Business Assignment in Sustainable Energy
Introduction
The sustainability of energy in the universe is the availability of energy that helps the consumers achieve their production benefits without having negative impacts. Many countries have failed in obtaining sustainable energy due to the use of fossil fuels that accelerates the emission of Green House Gases (GHGs). Measures obtained by a global summit in the fight against fossil fuels and the emission of GHGs suggested that nations should contribute to the agreement. Several countries all over the world met in Paris and signed an agreement stating that the participants should enhance the implementation of discussed strategies that would help the world attain a foreseeable goal of a world free from GHGs and carbon. Countries have been trying to invent new sources of energy that has reduced side effects to the human kind and that could enhance the production of energy at a reduced cost. The U.S. and the U.K are among the countries that tried to implement the extraction of gas using hydraulic fracturing. The process was a significantly better than the use of oil products but had several side effects such as water pollution and earthquakes. Therefore, the newly-developed strategy adopted by China of using renewable energy sources such as wind power, solar power, and hydrokinetic electricity have seen the development of the proposed strategies that would help the world attain the desired climate condition. Therefore, this paper has focused on the effects of fossil fuels to the human nature and the environment as well as the alternatives that would limit the pollution of the globe.
Challenges Affecting the Implementation of COP21 Agreement
The COP21 summit discussed various strategies that would help the world attain a foreseeable global achievement of good climate condition. Therefore, the implementation of the strategies lags behind since most countries and participants could not reach the agreed platform (Plattner 2016). Challenges affecting the implementation of the COP21 agreement include; finance constraints, the difference in the level of development, lack of awareness in the COP21 Agreement implementation, unavailability of scientific laboratories, and population growth (India) (Plattner 2016). Therefore, the challenges would have a negative impact towards the proposed Paris Agreement.
Financial Constraints
The COP21 summit agreed on several aspects that would develop a platform of minimizing the emission of GHGs in the globe. Every participant was asked to contribute to the fight against GHG emission in an effort of reaching an agreeable level of temperature 2 C (Espagne 2016). However, the agreement did not provide a criterion that would be followed in the fight against harmful gas emission. The aspect of financing is the major problem affecting most countries preferably the developing countries (Espagne 2016). The developed countries have experienced economic superiority, and they have developed industries that produce fewer amounts of harmful gasses to the total globe.
The world’s financial superpowers have accepted to provide financial support to the developing countries in the implementation of the COP21 Agreement. However, the funds may not be enough to facilitate the fight thus imposing a challenge to the developing countries. For instance, Espagne (2016) argues that the World Bank has produced a financial report showing that the developed countries have the largest share of the overall GDP amounting to 90.9%. Therefore, the implementation of the COP21 Agreement would be impossible to the developing countries that do not have a financial capability.
Development Difference
The difference between the levels of development between countries poses a risk in the implementation of the COP21 Agreement. Major countries with developed industry had sworn to contribute towards the implementation while the developing countries were asked to contribute voluntarily to the fight towards a favorable climate (Peter 2016). However, most developing countries are living their dream of achieving sustainable development that would cater to their community. According to Peter (2016), the agreement asked participants to contribute towards the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in participation in the Paris Agreement.
Most developing countries might fail to contribute to the agreement since they are at the edge of improving their economy. The requirement of producing NDC at every five years would not make a difference to the developing countries due to lack of participation incentive (Peter 2016). Developing countries do not have industrial tools that would reduce the use of fossil fuels that help in minimizing the emission of GHGs. Similarly, the developing countries are in the state of industrialization and urbanization thus posing a risk of preventing the emission of GHGs as well as implementing the mitigation aspect of COP21 Agreement (Peter 2016). Therefore, most developed countries might see the developing countries as a failure in the fight against climate changes.
Lack of Scientific Expertise
Most countries with developed economy have a well-organized scientific approach to matters affecting the climate. For instance, the west countries have developed scientifically and technologically in cases of laboratory expertise (Heinberg 2015). The scenario helps the developed countries to invest in science that sees the development of the COP21 Agreement. However, the developing countries have not adopted the new scientific technology that would see the development of their research (Heinberg 2015). Therefore, the problem poses a threat towards the implementation of the COP21 Agreement in developing countries.
A good example is the use of fossil fuels. Developing countries are at a state of urbanization and industrialization where the use of electricity and cement at the highest percentage. The country would not afford to use other means of energy since they do not have the expertise and resources in generating adequate energy in their production processes (Heinberg 2015). Therefore, science and laboratory development would hinder the implementation of the proposed COP21 Agreement. Similarly, the production of food in a country would require the country to use large amounts of fossil fuels in production, packaging, and transportation (Heinberg 2015). The strategy of eliminating the use of fossil fuels would be difficult since new measures of scientific development are still vast in the developing countries.
Population Growth
The population growth rate is alarming in most underdeveloped countries. Reports claim that a population increase leads to an increase in energy consumption since most aspects of life rise above the intended levels. For instance, population growth would mean an increased production of food materials, roads, hospitals, clothing, and schools (Ji and Sha 2015). However, the population increase would halt the need for energy consumption decrease since most countries would want to cater to the needs of their population. India as an example has a large population growth rate where they require lots of tons of energy to run their daily requirements. China also has the highest number of population as well as the highest percentage in carbon release (Ji and Sha 2015).
The developed countries have tried to intervene in the case of population growth where measures to curb the increase in population have not taken effect. Therefore, some Non-Governmental Organizations have started an initiative aimed at promoting the awareness of the need to limit the levels of population growth. Ji and Sha (2015) suggest that the need for promoting education and awareness would bear positive results towards the implementation of the proposed COP21 Agreement. Population growth exceeding the desired number of the population would affect the development of countries since the countries would be focusing on how to feed their population instead of focusing on the need to fight the rise of global warming (Ji and Sha 2015).
Lack of Awareness on the Need for Climate Changes
Most countries have adopted the need to fight the emission of GHGs. However, their population does not account for any activities contributing towards the emission of the prohibited gasses. Most activities like farming, transport, production and other daily activities contribute towards global warming at a higher percentage (Okereke, Baral, and Dagnet 2014). Therefore, the government has failed to create awareness towards the need for climate protection. People do not have an idea what global warming means or what activities contribute to the emission of GHGs gasses. Therefore, the effect might have negative influence to the goal of protecting the environment.
Similarly, some individuals argue that the Paris Agreement is weak since it did not provide a platform that would install penalties to the nations that could not contribute in the fight against global warming. The argument states that countries that will violate the agreement should be penalized (Ted 2016). Therefore, the argument had a point, but the agreement did not impose the penalties since the agreement favored the participation of developing countries as they had a voluntary action towards the fight against global warming (Ted 2016).
Life Cycle Assessment of Fracking Activities in Texas and U.K
Fracking activities refer to gas extraction method that involves the injection of water under high pressure to bedrock that facilitates a flow of gas from petroleum bedrock (Tagliaferri, Clift and Chapman 2016). The process helps in increasing the mining of gas and energy products from wells as an alternative to petroleum extraction. However, several disadvantages emerge as a result of the extraction process that involves negative effects towards human and other habitats (Tagliaferri, Clift and Chapman 2016). For instance, studies have revealed that fracking activities have a high risk of involving earthquakes and water-poisoning in some countries such as U.S and U.K.
Fracking Extraction in U.K
The United Kingdom has developed fracking activities at the rise of hydraulic fracturing in the U.S. the process has seen the development and advancement of gas and sources of energy in that has helped in the production of cheap and affordable gas (Weijemars 2013). However, the negative effects of the process have raised concern to the government with the rise of earthquakes and water poisoning (Weijemars 2013). Production of shale gas from the process of fracking has various life hazards, and the Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) has tried to state the impacts of the process to the life of human beings.
The process of extraction starts from site exploration and clearance in the search for a better installment of a facilitated extraction and drilling site. The LCA at this stage involves manipulation of nature as a large area is affected by the process. Similarly, the process of installing usable pipes involves horizontal drilling towards the desired depth. Once the site is complete, the process of hydraulic fracturing starts by injecting highly pressured water towards the oil refinery that facilitates the extraction of gas as well as other essential energy products. The method extracts enough gas energy to support a country’s sustainability. Similarly, the production of shale gas in U.K has led to a decrease in gas prices since the process involved a lower production cost than the usual petroleum extraction hence, making the prices affordable to the consumers.
The LCA involvement in the shale gas extraction has raised questions about the possible negative effects of the process towards the life cycle of human habitat. Therefore, the LCA defines the impacts of fracking activities to the environmental burden. Studies show that LCA is involved with the International Standard Organization (ISO) 14040 [11] that speculate the guidelines of performing LCA in hydraulic fracturing (Goldman 2012). The guidelines define the scope of the process, the impacts associated with the process of extraction, and other aspects of extraction that would have negative impacts on the ecosystem. Therefore, hydraulic fracturing in U.K has several negative impacts, but the positive impacts surpass the limitation leading to the government to consider the procedure compared to other processes of gas extraction (Goldman 2012).
Shale Gas Extraction in Texas
The process of shale gas production in Texas was the first inventory discovery of Hydraulic Fracturing to be discovered in America. The discovery and the impacts of gas extraction developed and influenced other countries in the world such as U.K since the process involved had fewer negative effects towards the globe (Jenner and Lamadrid 2013). Similarly, Texas has recorded a massive improvement in the economy due to the availability of cheap gas and the extraction method. Regardless of the negative impacts of the process, Texas has seen the advancement and economic rise experienced since the discovery of fracking process. Texas produces nearly 29% of the total natural gas in the U.S (Jenner and Lamadrid 2013). Similarly, Texas has created more than 2 million jobs since the invention of hydraulic fracturing. The economy of the state has grown and has contributed $300 billion in the United States (Jenner and Lamadrid 2013).
The negative effects of fracking activities in Texas include the production of harmful gasses that facilitates global warming, poisoning of water, and the emergence of earthquakes. Nicot et al. (2014) state that Barnett Shale Company is located in Texas and has reported several cases of earthquakes. The process of pressuring water inside the extraction wells causes earthquakes. Texas reported a massive earthquake that exceeded a magnitude of 5.7 that has never occurred in the history of Texas (Nicot, et al., 2014). Therefore, the LCA used in identifying the effects of hydraulic fracturing has helped in discussing the possible measures that would reduce the effects of fracking activities in Texas.
Recommendations
The existence of Life Cycle Assessment analysis would help to minimize the effects of shale gas production in both U.K and Texas as well as in other countries. First, governments should intervene and regulate the production of shale gas in several instances (Jiang et al. 2011). For example, the production of shale gas should be accompanied by regulators that reduce the production of harmful gasses. One measure of reducing the emission of Green House Gases (GHGs) include the use of Reduced Emissions Completions (RECs). Each stage of production should install the regulators to facilitate the process of reducing the negative effects. However, the process might require expensive installation procedures, but it would be for the better good for the environment.
The shale gas extraction companies should be accompanied by water treatment procedures that would minimize the effects of water poisoning. Water poisoning was one of the negative effects of shale gas production in Texas and U.K that affected the population adversely (Wang et al. 2014). People depend on natural water in consumption and releasing the untreated water to natural water reservoirs would harm the ecosystem or cause deaths to the humans. Similarly, the shale production companies should develop measures that aim at protecting the environment within their region like planting trees, creating water treatment plants that would enhance the habitable environment to human, plants, and other animals (Wang et al. 2014).
The companies and other government environmental bodies should take the concern of reducing the effects of earthquakes. Earthquakes originating from the extraction of shale gas have affected the population and caused severe damage to properties in Texas and had raised the question of what could be done to minimize earthquakes (Wang et al. 2014). However, a clear procedure of minimizing earthquakes has not been invented since the use of pressurized water in the extraction of shale gas is an avoidable process (Pacsi et al. 2014). Therefore, the government and the concerned company should research on new ways of extracting shale gas from the wells without affecting or causing earthquakes.
The shale gas production should be accompanied by government monitoring procedures to ensure that the company does not violate the standards of human and the environment (Slutz et al. 2012). For instance, the government should specify the regulations that the company should adhere in an effort of ensuring the company abides by the rules and regulations. Therefore, the production of shale gas would have minimal negative effects towards the environment and ecosystem.
Implementing Energy Efficiency Measures in U.K
Energy efficiency is the implementation of policies and incentives that would reduce energy consumption. The topic provides rules and regulations behind the use of fuel and other sources of energy. Fuel and gas consumption has been the topic of the globe where different nations have been trying to minimize fuel and gas consumption in an effort of reaching the goals of reducing the emission of carbon (Mallaburn and Eyre 2014). Therefore, governments are placing or improving existing incentives/policies that help in seeing the development and reduction of carbon emission. The incentives employed by several states include political and financial policies that would see the development of gas and fuel usage. Fuel and gas consumption is found in both housing and transport where consumers use energy on a daily basis (Mallaburn and Eyre 2014).
Transport Energy Incentives
Transport is one of the vital operations in the universe where people rely on road and other means of transport for individual and commercial purposes. However, means of transport specifically road transport has the largest percentage of fuel and gas consumption in the globe (Foxon et al. 2005). Many people and companies own car(s). The price of fuel differs from region to region depending on the availability of fuel companies. Therefore, the larger the number of cars in a country, the more amount of carbon emitted to the environment (Foxon et al. 2005). The government has been trying to intervene in the reduction of carbon emission to support the global goal of reducing the risks of global warming.
The U.K nation has been on the edge of reducing the risks associated with fuel consumption. Therefore, the government recommended the sale and production of favorable tyres that would limit fuel consumption (Brand, Anable and Tran 2013). The tyres would be checked by a system known as Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS). TPMS is a system that helps vehicle users learn about the consumption rate of a car. Therefore, the system has helped to reduce the emission of carbon since most car users opt the use of modified tyres in their cars. The tyres have limited consumption rate hence reducing the risks of emitting carbon to the ecosystem (Brand, Anable and Tran 2013).
Similarly, the government imposed incentives in the form of regulations posted to the economy as they required minimizing fuel consumption rate. The policy involves the implementation of a standard known as Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ). The introduction of CAFÉ has facilitated the reduction of carbon emission by 30% (Brand, Anable and Tran 2013). The improvement has seen other countries install the incentive in an effort of arriving at a better globe. The incentive standard requires vehicles to label the cars at their consumption rate so that buyers could know and chose their car of choice.
Additionally, another policy introduced in U.K involves fuel consumption in heavy-duty vehicles. Most heavy-duty vehicles have a large fuel-consumption rate compared to other types of vehicles. The incentive involved testing the rate of emission from heavy-duty vehicles. Therefore, the new technique was utilized to regulate the gasses emitted electronically (Rosenow and Galvin 2013). Heavy-duty vehicles are installed with the electronic machine that reduces the rate of carbon emission. The government introduced the idea and made it free for people to afford as well as a strategy to reduce the use of fuel as an energy efficient strategy.
The last incentive on transport energy regulation involves the introduction of eco-driving. Eco-driving is a strategy where a car is installed with Automatic Gear Shift Indicators that facilitates minimal fuel consumption (Brand, Anable and Tran 2013). Therefore, the cars have a lower rate of carbon emission hence, reducing the risks associated with global warming.
Some of the financial incentives in the implementation of energy efficiency would include the exemption of tax towards the purchasing and servicing of cars and machines that have a lower rate of fuel consumption. The U.K community has taken the idea of tax-free importation of motor vehicles that regulates and adheres to the fight against the emission of carbon to the atmosphere (Brand, Anable and Tran 2013). Similarly, production companies have the benefit of being in a tax-free state where the products with lower fuel consumption rate thus, making the products affordable to the consumers. The initiative took place to curb the use of fuel that has a high rate of carbon emission as well as providing a favorable environment to the universe.
Housing Sector Energy Incentives
Energy efficiency in housing departments has improved drastically with the rise of low-priced electricity. Consumers have diverted from the use of fuel in their homesteads as they have developed the need to embrace electricity that has a low emission rate of carbon. Furthermore, the U.K government has facilitated the initiative by improving the installation and allowing the electricity companies to work under tax-free initiative hence, making the incentive affordable to every consumer (Brechling and Smith 1994).
Similar procedures have helped the government reach their desired level of energy efficiency and reduction of carbon emission. The government has helped in implementing energy efficiency measures such as ensuring the residents have installed the reliable insulation in their homesteads. Insulation would use a certain amount of energy and with the affordability of electricity; installing attic insulation would benefit the resident and reduce the amount of energy consumption (Acciaro, Hoffmann and Eide 2013). Similarly, energy efficient windows would account for a low electricity consumption hence reducing the energy used. Ventilation heat exchangers have been helping the residents to accommodate for ventilation necessities as well as providing enough air supply to their homes. Therefore, the above incentives enhance energy efficiency in Europe and the need to regulate fuel and gas consumption. Electricity has taken control over various household activities and has replaced the use of fuel and gas consumption that could have negative impacts on the environment (Acciaro, Hoffmann and Eide 2013).
Political incentives implemented to reduce energy consumption in the household are divided into three categories. First, the incentives that aim at preventing energy (heat) loss. The platform aims at requiring homeowners to prevent leakages that could amount to excess heat and energy loss (Acciaro, Hoffmann and Eide 2013). The prevention would minimize the rate of energy consumption as well as prevent the rising costs of energy. For instance, leakages might be prevented by sealing possible wall leakages, adding insulators in the walls, checking the thermal bridges, changing broken windows, and insulating the floors and basements (Acciaro, Hoffmann and Eide 2013). Second, incentives that helps in recovering energy. Energy loss in homesteads could account for a huge amount of costs that could be avoided by installing ventilations that help in recovering energy. Third are the incentives that limit the circulation of energy. The incentive would broadcast the need for accounting for the energy consumption by installing meters that could record the amount of energy used. Similarly, the U.K government has asked homeowners to use or purchase products that have a lower rate of energy consumption.
The U.K government has helped the residents in the implementation of energy efficiency incentives by providing tax rates to household commodities. Similarly, the production of such products receives a boost by lowering the production and distribution tax so that the residents could afford such products.
Renewable Energy in China
The rise of renewable energy production in China has seen the development of some aspects where the population and the country at large have started to enjoy the move from fossil fuels to renewable energy. The use of fossil fuels had several negative impacts on the country and the whole world. Fossil fuels led to the degradation of the environment, commercial constraints where China had to import petroleum oil at a high cost and had caused health complications and global warming (Lo 2014). However, the introduction and embracement of renewable energy would enhance new measures that would see the development of a strong economy since the strategy has lower production cost than the latter. China has embraced the advancement of renewable energy as it produces a significant percentage amount of renewable energy in the whole globe. Therefore, some aspects have been experienced after the installation of various technologies in renewable energy. Hong et al. (2013) suggest some of the renewable energy sources are Hydrokinetic energy, Hydroelectric power, Biomass Electricity, Geothermal Energy, Wind Power, and Solar PV. Renewable energy production and usage have social, economic and environmental impacts.
Social aspects
The social impacts of the developed renewable source of energy have attributed to a sustainable and conducive environment for human habitat. The first social advantage is the improvement of health. Health issues that affected the human nature due to the use of fossil fuel consumption and usage had led to the spread of respiratory diseases such as lung cancer, and other skin diseases such as skin cancer (Qi, Zhang and Karplus 2014). Therefore, the utilization of renewable energy and its production mean that the diseases associated with the use of fossil fuels would come to an end.
Similarly, the consumers would have choices in choosing what type of energy to purchase or use. In the previous years, consumers did not have a choice of choosing what they needed for energy consumption since the fossil fuels were relatively expensive and limited to a single product (Qi, Zhang and Karplus 2014). With the rise of newly developed renewable energy, consumers would have the choice to use one of the products.
The use of renewable energy such as solar energy is reliable since the production involves the presence of sunlight. Most people would purchase solar panels and then they would not have recurrent utility bills associated with the energy. Therefore, the production and distribution of renewable energy would mean that consumers would have reliable sources of energy in their entire life.
The rise of renewable energy production companies in China has raised the need for human labor. China has employed more than a million people in the production and distribution of renewable energy (Qi, Zhang and Karplus 2014). Additionally, the lives of the people would rise as the rate of unemployment falls. Therefore, China will experience an economic boost with the increase of sustainable families that affords the necessity products of life.
The platform has seen the development of new technology in China with the rise of renewable energy companies (Ming et al. 2014). The traditional source of energy in China was costly since they had to import petroleum oil from other countries making it hard to implement different industrial development. Therefore, the emergence of renewable energy production in China would help industrial development as well as infrastructure.
Environmental Impacts
The universe and the environment sustain good climate with the protection of environmental factors. However, the use of fossil fuels facilitates environmental degradation in various aspects such as air pollution, water contamination, and change in climate conditions as well as weather (Qi, Zhang and Karplus 2014). Therefore, the use of renewable energy sources would change the effects that would help the globe arrive at the global goal of a clean environment with the free amount of air pollution.
Renewable energy use would help in minimizing the rate of air pollution. Air pollution has been the topic of the universe in the fight against fossil fuels (Stigka, Paravantis and Mihalakakou 2014). Therefore, air would be clean, and the diseases brought by air pollution would diminish as well. Similarly, the use of renewable energy would help minimize the effects of water pollution. Water pollution occurs as a result of air pollution and other activities involving the use of fossil fuels. The use of renewable energy would also improve the environment in the maintenance of natural resources for a long time (Stigka, Paravantis and Mihalakakou 2014). For instance, a river or an ocean would not be polluted since fossil fuels are either produced nor used at specific areas. Therefore, renewable energy implementation would have positive impacts towards the entire globe in the environmental sector.
Economic Impacts
The production, installation, maintenance, and distribution of the renewable energy would welcome employment opportunities to the community surrounding the project. Therefore, one of the financial importance of the renewable energy implementation is the creation of job opportunities (Yuan, Wang and Zuo 2013). Jobs created would improve the livelihoods of the residents of the community would advance their business opportunities. Therefore, the lives of the workers and the community surrounding would develop with the rise of renewable energy production.
Additionally, renewable energy production would welcome competition and the need for industrialization. Investors would save more from the embracing of renewable energy, and the need to invest more in other activities would develop and encourage the growth of the economy (Yuan, Wang and Zuo 2013). Therefore, the government would expect urbanization and industrialization where people with access to a cheap source of energy would have technology development as well as economic superiority.
Conclusion
The World Agreement on the importance of keeping the environment clean and free from gas has developed various incentives aimed at protecting the climate as a way of minimizing the risks of global warming. However, the implementation process has been challenging most participants in the actual strategy of reaching to a free environment in the near 2050. Cases of air pollution are reported on a daily basis, and some countries have failed to adhere to the recommendations made in the COP21 Agreement. The committee agreed on promoting the climate and abandonment of the use of fossil fuels. Therefore, the discussed strategies have helped some countries but the developing countries are still lagging behind in the implementation of the strategies. China has emerged as the first country to become the most leading nation in the production and usage of renewable energy that would facilitate the fight against global warming. The implementation of the renewable energy has helped in regaining environmental strength helping the nation to achieve a climate free from pollution as well as improving the lives of the residents. Other countries should embrace the initiative of utilizing the natural resources in the production of renewable energy hence, targeting the goal of obtaining a clean and sustainable environment.
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