...Sustainable Product Proposal - The Lego Group Yesenia Gipson MKT 411 October 5, 2015 Roger Blanton Sustainable Product Proposal - The Lego Group Despite the sustainability efforts the Lego Group has focused on, there is room for improvement. Currently, 75% of impact lies within their material, suppliers, and design. The rest lies within the manufacturing of the products and their consumers. We have identified three areas that can be immediately sustainably improved resulting in minimizing The Lego Group’s carbon footprint and an increase in a positive environmental impact. Implementing the “Pounds for Credit” program. This program is a recycling program that will entice consumers to bring in bags of Lego pieces to receive credit for a new Lego set. Many consumers have straggling pieces of Lego they no longer use or want. Rather than throwing them away, they can receive something back for the pieces and the company can re-sell the pieces or donate them to a children’s charity. Either way, the company wins as they can make money on the re-sale or tax write-off on the donation. In addition to the monetary aspect, the company helps the environment by recycling the pieces instead of ending up in the landfills and many children will enjoy playing and building with Legos. The way the program works is very similar to how the bottling recycling program works. For every 20 pounds of Legos brought in, the consumer will receive $1.00 credit to redeem at any of the following:...
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...U.S. Imposition of Steep Tariffs on Chinese Solar Panels – Protecting or Hurting American Markets and Consumers? On Tuesday, December 16th 2014 the United States Department of Commerce approved a collection of trade tariffs on solar panels imported from China and Taiwan. Tariffs on these solar panels, ranging from 18.56% to 35.21%, have been in place since earlier this year when the Commerce Department issues a preliminary decision. The case was brought by SolarWorld Industries America, Inc. the U.S. subsidiary of German company SolarWorld AG. SolarWorld alleged that Chinese companies were selling solar panels in the U.S. market below manufacturing cost, a practice known as “dumping”, with the intent being to cause harm to domestic manufactures of similar products. This particular case dates back to 2012 when SolarWorld first successfully petitioned to impose solar panel import tariffs. Chinese manufactures of solar panels then started using solar cells, the central component of the technology used to harvest the sun’s energy and convert it into electricity, made in Taiwan as a means to circumvent the restrictions. This led SolarWorld to again ask the Department of Commerce to expand the tariffs to include Taiwanese manufactured panels. The proposal will next go to the U.S. International Trade Commission for review, and if approved, keep the assessed duties in place for at least five years. A SolarWorld spokesperson has declared this action as a major victory...
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...reader to decide which they think is the better option. The report is split up into four main sections. The first section consists of the civil aspects, followed by the energy required for each system to run, then the third section explains the environmental impacts and finally the fourth section compares the pricing of both high speed trains to current modes of transportation. Of course none of this could have been done without the contribution and dedication of my classmates Hannah Bieszczat, Ryan Buckley and Devin LeBlanc. I hope you enjoy this report and if you have any questions please feel free to email me. Thank you. Respectfully, HYPERLOOP VERSUS VARIOUS FORMS OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION INCLUDING HIGH SPEED RAIL Undergraduate Engineering Students California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Last Updated: March 2014 Abstract In an attempt to meet the growing demand of quick transit as well as alleviate rising fuel prices, the state of California has approved and began construction on a new high speed rail mass transit system between Las Angeles and San Francisco. This plan has a fair amount of opposition, and out of that opposition has recently came Elon Musk’s proposal for the Hyperloop. A revolutionary new type of transit system using closed tubes to fire small capsules at high speed between destinations. The purpose of this report is to compare and contrast the two systems, seeing which offers a greater advantage...
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...Recommendations 16 Limitations 16 Works Cited 17 Appendix A 19 List Of Figure: Figure (1)- Place of living 12 Figure (2)- Term Renewable Energy 12 Figure (3) - Implementing Green Energy In Africa 13 Figure (4) – What obstructs people from investing in green energy 13 Figure (5)- Do you think Energy and economic development are related? 14 Figure (6)- After allowing the direct electricity from solar panels to the nearest grid, therefore electricity bills will be lower, are you willing to invest in solar panels 14 Introduction There is a need to meet the growing energy demand. Having a sustainable source of electricity is a universal dream that all countries want to achieve. The interest in green energy is growing because fossil fuels are limited. Fossil fuels are currently he main source of electricity. They are diminishing over time and are...
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...Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP). Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. Photovoltaics convert light into electric current using the photovoltaic effect.[2] Photovoltaics were initially, and still are, used to power small and medium-sized applications, from the calculator powered by a single solar cell to off-grid homes powered by a photovoltaic array. They are an important and relatively inexpensive source of electrical energy where grid power is inconvenient, unreasonably expensive to connect, or simply unavailable. However, as the cost of solar electricity is falling, solar power is also increasingly being used even in grid-connected situations as a way to feed low-carbon energy into the grid. Commercial concentrated solar power plants were first developed in the 1980s. The 392 MW ISEGS CSP installation is the largest solar power plant in the world, located in the Mojave Desert of California. Other large CSP plants include the SEGS (354 MW) in the Mojave Desert of California, the Solnova Solar Power Station (150 MW) and the Andasol solar power station (150 MW), both in Spain. The 250+ MW Agua Caliente Solar Project in the United States, and the 221 MW Charanka Solar Park in India, are the world’s largest photovoltaic power stations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power ...
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...Solar Energy Foreign Literature and Study Solar power is the conversion of the energy from the sun to usable electricity. The most common source of solar power utilizes photovoltaic cells to convert sunlight into electricity. Photovoltaics utilize a semi-conductor to absorb the radiation from the sun, when the semi-conductor absorbs this radiation it emits electrons, which are harnessed as electricity. It is a resource that is not only sustainable for energy consumption, it is indefinitely renewable. Solar power can be used in relatively simple technology to heat water. The use of skylights in home construction can also greatly reduce energy expenditure required to light rooms in a home’s interior during the day. In France, Cédric Philibert created a case study that reviews past and current experience in international collaboration in the field of concentrating solar technologies in order to identify lessons that may be relevant for more general climate-friendly technology collaboration. It presents concentrating solar technologies in their current status, recent achievements and development prospects. It analyses the present successes and failures of different forms of international collaboration in this field, and draws lessons for further elaboration of international technology collaboration in addressing climate change. Meanwhile, according to a scientific literature review conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and published in the journal BioScience, more peer-reviewed...
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...The sun, a source of unlimited, sustainable, renewable energy, it is no wonder why solar energy systems is being used worldwide from country’s in poverty to homeowners in the United States. From large scale utility plants to urban communities, more solar energy systems are being used to generate electricity for many different reasons. Whether it’s saving our planet, saving money, or increasing the value of a home, these are just a few reasons why solar energy is growing. Over the past three decades SunPower Corporation has been able to improve the technology in renewable energy to generate the most energy from the sun. SunPower has been leading the quest to improve lives and our world for a better future one day at a time. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration in September of 2014, utility-scale solar power plants generated over 12,303 gigawatts- hours of electricity compared to September 2013which generated 6,048 gigawatts-hours. This is enough energy to power 1,513,703 average U.S. homes, (Danko, 2014). With the trend of solar energy and clean carbon emissions, the numbers of solar companies has risen. From manufacturing to installing, having a solar energy system has been easier and cost effective especially for homeowners. To motivate homeowners to start using solar energy system, local and state wide government has offered many incentives such as, “the eight-year extension of the Investment Tax Credit for renewable energy that was part of the...
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...CITED 17 APPENDIX A 19 List Of Figure: Figure (1)- Place of living 12 Figure (2)- Term Renewable Energy 12 Figure (3) - Implementing Green Energy In Africa 13 Figure (4) – What obstructs people from investing in green energy 13 Figure (5)- Do you think Energy and economic development are related? 14 Figure (6)- After allowing the direct electricity from solar panels to the nearest grid, therefore electricity bills will be lower, are you willing to invest in solar panels 14 Introduction There is a need to meet the growing energy demand. Having a sustainable source of electricity is a universal dream that all countries want to achieve. The interest in green energy is growing because fossil fuels are...
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...this type of regulation, since the tradeoff often occurs inevitably as a result of this change in government policies. In this case, as the article states, “The European Union imposed tariffs of as much as 42.1 percent on solar glass from China.” The imposed tariff would adds to price of each unit of the imported solar glass by the amount of tariff, which shifts the supply curve up from S(world) to S(world)+tariff, since the price for solar glass increases drastically from Pw to Pw+tariff The effect of this change is illustrated from the diagram below Because the Chinese solar glass producers do not receive the gains from the price increase due to tariff, and thus European domestic producers can raise their prices with increasing supply in order to compete with the foreign imports. The domestic producers benefits tremendously since they can sell a larger quantity of solar glass at a higher price. The revenue that domestic producer earn increase from 0 to Q2 at world supply price to 0 to Q3 at Pw+tariff. On the other hand, Chinese solar glass producers would receive less revenue from Q2 to Q5 at world price to only Q3 to Q4. This happens because of the reduced market share and international competitiveness resulted from placing tariffs to the Chinese solar glass. In addition to those consequences analyzed from above, the other various stakeholders are also affected by the tariff, since a larger quantity of...
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...Article 2 Sustainable Plant of the Year: Frito-Lay Casa Grande Plant Attains Near Net Zero Efficiency was built into Frito-Lay’s Casa Grande plant a quarter-century ago, but the snack maker takes the facility’s energy- and water-conservation systems to a new level with near net zero. Is it feasible for food or beverage production ever to be resource neutral, consuming no more gas, electricity, water and other utilities than what it generates itself? Perhaps theoretically, but not as a practical matter. Still, placing sustainable manufacturing in the context of assuring resource availability so operational capabilities are maintained, regardless of external disruptions, is intriguing. What would a food plant with net-zero impact look like? A close proximity sprawls across 283 acres of the Sonoran desert in Arizona. Part learning lab, part sustainability showcase, the Frito-Lay facility in Casa Grande is the focus of the snack food manufacturer’s ambitious goal of creating a blueprint for sustained production in a resource-strapped tomorrow. Most of the energy-generation and water-reclamation technology in Casa Grande can be found elsewhere in the Frito-Lay production network, but never before has such a comprehensive infrastructure been created. The result is a plant that pushes the limits of what is possible in energy and water self-sufficiency. Selection of Casa Grande came after an assessment of Frito-Lay’s 37 US facilities by the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable...
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...NewVen Ltd Summary Business Plan Sagar Raisoni [pic] NewVen’s Business plan Executive summary NewVen is an Oxford based company, which plans to sell, install and maintain photovoltaic cells. Photovoltaic’s is a method of generating electrical power by converting solar energy into usable current electricity using semiconductors that exhibit the photovoltaic effect. Photovoltaic’s method employs solar panels on the roof or on the walls of the house, which are composed of a number of cells containing a photovoltaic cell. The UK is setting itself a mandatory target of ensuring that 15% of our energy consumption comes from renewable sources by 2020, there has never been a better time to invest in micro generation. (On the brink of a bright future,2010) [pic] http://www.bettergeneration.com/the-feed-in-tariff-is-kick-starting-a-solar-boom2100608.html PricewaterhouseCoopers released an analysis of the solar PV markets across Europe and emphasizing the UK market. PwC claims that there will be substantial increase in the installation of Solar PV in the next ten years, but there are a number of obstacles to overcome. In order to captivate this potential growth, individual firms and government must focus on the five big barriers: consumer awareness, upfront funding, and consistency of policy, access to capital and UK skills shortage. The above graph explains the rise of PV if all the five barriers are overcome. (Better generation Ltd, 2009) There are three...
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...and least developed countries like Bangladesh always face scarcity of their own resources. Therefore, to accelerate infrastructure development, the Government has encouraged private sector participation in infrastructure projects. Bangladesh inherited underdeveloped and unevenly distributed infrastructure and transportation networks. Poor and inefficient infrastructure undermined the economic development in the country, and only recently has the government been able to address the problem systematically and channel investments towards expanding its highways, railroads, seaports, and airports. In this term paper I have discussed the past and current situation of the country’s 2 sectors of infrastructure i.e. communication (roads) and Power (solar) sector and their contribution towards the development of our economy. 2. Bangladesh Infrastructure: Power and Communication Bangladesh belongs to the group of countries with the lowest commercial energy consumption per head in the world. The CIA estimated that in 1999 the country produced 12.5 billion kWh, 85 percent of which was produced using gas, 7.0 percent was produced at hydroelectric power plants, and around 8 percent by using liquid fuel. According to the EIU Country Profile, 85 percent of households in...
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...Research suggests that solar energy is the best option for sustainable energy in this country because it generates clean, reliable electricity, it helps the economy, and it contributes to reducing the environmental impact generated by other energy sources Ricardo Araujo Westerns Governors University Energy production and usage continue to pose significant environmental challenges. Various administrative organizations have established various mechanisms through which environmental protection can get achieved (Growing Significance of Renewable Energy (Presentation), 2007). The threat emerges from the continuous usage of fossil fuels such as petrol and diesel that produce large amounts of emissions. Factories, households, transportation and offices continue to depend on fossil fuels as their primary source of energy for heating, lighting and other uses. The practice carries on despite the fact that they individual have the knowledge of the effects of the emissions that come from the fossil fuels. On the contrary, Craddock (2008) points out that individual choose to ignore the campaigns carried out by environmental safeguard activists across the world. As a result, the mitigation processes have had a slow but progressive response in the adoption of clean energy by various institutions across the globe. One of the focuses of the source of clean energy is solar power. The adoption of source of energy would significantly decrease the levels of global warming and ultimately,...
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...------------------------------------------------- University of Ottawa School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) ELG 4913 Final Report Project Title: Solar Panel Enhancement System Executive Summary The project is to enhance the functionality of the solar panels. Our project is divided onto three main parts. Snow and dust can prevent the solar panels to receive direct sun light. This can decrease the amount of power received. First part is preventing high voltage by detecting high very high temperature and humidity. Second part is cleaning project that clean what’s blocking the light from the panel by reading power measurement. The last part is detecting damage by reading the power measurement coming from the panel and the battery. Home photovoltaic system must be cleaned regularly to achieve maximum efficiency. To achieve this, surface of the solar panels must be free from dust, sand, snow, and more. Dirty solar panels lower power generation efficiencies and the solution for this is to design and create a brush that can be activated to clean unwanted substance from the panel. Table of Contents: 1- Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 4 2- Design Objectives ................................................................................
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...A P R I L 2 014 The disruptive potential of solar power David Frankel, Kenneth Ostrowski, and Dickon Pinner As costs fall, the importance of solar power to senior executives is rising. The economics of solar power are improving. It is a far more costcompetitive power source today than it was in the mid-2000s, when installations and manufacturing were taking off, subsidies were generous, and investors were piling in. Consumption continued rising even as the MAC Global Solar Energy Index fell by 50 percent between 2011 and the end of 2013, a period when dozens of solar companies went bankrupt, shut down, or changed hands at fire-sale prices. The bottom line: the financial crisis, cheap natural gas, subsidy cuts by cash-strapped governments, and a flood of imports from Chinese solar-panel manufacturers have profoundly challenged the industry’s short-term performance. But they haven’t undermined its potential; indeed, global installations have continued to rise—by over 50 percent a year, on average, since 2006. The industry is poised to assume a bigger role in global energy markets; as it evolves, its impact on businesses and consumers will be significant and widespread. Utilities will probably be the first, but far from the only, major sector to feel solar’s disruptive potential. Economic fundamentals Sharply declining costs are the key to this potential. The price US residential consumers pay to install rooftop solar PV (photovoltaic) systems has plummeted from nearly...
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