. If we look closer into this activity, we need more than just one kind of energy. This means, we need tremendous amount of energy to just do a simple thing like making report or paper, actually if there is no energy. Definition From those examples, we can define that energy is a scalar physical quantity that describes the amount of work that can be performed by a force, an attitude of objects and systems that is subject to a conversion law ­Ã‚ ­, it is required to do any kind of activity, and even just for reading this paper we need some amount of energy. In general energy is a really important part of our life. Forms of Energy Energy can be divided into many kinds, according to the criteria there is different forms of energy include kinetic, potential, thermal, gravitational, sound, light, elastic, and electromagnetic energy, there is still another type of energy that are indirectly shown in our lives for chemical energy Think about it, if one single daily activity we need so much energy, than we need more energy to do all of our activity in a single day. So, its obvious that the energy will soon depleted, considering that we use so much energy in one day, or even at only one hour. By looking at this fact, the world surely will face an energy crisis soon. Kind of energy sources There are several kinds of energy sources that scientist has divided energy into classified two categories by their renewability, which are not renewable energy source (hard energy technology) and renewable energy source (soft energy technology). Not renewable energy source are the source of energy that needs a very long time to regenerate, for example: crude oil, charcoal, and earth gas. Coal, for example, needs about more than million years to be available again, the process from the plants for fossilize, creating coal. Meanwhile renewable energy source are the source of energy that always be available with a huge amount and almost limitless, this energy source is either too many or very quickly to regenerate, for example: solar energy, wind, hydro, and biomass. For example, wind is a renewable energy, because wind will never depleted, no matter how much wind that you use, another example is solar energy, which we can use solar as an energy source. Not renewable energy source can be depleted since the rate of their utilization far exceeds the rate at which they are formed. This source of energy is the ones that we use in global scale because their energy is larger than the ones from renewable energy The renewable solar energy is subdivided into direct and indirect types. Sunlight that used directly can produce electricity, heat or derive a chemical reaction. It is used indirectly when it drives other processes, biological chemical or climatic mechanical, which in turn are used as the sources of energy. The energy sources can be classified in a number of ways based on the nature of their transaction, as commercial and noncommercial sources of energy. All energy resources, particularly the commercial ones, are natural. Coal, oil and nuclear sources constitute commercial sources, while firewood, biomass and animal dung constitute non-commercial sources. Also, the energy sources are classified based on animate and inanimate characteristics. Energy sources could also be classified as exhaustible/depletable or non-depletable/renewable resources. The distinguishing feature of an exhaustible resource is that, it gets exhausted when used as an input of a production process, and at the same time, its undisturbed role of growth is nil. That is if the temporal services provided by a given stock of an exhaustible resource are finite. Nowadays, people tend to use un-renewable energy, since it is much easier to process and easier to use. However, we cant keep this forever, because our energy need keep increasing from time to time, while the source of energy are slow to regenerate. The result will be quite fatal, as there will no more energy source available to be used, for instance, the oil reserves in the world would be depleted, it would be happen about 32 years from now if the use of oil on the constant rate. Energy crisis in very dangerous and must be prevented at all cost. It can create disaster; as the energy still needed by human; and declination of world economics and quality of life. For example if there is no more oil, then we cannot use transportations, and then business will be plummeted since goods can no longer be transported. Without electricity, we almost cannot operate anything that needs electricity, like example: computer, hand phone, and other things. Imagine todays world, without any electricity, then our live would be miserable because almost of the invention need electricity. To avoid this crisis, scientist is trying to develop technology which can be used to utilize the un-renewable energy. Although it is a little late, as the use of oil and another un-renewable energy reserve were depleted, there is a hope for this method to succeed. This breakthrough in renewable energy utilization is aiming at energy conservation. By using renewable energy instead of that, we can acquire unlimited amount source of energy, and without fearing that it may depleted. Lately the vital source of our energy, mainly oil and coal, are in danger. Unless we found such way using alternative energy to replace its function, we will face the energy shortage, our civilization would be crippled, and thats why we need to pay close attention of how we use a device with this kind of energy as its source. In nowadays we still use the energy, but the need of the energy isnt turning down but rather increasing, this is the causes of energy crisis in future, and also there are some problems like war or terrorist attack (i.e. oil field that got burned,), etc. Energy Crisis An energy crisis is any great bottleneck (or price rise) in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In popular literature though, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, it has about to come for about 30 years later (if the rate use of energy is constant) then there would be peak oil or oil crisis age, about 40-50 years later there wouldnt be any more cheap energy or rather there wouldnt be any energy left for use. Historical Crises * 1970s Energy Crisis Cause: peaking of oil production in major industrial nations (Germany, U.S., Canada, etc.) and embargos from other producers * 1973 oil crisis Cause: an OPEC oil export embargo by many of the major Arab oil-producing states, in response to western support of Israel during the Yom Kippur War * 1979 oil crisis Cause: the Iranian revolution * 1990 spike in the price of oil Cause: the Gulf War * The 2000-2001 California electricity crisis Cause: failed deregulation, and business corruption. * The UK fuel protest of 2000 Cause: Raise in the price of crude oil combined with already relatively high taxation on road fuel in the UK. * North American natural gas crisis * Argentine energy crisis of 2004 * North Korea has had energy shortages for many years. * Zimbabwe has experienced a shortage of energy supplies for many years due to financial mismanagement. * Political riots occurring during the 2007 Burmese anti-government protests were sparked by rising energy prices. Energy shortages The crises that exist as of 2008 include: * Oil price increases since 2003 Caused by continued global increases in petroleum demand coupled with production stagnation, the falling value of the U.S. dollar, and a myriad of other secondary causes. * 2008 Central Asia energy crisis: caused by abnormally cold temperatures and low water levels in an area dependent on hydroelectric power. Despite having significant hydrocarbon reserves, in February 2008 the President of Pakistan announced plans to tackle energy shortages that were reaching crisis stage. At the same time the South African President was appeasing fears of a prolonged electricity crisis in South Africa. * South African electrical crisis: The South African crisis, which may last to 2012, lead to large price rises for platinum in February 2008 and reduced gold production. * China experienced severe energy shortages towards the end of 2005 and again in early 2008. During the latter crisis they suffered severe damage to power networks along with diesel and coal shortages. Supplies of electricity in Guangdong province, the manufacturing hub of China, are predicted to fall short by an estimated 10 GW. * It has been predicted that in the coming years after 2009 that the United Kingdom will suffer an energy crisis due to its commitments to reduce coal fired power stations, its politicians unwillingness to set up new nuclear power stations to replaces those that will be de-commissioned in a few years (even though they will not be running in time to stop a full blown crisis) and unreliable sources and sources that are running out of oil and gas. It is therefore predicted that the UK may have regular blackouts like South Africa. Energy management An electricity shortage is felt most by those who depend on electricity for their heating, cooking and water supply. In these circumstances a sustained energy crisis may become a humanitarian crisis. If an energy shortage is prolonged a crisis management phase is enforced by authorities. Energy audits may be conducted to monitor usage. Various curfews with the intention of increasing energy conservation may be initiated to reduce consumption. To conserve power during the Central Asia energy crisis, authorities in Tajikistan ordered bars and cafes to operate by candlelight. [9] Warnings issued that peak demand power supply might not be sustained. In the worst kind of energy crisis energy rationing and fuel rationing may be incurred. Panic buying may beset outlets as awareness of shortages spread. Facilities close down to save on heating oil; and factories cut production and lay off workers. The risk of stagflation increases. Alternative energy sources Definition Alternative energy is an umbrella term that refers to any source of usable energy intended to replace fuel sources without the undesired consequences of the replaced fuels There are several definitions of the Alternative Energy which are: * Oxford Dictionary energy fuelled in ways that do not use up natural resources or harm the environment. * Princeton WordNet energy derived from sources that do not use up natural resources or harm the environment. * Responding to Climate Change 2007 energy derived from nontraditional sources (e.g., compressed natural gas, solar, hydroelectric, wind). * Natural Resources Defense Council energy that is not popularly used and is usually environmentally sound, such as solar or wind energy (as opposed to fossil fuels). * Materials Management Services Fuel sources that are other than those derived from fossil fuels. Typically used interchangeably for renewable energy. Examples include: wind, solar, biomass, wave and tidal energy. * Torridge District Council Energy generated from alternatives to fossil fuel. Need not be renewable. The general Definition is an energy sources that can be used to replace un-renewable energy that are renewable but sometimes with side effect, sometimes alternative energy that wont create side effect are called Green energy. In response to the petroleum crisis, the principles of green energy and sustainable living movements gain popularity. This has led to increasing interest in alternate power/fuel research such as fuel cell technology, liquid nitrogen economy, hydrogen fuel, methanol, biodiesel, Karrick process, solar energy, geothermal energy, tidal energy, wave power, and wind energy, and fusion power. To date, only hydroelectricity and nuclear power have been significant alternatives to fossil fuel. Hydrogen gas is currently produced at a net energy loss from natural gas, which is also experiencing declining production in North America and elsewhere. When not produced from natural gas, hydrogen still needs another source of energy to create it, also at a loss during the process. This has led to hydrogen being regarded as a carrier of energy, like electricity, rather than a source. The unproven dehydrogenating process has also been suggested for the use water as an energy source. Efficiency mechanisms such as Negawatt power can encourage significantly more effective use of current generating capacity. It is a term used to describe the trading of increased efficiency, using consumption efficiency to increase available market supply rather than by increasing plant generation capacity. As such, it is a demand-side as opposed to a supply-side measure. Role of the Alternative Energy Alternative Energy are supposed to replace fuel but there are several effects as well, which are: * Alternative Energy help our environment by not producing harmful emissions (some of them) because they doesnt create any pollutant * It can be accessed anywhere on the planet with the right equipment * It will create thousands of job opportunities * It will save you a lot of budget (just for personal use) Consequences of using Alternative Energy Alternative Energy, which can replace un-renewable energy still have its own flaws, for example: some of them are theoretically flaw (it was impossible to do that or there still needed some research, etc.) or some of them are expensive, the energy source needs to be produced using high technology, the other reason is because the source only produce very small amount of energy that it doesnt enough to replace the fuel source Energy Saving Energy Consumption In some country there is daylight saving which is electricity saving in summer that the time in the some country are fast forwarded in some country, if the time is at 12:00 pm then the time in the clock is about 10-11:00 am. Some of the country doing some regulation to save the energy like regular blackout, use mass amount of solar panel, using recycled items, and use of wind energy (like in Dutch) Conclusion From the text above we can conclude that humans need to search for another energy sources (Alternative Energy).Its necessary because the energy will soon depleted, and without energy, there is nothing we can do. So if we start to search for alternate energy and do the energy saving then we can evade the worldwide energy crisis.

El Ninos Wrath :: essays research papers

El Nino’s Wrath Microscopic, photosynthetic phytoplankton produce seventy one percent of the world’s Oxygen. A reduction in the world’s phytoplankton population would be detrimental to all terrestrial and aquatic life. The event known as El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a complex interplay between the ocean and the atmosphere causing a reversal in the trade winds, which in turn moves warm water masses to opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean. Better known for it’s atmospheric effects, El Nino also plays an important role in reducing the phytoplankton population. El Nino halts the process of upwelling, which moves nutrient rich water from the deep, up to the surrface. Upwelling is essential for the production of phytoplankton. Without phytoplankton as the base of the food chain in the ocean, all other aquatic life would cease to exist. El Nino can be attributed to the increase of global warming caused by Carbon Dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. El Nino will continue to i ncrease proportionaly to the Earth’s rising temperature and thus, reducing the world’s phytoplankton population; resulting in catastrophic ecological effects as the base of the ocean’s food chain continues to be destroyed. Winds affect upwelling. Winds that blow along the coasts of North and South America drag the water along with them. â€Å"The Earth’s rotation then deflects the resulting surface currents away from the coastlines.† (Wallace 11) Because the surface water moves away, colder, nutrient-rich water comes up from below and replaces the previous warm water, a phenomenon known as upwelling. (Wallace 11) Basically, the wind blows towards the equator and the rotation of the Earth pulls the water away from land similar to the way a cube of ice stays in one place as you rotate a glass of water. The glass could be interpreted as the Earth, and the ice cube as the mass of water. Relative to the glass, the ice or water stays in one spot as the glass or Earth rotates around. The winds that blow along the equator also affect the properties of upwelled water and also the food chain. â€Å"Without wind, the dividing layer between the warm surface water and the deep cold water, known as the thermocline, would be nearly flat; but the winds drag the surface water westward, raising the thermocline nearly all the way up to the surface in the east and depressing it in the west. The cold water below the thermocline is rich in nutrients.

Fyodor Dostoyevskys The House Of The Dead :: essays research papers

Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The House of the Dead   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky was born in Moscow on Nov. 11, 1825. As his father was a former military surgeon, Dostoyevsky grew up in the noble class. He entered the military engineering school at St. Petersburg at age 16. Shortly after graduating, he resigned his commission and devoted all his time to writing. However, he soon became caught up in the movement for political and social reform during the reign of Tsar Nicholas I. He began to participate in weekly discussions about the ideas of French utopian Socialists. This Petrashevsky Circle was arrested in April 1849. After a long investigation, Dostoyevsky, along with 20 other members of the Circle, were condemned to be shot. Literally moments before his execution was to occur, his sentence was commuted to four years hard labor in Omsk, Siberia. He accepted his punishment and began to regard many of the simple convicts as extraordinary people. During his sentence, he became devoted to Orthodox Christianity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The House of the Dead was initially published in Russia, 1860. Upon initial examination of the work, it appears to be a stream of consciousness account of Dostoyevsky's four years in a Siberian prison camp. But, upon further review, it seems to be more an account of Dostoyevsky's personality and attitudes through these years. In his first year in prison, Dostoyevsky â€Å"found myself hating these fellow-sufferers of mine.† (305) His first day in prison, several convicts approached him, a member of the noble class and no doubt very wealthy in the convicts' eyes, and asked him for money four times each; and each refusal seemed to bring more convicts. He quickly grew to spite these people, for they thought him to be an idiot, unable to remember that the very same convict had approached him for money not fifteen minutes earlier. (67-8) But, Dostoyevsky makes a startling realization at the end of this first year, a discovery which allows him to drastically alter his personality: â€Å"...the convicts lived here not as if this were their home, but as some wayside inn, en route somewhere.† (303) this concept is followed by Dostoyevsky's realization that he wanted, unlike many other convicts in the camp, to live as he did before his imprisonment. He believed that â€Å"Physical, no less moral strength is required for penal servitude if one is to survive all the materiel deprivations of that accursed existence. And I wanted to go on living after I had left prison....† (277). The remaining twenty pages are anti-climatic; they simply deal with the change of a Major stationed at the prison and Dostoyevsky's

Pros & Cons Essay

Most wireline phone companies charge more than what you’d pay for most alternatives, and some are taxed more as well. There are some locations where getting new wired phone service is prohibitively expensive or even impossible. Long Distance and extra features like Call Waiting are normally included with alternative phones. More Features: Cellular and broadband phones normally include Long Distance, Voice Mail, Caller ID, Call Forwarding and more, usually at no additional charge. They also have Text Messaging and various forms of data service which are unavailable with a landline. Portability: If you move your home more than average (or if it’s on wheels), your phone and your number can stay with you. There are no â€Å"installation† charges. Temporary Usage: You can have phone service for the season in a vacation home or cabin, or on an extended stay at a hotel or home of a friend or relative without installing a separate line. Unlimited Plans: Most alternatives offer a plan that includes Unlimited talk minutes and Long Distance, including cellular. Most cellular carriers have eliminated Unlimited Data plans, although there are some that include Data with some other restrictions. Anonymity: You can easily set up an account (especially prepaid cellular) with either no name or an alternative identity. Fewer Telemarketers: Nuisance calls are reduced because telemarketers want to target customers in certain geographic areas. They won’t know where you are. Most telcos provide your landline number to telemarketers. With cellular it’s illegal†¦ for now. With broadband, it depends on the carrier who sets up your number. Internet Access: Your wireless phone can also be your connection to the Internet, either with an internal browser or tethered to your computer, and available wherever there is cellular coverage. Wireless broadband is also available separate from your cellular account. Wi-Fi for Multiple Devices: You can get a cellular modem that provides a wi-fi signal that can connect to up to 5 separate wi-fi devices. It’s Green: Replace your fax with an Internet-based fax service like eFax or MyFax. com and stop wasting paper and ink. (Give your old fax to charity) Attitude: Some wired phone companies just treat their customers badly. Sometimes it feels better to leave†¦ at any price. Take your broadband wherever you go – A mobile broadband connection is exactly that, which means that you can access your emails, check the sports results or watch YouTube videos no matter where you are, provided you have 3G reception. Stop paying for line rental – Millions of people continue to pay for line rental on a home phone landline that they rarely use, just so that they can get broadband at home. With mobile broadband, there’s no need to pay line rental – potentially saving you over ? 100 a year. Plug and play technology – All the software you need to connect to the internet is automatically installed when you first plug your USB modem into your laptop – no need to set it up or call a technical support helpline. Flexible options available – Mobile broadband customers can take advantage of some really great pay as you go tariffs from as little as ? 2 a day, or rolling one-month packages, meaning they only ever pay for what they actually need. Con’s: Safety: If you need to call 911, public safety authorities won’t automatically know where you are, you’ll have to tell them. Also, calls with alternative phones will not necessarily be routed to the closest agency. Also, you won’t receive â€Å"Reverse 911† calls alerting you to a public emergency in your neighborhood unless your local emergency center allows you to sign up your number and associate it with a local address. Security: Some businesses will not allow you to use their services without a traceable land line. This includes credit card companies, pizza shops and a few others, although this rule is slowly being relaxed. Satellite TV services want a landline-like plug for their equipment to call them each night. It does work with some broadband phone systems. Your satellite service can still work without it, but you will most likely pay an extra charge. Reliability: Wired telephone services have come as close to 100% reliable as is practical. Their network has substantial power backup, redundant circuits and years to get it right. Alternatives are improving but their networks can vary significantly. Cell sites and other communications nodes have a limited amount of backup power. In an extended power outage, such as after a hurricane or snowstorm, the service may not work, leaving you with no service. Corded phones work in power failures. Cable phones also have a lower level of reliability. Sound Quality: Some alternative phones don’t sound the same or as good as a landline. While your alternative phone may sound fine to you, it may be difficult for others. Also, some broadband phone services just dump their audio into the Internet resulting in widely varying data travel times giving you significant sound delays. Lack of Service: You may be in a location where there are no wireless broadband alternatives or may have poor cellular coverage. This might be rectified by adding a ‘cell site’ to your home. Broadband Speeds: While there are some fairly fast wireless broadband connections, it may be some time before they will compare to wired or cable connections. Malfunctions: Cell sites can stop working for various reasons. Repairs often need to be made on site and may take time. Broadband services require one or more pieces of equipment at your house which you will need to fix if it fails. Wireline equipment can normally be repaired at the central office. Murphy’s Law says breakdowns will happen at the worst possible time. You Have No Backup: Unless you have an extra cellular phone, if something happens to your main phone or its associated equipment, or your account, you can’t just plug another phone into the wall. Inconvenience: Some alternative services only offer a single jack for one phone. If you want service throughout the house you either must go wi-fi or cellular. Otherwise, plan on using the phone near your computer or router. With a cell phone you need to keep it close to you if your home is large or on multiple floors. It Might be Difficult to Get a Job: Some employers require a â€Å"Local† number to consider you for a position. While you can change your out-of-town portable number to something local, there goes your â€Å"Number For Life. † Surprise Costs. Since you normally pay for cellular by the minute, you might talk a lot more than you think. Savings may be less than you expected when calculated long term. Broadband carriers are not regulated like wireline services and could make changes that you don’t expect. You Won’t Be Listed in the Phone Book. Some directories let you to pay for a personal listing, but others use that as a way to keep you as a landline customer. Alarm systems. Most existing dial-up alarm systems don’t work with broadband phone connections. There are other alarm alternatives, including wireless. You May Not Be Able to Send or Receive Faxes. In some cases, faxing is not an issue. In others, you can’t just plug in your fax machine. A better choice is to to use a paperless, web-based service like eFax or MyFax. com. Low download limits – Even the most generous of mobile broadband tariffs only offer a download allowance of 15GB per month, and that could set you back ? A  month on a two-year contract, while typical value packages offer less than 5GB a month. High costs for exceeding your limit – Most mobile broadband providers charge a fee when you exceed your download limit. This is normally several pence per MB and costs can very quickly add up if you’re not careful. Always keep an eye on your usage. Slower connections – Although suppliers might advertise speeds of up to 10 or 12Mb, mobile broadband speeds rarely exceed the average of around 1Mb. This, combined with the tight usage limits, makes mobile broadband unsuitable for large downloads. Coverage – Most of the UK is covered by the 3G mobile network, but coverage can be patchy in some rural areas, with speeds significantly slower in some parts of the country, so you should always check coverage in your area before signing up. PROS OF FIXED LINE NETWORK Reliability Land line/fix line phones can be more reliable than their cellular counterparts. Disconnected cables can disable land lines, but these problems are easily remedied. On the other hand, cellular phones are plagued by several different issues because they rely on a network of radio waves, cellular towers and satellites. In some areas, cellular service is plagued by dropped calls and fuzzy reception. Emergencies The reliability of land line phones makes them advantageous when it comes to emergencies. For example, if someone is hurt and needs immediate medical care, you do not have to worry about contending with poor reception. Land lines also provide a fixed location that emergency responders can rush to. On a cell phone, you must state your address or describe your location, which wastes precious time during a crisis. Sponsored Links

Hydraulic Fracturing Essay

So many people these days are stuck in the ways of their own opinions. They believe the first thing they hear on a topic and stick with it. So close-minded that they won’t even listen to someone else’s opinion before they begin to argue. A popular topic that people are stuck on is hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. Either people think it’s great or they hate it. Before you have an opinion on it, what exactly is this â€Å"fracking?† â€Å"Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is the process of extracting natural gas from shale rock layers from deep within the earth†¦ Horizontal drilling (along with traditional vertical drilling) allows for the injection of highly pressurized fracking fluids into the shale areas† (What Is Fracking). When fracking fluids are injected it makes it easier to get to the natural gasses embedded in the shale layers. Crews will work on a well for up to a month, going over a mile deep into the surface of the Earth (What Is Fracking). Fracking isn’t something that’s only going on in other countries. It’s happening here on our home turf, and our neighboring states have been huge targets. The Bakken area and the Three Forks formations are affecting us the most. The Bakken field is in North Dakota, and yes, the Three Forks formation is the Three forks we’re all thinking of in our beloved, eastern Montana. The Bakken area covers nine counties in western North Dakota and three counties in Montana. North Dakota is the second largest oil producer in the United States after Texas (Grunewald and Batbold). From 2004 to 2012 North Dakota went from 15 active oil-drilling rigs to 180 active rigs. While we jumped by over 165 rigs, Texas jumped from 500 to 900 rigs in those same years (Grunewald and Batbold). These oil fields have yielded huge economic benefits. Although some people may disagree, fracking has significant economic benefits. Before fracking came about, it was very difficult to get to the natural gas and oil hiding in the layers of shale over a mile below the  Earth’s surface. Now we have the technology making it possible to retrieve the gas and oil that we value so much. Because we can now get to these layers, it has increased employment on our homeland, and our domestic energy companies don’t have to resort to off-shore drilling. Jobs are booming in these fields as more and more wells are drilled. Somewhere around 600,000 jobs have been created since 2002. They expect another 209,000 or so to be created by the year of 2015 (Williams). For every job created in drilling, more than three are created in supplies and service. Williston, North Dakota is a great example of this. So many people are rushing over there to find work that there aren’t enough places for people to live. This has helped in so many ways, new houses are being built so more construction workers and engineers are need. As well as construction, people need food and entertainment so more business need built or remodeled to keep up with the rising demand. Many of the people with fracking jobs are expected to work sometimes up to 70 or 80 hours a week (Williams). That’s two full-time jobs! Because of extensive hours, some companies pay a daily bonus and well over minimum wage. Even making $8.00 an hour for 70 hours with a $50.00 daily bonus, you will earn over $1,000 per week. Plus, many companies are paying room and board for their employees as long as they are working hard. Employment isn’t the only significant benefit from fracking. Another great benefit from fracking is the revenue created from various taxes. The Ohio Oil and Gas Association estimated that the state’s net revenue from the new oil-and-gas tax plan would nearly double, to $2.07 billion over 10 years. They plan to use the revenue by putting half the funds into regulating the industry and capping abandoned â€Å"orphan† wells, with the remaining 50 percent to flow to an income-tax-reduction fund. This would put the total tax cut at an average of around $100 million a year over a decade (Ludlow). Of course as there is with any issue, there are also disadvantages, along with the benefits. Although fracking has some great benefits economically, there are also some disadvantages. One of the biggest issues with fracking is the amount of freshwater wasted. We mix millions and billions of gallons of water with sand and chemicals to shatter the shale. When some of the water resurfaces,  it has been contaminated with chemicals and metals; so it’s no longer usable (Disadvantages). In Pennsylvania over the past three years, over 1.3 billion gallons of wastewater have been produced, that’s enough to cover Manhattan in 3 inches of water (Disadvantages). There is also the issue that the air is being polluted. In 2010, Texas found a 25 percent increase of asthma in young children (Disadvantages). In 2013, California’s Mojave Desert became home to The Ivanpah Solar Power Facility. It is the largest solar thermal power plant in the world. The plant can generate enough power for over 140,000 houses during the peak hours of the day. It’s also believed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 400,000 tons per year (Ivanpah). It’s not just the environmental concerns that are causing problems, though. One of the biggest economic disadvantages is the problems occurring in the boomtowns. â€Å"In 2005, the Williston Police Department in Williston, North Dakota, received 3,796 calls for service. By 2009, the number of yearly halls had almost doubled, to 6,089. In 2011, the most recent year for which data is available, the Williston P.D. received 15,954 calls for service† (Riggs). Alcohol seems to be the biggest problem for officers in boomtowns. Some say around 80 to 90 percent of their calls involve someone who is under the influence (Riggs). It’s also a known fact that crime is high in boomtowns, probably due to the alcohol consumption and use of illegal narcotics. Another big deal is the amount of prostitution going on in these boomtowns. Cops have a really hard time trying to get around to calls because of heavy congestion, and they probably don’t notice the prostitutes wandering the streets. Everyone has to make their money somehow, though, right? Anyone should be able to make money doing something they enjoy. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and opinions. I truly believe in the saying, â€Å"to each, their own!† I really believe that hydraulic fracturing is great for the time being, maybe not in the long run. The amount of unemployment in the United States has dropped significantly since fracking came about. Many people are rushing up there to well-paying jobs, granted the cost of living is high, but it’s not exactly cheap anywhere else is it? Even places like McDonald’s are starting people  out somewhere around $15.00 an hour. That’s nearly double minimum wage. Probably more than some of our parents are making an hour. I think if people are going to be happy going to live in these areas and make the â€Å"big bucks,† that’s none of our business. You’re always going to have the environmentalists who claim it’s only ruining our precious planet. Well, these days it seems as if EVERYTHING is ruining our planet. Nothing is very â€Å"eco-friendly.† I realize that solar power is much better for the environment, but at this point not very many cars can run off of solar power. Yes, some do in a round-about way by running off electricity; if your electricity comes from a solar powered mechanism. Plus, those are the dinky little cars that can’t pull at trailer and haul things to where you need to go. What happens when we drain the sun of its â€Å"magical juices?† Well, we’ll all be dead then because we will freeze to death, so I guess that doesn’t really matter. Why not just kill our planet will big ‘ol diesel pick-up trucks? At least we kill it doing something we love, right? No matter what your opinion is someone is always going to try and get you worked up about it. No one can stand to let people have their own opinions; they always try to convince you that your opinion is wrong and you should believe what they do. Well, all in all hydraulic fracturing has some great benefits and disadvantages. It’s an issue that people will always be hard-headed and stubborn about. So the next time you consider getting into an argument about fracking, before you even start with the argument remember, no matter what, you’re wrong. Works Cited â€Å"Disadvantages†. n.d. The Big Fracking Deal. 27 April 2014. . Grunewald, Rob and Dulguun Batbold. â€Å"Bakken Stands Out In comparison With Other Shale.† Fairfield Sun Times (2014): np. â€Å"Ivanpah†. 2014. Bright Source Limitless. 27 April 2014. . Ludlow, Randy. â€Å"State fracking revenue may not bring tax-cut gusher.† 9 January 2014. The Columbus Dispatch. 27 April 2014. . Riggs, Mike. â€Å"Why Energy Boomtowns Are a Nightmare for Law Enforcement.† 18 October 2013. The Atlantic Cities Place Matters. 27 April 2014. . What Is Fracking. n.d. 27 April 2014 . Williams, Laura. â€Å"Jobs in the Hydrolic Fracturing Industry.† 2014. lovetoknow jobs & careers. 27 April 2014. .