Genetic Engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Genetic Engineering - Essay Example Also known as gene modification, genetic engineering refers to the manipulation of genes. This technology involves removing a gene from one organism and inserting it into another organism. The removed genes are often put into yeast cells or bacteria to enable scientists study the protein or gene it produces more easily. The technology can be used to find cures to deadly diseases and enable people to live happy lives without being worried about having AIDS or any other deadly diseases. However, genetic engineering can lead to ethical issues such as unfairness, â€Å"Playing God†, or programming a human being. The most significant beneficial impact of genetic engineering is gene therapy. Gene therapy refers to the medical treatment of a disease by fixing or replacing imperfect genes or introducing curative genes to fight the disease. Despite the debate about genetic engineering, the laws in most countries seem to uphold genetic engineering research and development by permitting genetically engineered organisms to be patented. These patents give scientists domination over their genetically engineered species. Regardless, we must not linger and see the impacts genetic engineering will have on the earth. We must form informed opinions, advocate government regulation and anticipate that a whatever path this technology takes us, is an affirmative step towards enhanced environmental sustainability, reduced animal torment, and overall considerate regard for the earth and its valuable life.

Article summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 8

Article summary - Essay Example Many fast-food workers complain that they are working too hard and can hardly make both ends meet. â€Å"We deserve a good life, too† claims Jasmine Almodovar, the protest participant. The organizers expect almost 100 cities to take part into the protest. They are also to engage sit-ins in more than a dozen of cities. One more step is to have home-care workers join. It would definitely let workers and union leaders attract even more attention of great masses of population. At the same time, fast-food chains and many franchise operators refuse to meet the claims of the protesters, since so heavy expenses would certainly make their business unprofitable. However, they acknowledge the human right for non-violent protests. Supposedly, it could be possible to increase salaries on a gradual basis. Though, business model of many fast-food corporations might be based on  minimum-survival profit. It means that the demands of their employees are unlikely to be satisfied. Nevertheless, the campaign may be considered fruitful. The protest persuaded many people that $15 is quite an adequate wage for many workers. Certain cities, such as San Francisco, are to adopt such a wage floor in the nearest future. Also Ms. Henry, the president of the Service Employees International Union, said that this movement made people believe that the impossible may come true one

Concept of war and conseqences it leaves behind Essay

Concept of war and conseqences it leaves behind - Essay Example The concept of war was thus initially related, in international law, to the delimitation of the penal jurisdiction of States to prosecute and punish, rather than to the definition of the incriminated acts and the attendant penalties. This latter task was left to municipal law, and more particularly to military codes. Except for a few occasional points of contact, a full-fledged partnership between military and economic science was not established until the First World War. In outstanding works on military strategy like that of Clausewitz, the economic complements to warfare are not even mentioned. To make it applicable to our time, however, his famous statement that war is but a continuation of politics through other methods might very well be rephrased. Today it seems equally reasonable to say that modern warfare is largely a continuation of economic policies through other methods. For thousands of years there was only an indirect connection between the economic system and the method of warfare. The ends of war were frequently economic, as when men fought to win tribute or slaves, and certain consequences of war, such as starvation and devastation, had economic significance as well.

Rising Oil Prices Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Rising Oil Prices - Research Proposal Example Fuel prices have risen and affected every nation in the world since the early years of this decade. Nandia Mongia (2008) reports that crude oil prices have increased in the world market from 22 U.S. Dollars up to almost $90 U.S. Dollars per barrel. This affected the prices of petroleum products like diesel, kerosene, propane, and gasoline and hit lower-income households. Figure 1 shows the rising trend of oil products from 2000 up to 2006. Mongia (2008) mentions five (5) reasons for the rising of oil prices: (1) increasing demands for oil in the world market, (2) reduction of buffers, (3) uncertain oil supply, (4) assumption in the global oil market, and (5) lack of investments on exploration and refining. Robert Hirsch et al. (2005) mentions the notion of oil peaking. They note as perceived by geologists, oil is a limited source found under the earth's crust and its production will soon reach its peak or maximum and from there production will decline. They also emphasize that oil peaking is not related with running out of oil but it only describes the maximum production rate of an oil reservoir when half of its oil is recovered. (Hirsh et al. 2005) Oil peaking can be attributed to rising oil prices since the decreasing supply of oil may not meet the required demand so prices will go up in order to decrease the demand. Figure 2 explains the shift of the supply curve (S1 - S2) and the rise of equilibrium price ($1 - $2 ) because of the decrease in oil production. Figure 2 C. Implications of the Rise in Oil Prices Mongia (2008) finds that the macroeconomic effects of the increase in prices of oil are not yet seen. As shown in Figure 3, the inflation brought by the increase in the average price of crude in 2000's was matched by the growth of the world's real GDP although signs of slowdown were seen. For the developing countries in Asia, the effects of inflation hampered GDP growth which has not changed since 2004. (Mongia 2008) Oliver Blanchard and Jordi Gali (2008) prove four (4) reasons for the mild impacts of the recent oil price increase: (1) lack of adverse shocks which happened in the 1970's, (2) lesser share of oil in production, (3) highly flexible labor markets, and (4) enhancements in the monetary policy. Figure 3 (Real GDP Growth, Crude Price 1990 - 2006) On the other hand, the microeconomic effects of the rise in oil prices were experienced by the poor. As stated by Mongia (2008), many developing countries are oil dependent and spend more resources on importing oil. Poor households use petroleum products like kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas, diesel, gasoline, and chemical fertilizers in their daily living. The rise of in the prices of oil will force them to use other sources like biomass or fuel wood and crop remains. These effects will harm some Millennium

The various theories of Language Acquisition Essay Example for Free

The various theories of Language Acquisition Essay The human race has been trying to explore the concept of language acquisition in children for centuries, and due to the nature of the subject matter, this of course is very difficult. The main debate between language theorists, however, began in the 20th century with the nature versus nurture debate. The generally accepted theory of language acquisition, supported by B. F. Skinner, was that children were completely lacking in the ability to converse when born, and that language was just another learned skill, such as walking and crawling. Supporting the argument that language acquisition was all due to the nurturing of the child, rather than an innate capacity to learn, Skinner believed in the theory of imitation and reinforcement. This concept suggests that children learn through positive and negative feedback (praise as opposed to corrections) from their parents or carers. To a certain extent, this theory could account for a large proportion of a childs development. Behaviourists who have observed parents with their children or young children in nurseries have noticed that when an dult suggests a new word to a child, the child is very likely to use it. However, there are of course many obvious limitations of this theory. When parents try to correct children too much, research has shown that children actually progess slower because they are not being allowed to express themselves as freely. Often, when a parent attempts to make a child repeat a certain sentence, the child is unable to respond correctly, because the syntactical structure is completely unfamiliar. Additionally, a parent or carer is more likely to dispute the content of a childs statement as opposed to the grammar. For example, if in the example above, the childs friends actually lived in Scotland, not Ireland, the parent would be more likely to correct this than the grammatical mistakes highlighted above. Furthermore, possibly one of the most important pieces of evidence to disprove this theory is that of virtuous errors a child makes when he or she is first learning to apply grammatical rules. For example, a child might say I thinked or I runned, because the usual ending for an English verb in the simple past tense is -ed. They certainly would not have heard this kind of error from a parent or carer, disputing the idea that language is merely learned through repetition and not through any form of innate ability whatsoever. When Noam Chomsky first responded to the generally accepted behaviourism theory with his own ideas of innate language abilities, taking the side of nature as opposed to nurture. Chomsky believed that children could not simply copy what they heard and create their own lexis, as the quality of adults language was too poor. Also citing virtuous errors such as overgeneralisations, he pointed out that children often create their own words when they do not know the correct term for what they are trying to describe, a concept called linguistic creativity. The key belief of nativism in Chomskys time was that children have a language acquisition device when they are born, which allows them to learn grammar rules and the like. Chomsky himself added to this concept bu suggesting that all human languages share a universal grammar, which is what children are capable of understanding and applying to their own mother tongue. A limitation of the nativist theory is that the ability to converse is not completely innate: children will need some form of stimulus from those around them, or their linguistic ability will be severely impaired. In particular, many theorists believe that for children, there is a cut-off point in their lives (often at about 7 years of age) when, if the child has not received sufficient stimulus, their capacity for language will be permaneantly weakened. Although not completely opposing this theory, these arguments do show that not all language ability is innate. A theory that has its roots in behaviourism is that of social interaction. The core idea of this theory is that childrens language acquisition is centred around close interaction with parents and carers, and that this interaction not only enables them to acquire language itself, but also allows them to learn pragmatics and the rules for conversing, such as taking turns to speak. The followers of this theory also believe that interaction creates a language acquisition support system, enabling children to place their language learning skills in context. The easily identifiable features of child-directed speech (such as exaggerated intonation, simplified grammar and lexis, and gestures) used by parents and carers supports this notion. Interactionists also suggest that repetitive scenarios, such as the same book, nursery rhyme or game, enables children to develop conversational skills such as turn-taking. While there is evidence to support this theory, the argument against it is that in many cultures around the world, there is no evidence of child-directed speech, and that the children are not adversely affected by this. The final key school of thought is the cognitive approach, who do not place as much emphasis on the acquisition of language itself, preferring to see it as a single part of a childs development in general: nativists, on the other hand, see language acquisition as a completely separate element. Psychologist Jean Piaget suggested that language can only come with understanding, and that children can only talk about objects and ideas that they fully understand, showing the link between speech and comprehension. A key stage of cognitive development supports this theory; that of object permeneance. When a child grasps the concept that even when an object is no longer in their sight, it still exists, there is a definite leap in their understanding and development, which includes language. At this time, children also learn to use pronouns correctly, and are more focused on learning common nouns for the objects around them. The other key leader of this theory, Lev Vygotsky, proposed that language had two roles: communication and for thought processes. After a short amount of time, he believed, language became closely linked with thought, leading to the natural link between language and understanding. However, there are, of course, limitations of this theory. Many children have displayed language skills completely at odds with their apparent cognitive skills, either more or less advanced. Of course, each theory of language acquisition has its own evidence to support it. A key mistake which many theorists made in the past was to assume that one theory could be found which covered all aspects of child development. Modern theorists now see the strengths and limitations of all schools of thought, and tend to use aspects from each theory to explain stages of language acquisition. It is generally accepted that we probably will never know the exact way in which children acquire language, due to the complex nature of the process.

Green supply chain management and logistics

Green supply chain management and logistics It has been rising in alertness of the surrounds in the last little decades. Other persons are attentive of the worlds environmental attempt such as overall temperate, poisonous import meeting, and falling in non-replenish property. The management has out movement to carry this problem to people. A number of organization react to this by relate green values to their rumba company, such as using green friendly raw material, reducing the usage of gasoline power, and using the recycle allow for covering. The green principle was complete to much section within society, including supply chain. Green supply chain management (GSCM) was rising in the last little period. This idea covers every stage in industrialized from the first to the last step of life cycle, i.e. starting product plan to recycle. Not just manufacturing, but GSCM can also be used to other business sector such as management, culture and services. The reason of this file was to describe the crash of green to the supply chain management. It started with the meaning of GSCM to the company in different levels or what factor that power the company to agree the GSCM. This factor can be regard as by different drive such as management, whole market, industry, competitor, and inside the company. Since GSCM can be convenient to a variety of areas within the company, this paper also talks about the performance of GSCM to several areas. In addition, some examples of GSCM submission were recognized to support the commencement. Introduction At the current time, many companies have in progress to accept main attempt just before launch Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) initiatives (Srivastava, 2008; Zhu et al., 2007). The concept of GSCM include green initiative in inbound logistics which counting green purchasing, eco-design, production, outbound logistics which counting reverse logistics. These initiatives engage supplies suppliers, service supplier, vendor, distributors and end users that successful mutually to decrease or get rid of poor green impact of their concert (Vachon and Klassen, 2006). The logistics industry manages the flows of goods, services and in order across consumers and supplier allowing the incorporation of supply chains in which victory in incorporate worldwide supply chains starts with the capacity of firm to move goods across boundaries swiftly, regularly and sensibly. An aggressive and capable logistics sector is central for all economy and is a vital element of do business. So, logistics management plays an important role in GSCM. This is support by Skjoett-Larsen in which he claim that with the fast development of the GSCM, the sense of green organization for the logistics industry has greater than before very much. then, the review done by Capgemini Press discharge show that the greening of the supply chain will have an increasing speak to on in logistics presentation such as network plan, transfer modes used, warehousing, collection of paraphernalia, business process, behaviours and sense of balance. so far, few company swiftness green ability as a make a choice part when choose 3rd celebrations Logistics (3PL) partner in which 46% of respondents thought that the result of supply chain operation on the surroundings was a issue alert when select 3PL (Capgemini Press Release). In order to take produce and services to consumers more environmentally, so, logistics service donor need to talk to extra care on green issue (Murphy and Poist, 2003; Sarkis et al., 2004). For example, United Parcel Service (UPS), a universal logistics service supplier uses route development software and an internet related organization in their logistics service procedure to reduce the release of greenhouse gas as well as to keep oil expenditure (Lin and Ho, 2008). incorporate green innovation into logistics armed is good-looking a significant issue for the logistic urban. Examples of Green Logistics Green transportation: The green transport refers to build up a type of oil with the smallest total pollution as the power to try to put into rehearsal the multi-transportation and part mode. Accurately, repair up the transport can in this way think the litter, inferior the price and lift the part level. Green storage: The green storage space refers to endorsement the urban development in the extension of goods-storing to keep the manpower fee, functioning the environmentally friendly goods to sterilize the storage space goods, receipt the process of centralized-stock to reduce the radicalization to the vicinity and reduce the poor result of the warehousing on the rest. Green packing: The green pack up refers to a type of product pack up that will not cause the green litter. The pack equipment should save the property and decrease the packing dismiss also, it is believed to be used and renew after use as well as live in little ground while bury in tell to be rotten only. Reverse logistics: The reverse logistics is dissimilar to the recognized supply chain, it assign to practically removal or recuperating the price by growth, managing and dominant the raw material, centre stock, final goods and relative in order starting customer put to start directly. Green innovation: The green development refers to recital the improvement such as information and statement knowledge, natural knowledge, monitor technology and a combination of correct technologies in the succession of logistics management. The request of the greater innovation enables the project to get better green management, strongly. However, about to Lin et al. (2009), green innovation is the build up more linked technology with study innovative knowledge by training and educating the employees to suit knowledge employees. These learn but, will only talk to the subject of green innovation in logistics as a centre of this study. It is plan that a green improvement in logistics is a excellent area of study and apply that have the promising to provide imperative income to the firm and the culture. Factors influencing to Introduce Green Supply Management Rapid changes in the business situation, including increased internationalisation and worldwide competition, but also social and environmental trends, such as climate change, population growth and aging, wealth accumulation and distribution, nutrition, health and education, affect companies supply chains in various ways, resulting in new and evolving desires on supply chain design. famous features of chief green supply chains comprise an accent on life cycle appraisal, asset competence, and waste reduction and service innovation and recycling. execute successfully, GrSCM stimulates product and service innovation, improve asset deployment, and deepens customer relationships and service levels through a shared focus on reducing misuse and price. Some examples to show the impact on supply chains Wal-Mart, which in 2005 launch a sweeping business sustainability strategy, recently set the goal of a 5% decrease in packaging by 2013. The retail giant expect the cut in packaging will save 667,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from incoming the impression. Moreover, the company anticipate $3.4 billion in direct savings and roughly $11 billion in savings diagonally the supply chain; Nestlà © employs an ongoing, company-wide sustainability program that has generate significant environmental and financial profit. The company has apply the plan to its use of product packaging by initiate an incorporated advance that favours source decrease, re-use, recycling, and energy recovery. In exacting, the companys packaging material savings between 1991 and 2006 led to $510 million in savings, worldwide, according to Nestlà ©s corporate website; Heineken committed to reduce fuel and electricity use through its Aware of Energy program. The company said in its 2006 sustainability story that it designed to reduce fuel and electricity costs by 15% between 2002 and 2010. At the time of the Diamond report, Heineken had achieved savings of 6%-even after the achievement of new breweries. Benefit of GSCM Speaking of greening the supply chain, one might think only banning toxic chemical matter usages or reducing release or waste to the situation. However, it is much more than just a plain reducing usage and litter. Accordingly, the profits are not limited only less poisonous consuming or less waste. The GSCM principle can be apply to all departments in the organization. The effect of GSCM expand to all area, both physically and imperceptibly. Some studies mention benefits of adopt GSCM, such as (Stevels, 2002). He established the benefits of GSCM to dissimilar roles of supply chain including environment and society in terms of different categories: material, immaterial, and sensation. For material, GSCM helps lower environmental load for environment, minor cost prices for supplier, lower cost for producer, lower cost of rights for customer, and less consumption of income for society. In terms of irrelevant, GSCM helps overcoming bigotry and doubt for environment, less rejects for supplier, easier to manufacture for producer, expediency and fun for customer, and better agreement for society. For passion, GSCM helps motivation of stakeholder for environment, better figure for supplier and producer, feel good and quality of life for customer, and make industry on the right path for society. He also provides example of company that were successfully adopt GSCM. In (Duber-Smith, 2005), he identified ten reasons that the company should accept the green: aim marketing, sustainability of resources, lowered costs/increased efficiency, product demarcation and competitive benefit, reasonable and supply chain pressures, adapt to directive and reducing risk, brand character, return on asset, employee morale, and the moral necessary. Implementation of Green From product lifecycle idea, the cycle starts at the conniving of product. According to (Srivastara, 2007), literatures connected to green design underline both environmentally mindful design and life cycle assessment. In designing a product, the designing team can alter the raw materials or substances used in the manufacturing to be less poisonous, more environmental gracious. Some terminologies are related to design for green such as design for environment or EcoDesign. An paradigm of green product is cross car. Due to the rising demand and falling amount of fuel, automobile manufacturers needed to redesign the engine that consumes no or less gas. Hybrid car has been initial from day to day. One article about automobile design is (McAuley, 2003), he discuss the green design of automobile, which tend to change to higher lightweight materials and less materials in vehicle design. In designing a product, the manufacturing company needs a high level of support with their suppliers. An example for the research on supplier-manufacturer cooperation in EcoDesign is (Stevels, 2002). He also offered two examples of successful green supply programme between manufacturer and suppliers. In manufacturing process, the company can be relevant green by several methods to reduce the energy and resource expenditure. This is where recycle and recycling are referred. Several papers provided green practices such as (Duber-Smith, 2005). He suggested some practices including reducing energy use, recycle and reuse, using environmental and harmless materials, minimize harmful emission, and minimize or remove waste. In a Chinese sugar manufacturer, Guitang Group can reduce the wastes and improve their financial performance by using waste from the upstream as raw materials for downstream production (Zhu Cote, integrate Green Supply Chain into An developing Eco-Industril Development: A Case Study of the Guitang Group, 2004). Further than design and manufacturing, other department in an organization are concerned with the green. Purchasing could become an main agent for change regarding ecological initiatives in the supply chain (Preuss, 2001). In (Walton, 1998) article, he conducted a qualitative study to survey the main areas for change to increase purchasings impact on situation. As mentioned prior, not only manufacturer, other supply chain roles got impact from GSCM also. For a largest dealer in the U.S., Wal-Mart has an interesting story of adopting GSCM to their organization. In October 2005, Wal-Mart CEO committed the company to 3 goals: to be supplied 100% by renewable energy; to make zero waste; and to sell products that maintain Wal-Marts resources and the situation, and Wal-Mart was launching a business sustainability strategy to considerably reduce the companys impact on the global environment and become the most competitive and innovative company in the world (Plambeck, 2007). In this study, she provide 8 practices occupied with 14 network partner. Barriers of Applying GSCM In (Zhu Cote, Integrating Green Supply Chain into An Embryonic Eco-Industril Development: A Case Study of the Guitang Group, 2004), they studied the addition of green supply in sugar industry. They mention three barriers: maintaining close relations with their main suppliers, obtain a larger market share through opposition with other market share through opposition with other familial sugar refineries by improving product quality and reducing costs, and ensuring the sustainability of their operations including reducing the environmental impact. At the same times, there are some research studied barriers of applying GSCM from suppliers perception. An example of suppliers barrier is (Wycherley, 1999), he conducted a qualitative study on the suppliers barriers of GSCM performance for an environmental-friendly figure products like the Body Shop. Successful Stories Several studies were tentative study about a company succeed in apply GSCM, various in dissimilar industry such as electronics, automobile, furniture, and packaging. An example of Electronics Company is Advanced Micro plans. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD ) wanted to be renowned as a sustainable organization. They required to better mage the risk of a would-be supply chain and work jointly with suppliers to identify option materials and gear to reduce environmental impact. Moreover, they were drove by their customers, investor, and non-governmental organization groups superficially (Trowbridge, 2001). In packaging Industry, results from review showed that green supply chain practice were absolutely related to operational concert. Also, the green supply chain practices were moving the portion of resources amongst 3 types of environmental technologies: pollution anticipation, pollution manages, and management system (Vachon, 2003). Conclusion Studies stress the force on supply chain design to supply products that are environmentally friendly in their source, production, release, usage and disposal. Not just for advertising purposes or green washing. While companies sometimes limit innovation to remote flagship products, benefit their reputation by association, the real brave is to normal them across active product range. Greening the supply chain is an industry issue that will only gain substance over the years to come. Utilising network design, optimisation and planning systems, which include, for instance, carbon footprint consideration, but also source, procurement and end-of-life, will therefore be a vital collaborator in greening the supply chain and provide supply chain executive with a transparent view of the whole supply chain. Although sustainability programs may vary by industry, the essential needs for intelligibility, communication and association are alike.

Factors Affecting International Energy Policy

Factors Affecting International Energy Policy International Energy Policy Ze Cassule The factors affecting the content of international agreements for the oil and gas industry The Oil and Gas industry has certainly come a long way since the first discovery of oil in Texas. Whilst there are several opinions about what the future holds for the Gas and Oil Industry, there is one very unquestionable detail that will influence not only the Gas and Oil Industry, but the world as well: there have been significant changes worldwide and the demand for energy across the world will of course continue to grow. Population growth and the undisputed craving of currently underdeveloped countries to gain success economically speaking. It is hazy at the moment as to what rate the demand will grow but irrespective of this, the energy demand is already there and will continue. The DECC (Department of Energy Climate Change) governs the licensing system for the UK’s offshore and onshore development and management of the gas and oil reserves. Production licences When the DECC dispenses a production licence to a group of companies or a single company the new licensee is basically given sole rights to drill for, explore for and produce natural gas and oil within an area that has been specified. Production License owners must be confident and certain of these rights they have been granted prior to making any investments that are deemed necessary to essentially develop gas and oil fields worldwide. Within the production licences there is an â€Å"Exclusivity Clause† which prevents companies from building rival wells which would try and use and develop from the same resource. Legislation and regulation The DECC is governed by the UK Government and Parliament and the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in the Petroleum Act 1998 to allow for gas and oil exploration. The production licences which are issued include terms and conditions under which the DECC has the power to oversee and regulate companies activities for things such as : Oil and gas drilling Oil and gas field production and development Licence operatorship and transfers The confidentiality and storage of data The DECC is a governing body of sorts and also manages and oversees all offshore environmental regulation and the decommissioning of offshore oil and gas installations and pipelines. It seems like the DECC is the be-all and end-all of the oil and gas industry regulations but there are many energy related activities that the DECC doesn’t actually regulate. The subsequent storage of petroleum based spirits fall under the jurisdiction of the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) and Local Authorities. Framework of the energy policies In the UK, (Wales and England in particular), when a consent for development application is made for a significant national energy organisation project, there are policy processes which are applicable: The UK Planning Inspectorate firstly receives and then considers the said application under the Planning Act 2008. The Planning Inspectorate then makes their recommendations to UK ministers at the DECC (Department of Energy Climate Change) Finally, the DECC ministers take everything into consideration and make their final decision. Each and every significant national energy organisation project is determined and defined as: Power stations which includes wind farms (both onshore and offshore) with a capacity of generating in excess of 50 megawatts (onshore) and 100 megawatts (offshore) Liquefied natural gas and large gas reception facilities as well as the underground storage of gas as set out in the 2008 Planning Act Electricity power lines which are above the ground at 132 kilovolts or above Gas transporter pipelines and cross country oil and gas pipelines which meet the thresholds and conditions as set out in the 2008 Planning Act The European Commission 2030 policy framework for energy and climate has clear goals and purposes to make the economy and energy system within the European Union much more secure, sustainable and competitive. Whilst the European Union seems to be making a great deal of progress towards meeting its climate and energy targets for 2020, an integrated policy framework for the period up to 2030 has been deemed as an necessity to ensure that regulatory certainty for potential investors and much more co-ordinated approach amongst Member States. The framework presented by the European Commissionin January of this year sought to drive a perpetual development and progress to an economy which is essentially low-carbon. The framework aims to develop a secure and competitive energy system that enables all consumers to purchase affordable energy, increases the EUs security of their energy supplies, lessens our dependence on imported energy and also creates new growth, jobs and opportunities. In March of this year (2014) leaders of the European Union agreed to finalise the framework by October 2014. Their framework has a number of objectives and goals which will of course effect the future of the gas and oil industry. 40% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions The crux of the framework is the goal to reduce by 40% the domestic greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. This goal will guarantee that the European Union is on their economical right track in meeting its objective of reducing emissions by 80% (at least) by 2050. This goal is essentially setting the level of climate aspiration for the year 2030, the European Union are also looking to actively engage in the consultations on a relatively new climate agreement that ought to take effect from 2020. The overall 40% target looks set to be achieved, the sectors covered by the European Union Emissions Trading System (ETS) would have to significantly reduce their emissions compared to 2005 by at least 43%. Sectors outside the European Union Emissions Trading System would need to cut their emissions by 30% below the level they were at in 2005. 27% Increase in the share of renewable energy It looks like renewable energy will continue to play a significant role in the energy and climate evolution to secure a sustainable energy system. It has been reported that the Commission has proposed an objective of increasing the renewable energy share to 27% of the European Union’s consumption of energy by 2030. 30% Increase in energy efficiency A proposed 30% targeted increase in energy savings has been suggested by the European Commission after a review of the EED (Energy Efficiency Directive). The target which has been proposed seems to build on the already reached targets and achievements: in the construction industry, new builds use 50% of the energy they did in the 80’s and overall, industry is around 19% less energy intensive than it was nearly 15 years ago. EU emissions trading system reform In order to make the European Union Emissions Trading System more effective and robust in the promotion of a predominantly low-carbon investment at a much smaller cost to consumers. It is believed that the reserve would address both the surplus of allowances for emissions that have built up in recent years and also to greatly improve the resilience of the system in relation to key shocks by essentially adjust automatically the supply of the allowance. Affordable and secure energy The proposition from the Commission has a set of key indicators to assess the progress over time and deliver a basis for action as required. The difference in energy prices with trading partners, the supply variation and the reliance on natural energy sources are just some examples of what progressions will be looked at in more detail. A new governance framework The proposition of the 2030 framework suggests that a new governance framework which will be based upon national strategies for a competitive source of sustainable and secure energy. Energy costs and prices report The Commission which is setting out the framework is supplemented by an energy price and costs report which will assess the key handlers and compare European Union prices with those of the leading trading partners. The 2030 framework will be informed of these findings. In Conclusion Looking ahead; Apparently, and according to the latest energy outlook by ExxonMobil; Oil consumption across the globe is around 230 million Barrels of Oil Equivalent per Day (BOE-D). Gas and Oil supply approximately 60% of the total energy demand with 20% of the remaining demand coming from coal and the remaining 20% coming from hydro, wind, solar and nuclear energy. Predictions by ExxonMobil are that in just six years time, there will be an increase of some 24% for the worldwide demand of energy; with around 80% of this coming from previously underdeveloped. It has been reported that the outlook for gas and oil is that it they will both continue to supply the world energy demand by about 60% by 2020. This essentially means that an additional 30+ million Barrels of Oil Equivalent per Day of both gas and oil will need to be produced to meet these high demands. There are some unique challenges that will need to be met in order for oil and gas producers to achieve these goals and meet the demand for future gas and oil supplies. Access to Critical Resources At the moment, the most unyielding issue in the gas and oil industry appears to be the access to substantial and significant quantities of gas and oil resources. There seems to be a general consensus that there is more than enough oil to meet the demand in the future, however in excess of 80% of the world’s gas and oil resources lie at the mercy of NOC’s (National Oil Company’s) and governments. Politics will, as ever play a huge part in whether the future oil and gas supplies will be readily available when they are needed Cost of Services The increased costs for all services including procurement, drilling, facilities, engineering and construction will play a major part in the future of gas and oil supply and I think that this would be a major factor for all oil companies across the world. Drilling rigs or oil rigs would be a major factor and new rigs look set to become available for both deep water and also onshore areas within the very near future. This obviously doesn’t entirely solve the problem. Professionals who are experienced and have the technical know-how will need to be available to operate the new machinery; this is a major problem in the gas and oil industries as they are very hard to find. New and Innovative Technologies There is going to be an ongoing need for new technology that can help with all aspects of oil and gas production. These new technologies will need to be able to not only find and develop new sources but also be able to actually produce more gas and oil. One of the major influences in the past has been technology and is one of the major driving forces in the oil and gas industry. Being able to produce and deliver gas and oil in an effective, efficient and safe way whilst still taking into consideration the huge impacts on the environment. Bearing in mind the fierce challenges that the oil and gas industry will continue to face we can still predict that gas and oil companies may need to focus on the resilience of the energy supply chain globally. Safety will always be in the forefront in terms of concerns for gas and oil companies and it is safe to say that accountability and safety will forge relationships between service companies and owners. The gas and oil industries are facing a multilevel challenge in that they have to meet the growing demand for energy whilst reducing the greenhouse gas emissions and continually protect the environment. In order for the gas and oil companies to provide both long and short term solutions they will have to continue to carry on partnering with industry stakeholders and governments in investing and developing cleaner technologies and new energy sources. References/Bibliography