Thursday, September 19, 2019

Fifth Business Dunstan :: essays papers

Fifth Business Dunstan Lots of people in our society can be dubbed as ^neutral^ in their behavior. They dont take part in the events occurring around them but rather just observe them. This characteristic can be called a beneficial characteristic as it may keep them out of disagreements. In the book Fifth Business written by Robertson Davies, Dunny can be called a neutral person. He tells us about his life story and through various incidents, it is clearly evident that he is indeed a neutral person. For instance, the snowball incident and Dunny^s relationship with Diana show the reader that he is indeed a neutral person who doesn^t want to get involved deeply in anything at all. Dunny starts his story from his childhood. He tells us that when he was ten, he had a fight with Percy Boyd Staunton and during this fight, Percy threw a snowball at him. He dodged the snowball and it struck the pregnant Mary Dempster, who was the wife of Reverend Amasa Dempster, on her head. This led to the premature birth of the baby. Dunny felt responsible for that incident and spent many sleepless nights but he didn^t tell Mary what had happened or who threw the snowball. He remained neutral in the situation despite the fact that he felt guilty and responsible for. Mary^s loss of senility and the premature birth of the baby. These strong emotions led him to help Mary in every way possible. Although he knew that he had not thrown the snowball, he imagined that since it was meant for him, he shouldn^t have dodged it. Also Paul had told Dunny that he wasn^t responsible for the snowball because it was Dunny^s dodging it which led to Mary Dempster labor. So Dunny was sure that! he was to blame but still he didn^t confess it to anyone, neither did he ever talk to anyone about it. Being neutral he just withdrew and did not take a stand in the situation. He took care of Paul when he (Paul) was quite young and also was protective of Mary which further served to isolate him from the rest of the society who thought of Mary as a bad influence. Though this incident occurred in an early stage of Dunny^s life, it still shows his neutrality which remained a part of him until his death. Dunny^s relationship with Diana is another example which shows his neutrality. When Dunny was wounded in the war, he was put under Diana^s care until he got back on his feet. During this time, he

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Advocates for a New Social Order: Dickens, Marx, and the Trade Union i

Advocates for a New Social Order: Dickens, Marx, and the Trade Union in Hard Times For over a century, Charles Dickens has been praised as being the working man's advocate, and the lower classes have played a major role in peopling his vast world of characters. Always, the reader is left with a sense of sympathy and pity for these characters as Dickens' journalistic descriptions of their plight are often dramatic, stirring, and pathetic. Although he renders the living conditions of the poor in such a way that no reader can escape feeling sympathy for such characters, Dickens never once offers a solution to such distress. In Hard Times we find a man who suffers not only the degradations of the industrial city, but also the ostracism of his own kind when he refuses to join the ranks of a budding trade union. Dickens has often been deemed a reformer by many modern critics. However, if he truly sought reform for the treatment of the lower classes in Victorian England, why, then, does he refuse Stephen Blackpool a chance to take a part in that reform? Like Karl Marx an d Friedrich Engels, Dickens realized and reported upon the conditions of the working classes, but he chose to offer a more spiritual form of aid rather than to suggest a complete political reformation. Dickens published his views on labor issues in several of his journals, and he spoke on the subject frequently as well. Although he was moved by the plight of the workers, he could not understand why they would become violent at times. Peter Ackroyd cites a letter to Angela Burdett-Coutts, describing Dickens’ views on trade union violence. The reason for such violence, Dickens contends in the letter, is that the lower classes were being brainwashed and swindle... ... both a charitable and noble soul. He could not have joined the union as he did not believe it would help matters any, and he maintains his dignity even though he pays the ultimate penalty for it in the end. Works Consulted The Oxford History of Britain. Ed. Kenneth O. Morgan. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1984. Ackroyd, Peter. Dickens. New York: HarperCollins, 1990. Bowditch, John and Clement Ramsland. Voices of the Industrial Revolution. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1961. Dickens, Charles. Hard Times. Ed. George Ford and Sylvere Monod. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 1990. ---. "Locked Out.† Household Words 8 (1854): 345-8. Faber, Richard. Proper Stations. London: Faber and Faber, 1971. Marx, Karl. The Grundrisse. Ed. and trans. David McLellan. New York: Harper, 1971. Williams, Raymond. Culture and Society: 1780-1950. New York: Harper, 1958.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Sustainability Through Dendro Powered Electricity Generation Environmental Sciences Essay

Long-run GHG and local pollutants decreaseThe undertaking will ensue in coevals of power of 14,000 MWh at an one-year 80 % works capacity use factor utilizing sustainably produced fuelwood. This will displace an tantamount volume of electricity that would otherwise be generated by dodo fuel based thermic power workss and fed into the Sri Lanka national grid. Harmonizing to the long- term coevals program of the CEB, electricity demand is turning at an mean one-year rate of 7 – 8 % . Due to societal, economic and environmental impacts associated with the development, farther development of large-scale hydro resources is going progressively hard. The CEB forecasts thermic power coevals capacity to increase its 2005 degree of 1266 MW to a mark degree of 4,230 MW in 2019. The bing thermic workss include gas turbines fuel oil fired reciprocating engines, and combined rhythm workss. The enlargement works prognosis includes gas turbines, combined rhythm workss, Diesel workss, furnace oil workss, and coal workss. Economic, societal, environmental and technological benefits Economic benefits The entree of electrification is tremendous difference in regional in the state. In the western state where about 90 per centum of family have entree to electricity while North cardinal state have entree to electricity about 65 per centum. In the Sabaragamuwa, Uwa, North Western and East between 40 to 50 per centum of families without entree to electricity. The entire figure of electrification of small town strategies was increased from 2115 to 14690 since 1980 and 1998. By 2015, the Government plans to provide electrification to about 100 per centum of the state ‘s small towns. Some 600 rural electrification strategies, covering eight states will supply electricity supply to about 112,500 extra families and other consumers, Some 600km of 33 kilovolts distribution lines will be supplied to beef up CEB ‘s bing webs in rural countries to cut down overloading and losingss on those lines. A scope of alternate energy beginnings ( solar, air current, mini-hydro and biomass ) wi ll besides be developed through community-based organisations and the private sector to spread out rural electricity entree, peculiarly in the more distant, dry zone parts. Where capital costs for rural electrification are prohibitory, crystalline subsidies will be provided, to spread out entree. Merely the agribusiness entirely would non be equal to increase incomes in the rural countries. There is discoursing facts that these rural households that gain the extreme portion of their income from off-farm income are cagey to work their manner out of poorness faster. Access of electricity is besides of import to any off farm activity. Electric illuming besides makes a important part to the quality and success of rural instruction. Economic benefits of the undertaking are discussed farther below. ( a ) Adequate electricity supply- In order for the national economic system to turn, adequate and dependable supply of electricity should be available at low-cost monetary values. Despite puting big amounts of borrowed money on the electricity sector for the past many old ages, our state is unable to run into the turning demand for electricity. Furthermore, our electricity monetary values are one of the highest in the part. These defects could be remedied if we could acquire our private sector to put on moderate graduated table decentralized power workss with autochthonal fuel supply. The survey carried out by the Ministry of Science and Technology with EU support reveals that over 4000 MW of biomass based electrical power could be generated by change overing the debauched fringy land available in the state. The proposed 2 MW works would turn out the commercial viability of this construct. ( B ) Organic nitrogen-bearing fertilizer- Nitrogenous chemical fertiliser such as urea had been extensively used in the agricultural sectors in Sri Lanka. The current one-year use is in the part of 0.4 million metric tons. The entire national demands of urea are imported at a cost of around US $ 50 million per twelvemonth. In the recent yesteryear, the monetary value of imported carbamide had been lifting steeply. In order to prolong the husbandman community and to guarantee equal supply of our basic nutrient, the authorities had been supplying some grade of subsidy for urea. At nowadays this has reached about a 3rd of the existent cost. Even with this heavy subsidy, paddy husbandmans are unable to do a populating out of rice cultivation. On the other manus, giver bureaus such as the World Bank/ IMF etc. have been exerting force per unit area through WTO on the authorities to minimise all signifiers of subsidies and let the market forces to find the optimal allotment of resources. As explained in Chapter 3, from a Gliricidia energy plantation, the mean output of wood per hectare per twelvemonth is 30 metric tons ( at 20 % wet ) and the corresponding output of fresh leaf is 26 metric tons. Systematic surveies carried out by the Coconut Research Institute had revealed that the application of 50 kilograms of fresh Gliricidia leaf for a coconut thenar provides the equivalent of N from 800 gms of urea [ †¦ .. ] . Furthermore the application of leaf improves the wellness of dirt by increasing the organic content in dirt. The aim of this undertaking is to show the commercialization of the construct of sustainable fuelwood production from Gliricidia energy plantations and the operation of an associated biomass power coevals installation. This 2 MW installation would necessitate the equivalent of 800 hour angle of Gliricidia plantations. Harmonizing to the survey conducted by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Land Use Policy Planning Division of the Ministry of Lands, the entire extent of debauched fringy land in the state is around 1.6 million hectares. This means that the entire potency of Gliricidia leaf production in the state is 1.6 ten 26 = 41.6 million metric tons yearly. This is tantamount to 0.67 million metric tons of carbamide. The states entire one-year use of carbamide is merely 0.4 million metric tons. The cautionary value of this is USD 96 million. This clearly shows the economic benefit of Gliricidia energy plantation to the agricultural sector. [ †¦ ] ( degree Celsius ) Increasing the capacity of national milk production- About 60 % of our national one-year demands of milk amounting to 500 million liters are imported at a cost of USD 125 million. One ground for our failure to bring forth our demand of milk is the deficiency of nitrogen-bearing fresh fish for our cowss. Though we have equal measures of carbonaceous fresh fish in the signifier of rice straw, nitrogen-bearing fresh fish is in short supply. Gliricidia leaf is an first-class nitrogen-bearing fresh fish. A 1-hectare plantation of Gliricidia would give 30 metric tons of wood and 26 metric tons of fresh leaf per twelvemonth. Along with 26 metric tons of rice straw, this measure of leaf is sufficient to feed 6 cattles. The one-year income from the sale of milk from 5 cattles would amount to USD 1,654 per twelvemonth. This construct of incorporating Gliricidia Energy Plantation with the rapid enlargement of dairy industry in Sri Lanka may non be realized in the short term. Equally far as this undertaking is concerned, it is expected that the pr esent cattle population of 84 cowss would be expanded to 500 within the undertaking boundary. Possibly this would move as a accelerator for other countries to follow suit. In the average clip excess leaf produced would be used as organic fertiliser. The 1.6 million hectares of debauched fringy land in our state could be used to bring forth the state ‘s full demands of milk. Droppings from the cattles could be used as organic nitrogen-bearing fertiliser replacing urea as described in subdivision ( B ) above. It should be noted that the usage of leaf as fresh fish and the droppings as nitrogen-bearing fertiliser brings more benefits than straight utilizing the leaf as green organic fertiliser. Nitrogen in cow droppings is easy absorbed by workss therefore cut downing leaching and evaporative losingss. ( vitamin D ) Auxiliary harvests in the entree manner in energy plantations- As described in Chapter 3, an entree manner with a 4-meter breadth will be provided at 11-meter intervals in the energy plantations. This spread is provided to supply entree for tractors to roll up and transport the fuelwood harvested in the 11-meter broad strips of trees in the energy plantations. These spreads are used as entree manner merely one time in 6 to 8 months. These spreads besides function as limit of blocks to ease systematic harvest home. A major disadvantage of supplying this spread is it encourages the growing of weeds, peculiarly Guina A and B ( Panicum upper limit ) and Illuk ( Imperate cylindrica ) . One manner of minimising the growing of weeds and optimizing the land infinite in energy plantations is to turn short-run hard currency harvests in these spreads during the two short rainy seasons ( April to June and October to January ) . Crops such as corn, sorghum, benne, black-eyed pea, mung bean, black gm etc. are suited for short-run harvests. Gross from these hard currency harvests would better the economic viability and heighten the sustainability of the plantations. Leaf of Gliricidia subdivisions harvested could be used as organic fertiliser for the hard currency harvest. Gliricidia leaf has the undermentioned alimentary contents: 3 to 4.5 % N, 0.2 to 0.3 % P, 1.5 to 3.5 % K, 1 to 1.4 % Ca and 0.4 to 0.6 % Mg. Furthermore the debut leaf to the dirt increases the organic content and improves the dirt. ( vitamin E ) Conservation of foreign exchange- Ever since the state adopted an â€Å" unfastened economic † policy in 1977, the para value of Sri Lankan Rupee has been deprecating in an exponential mode. Figure 15 illustrates this characteristic.Start of Open EconomyFigure 15: Depreciation of SLR with regard to USD since the ‘open economic system ‘ [ †¦ ] The primary ground for this depreciation is that the demand for foreign currency is much higher than the supply of foreign currency. There are two ways of deciding this crisis. One is to increase the supply of foreign currency. That is by increasing exports and spread outing the services, which bring foreign exchange to the state ( such as touristry, foreign employment etc ) . The 2nd manner is to cut down imports. Unfortunately, since 1977, we have been following merely the first method. This has non resolved the crisis. Therefore, we need to follow the 2nd way every bit good. That is we should cut down foreign currency outgo. In other words, if we should try to bring forth locally whatever goods or services which can be produced locally at competitory cost instead than importing such merchandises at a higher cost. Electricity produced by IPPs is a authoritative illustration. For the twelvemonth 2004, the mean monetary value paid for imported fuel based electricity produced by IPPs was SLR 9.20 ( USD 0.0902 ) per kWh, whereas the monetary value paid for local resource based electricity for the same twelvemonth was merely SLR 5.49 ( USD 0.0538 ) per kWh. If the same mean monetary value is paid for both, the state could bring forth all the electricity demands from local resources. The entire foreign exchange demands to run into the expected thermal based electricity from imported dodo fuel, including the foreign capital, fuel, runing and foreign transmittal costs for the twelvemonth 2005 to 2015 ( based on US Cts 8/kWh ) are given in Table 04 below. It is of import to observe that by the twelvemonth 2015, the expected foreign exchange demands needed exceed the expected foreign exchange net incomes from traditional harvests – tea, gum elastic and coconut ( USD 1000 million ) . With such big demand for foreign exchange, and with the expected diminution in foreign exchange income from the local garment industry when the Multi-fibre Agreement comes into consequence in the twelvemonth 2005, the state of affairs would be wholly unwieldy. If we develop local biomass resources, these demands could be reduced to manageable degrees. Sri Lanka is wholly null of any proved militias of fossil fuels. All demands of crude oil fuels are imported from the Middle Eastern states. If we decide to import coal, so we would import it from Australia. Depending on imported fuels to run into most of our energy would put the state in a serious insecure place. Development of autochthonal resources would put the state in a unafraid place. 5.2.2 Social benefits The undertaking has a big constituent for community engagement throughout-grower system. Fuelwood harvested from sustainable energy plantations will be used as fuel for the power works. Fuel wood plantations will be managed both as a big graduated table plantations every bit good as small-scale husbandman out-grower system. The out-grower system will cut down the poorness degree in the part, so that the undertaking has societal benefits. A farmer household can gain sum SLR 25,000 per twelvemonth from a hectare of land from cultivating Gliricidia for fuel wood. If this wood could be cut into 50 to 100 millimeter pieces, so the income would increase to Rs. 45,000 per hectare, as the current sale monetary value of cut wood ready for gasification or direct eating to boilers is Rs. 1.50 per kilogram at the farm gate and Rs. 2.75 per kilogram at the energy transition Centres. The undertaking is be aftering to present an incorporate attack for fuel wood plantation, which include cowss farming utilizing leaf fresh fish, organic fertiliser utilizing waste, and outflowing fertiliser or biogas, and organic agribusiness merchandises. Farmers can gain around SLR 45,000 from selling 30 dozenss of fuel wood, SLR 7,350 from selling 32 dozenss of droppings as organic fertiliser and SLR 168,750 from selling 6750 liters of milk. Around 2000 households are expected to take part in the out-grower strategy so that their income will increase the undertaking besides provides regular day-to-day emplacement for around 50 people throughout the twelvemonth in the fuel wood aggregation and transit activities. in the fuelwood aggregation and transit activities. In add-on to this, during the building phase, a big figure of skilled and unskilled workers will be hired from the local countries. Over 50 % of the employees are likely to be hired from the nearby communities. Additional roads will be built by the company to entree the human dynamo and the plantations. These roads are available for usage by the local people and in some instances will supply motorable entree to their places where there were merely footpaths earlier. The undertaking is expected to supply the undermentioned societal benefits. ( a ) Supplying employment for rural hapless – The Government of Sri Lanka yearly spends SLR 8,500 1000000s ( USD 83 million ) on poorness relief on the about 25 % of the entire population. Over halve of the entire population in the state are populating in the rural countries. Most of them are engaged in agricultural activity. Despite the huge sum of money spent in many agricultural development undertakings such as the Mahaweli Project, the farming community in the state is populating at subsistence degree. Most of the husbandmans are engaged in paddy cultivation. This provides merely intermittent employment chance, numbering 5 to 6 months in a twelvemonth. During the balance 6 to 7 months, these workers look for alternate employment. Many of them are tempted to acquire involved in illegal activities. The proposed method of sporadically reaping mature subdivisions and utilizing the wood as fuel for electricity coevals and the leaf as fresh fish and organic fertiliser would ( a ) provide employment chance during the slack periods and ( B ) increases the one-year income well for the husbandmans in the dry zones. The constitution of plantations and periodical harvest home provides around 30,000 man-days of work yearly for each MW of power works, averaging 76 man-days per hectare. Assuming a household is entrusted with 1 hour angle of plantation and provided with 6 cattles, the one-year income for this household is as follows: Income from wood ( SLR/ha/y ) : SLR 45,000 ( USD 441 ) Income from milk ( SLR/ha/y ) : SLR 168,750 ( USD 1,654 ) Income from droppings ( SLR/ha/y ) : SLR 7350 ( USD 72 ) Entire SLR.221,100 ( USD2,168 ) A household is expected to give merely 76 man-days of work per twelvemonth on these activities. Rest of the clip could be devoted to traditional rice cultivation. ( B ) Nutrition for children- It has been found that most of the rural kids are enduring of malnutrition. The production of milk in each family would ensue in deciding this crisis. The undertaking is expected to better the quality of the rural hapless through increased income, which will further ease the obliteration of child malnutrition. ( degree Celsius ) Electrification of villages- The Government of Sri Lanka has revealed that merely 80 % of the families in the state would be connected to the national electricity grid. The balance 20 % of the population amounting to over 1 million is to be provided with off-grid system. The World Bank funded Renewable Energy for Rural Economic Development ( RERED ) plan is expected to cover approximately 5 % of this 1 million families. The proposal to set up biomass based power coevals undertakings in rural countries would widen the national electricity grid to countries, which would non hold otherwise been reached. Besides the debut of this engineering would excite the constitution of biomass based off-grid systems to supply electricity to rural communities. ( vitamin D ) Cleaner fuel for rural household- The debut of 6 cattles per family would promote the use of biogas systems to these families. Biogas therefore produced could be used for cookery or for electricity coevals in stray single families. The usage of biogas for cooking would ensue in the wellness of the household vastly as it would extinguish fume from traditional wood ranges. 5.2.3 Environmental benefits There are no issues related to pollution as a consequence of this undertaking. Fuelwood plantations will be established in under-utilised lands. This in fact will be a solution for the land debasement job of the state. Fuelwood plantation will back up to keep ecological balance in the part. Most of the debauched lands are in close propinquity to the rice Paddy Fieldss. The paddy Fieldss constitute the low-lying lands the debauched shifting cultivated lands constitute the high-lying lands. Normally, shortly after the harvest home of rice Paddy, the husbandmans cultivate the high-land country by the â€Å" Slash & A ; Burn/ Shifting Cultivation † method. By presenting Gliricidia as an energy plantation harvest, these husbandmans could change over these debauched lands into a sustainable and perennial harvest land. There will be no demand for firing or switching activities. Though non advocated in this undertaking, â€Å" Alley Cropping † system with Giricidia and chash ha rvests like maize has been demonstrated in Sri Lanka. In this system, Gliricidia ( or Leucena ) trees are planted in rows with a spacing of 0.5 metres within the rows and 2 to 3 metres between rows. These lines of trees lie in the East – West way ( along the way of the Sun ) . At the terminal of the monsoon rains in January, the side subdivisions of Gliricidia trees are cut go forthing the chief root integral. In between the lines of Gliricidia trees, short-run hard currency harvest such as maize is planted. In three months the maize would maturate and would be ready for crop. Gliricidia trees are allowed to turn and the subdivisions harvest at the terminal of the following monsoon season in January following twelvemonth. This manner, the husbandmans could acquire a significant income from three beginnings: ( 1 ) Traditional paddy cultivation in the low-lying lands ; ( 2 ) Short-run hard currency harvests: ( 3 ) Perennial Gliricidia brush wood and leaf. Environmental benefits of the undertaking are discussed below: ( a ) Suspension of emanations of GHG and other pollutants – Sri Lanka has ratified the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. Therefore, we have a moral duty to cut down emanations of GHGs. The ‘Business As Usual ‘ option adopted by contrivers depends to a great extent on coal as the major fuel in run intoing our hereafter electricity demand. Figure 16 illustrates the fuel demands for electricity coevals harmonizing to BAU scenario.CoalOilFigure 16: Fuel demands for electricity coevals: BAU scenario Table 05 gives the CO2 and other pollutant emanations of power coevals under this scenario. This is illustrated in Figure 17. The estimated baseline emanation of particulates, SOX, NOX and CO2 are given in the tabular array 05. This undertaking will displace the tantamount sum of CO2 and SOX about in its entireness and to great extent of NOX and particulates. Figure 17: Tendencies of baseline emanation from electricity coevals As illustrated in Figure17, the emanations of GHG from the power sector will increase bit by bit while the particulate affair emanation will worsen if the baseline scenario continues. Harmonizing to the public-service corporation ( CEB ) , the largest beginning of particulates are IC engines used with furnace oil or residuary oil. With the debut of coal based power workss, the reciprocating workss would be phased out. Coal power workss will be provided with electrostatic precipitators and bag filters etc. to minimise particulate emanation. Hence, CEB expects the particulate emanation degrees to drop over the old ages. The proposed 2MW power works based on sustainable supply of fuelwood from SRC Gliricidia plantations would ensue in zero CO2 emanation, therefore dramatically bettering the emanation degrees. The undertaking besides expects to command other pollutants such as SOX, NOX and particulate affair. The proposed method of electricity coevals is an alternate to the dodo fuel bas ed electricity coevals soon practiced and planned for future enlargement. Fossil fuels such as oil and coal would non merely breathe C dioxide, they besides emit big measures of sulfur dioxide and oxides of N. Sulphur and nitrogen content of woody biomass are undistinguished compared to those present in fossil fuels. All ash produced in the procedure will be returned to the plantation country and will be applied as organic fertiliser. Thus the bottom ash disposal jobs encountered in coal based power coevals would non be encountered in the proposed method. The proposed system eliminates most of the environmental jobs encountered in dodo fuel based power coevals methods. The impact of the proposed 2 MW biomass power works on the national emanation degree would no uncertainty be really undistinguished. But the possible in Sri Lanka for sustainable biomass based electricity coevals is really big. There are over 1.6 million hour angle of debauched land available for sustainable energy plantations. This would be adequate to bring forth 4000 MW of electricity with an one-year end product of 28,000 GWh. Our hydropower potency is around 6000 GWh per twelvemonth. Hence biomass plus hydro we have a potency of 34,000 GWh per twelvemonth. Our present demand for electricity is 8000 GWh/ twelvemonth. Even at 8 % steady growing, we could bring forth all our electricity ( without any fossil fuels ) for many 20 more old ages to come. By that clip there would be many renewable engineerings which are commercially feasible. Furthermore, Gliricidia plantations from the 1.6 million hour angle of debauched land would bring forth 42 million metric tons of leaf. This together with the rice straw soon incinerated in the Paddy Fieldss could be used to bring forth biogas. This could be used as conveyance fuel ( like in Sweden in Switzerland ) . This would extinguish the emanations from the conveyance sector. ( B ) Change by reversaling land degradation- About a 3rd of the land countries of the state amounting to approximately 1.6 to 2.0 million hectares are in a debauched province. These extents of land were productive dry zone forests a few hundred old ages ago. The primary ground for debasement had been unsustainable pattern of cut and burn signifier of switching cultivation adopted by coevalss of subsistence agriculture in these countries. Most of these countries receive an one-year rainfall of about 1250 millimeter. Most of this rainfall is received during the monsoon months of October to December. Agricultural activity could be practiced merely during this monsoon period. Consecutive cut and burn system of agribusiness with unequal fallow period to recover birthrate has resulted in debasement of these lands. Locations of these lands are given in Figure 18 below. Figure 18: Locations of debauched fringy land As the pattern of cut and burn signifier of agribusiness is still go oning in these countries, the extent of these lands is bit by bit increasing. Furthermore, the grade of debasement is besides on the addition due to firing followed by dirt eroding. The procedure of desertification has already started in some of these countries. Unless remedial methods are taken, these lands will stop up as comeuppances. One possible manner of reconstructing the initial position of these lands is to present some tree screen with lasting closed canopy. The proposed method of seting N repairing Gliricidia trees at a spacing of 1 metre by 1 metre and periodical harvest home of selected mature subdivisions go forthing the chief root and the stamp subdivisions integral would be a satisfactory method of up-grading this land. As ash from the burning of wood would be returned to the dirt, dirt foods will be sustained. ( degree Celsius ) Renewable energy beginning and C sink – The proposed method of seting N repairing Gliricidia trees at a spacing of 1 metre by 1 metre and periodical harvest home of selected mature subdivisions go forthing the chief root and the stamp subdivisions in tact would ensue in prolonging the C balance in the system. In the land readying stage, merely the weedy biomass would be removed. All productive bing tree harvests would be retained till they reach their economic life. ( vitamin D ) Organic nitrogen-bearing fertiliser to replace chemical urea fertilizer- As mentioned in subdivision ( B ) , the proposed method besides produces big measures of organic nitrogen-bearing fertilisers, replacing chemical urea fertiliser manufactured from fossil fuels. Apart from extinguishing the tantamount sum of C dioxide emanation, the usage of organic nitrogen-bearing fertiliser increases the organic content of the dirt therefore heightening the environmental impact. 5.2.4 Technological benefits The new engineerings expected to be introduced by the undertaking include the followers: ( a ) Biomass production engineering – As mentioned earlier in Chapter 3 â€Å" Modern method of fuelwood production † , bio fuel for the proposed power works will be produced in Short Rotation Coppice plantation utilizing modern methods. This engineering, though introduced to the state late, it has non yet been practised in commercial graduated table operation. The debut of 2000 hectares of SRC plantations utilizing this modern method would transform the full dry zone country into a healthy, sustainable and profitable zone. The undermentioned characteristics of biomass fuel production are described in Annex A Land Preparation Planting Materials Constitution of Plantations Care of Plantations Harvesting, roll uping and transporting of wood ( B ) Biomass energy transition technology- Apart from a few sugar Millss, a freshly introduced presentation unit and a power undertaking under building, there are no commercial graduated table bio fuel based electricity bring forthing installations in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the Sugar industries use merely the waste baggase as fuel utilizing crude inactive grating burning systems. The freshly introduced presentation unit consist of a biomass down bill of exchange gasifier with H2O scrubber/ gas ice chest and a spark-ignition based IC engine-generator with an end product of 35 kilowatt. This is installed in a distant rural are to supply electricity to 100 families. The other works is a 1 MW power works with boiler-steam turbine system. The proposed power works will utilize Circulating Fluidised Bed burning system with high force per unit area and high temperature steam coevals. These factors will well better the steam use efficiency, therefore cut downing the operational cost, peculiarly, if the cost of fuel constitutes a important portion in the concluding cost of electricity. Furthermore, the improved burning system would cut down the emanation degree. Features of electricity coevals are discussed below. The alternator of the system is designed for 3200 kVA with a power factor of 0.8. This power end product would be 2.56 MW. But with parasitic burden, the expected net end product is 2 MW. Fuel treatment- Fuel wood from the plantations would get in dawdlers. These would be weighed and moisture degree determined by portable wet metres. These will be stacked in the storage country in the power station. Fuel wood from the storage pace would be removed on a ‘first-in-first-out ‘ footing. These would be chipped to allow size ( for fluidised burning ) and stored in a hopper. Flue gas from the boiler would be assorted with ambient air and would be used to dry the wood french friess to the coveted wet degree for burning. Combustion system and boiler- The steam generator shall be of natural circulation, balanced draft, and fluidised bed burning ( FBC ) type, designed for firing wood french friess. The capacity of boiler is about 35 TPH on maximal uninterrupted footing at approximately 60kg/cm2 ( g. ) operating force per unit area and about 490oC temperature. The economizer subdivision of the boiler shall be of nonaˆ‘steaming type. Super warmer subdivision shall be designed so as to keep rated steam temperature of about 490oC at mercantile establishment over the control scope of 60 % to 100 % MCR burden. A steam de-superheating station with proviso for spray H2O tapped off from feed H2O discharge shrieking shall be provided. Air pre-heaters of cannular type shall be provided for steam temperature control. The AFBC shall dwell of in-bed / above-bed ace warmer subdivisions, bed evaporator, H2O walls/refractory walls, economiser and air preaˆ‘heater. The boiler shall be equipped with a suited fuel fire system. The complete boiler shall be bottom-supported type and be provided with all back uping steel platform, galleries, staircases for easy attack and care of the units. Adequate conditions protection shall be provided for instruments and runing forces. Necessary liner and insularity along with repairing stuffs to restrict outside surface temperature to a safe degree shall be provided. Monorails and hoists required for managing motors, fans shall be provided. A trim boiler provender pump shall be provided. Turbine- The turbine shall be of Multistage, Nozzle governed, Horizontal spindle, two bearings, Impulse type with hydraulicly operated halt and exigency valve and built-in steam strainer, hydraulicly operated Throttle/ Regulating valves shall be used as the chief power coevals equipment. Turbine steam recess conditions will be maximal uninterrupted footing at approximately 60kg/cm2 ( g. ) operating force per unit area and about 490oC temperature. The exhaust force per unit area shall be about 0.1 saloon ( a ) . Condenser- The capacitor shall be of shell and tubing building, horizontal, divided H2O box with built-in hot good. Cooling tower- The chilling tower shall be of forced-draft type with concrete building and aggregation pool. Alternator- The alternator shall be an AC synchronal generator with 3200kVA, 3.3kV, 50Hz, 3-phase, 4-wire system coupled to the steam turbine through a velocity decrease gearbox complete with following ( a ) Brush less exciter ( B ) Twin bearings ( degree Celsius ) AVR and excitement panel ( vitamin D ) Antiaˆ‘condensation warmers ( vitamin E ) VARs control Auxiliaries- The undermentioned aides shall be provided: ( a ) Auxiliaries for generator protection and control panel ( B ) Generator ledgeman ( degree Celsius ) Battery with care tools ( vitamin D ) Battery courser and DC distribution panel. ( vitamin E ) Standby Generator for ‘Black Start ‘ . Fuel feed system- The fuel provender system shall dwell of a chipper, a drier using energy in boiler fluke gas, a mechanical/ pneumatic conveyance system directed into the burning chamber of the boiler. The fuel shall be stored in the storage country and fed manually in to the splintering machine. Ash remotion disposal- Ash shall be collected at the underside of the ash aggregation system. The disposal shall be done manually by opening the ash disposal door and collected in an ash cavity. Manual disposal is required thenceforth. The ash can be used as a fertiliser for the plantations. Features of fuelwood samples collected in the undertaking country have been analysed. Consequences obtained are as follows: Other impacts of the undertaking Positive impacts This undertaking will be an illustration for an attempt to advance sustainable biomass energy based electricity coevals with community engagement. Experience of this undertaking could be shared at national, regional and planetary degrees. Negative impacts One of the negative impacts of the undertaking would be the force per unit area on demand for land in the hereafter. If this undertaking is successful, many similar undertakings will be established throughout the state. This will negatively act upon other land usage options, such as agribusiness and small town enlargement etc.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Food Waste? Too valuable to waste! Essay

! According to statistics from the Environmental Protection Department, in Hong Kong, solid waste generated daily weighs around 17000 tones, of which around 30% is organic matter (2700 tones) which is roughly equal to 120 double-deck buses in size. Compared this to the US where, revealed by the Environmental Protection Agency, only 12% of waste stream was scrap of food in 2005. Extra care in disposal is required for these putrescible wastes, otherwise nuisance to the environment will be caused. Food waste not only causes a feculent choking smell, but also discharges a huge amount of concentrated greenhouse gases, methane and polluted water, all of which are leading to the global warming that we highly concerned about. All the food wastes are currently disposed to landfills, however all the existing landfills will be saturated within 5 years. Construction of new landfill is a problem because of a lack of available space that is far away from residential areas. Therefore, seeking out alternative ways for food waste treatment has become an imperative for the government. Before discussing cutting food waste at its source, there is another possible destiny for surplus food besides disposal – Food recycling. The food waste for food recycling can be categorized into two parts: edible (bread, vegetable and meat) and inedible (bones and eggshell). Food Waste Processor Basically, inedible food wastes are useful in that they can be recycled and reused. Through natural biodegradation by bacteria, all the organic waste will be converted into organic fertilizer and soil stabilizer. According to the journal of â€Å"Food waste composting – sustainable organic waste management† (Jonathan, 2003), in some advanced countries in Europe, central food waste treatments has been practiced for years. All the domestic food waste will be collected and transported to central composting facilities which are installed far away from the residential areas. However, this huge facility is not available to Hong Kong owing to the limited area. The Ecotech Food Waste Processor, a new technology for the same purpose is being tested in Hong Kong, including Hong Kong International Airport, housing estates and universities. Due to the tiny space of Hong Kong, it is well-designed for being used in small communities such as restaurants and housing estates which are the main sources of food waste. A large processing capacity 100kg per day is supported with a small sized machine. The automatic processor is easy to operate and is equipped with self-adjustment of temperature and moisture which are decisive parameters for the speed of reaction. Also, the specially formulated microbes and materials are used in the processor to increase the rate of biodegradation. To enhance the transportation efficiency, the volume of food waste will be reduced by about 90% in 24 hours. The composite fertilizer contains high nutrient value including nitrogen which is a major element for plant growth. This new technology is suitable for Hong Kong, as it has limited space. All the food waste can be recycled and become useful materials rather than being disposed in landfill. Besides reducing the load of landfill, the valuable organic materials, which are transformed from the â€Å"waste†, are nutrients to our health and the Earth. Since vegetables grown by organic fertilizer is much healthier to human than those grown by chemical fertilizer. Therefore, this processor should be widely used in Hong Kong in order to minimize the amount of food waste and raise public awareness of this exigent problem. Surplus Food Donation The Environmental Protection Department stated that â€Å"the amount of food wasted by Hong Kong’s restaurants, hotels, and food manufacturers has more than doubled in the past five years.† Effort should be focused on collecting leftover food donation as a huge pile of edible food waste is created from restaurants every day. Foodlink is a nonprofit organization working on this aspect. It takes surplus food from over 40 hotels and restaurants and delivers it to charity groups such as Home of Love in Sham Shui Po and Action Care that works with the less privileged communities in society. Regarding to an article â€Å"The food chain† (Grace, 2012), about one million people in Hong Kong are suffering from hunger and struggling to fill their stomachs. Freshly cooked food is something that they cannot support on a daily basis, especially for the one million people in Hong Kong who are living below the poverty line. Actually, those government-sponsored food banks only provide canned or prepackaged food which is unhealthy in the long term. On the contrary, the hot leftover food from the hotels and restaurants is nutrient rich. In fact, this creates a triple win situation for the landfills, charities and hotels. By examining the amount of excess food that transport to the charity, the hotel can determine the appropriate quantity of food for each day. Eventually, not only less food waste will be produced, but the cost of excess food production and food waste treatment can be reduced and eliminated. Also, less recyclable food will be wasted and disposed to landfills. Therefore sponsorship to those charities and public promotions is an obligation for the Hong Kong government. As the old saying goes â€Å"Prevention is better than cure†, cutting the food waste at its source is the best ways to solve this issue. However, despite there being less food waste being disposed to landfills, the food waste problem will continue to occur if the eating habits do not change. Food waste charge Similar to the solid garbage charges being promoted in the past few months, food waste charges could be implemented in restaurants to minimize this problem commercially. According to Friends of the Earth, in the catering industry, hotel buffets and restaurants that offer â€Å"all you can eat† are the major sources of uneaten food, which then goes into the landfills. Many customers whose â€Å"eyes are bigger than their stomachs† usually order far more dishes that they are able to consume, so the surplus food eventually has to be disposed of. Some hot pot restaurants that provide â€Å"all you can eat† strictly charge the leftover food per kilogram in order to minimize the  problem. However, only a few hotel buffets in Hong Kong are willing to charge for the uneaten food since it may lower its attractiveness. In foreign countries, London and America are good role models that are attempting to use this policy to solve the food waste issue. A Chinese restaurant Kylin Buffet in London will charge a $32 â€Å"wastage fee† for the excess food. A â€Å"guilty fee† is imposed to charge the uneaten food in a Japanese restaurant located in Manhattan. In order to enhance the popularity of food waste charges, promotion and communications with restaurants are necessary for the government. Through this policy, it arouses public awareness of food waste so that the eating habit may finally improve. Since the food waste fee acts as a reminder and warning to customers to make self-adjustments to their appetite. All in all, for thousands of years, famine has continued to happen somewhere throughout human history. In fact, the current food production and storage in the world is more than enough to support the whole populations if we are able to minimize food waste. The food waste processor, leftover food donation and fee charging are the substantive measures to minimize the food waste and reduce the load of landfills from two main aspects (usage and source of food waste). As a Chinese proverb says â€Å"every grain is from hard toil†, hardship is required in food growing, we should cherish food and respect the nature that nurtures us. (1261 words) References 1. Food Waste Management in HK. (2011). Environmental Protection Department. Retrieved from http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/waste/prob_solutions/owt_food.html 2. Municipal Solid Waste in The United States – 2009 Facts and Figures. (2010). Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/wastes/nonhaz/municipal/pubs/msw2009rpt.pdf 3. Jonathan, W. (2003, May). Food waste composting – sustainable organic waste management. New Horizons, 3, 12-13. Retrieved from http://www.hkbu.edu.hk/~cpro/online_pub/nh0203/nh0203_12-13.pdf 4. Monitoring of Solid Waste in Hong Kong – Waste Statistics for 2011. (2012). Environmental Protection Department. Retrieved from https://www.wastereduction.gov.hk/en/materials/info/msw2011.pdf 5. Grace, T. (2012, April 19). The Food Chain. Retrieved from http://hk.asia-city.com/city-living/article/food-chain 6. Order Less Waste Less. (2012). Friends of the Earth. Retrieved from http://www.foe.org.hk/welcome/geten.asp?id_path=1,%207,%2028,%20150,%204310,%204566

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Reflection on Queen Elizabeth’s Leadership

Reflection on Leadership `Queen Elizabeth is a leader that possesses many greatqualities. She has a vision of earningher people’s lovethroughrespect, understanding and being unprejudiced. As a leader, she accepts the opinions of her advisors but at the same time thinks rationally and decides on what is the right thing to do. ` `In chapter one,Queen Elizabeth and her ministerswere discussing on how Mary Stuart, a Catholic,isthe Queen of England in waiting. It was also said by Howard, one of her ministers that all Catholics are traitors as their loyalty is to the Pope of Rome. I believe that it was right for Queen Elizabeth to say that she will not punish her people for their belief but only for their wrong doings. This shows that she understands that by allowing her people tolive freely, it creates joy and happiness among the people. This in return will allow her to earn the love from her people. I can see thatas much as she wants to maintain a good relation with her loyal Protestant supporters and her ministers, she makes decisions for the good of her country and her people even though some people might not agree with her decisions. From this situation,it shows that the Queen adopts pragmatism, fairness and transparency. She makes a practical decision about an issue, she treats everyone equally, she is open and that her rules, regulations decisions are made clear. `Chapter seventeen is when the story really makes her stand out as an organized,brave, honest yet motivating leader. Quoted, Queen Elizabeth said â€Å"My lords, I can offer you no words of comfort. If this Armada succeeds there will be no more freedom in our land, and England will be no more. We cannot be defeated. † This few sentences show thatshe believes that her people should be self motivated to perform their duties. However she encourages her people not by telling them words of comfort but telling the m the consequences. She uses reverse psychology to turn fear into strength,braveryand commitment to the country. ` `Queen Elizabeth is well-organized leader as she is able to leadthe country andalso delegate the tasksequally according to her people’s capabilities. This can be seen when Queen Elizabeth issued commands as Hatton,Walsingham, the Queen’s entourage and the Queen herself entered the great vaulted nave of St Paul’s to make their way towards the altar. In my opinion, she is also a risk taker when she sent out two ships to engagethe enemy. This is a quality of a good leader as someone who dares to take risks shows that they are not afraid to fail and try again. ` `As a leader, she does not mind dying in the midst of her people. This shows that although she is the Queen, she does not discriminate her people who are of lower rank. This is an important qualityin a leader as it will either make or break a trust. Lastly, I think Queen Elizabeth is a good leader because she recognizes contributions. She recognizes Raleigh’s contribution to the country and rewarded him with his wife, son and freedom. `

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Great expectations coursework Essay

My essay is going to be about the 1876 edition novel ‘Great Expectations. ‘ The author of this novel is Charles Dickens. When the novel opens we meet Pip as a rather young child. Pip is the narrator as well as the main character. This is known as the first person. Pip as an adult talks about Pip as a child. He talks about his life as a child and how it was a struggle without his parents being around to help him. This makes it interesting to read. Dickens creates sympathy for Pip by talking about his dead parents. â€Å"As I never saw my father or my mother, and never saw any image of either of them. † This suggests that Pip never saw his parents because he was young when they died. Pip also tries to create an image of what they looked like. Another way Dickens creates sympathy is by talking about Pip’s dead brothers. â€Å"They all had been born on their backs with there hands in their trouser pockets. † This makes us think of them in a childish way like the young Pip. In the 19th century people used to die commonly so if they read this novel they wouldn’t suffer any sympathy because the death rate was regular. If a person read this novel in the 20 century they would feel sympathy because the death rate is much less and we are not used to children dying anymore. Dickens knew what a poor existence was like as a child because he had been through it all. He came from a working class family. In his school the teacher paid particular consideration to Dickens because he was making incredible progress but he was forced to leave school at the age of 12 and go labour in a factory because his parents were in enormous debt. To write this book Dickens got his sympathy from his early days. What he saw in his time made him want to write about how life wasn’t fair. The opening chapters are good at getting us to feel all sorts of emotions. The way Dickens gets the readers awareness is he creates a tense, terrifying setting. The reader then knows something dreadful is going to take place so he reads on. Dickens describes how frightening the setting is. â€Å"The small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all and beginning to cry was Pip. † This suggests that he is extremely terrified of the graveyard that he is in. Dickens describes the graveyard as a hiding place for people. â€Å"And that the distant savage lair from which the wind was rushing was the sea. † This suggests that the grave yard can be used as a hiding place because of its darkness and emptiness. All of this makes the reader really scared so that we can feel the same as Pip. Dickens was especially renowned for the good way he created his characters. We meet one of his bloodcurdling characters in this novel. Dickens describes the character as a fearful man, all in course grey, with a great iron on his leg. A man who had been â€Å"soaked in water and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; who limped, and shivered. † This suggests that the man had been through an awful lot to get to where is. He also wanted to really escape from the prison that he was held in. We know that he had been to prison because of the great iron on his leg. We also know that he had been beaten by stones, drenched in water, smothered in mud, slashed by flints and unpleasantly cold. I can feel what he is feeling because of the words Dickens uses. Dickens uses dialogue to state where his characters come from and how their personality is. The convict uses dialect language. â€Å"Show us where you live, pint out the place. † This tells us that the convict doesn’t use correct English language instead of saying ‘point’ he says ‘pint’ missing out the ‘o’. this tells me that he is from a working class not a middle class like Estella or other ladies and gentlemen. Dickens is very intelligent the way he creates his characters names. This helps use to discover what the characters are like and what part they play. Mrs Joe Gargery takes on her husbands name to show other people that she’s the one who obeys her husband. The reader sees a different side. Mrs Joe Gargery is the one in charge and her husband obeys her. Dickens is using ironic humour here to make us laugh at the situation. I liked the first two chapters of the novel that I studied because it was very thrilling to examine about how existence was like in the historic days. I liked the way Dickens wrote this novel because he described the background in a lot of detail.

Friday, September 13, 2019

The Impact of the Internet on Fashion Journalism Essay

The Impact of the Internet on Fashion Journalism - Essay Example The paper "The Impact of the Internet on Fashion Journalism" discovers the influence of the internet on the fashion journalism. The writings that can be found through the internet have turned the fashion world into a more accessible and more clearly interpreted field of personal expression. The history of fashion journalism began in the middle of the 19th century when the income of the middle class became distinctly higher and disposable income allowed for more attention to fashion trend issues beyond the practicality of garments. Since that time, however, controversy has been a constant companion to the fashion industry. The growth of the internet has now created a new phase in the creation of fashion commentary. The identity of the fashion industry has shifted with the instantaneous creation of communications about the events in fashion that happen around the world. Adding a new dimension to this level of communication is that of the fashion bloggers who report from a non-financial ly founded principle who can comment without bias on the trends that come out of the fashion industry. McRobbie quotes Bourdieu in saying that it is implied that â€Å"if it can be shown that there is really nothing special about fashion, and that more or less anybody can do it, then it ceases to occupy that special, sacred place in the public’s estimation, and thus in a sense it ceases to exist, as it is this system of belief which creates the thing†. The existence of a thriving fashion industry is balanced upon.