Nuclear Power As A Green Energy Source Environmental Sciences Essay

Nuclear Power As A Green Energy Source Environmental Sciences Essay In todays society, nuclear energy is a high demanded source of energy. It provides electricity to households and businesses with electricity efficiently for it to be able to run. It is viewed by various political and non political groups as hazardous, threat to climate change such as global warming, and not a sustainable source of energy. Their view of producing electricity and other sources energy is to be produced from renewable sources such as wind turbines and solar power. Many researchers argue that the threat to environment from the production of nuclear energy is not the case and in fact less harmful to the globe and produces less greenhouse gases (Dawson 2003, 34), some like to see that nuclear energy has a zero carbon emission. Nuclear energy is viewed as a cost effective way of producing electricity compared to coal burning which was seen to be expensive and huge threat to the environment. 1.1 Purpose The purpose of this report is to consider whether or not nuclear power can indeed be seen as a green and sustainable green source of energy. 1.2 Scope This report considers what nuclear power is, the future energy demand in relation to global warming, the advantages of nuclear energy, disadvantages of nuclear energy such as the effects of the environment, whether it can be seen as a green solution in producing energy, and a sustainable source of energy. 1.3 Sources and Methods Information was collected from books, scholarly journal articles, green peace and greenies internet website. Nuclear Power Nuclear power is energy that is produced for the purpose of proving electricity for domestic, industrial, and other industry use (Hodgson 1999, 51). The cycle of producing energy involves mining the uranium ores, converting for fuel, enrichment, fabrication, the production of a power plant, operating, uranium processing, and waste disposal (Fthenakis and Kim 2006, 2552; Lillington 2009, 94). It is made up of a material called uranium which goes through a number of processes until is it stacked inside fuel rods. These fuel rods are then used to produce heat and steam which allows the nuclear reactor to produce energy (Fthenakis and Kim 2006, 2552). Nuclear power is seen as a hazardous process of producing electricity (Hultman 2008, 41; Greenpeace. 2010; The Greens 2010). Others view as a way of strategy to reduce greenhouse gases (Pasztor 1991, 98) and providing economic stability (Green 2008, 15). As mentioned before, environmental groups such as Greenpeace and political parties for example the Australian Greens party have fought against organisations in the matter of nuclear power and have accusing them of being the main problem for global warming. However society heavily relies on nuclear power and sees this as a demand or simply a necessity for them to use in their daily lives. Nuclear power is easy to produce, it can provide a large supply of electricity nuclear power and sees this as a demand or simply a necessity for them to use in their daily lives. Nuclear power is easy to produce, it can provide a large supply of electricity nuclear power and sees this as a demand or simply a necessity for them to use in their daily lives. Nuclear power is easy to produce; it can provide a large supply of electricity, and is very efficient if providing the demand for electricity (Sovacool 2008, 3). The use of renewable sources of energy from solar and wind would not be enough to provide energy to a house. In fact it cannot power two 60 watt light bulbs for a whole day. Future Energy Demand Nuclear power is considered to be a future energy demand in terms of carbon emissions which is related to global warming (Pasztor 1991, 105; Kessides 2009, 323). With the high demand for electricity to improve living standards, many countries are still constructing and operating nuclear plants to generate nuclear energy (Pasztor 1991, 105; Green 2008, 15; Hodgson 1999, 119). This is due to increase of population, a rise in incomes in countries which develop increases the energy demand. During 2008, the United States had approved another 30 reactors to be built (Green 2008, 15). Countries such as Germany, France, and Japan have made investments to improve their processing activities in which this will result in lower quantities of plutonium and uranium needed to generate nuclear power (Pasztor 1991, 103). As of 2005, there were twenty countries that depended on nuclear energy for the use of electricity. It is seen as a dependable source of energy that has no emission of carbon. This a lso includes the stage during the processing with fossil fuels (Lorenzini 2005, 33). In the context of global warming, research conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) show that nuclear power should be retained because it is seen as a production of energy that is carbon free (Dawson 2003, 34). Advantages Looking at the element Uranium, one pound of it contains the same energy of one millions of coal (Lorenzini 2005, 33). This means less mining activity for Uranium and requiring less energy. It is seen as been a low carbon emitter, according to Pasztor (1991, 98) it can be considered as an alternative source of energy in greenhouse gas reduction strategies. During the production of nuclear energy it is show that small amounts of air pollution along with acidic gases are created during the combustion stage of the fossil fuels (Pasztor 1991, 98). It which this can be a better alternative for producing electricity then coal. However according to Mortimer (1991, 76) nuclear power is found to offer less than its advocates imply. This is when its looked more into it. Again we can also take into account Jan Murray who represented the Uranium Institute who supports the fact the carbon dioxide is not produced by nuclear power (Mortimer 1991, 76). The sustainable development commission mentions that the production of nuclear energy can be seen as a low carbon emission (Kennedy 2007, 3710). Many organisations are currently investing in improved nuclear energy production which can be seen as a positive view, in which this will lead to a decrease in carbon emission (Kennedy 2007, 3710). Building more nuclear plants can see a reduction of gas consumption. At times when there is a shortage, large industries can take advantage of the reduction of gas for their benefit. This means a low impact on the environment, this leads to saving energy and requiring less mining, transport, and exploration (Kennedy 2007, 3711). When it comes to nuclear waste, the coal waste is seen to be more hazardous. It includes been hazardous to the environment and to our health. However nuclear power is less harmful and better for the environment (Lorenzini 2005, 34). Disadvantages For nuclear power to be produced, first a nuclear station needs to be constructed. Constructing requires concrete, aluminium, steel, diesel to operate machinery, and copper. In which they do require a large amount of it (Fthenakis and Kim 2007, 2553). The materials required for the construction is gathered from mainly mining activities. In which it is seen that mining does play a role in environmental pollution and emission of greenhouse gases (Kennedy 2007, 3711). As from 2006 cost analysis report, it is estimated to cost 2.8 billion pounds to construct a plant (Kennedy 2007, 3708). The use of Uranium to fuel the nuclear power plant are seen as highly radioactive, fuel is either disposed or reprocessed in storage casks or in pools. However the United States as having the majority of pants in the world ( ), it does not consider reprocessing fuels. Some claim to have less emission and not a contributor to global warming (Mortimer 1991, 76). However during the enrichment, operation, an d production stages of the nuclear cycle. It requires a lot of energy in order for the stages to function (Fthenakis and Kim 2007, 2553). The end of the life cycle is still accounted for greenhouse pollution. All power stations and industries that relate to it have an effect on the environment (Hodgson 1999, 117). These effects are seen as a huge impact on our health and landscape that is used for mining which can lead to destruction to the land (Hodgson 1991, 119). As mentioned before, we produce more energy to improve our living, but pollution is produced during the cycle of the nuclear power which brings our living of standard down (Hodgson 1991, 119). Generation of nuclear power produces waste which is dangerous and seen as a global problem. Usually wastes are buried underground and has a mass effect to the earth. Care is not usually taken (Hodgson 1991, 123) in which the effect of radiation pollution can occur. 6.1 Chernobyl and Three Mile Island Looking at the Chernobyl and the Three Mile Island incident (Greenpeace International 2010) these incidents lead a huge contamination to the water supply and cause of deaths in Ukraine due to radioactive pollution. The people of Ukraine have also suffered from birth defects and other cancerous illness due to the proper care not taken into place (Adamantiades and Kessides 2009, 5160). Green Energy The question is raised earlier one is whether nuclear power can be seen as green source of energy. The world has witnessed tragic incidents such as the Chernobyl and Hiroshima in which nuclear power had made a huge effect to the globe (Tilson 1996, 63; Damian 1992, 597). To some certain areas, it can be considered as a green source of energy. Adamantiades and Kessides (2009, 5151) mention that nuclear power has shown that it can avoid effects of fossil fuel pollutants. Eliminating coal and replacing with uranium would put less harm to the environment and lower the greenhouse gas emissions. The more nuclear power used to produce energy can help to reduce the use of such minerals such as lignite, hard coal, and oil. As these minerals are harmful for the environment it would mean less used in exchange for nuclear power. Lorenzini mentions that nuclear power is better for the environment and health compared to other minerals such as coal (Lorenzini 2005, 34). However political groups suc h as The Australian Greens Party argue that nuclear power is not a solution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions (The Australian Greens 2010). Also Greenpeace international claims that the use of nuclear power is a risk to humanity and the environment (Greenpeace International 2010) but Lorenzini (2005, 38) argues that the goals of nuclear power is ease the pressure on land use along with the environmental problems thats occur and eliminate emissions that contribute to climate change and human health issues. The debate on whether nuclear power is green is difficult to answer as the positives views are equal to the negative views. Sustainable Energy The question whether nuclear power can be seen as sustainable source of energy has been. As Lorenzini mentions (2005, 36) sustainability of nuclear power depends on an adequate approach to nuclear waste. This is often difficult due to the difficulties in looking for a suitable site for waste to be deposed. However the nuclear industry has faced this problem of waste disposal on whether it should disposed or reprocessed (Adamantiades and Kessides 2009, 5166). Nuclear waste is either placed in ceramic or glass containers and then taken to an appropriate area for disposal. Due to the Hazardous radiation, Uranium needs to be disposed straight after electricity is produced to in order to have a less effect on the environment (Greenpeace 2010). This is five years after the power plant has cooled down the waste in its pool in order to prevent it from melting down. Nuclear power can seen as not been sustainable, due to the fact that there is no way safe way of disposing it. Conclusion To conclude this report, we have mainly identified the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power in todays society. A lot of improvements have been made on nuclear power in terms of its performance and harm to the environment. We can see that nuclear energy is a step to been green and is replacing use of coal to provide electricity. However nuclear power is not a sustainable source of energy. As it is difficult to find storage places and the effect it has on the environment once its transferred for cooling. Many groups such as The Australian Greens Party and Greenpeace International are totally against this measure and see this as burden to the environment and to our health. But one question that is raised is that why that is these groups target nuclear power when other sources of generators such as coal are heavily used to provide electricity. Overall nuclear power is a source of energy that we heavily depend on (Sovacool 2008, 2). Renewable sources of energy from solar and wind need to be improved in order to provide the required amount of electricity that a household would require.

Maria Full Of Grace Essay

Maria is a spirited seventeen years old who lives in a small town in Colombia. She works for very low wages at a large industrial rose plantation. Maria comes from a family of four who desperately depend on her every paycheck just to get by in life. After so many years of working and struggling, she becomes dissatisfied with her life. Maria begins to seek more out of their daily routines. She makes drastic decisions out of desperation for a new life. Maria quits her job when her supervisor refuses to let her go to the bathroom. This was a point of finally letting go of what makes her miserable. Although, everyone around her is not as determined as she is for a better life, she continues to look for more. After an argument with her boss, she decided to quit her job in hopes for something better, more exciting. She decides to finally follow her heart and make a change. Maria later on goes to find out she is pregnant from her boyfriend. While her boyfriend purposes to her after hearing the news, she declines after realizing he doesn’t even love her. Maria is looking for something new, but marriage is not the answer. She notices how miserable her sister is with a baby and the idea doesn’t settle in with her. The situation only makes her look for something different. In the process of looking for a new job in Bogota, Maria comes into contact with a friend she met in a party the night before. Franklin sensed that she wanted to do something different, so he tells her about a job as a drug mule. From what they were talking about Franklin saw that she was tired of her everyday life. A drug mule is someone who carries drugs into another country. While knowing the risks, Maria unhesitatingly accepts after hearing the pay and opportunity of going somewhere other than Colombia. This shows that Maria knows what she wants; she is willing to accept anything out of her norm. She later meets with Javier, the one in charge of the operation. As he deliberately explains the risks, confidentiality, and pay of carrying drugs to America, she consciously accepts the offer. To Maria she sees this as a way out of her regular routine, and a chance to be somewhere new. She secretly speaks with Lucy, another girl who has carried drugs to America and survived all the dangers of the work for an insight of the job. During the process Maria has to swallow 62 nuggets of heroin sealed with latex and dental floss. In New York, Maria is stopped at the airport in suspicion that she is smuggling drugs. They intimidatingly interview her in an isolated room, questioning her and scolding her about why she is in New York from Colombia. During the whole interview with immigration, Maria remains calm, showing a sense of courage. After knowing the possibilities of getting caught, she persists with the x-ray they demand, to verify that she is in fact not smuggling drugs. Prior to the x-ray they take a urine test, watching her as she urinates into the cup to prove it is really her urine. When the officers receive the urine test, they find out that Maria is pregnant, and because of that they aren’t able to proceed with the x-ray. She saw this as a sign from god, as if someone was watching over her. Maria exits the airport where there are two men in a van waiting for her. In the process of retrieving the drugs from her body and from the two other girls, Lucy gets ill. When a nugget brakes in your stomach, you will eventually die, so to save the drugs the two men cut her stomach open to retrieve the drugs. Maria awakes to see the two men carry Lucy out of the hotel room. This was the first time Maria has panicked because she felt that Blanca and herself have to pay, so they run away. Maria shows leadership because she decides they need to go, and what they need to do. After running they realize the danger they were going to put their families into so they decided to contact the two men to return the drugs. Maria and her friend meet up with the men, with a lot of courage after running away from the drug dealers, and returning the drugs to receive payment. Their job is done and they are okay to go back home. While in the airport waiting for her flight to board she thinks about going back to her miserable ways. She thought about her baby, and the opportunities her baby will have in America. After thinking about it thoroughly, Maria makes the biggest decision of her life, and that is to stay in America. Maria shows how courageous and determined she is to forge a new life for herself no matter the cost. She comes close to encountering death, danger, betrayal, and violence in this process of finding herself and what she wants. Maria fights for her escape and frees herself, standing alone just as when she started this adventure. Maria breaks her norm and now will give her child the life she always wished for. She can finally close that chapter in her life, and start over new.

Nature of personality paper

Human personality is a complex construct that includes a number of influences, which are, however, often opposed in classical psychology: genetic versus environmental factors; free will vs. determinism and conscious versus unconscious behavior. The present paper is intended to analyze this spectrum through the prism of various psychological theories. Freudian, or psychoanalytic approach, alleges that human behavior depends upon the instincts, manifested in Homo sapiens in more ‘socialized’ form. Freud (Carver and Scheier, 1995) divides personality into three parts: the Id, or the subconscious, or the reflection of human instincts and most egoistic and childish desires, the Alter Ego, or human consciousness (the self), which provides mental determination of behavior, and Super Ego, or conscience, which acts as an internal censor and places restrictions on both the Id and the Alter Ego. The scholar suggests that human behavior is mostly determined by the Id, as it comprises the greatest part of personality, but the Alter Ego and the Super Ego develop throughout developmental course under the influence of social environment. Thus, psychoanalytic approach prioritizes environmental factors over genetic, unconscious behavior over conscious and determinism over free will (Cook, 1984). Neo-Freudians maintain most psychoanalytic concepts, but develop a unique framework of human Ego as not merely a mediator between the Id and the Super Ego, but   rather as a separate force, less dependent upon the other two constituents and therefore more autonomous in personality formation. For instance, Erik Erikson held that â€Å"the Ego’s main job was to establish and maintain a sense of identity. A person with a strong sense of identity is one who knows where he is in life, has accepted this position and has workable goals for change and growth. He has a sense of uniqueness while also having a sense of belonging and wholeness† (Cook, 1984, p. 258). Also Neo-Freudian or psychodynamic approach is viewed as a single doctrine, its proponents vary greatly in their views on the spectrum of human personality: for instance, earlier Neo-Freudians like Carl Jung stated the power of unconscious behavior over conscious and of determinism over free will, whereas the next generation of psychologists, who identified their views as ‘Neo-Freudian’ (like Erikson and Horney) alleged that human behavior is mostly conscious and not necessarily determined by physiological or instinctual drives. All Neo-Freudians, however, consent to the notion that environmental influences are stronger than genetic (Cook, 1984; Funder, 1996). Biological perspective focuses on the dominance of genetic and physiological factors and stresses the influence of certain mode of neural activity on human personality (temperament). This approach highlights genetic factors as opposed to environmental, biological and genetic determinism as opposed to free will and unconscious behavior (for instance, the work of muscles, peculiarities of digestive process as they relate to human diurnal activity in both physical and social contexts) as opposed to conscious. Trait theorists view human personality as a set of traits, which might be interdependent or independent, in addition, certain traits might predominate over others (central traits and cardinal trait, in Allport’s interpretation) (Cook, 1984). Trait theorists provide only a brief framework of personality development, as most of them argue that individuals tend to focus on current settings (functional autonomy of motives) and therefore each developmental course is unique. Thus, the scholars view free will and social environment as behavior-shapers and insist that human actions are rather conscious than unconscious (Funder, 1996). Humanistic approach, which derived from Roger’s view on personality, which focuses on â€Å"healthy development in terms of how the individual perceived their own being† (Funder, 1996, p. 370). In addition, â€Å"a healthy individual will tend to see congruence between their sense of who they are (self) and who they feel they should be (ideal self)† (ibid). Human development is therefore a path to the ideal self, and the person by themselves decides on the mode of their progress, so this approach rejects determinism and genetic influences. Due to the fact that the personality is formed as a result of self-perception and self-analysis, this approach priorities conscious behavior (Cook, 1994). Behaviorists study human personality and development as a progress of behavior and social competence, as they (as phenomenologists) generally suggest that the matrix of human actions is the only true reality (rather than mood or personality traits). The central points of behaviorism are the notions of classical conditioning (stimulus-behavioral reaction), operant conditioning (action-reinforcement-response) and social learning (behavior depends on human expectancies concerning the possible reward). Thus, most behaviorists believe in determinism, the dominance of environmental factors over social (Carver and Scheier, 1995) . Certain behaviors (e.g. reflex-based), are, in their opinion, unconscious, whereas other behavioral manifestations are the result of human expectations and perceived roles (Founder, 1996). Cognitive paradigm ‘is focused on the individual’s thoughts as the determinate of his or her emotions and behaviors and therefore personality† (Founder, 1996, p. 307). Cognitive theorists view human development as gradual evolution of human ability to process and analyze the informed received through perception after the accumulation of experience. For instance, Kelly’s Fundamental Postulate can be formulated in the following way: †a person’s process are psychologically channelized by the way in which he anticipates events† (ibid, p. 308). Hence, this approach doesn’t accept determinism, views human behavior as conscious in practically all aspects and manifestations. Neither genetic nor environmental influences are positioned as prominent personality-shapers, as human perception and thinking (internal psychological factors) are more important. Nevertheless, environment is more likely to have power over personality formation, they believe. As for me, I don’t think that the spectrum of these dichotomies should be necessarily studied as three pairs of opposing factors. Due to the fact that scientific progress has allowed partially de-scripting the DNA, it has appeared that genetic factors determine human neural activity and might shape such traits as emotiveness or assertiveness. Furthermore, conscious behavior should not be contrasted to unconscious, as the line that divides both behaviors is not actually clear; human acts might be influenced by the combination of conscious decisions as well as unconscious and barely controllable drives. In addition, certain degree of determinism is always present in human behavior and personal development (as we all are mortal creatures, so we plan our future keeping in mind this fact), whereas free will allows concentrating on current issues. Thus, all these factors should be viewed as a complex, or holistically. Reference list Carver, C. and Scheier, S. (1995). Perspectives on Personality, 3rd edition. Massachussets, Allyn and Bacon. Cook, M. (1984). Levels of personality. London, Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Funder, D. (1996). The Personality Puzzle. New York, W.W. Norton.         

Aqueous Solution Chemical Reaction Problem

This worked chemistry example problem demonstrates how to determine the amount of reactants needed to complete a reaction in an aqueous solution. Problem For the reaction:Zn(s) 2H(aq) → Zn2(aq) H2(g)a. Determine the number of moles H that are required to form 1.22 mol H2.b. Determine the mass in grams of Zn that is required to form 0.621 mol of H2 Solution Part A: You may wish to review the types of reactions that occur in water and the rules that apply to balancing aqueous solution equations. Once you have set them up, balanced equations for reactions in aqueous solutions work in exactly the same way as other balanced equations. The coefficients signify the relative number of moles of substances participating in the reaction.From the balanced equation, you can see that 2 mol H is used for every 1 mol H2.If we use this as a conversion factor, then for 1.22 mol H2:moles H 1.22 mol H2 x 2 mol H / 1 mol H2moles H 2.44 mol HPart B: Similarly, 1 mol Zn is required for 1 mol H2.To work this problem, you need to know how many grams are in 1 mol of Zn. Look up the atomic mass for the zinc from the Periodic Table. The atomic mass of zinc is 65.38, so there are 65.38 g in 1 mol Zn.Plugging in these values gives us:mass Zn 0.621 mol H2 x 1 mol Zn / 1 mol H2 x 65.38 g Zn / 1 mol Znmass Zn 40.6 g Zn Answer a. 2.44 mol of H is required to form 1.22 mol H2.b. 40.6 g Zn is required to form 0.621 mol of H2