...Start End Instructor San Diego Gas and Electric Smart Meter December 2010, digital smart meters will be part of California’s energy action plan (CA.GOV, 12/15/10), that will remove our existing electric and natural gas meters with new meters. The state of California has asked all utilities companies like San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E), to change all meters. What a smart meter is; how will it benefit my community. Also, what how will it affect my family financially. What is a Smart Meter Smart meters are digital devices that gather energy-use information; unlike traditional meters; smart meters broadcast, and collect data. After the data is collected wirelessly it is transmitted to San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E), where the data is linked to the customers meter number and service address that are SDG&E unique identifiers. SDG&E gathers the information makes sure it is authenticate several times and check for accuracy before using it for billing. They way a smart meter work is similar to cell phone technology. Just like cell phones companies using phone numbers as the unique identifiers to link every call that connects to cell towers and rout each call to the right place. SDG&E will record all electric energy use at homes every hour and at every business, it will be every 15 minutes. Information about your natural gas usage will be available every day. How the Community Benefits The new smart meters will benefit my community because it sends...
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...many movements in time but the green movement is the most important movement in time. The green movement is to educate people how to live a life more dependent on natural resources and to seek energy from cleaner sources other then harmful energy choices. There are many long-term effects of going green. For example, improved health, cleaner water, climate change, economic benefits (Duggan 1). There are also negative long-term effects of not going green. For example, natural resources become depleted at an extraordinary rate. If people don’t adopt this movement there might not be any natural resources for the next generation. One of the biggest downfalls of going green is mostly directed towards individuals, businesses and their wallets. Green supplies are generally greater in cost then the traditionally used supplies(Roberts 1). The cost to convert a 2,500 square foot house with green options are energy audit 0-$500 with a one or less year payback, Duct Sealing $1,350 with a 5 to 4 year payback, insulation $2,000-$5,000 with a 5.7 to 14 year payback, Storm Windows $2,500-$4,750 4 to 7 year payback, Tankless Water Heater $1,489 with a 8.5 year payback (1). Even the smallest supplies have a higher cost: Compact Fluorescent light bulbs cost $136 (1) vs. the traditional $40.00 ones. The flip side is that the traditional light does not have a cost payback. One the other hand, there are benefits to the economy. The green movement would create new jobs by requiring new technology...
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...The Future of Energy Unit 4 Assignment Kaplan University Cleaster McConnell SC300: Big Ideas in Science: From Methods to Mutation Professor Michael Allen October 16, 2012 According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the fuels Iowans use fall into two main categories: nonrenewable in the form of fossil (coal, petroleum, and natural gas) and nuclear fuels and renewable energy resources (water for hydroelectricity, biomass, wind, and solar). The use of energy is divided into four sectors: Commercial usage is 15%, Residential usage is 22%, Transportation 22%, Industrial 41% Energy, in all its varied forms, is an essential part of every aspect of our lives. It’s the foundation for our economy and our lifestyles. In my home, most of my energy dollars goes to heat my home in the winter and make hot water. During the summer months the dollars spent on heating the home is switched to cooling the home. A small percentage goes to powering appliances and electronics. We use natural gas as a single heat source and all of my appliances are electric including the stove, washer, and dryer. I am very conscious about energy conservation in the home. We adjust the thermostat by lowering it in the winter to 68 and raising it in the summer to 78 by day and 60 and 82 during the evening. We change the furnace filter every 3 months and unplug TV’s, cell phone...
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...Were the Conservatives the natural party of government between 1951-2007? (45) There is abundant evidence to suggest the Conservatives were seen as the natural party throughout the initial era of 1951 to 1997. However, after Blair’s New Labour huge and resounding landslide victory in 1997, definitions of a “natural party” have become more complicated; and it being ascribed to the Conservatives far from being accurate. Agree: * Throughout 1951 to 1997, the Conservatives were in power for 35/46 years. No Labour government ever won two successive elections. * Conservatives dominated for long periods between 1951 to 1997, with 3 consecutive victories during 1951 to 1964, and 4 consecutive victories during 1979 to 1992. * The only landslides came from the Conservatives during 1951 to 1997, in the general elections of 1959, 1983 and 1987; they had a majority of over 100 seats during these administrations * Many commentators and books have described the 20th century as the “Conservative century/age”. * Conservatives certainly had the “appetite for power” during 1951 to 1997; their energy and direction was focused on winning general elections * Conservatives have never really been tied to a single ideology, Labour before 1997 focused wholly on socialism and derivatives of it. This meant the Conservatives were able to adapt more easily: Churchill accepted the welfare state, whilst Thatcher was able to reposition the Conservatives towards the right wing of...
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...BUSINESS INSIGHTS Future Flavor Trends in Soft Drinks New opportunities for natural, healthy, and exotic flavors New Ingredients Report - Published November 2008 Importance of health trends in the drinks industry over the next 5 years Source: Future Flavor Trends in Soft Drinks Key questions answered by this report... • • • • • • What are the key emerging trends and opportunities in soft drinks flavors? Which drinks and flavor manufacturers drive innovation in this area? What are the most common and fastest growing flavors in the soft drinks categories? Which new product launches featured emerging flavors and how were they marketed? What are the top flavors in new products claiming to be natural, organic or high in antioxidants? Which drinks industry trends within health and indulgence do industry executives consider the most important? Identify and anticipate the key innovation trends and new product opportunities in soft drinks flavors with this new management report... Business Insights’ Ingredients Series Business Insights is developing a unique new series of reports that identifies key trends in ingredients, future innovation and growth opportunities. We are using our strengths in analysis of the food and drinks markets to provide new insight on developments in ingredients. Ingredients companies are facing a new set of challenges as ongoing consumer demand for healthy and indulgent products creates both new growth opportunities and commercial pressures...
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... Conventional Gas Map Copyright 2012 Rockwell Automation, Inc. U.S. Map – Natural Gas Stations/Pipelines Copyright 2012 Rockwell Automation, Inc. Natural Gas – Shale Gas Plays Copyright 2012 Rockwell Automation, Inc. Penn State Economic Impact Study Copyright 2012 Rockwell Automation, Inc. Source: The Pennsylvania Marceulls Natural Gas Industry: State, Economic Impacts and Future Potential 2011 Map of Utica Shale Copyright 2012 Rockwell Automation, Inc. Source: Ohio Department of Natural Resources Map of Utica Shale • Oil • Liquids Copyright 2012 Rockwell Automation, Inc. Key Contact Points • • • • • • • • Exploration Contractors Well Sites Water Treatment EPC’s Transportation companies Processing System Integrators Copyright 2012 Rockwell Automation, Inc. Bridgestone Tech Center Copyright 2012 Rockwell Automation, Inc. Source: The Plain Dealer Utica Shale Map Copyright 2012 Rockwell Automation, Inc. Source: www.Fracktracker.com It’s only about gas right? • Manufacturing • Power Generation Supply / $$ • Electricity • Heating Labor force Coal Diversity Stable Feedstock Emissions Local Consumers • • • • Natural Gas Ethylene byproduct Shale O&G Copyright 2012 Rockwell Automation, Inc. • • • • Wellhead Compression Midstream Fractionation • • • • • Chemical Mfg Supply / $$ Feedstock Energy Heat 12 What is a “Shale...
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...Determine a key difference between a fee-for-service plan and a managed plan, and indicate the plan that you believe to be most advantageous for the majority of patients. Provide support for your rationale. Modern managed health care grew out of a desire to reform the traditional health care system, or the fee-for-service method of charging for health care. Under the fee-for-service method, doctors and hospitals got paid for each service they performed. There were no limits on their treatment decisions; doctors or hospitals could order as many tests as they felt necessary, for example. Doctors and hospitals made a lot of money under this system because they decided the prices charged for every visit. However, patients did not always benefit because their insurance companies would often only pay a percentage of the fees being charged.The different types of fee-for-service include indemnity plans and reimbursement plans. In an indemnity plan, the insurer sets an amount that it will pay for a specific medical service. In a reimbursement plan, the patient must pay all fees up front and then file claims to be reimbursed by the insurer. Fee-for-service health care is no longer widely in use. Most people today have some kind of menaged care insurance. There are many kinds of managed care organizations, but there are some common characteristics among them. All managed care organizations supervise the financing of medical care delivered to members. They all are concerned with cost-effectiveness...
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...Energy Crisis The future global economy is likely to consume ever more energy, especially with the rising energy demand of developing countries such as China and India. On top of this, energy demand is expected to grow by almost half over the next two decades. The charts below shows the trends of worldwide energy consumption and the energy consumption of three big giants, USA, China and India till 2040. At present, we rely on coal, oil and gas (the fossil fuels) for over 80% of our current energy needs – a situation which shows little sign of changing over the medium-term without drastic policy changes. The problems associated with an over reliance of non-renewable energy sources is the fear that our energy resources are starting to run out, with devastating consequences for the global economy and global quality of life. At the same time, the tremendous risk of climate change associated with the use of fossil fuels makes supplying this energy increasingly difficult. While the potential for a crisis if we run out of energy is very real, but there is still time before that occurs. In the past two decades proven gas reserves have increased by 70% and proven oil reserves by 40%. At expected rates of demand growth we have enough for thirty years supply. Moreover, better technology means that new oil and gas fields are being discovered all the time while enhanced recovery techniques are opening up a potentially huge array of unconventional sources, including tar sands...
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...advertising communications? The second topic problem is money. It is natural enough that beginners in business face the lack of money and the second topic question is: how to introduce the advertising campaign without big costs? The answer to some extent to these questions is guerrilla marketing. So, guerrilla marketing – what is it? Definition First there's marketing. Then you have direct marketing, consumer marketing, B2B marketing, buzz marketing, word-of-mouth marketing, online marketing...really, the list is endless. But one form often left out is guerrilla marketing. The term "guerrilla marketing" was first mentioned and defined by Jay Conrad Levinson in his popular 1984 book, Guerrilla Marketing. The term guerrilla marketing was inspired by guerrilla warfare which is a form of irregular warfare and relates to the small tactic strategies used by armed civilians. Many of these tactics includes ambushes, sabotage, raids and elements of surprise. Much like guerrilla warfare, guerrilla marketing uses the same sort of tactics in the marketing industry. This alternative advertising style relies heavily on unconventional marketing strategy, high energy and imagination. Guerrilla marketing is about taking the consumer by surprise, make an indelible impression and create copious amounts of social buzz. Guerrilla marketing is said to make a far more valuable impression with consumers in comparison to more traditional forms of advertising and marketing. This is due to the fact that...
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...Global risks: Economic Risks Risks in the economic category include fiscal and liquidity crises, failure of a major financial mechanism or institution, oil-price shocks, chronic unemployment and failure of physical infrastructure on which economic activity depends. Environmental Risks Risks in the environmental category include both natural disasters, such as earthquakes and geomagnetic storms, and man-made risks such as collapsing ecosystems, freshwater shortages, nuclear accidents and failure to mitigate or adapt to climate change. Geopolitical Risks The geopolitical category covers the areas of politics, diplomacy, conflict, crime and global governance. These risks range from terrorism, disputes over resources and war to governance being undermined by corruption, organized crime and illicit trade. Societal Risks The societal category captures risks related to social stability – such as severe income disparities, food crises and dysfunctional cities – and public health, such as pandemics, antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the rising burden of chronic disease. Technological Risks The technological category covers major risks related to the growing centrality of information and communication technologies to individuals, businesses and governments. These include cyber attacks, infrastructure disruptions and data loss. Ten Global Risks of Highest Concern in 2014 1 Fiscal crises in key economies 2 Structurally high unemployment/underemployment ...
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...Base/mode of production HM Economic base/infrastructure: forces of production: raw material, social creations necessary for the society to engage in economic production, technology, natural resources related skills and knowledge. Relations of production: owndership of the forces of prod, some owned communally, others were private ownership and compel others groups to work for it superstructure HM all aspects of society not included in the base, religion, philosphy, politics, the fam, law, art CHANGE IN ECON BASE CHANGE IN SUPERSTRUCTURE Simple Societies Not dependent on any other society; little political organization, division by gender Compound Societies Greater division of labor, stratification, composite groups formed Doubly compound All doubly compound societies are settled, non-nomadic, political organization more elaborate, caste system, towns and roads Trebly compound societies Extensive territorial scope of society; Great civilizations, productive, distributive capcity, regular exchange with other societies Historical Materialsm was also a reaction to important contemporary societal and intellectual developments: Lenski: Technology used to adapt to environment; Outcomes: Surplus production, Population growth, Stratification, occupational specialization Harris: Cultural Materialsm (best for preindustrial) Theory Mechanism: Population growth & technological processing deplete the environment, cause decline in living standards...
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...technology and mostly used in well-developed countries. With robotic surgery a single surgeon is able not only to perform multiple surgeries but also do his/her work from any part of the world (McConnell, Schneeberger & Michler, 2003). Robotic surgery is a type of procedure that is similar to laparoscopic surgery. It also can be performed through smaller surgical cuts than traditional open surgery. There are small precise movements that are possible with this type of surgery. It gives some advantages over standard endoscopic techniques. Sometimes robotic-assisted laparoscopy can allow a surgeon to perform a less-invasive procedure that was once only possible with more invasive open surgery. Once it is placed in the abdomen, a robotic arm is easier for the surgeon to use than the instruments in endoscopic surgery. The robot reduces the surgeon’s movements. The robot assistance reduces some of the hand tremors and movements that might otherwise make the surgery less precise. Robotic instruments can access hard-to-reach areas of your body more easily through smaller incisions compared to traditional open and laparoscopic surgery. This procedure is done under general anesthesia where you are asleep and pain free. The surgeon sits at a computer station nearby and directs the movements of a robot. Small instruments are attached to the robot's arms. Under the surgeon's direction, the robot matches the doctor's hand movements to perform the procedure using the tiny instruments. A...
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...involved in the production, delivery and service of natural assets. The increasing demand for utility services, particularly for electricity, is leading to the growth of the sector. The utilities sector is highly regulated as the essential supplies cater to basic human needs, and governments try to ensure the prices of these supplies stay within reasonable limits. The utilities try to increase prices through the filing of rate cases. The investments and costs incurred for the modernization and maintenance of reliable services are recovered through these rate cases. As per a recent U.S. Energy Information Administration report, global energy use will increase to 770 quadrillion Btu in 2035 from 505 quadrillion Btu in 2008. The majority of this usage is expected to come from countries outside the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The energy market of non-OECD nations has a larger scope for improvement compared to the more mature OECD nations. Utilities can be broken down into three main industries: ← Electric Utilities The EIA reports that electricity consumption in the U.S. will increase from 3,841 billion kilowatt hours in 2011 to 4,930 billion kilowatt hours in 2040, increasing at an average annual rate of 0.9%. For the fuel type in energy generation, renewables and natural gas will play an increasing role while coal and nuclear power will gradually fall out of favor. Natural gas-fired plants will provide 63% of the projected capacity...
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...a third of total energy use and in most parts of the world, the greatest contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) (UNEP-SBCI, 2009). One would therefore think that the efforts resulting from the Kyoto protocol which sets binding targets to reduce GHG emissions would focus on the Building and Construction industry, and this is an opinion which may be true. The effect of the protocol have seen a paradigm shift in the industry towards a ‘Sustainable Development’ movement, being more conscious to the effects the industry has on the environment. The building and construction industry in Singapore has also recognised the need to protect the environment and there have been various efforts to encourage construction activities which may reduce GHG emissions such as the use of alternative energy, recycling construction materials, alternative materials and various government-led initiatives. Singapore however is a small city-state which the UNFCC recognises as an alternative energy-disadvantaged state, facing difficulties in using alternative energy given its small size and compact area (NEA, 2014). Nevertheless, Singapore continues to moderate its GHG emissions by exploring the use of alternative energy sources, particularly natural gas and solar energy. The switch to natural gas has effectively reduced its emissions growth rate from 6.4% per year in 1994 to 2000 to 1.1% per year in 2000 to 2005 (NEA, 2014). Another alternative energy source in Singapore is solar energy which is gaining influence...
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...Hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as fracking, is a 60 year old practice of pumping high pressure water into shale rock thousands of feet below the earth’s surface. The pressurized water is pumped through cement encased pipes at pressures reaching 9000 pounds per square inch. The treated water is forced into small cracks in the gas-rich shale rock, resulting in the breaking of the rock and the release of natural gas that would otherwise be unobtainable. Hydraulic fracturing is a safe, economically efficient way to drill for natural gas, create jobs, and lessen America’s dependency on foreign oil. Safety is always an important factor when considering new methods for obtaining raw energy sources such as coal, oil, and natural and shale gas. The process of fracking can be considered relatively safe when compared to oil drilling and mining. For example, in 2010 an offshore drilling station suffered a malfunction in a blow back valve that caused a massive explosion killing 11 people and spilling an estimated 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico (Center for Biological Diversity, 2011). While the cost of lost lives is immeasurable, the costs of lost profits from the spilling oil, and the clean-up, are astronomical. The consequences of oil spills are not only immediate, but can also be felt for years after. Similar to the BP oil spill, in 1989 the Exxon Valdez ship ran aground spilling an estimated 750 thousand barrels of crude oil, an amount that equals almost...
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