Alternative Fuels for Automobiles

Alternative fuel, also known as non-conventional fuels, is any material or substance that can be used as a fuel, other than fossil fuels. Alternative fuels, as defined by the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct), include ethanol, natural gas, propane, hydrogen, biodiesel, electricity, methanol, and p-series fuels. Using these alternative fuels in vehicles can generally reduce harmful pollutants and exhaust emissions.Alternative fuels are designed to be cheap, non-polluting, ‘infinite' sources of energy. No such fuels currently exist globally, or they would by now be rapidly replacing current fossil fuels. In the year 2000, there were about eight million vehicles around the world that ran on alternative fuels. A primary concern is that the fact that the use of conventional fuels directly contributes to the global warming crisis.Another concern is the problem of peak oil, which predicts a rising cost of oil derived fuels caused by severe shortages of oil during an era of growing ene rgy consumption. According to the ‘peak oil' phenomenon, the demand for oil will exceed supply and this gap will continue to grow, which could cause a growing energy crisis by the year 2010 or 2020. Most of the interest in alternative fuels has focused on transportation vehicles, since this application represents 70% of petroleum consumption.The President also proposes acceleration of the development of domestic, renewable alternatives to gasoline and diesel fuels through: $150 million for the Biofuels Initiative—a $59 million increase over FY 2006—to help develop bio-based transportation fuels such as â€Å"cellulosic ethanol† from agricultural waste products, such as wood chips, stalks, or switch grass; $31 million to speed the development of advanced battery technology to extend the range of hybrid vehicles and make possible â€Å"plug-in† hybrids and electric cars—a 27 percent increase over FY 2006; and $289 million for the President†™s Hydrogen Fuel Initiative.President Bush outlined the Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI) in pursuit of a national goal of replacing more than 75 percent of U. S. oil imports from the Middle East by 2025. Since 2001, nearly $10 billion has been invested by the Federal government to develop cleaner, cheaper and more reliable alternative energy sources. 1. ETHANOL Ethanol can run at a much higher compression ratio without octane-boosting additives. It burns more completely because ethanol molecules contain oxygen; carbon monoxide emissions can be 80-90% lower than for fossil-fuelled engines.(Hua Lu Karlsson. 2006). However, ethanol is degrading to some plastic or rubber parts of fuel delivery systems designed to use petrol, and has 37% less energy per litre than petrol . There has been a recent revival in interest in the use of ethanol-diesel fuel blends(E-diesel) in heavy-duty vehicles as a means to reduce petroleum dependency, increase renewable fuels use, and reduce vehicle emissi ons. The major concern with the use of E-diesel derives from its flammability characteristics.E-diesel blends containing 10% to 15% ethanol have the vapor pressure and flammability limits of ethanol. This means that ethanol concentrations in enclosed spaces such as fuel storage and vehicle fuel tanks are flammable over the temperature range of 13 to 42 °C, typical ambient temperatures. Thus, there are increased risks of fire and explosion compared to diesel fuel, or even gasoline. Other vehicle performance-related concerns have also been raised.These include decreased maximum power, increased incidence of fuel pump vapor lock, and reduced fuel pump and fuel injector life due to the decreased lubricity of ethanol. Ethanol can be blended directly in petrol, up to a mix of 20%, without engine modifications, though engines would need to be modified for higher blends. Ethanol blended diesel fuels (10 to 15% ethanol) require emulsifiers and solubilisers, depending on the ethanol quality . For use of pure ethanol in diesel engines an additive (ignition improver) is needed for cold start and idling. Fuel pump adaptations may also be necessary.Barriers to the use of ethanol in diesel fuel include limited miscibility at lower temperatures and need for minor variations in fuel delivery systems to account for the different physical properties of ethanol as compared to diesel. ( K. R. Gerdes and G. J. Suppe , 2001). An increase in fuel consumption approximately equivalent to the reduction in energy content of the fuel can be expected when using ethanol-diesel blends. With ethanol percentages of 10%or less, operators have reported no noticeable differences in performance compared to running on diesel fuel. ( Hansen et al.,2001). The use of E diesel is the affect of the ethanol on the lubricating properties of the fuel and the potential for fuel system wear. Additive packages that are used to formulate E diesel fuels can improve fuel lubricity and prevent abnormal fuel syst em wear. E 85 The heavily promoted alcohol fuel called E85 might cut America's oil use and help support U. S. agriculture, but it's not reducing motorists' fuel bills. E85 is a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% unleaded gasoline for use in flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs). E85 is classified as an alternative fuel by the U.S. Department of Energy. A flexible fuel vehicle (FFV) is a vehicle that can operate on any blend of ethanol up to 85%. If E85 is not available, the vehicle can operate on straight unleaded gasoline or any percentage of ethanol up to 85%. It has the highest oxygen content of any fuel available today, allowing it to burn more completely (cleaner) than conventional gasoline. E85 contains 80% less gum-forming compounds, like the olefins found in gasoline. Production and use of E85 results in a nearly 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. 2.METHANOL Methanol, also known as wood alcohol, can be used as an alternative fuel in flexible fuel vehicles that run on M85 (a blend of 85% methanol and 15% gasoline). However, it is not commonly used because automakers are no longer supplying methanol-powered vehicles. Methanol is even more corrosive and its energy per liter is 55% lower than that of petrol. Methanol can be used in internal combustion engines with minor modifications. It usually is made from natural gas, sometimes from coal, and could be made from any carbon source including CO2.The ability to produce methanol from non-petroleum feedstocks such as coal or biomass is of interest for reducing petroleum imports. Methanol can be used to make methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), an oxygenate which is blended with gasoline to enhance octane and create cleaner burning fuel. MTBE production and use has declined because it has been found to contaminate ground water. Methanol produces a high amount of formaldehyde in emissions. In the future, methanol could possibly be the fuel of choice for providing the hydrogen necessary to power fuel cell vehicles.3. P ROPANE (LPG) Propane or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is also fast becoming a popular alternative fuel. It is a by-product of natural gas processing and crude oil refining. Propanol and butanol are considerably less toxic and less volatile than methanol. In particular, butanol has a high flashpoint of 35  °C, which is a benefit for fire safety. The fermentation processes to produce propanol and butanol from cellulose are fairly tricky to execute, and the Weizmann organism (Clostridium acetobutylicum) currently used to perform these conversions.Propane vehicles can produce fewer ozone-forming emissions than vehicles powered by reformulated gasoline. There is 98% reduction in the emissions of toxics, including benzene, 1,3 butadiene, formaldehyde, and acetaldehyde, when the vehicles were running on propane rather than gasoline. The cost of a gasoline-gallon equivalent of propane is generally less than that of gasoline, so driving a propane vehicle can save money. In addition, propan e is the most accessible of all alternative fuels. 4. NATUAL GAS (CNG/LNG)Natural gas in the form of compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG) is fast becoming one of the most popular alternative fuels. Natural gas contains hydrocarbons such as ethane and propane; and other gases such as nitrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and water vapor and is produced either from gas wells or in conjunction with crude oil production. Natural gas pollutes much less than gasoline and very little has to be done to modify an internal combustion engine. It is also clean burning and produces significantly fewer harmful emissions than reformulated gasoline or diesel when used in natural gas vehicles.Smog-producing gases, such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, are reduced by more than 90% and 60%, respectively and carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is reduced by 30%-40%. Natural gas can either be stored onboard a vehicle as compressed natural gas (CNG) at 3,000 or 3 ,600 psi or as liquefied natural gas (LNG) at typically 20-150 psi. Natural gas can also be blended with hydrogen. 5. HYDROGEN Hydrogen (H2) will play an important role in developing sustainable transportation, because in the future it may be produced in virtually unlimited quantities using renewable resources.Hydrogen has been used effectively in a number of internal combustion engine vehicles as pure hydrogen mixed with natural gas. In addition, hydrogen is used in a growing number of demonstration fuel cell vehicles. Hydrogen and oxygen from air fed into a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell â€Å"stack† produce enough electricity to power an electric automobile, without producing harmful emissions. Fuel cells generate electricity by electrochemically combining hydrogen and oxygen. On a life-cycle basis, they produce zero or very low emissions, depending on the source of the hydrogen.Fuel cells are highly efficient energy-conversion devices that utilize hydrogen. But there are still many barriers to their use in vehicles, including the lack of a hydrogen distribution infrastructure, high capital costs for fuel cells and hydrogen-production technologies, and challenges related to hydrogen storage. The main difference is that batteries store electrical energy, while fuel cells generate electricity continuously as long as an external fuel source is supplied. That means their performance is not hindered by lengthy, inconvenient recharging times.If pure hydrogen is used as the fuel source, the only products are electricity, heat and water. The solid oxide fuel cell is able to directly utilize commonly available fuels such as natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, diesel and biogas. When operating on natural gas, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are reduced by up to 60 percent compared with conventional electricity generation, with practically no emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulphur oxides (SOx). Many scientists believe that pure hydrogen, the most common element on earth, is destined to be the vehicle fuel of the future.Hydrogen can be extracted from thousands of compounds, including natural gas, water, sugar and many petroleum products. The extraction of hydrogen requires energy, making hydrogen an energy carrier rather than an energy source. In transportation, and for many other applications, fuel cell technology is opening new doors of opportunity for hydrogen. Governments and industry around the world, are investing heavily in research and development into hydrogen fuel cells. 6. BIODIESEL Pure biodiesel is considered an alternative fuel under EPAct.Biodiesel (fatty acid alkyl esters) is a cleaner burning diesel replacement fuel that can be manufactured from vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled restaurant greases. Biodiesel is safe, biodegradable, and using in a conventional diesel engine substantially reduces emissions of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, sulfates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nitrate d polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and particulate matter. These reductions increase as the amount of biodiesel blended into diesel fuel increases.The use of biodiesel decreases the solid carbon fraction of particulate matter (since the oxygen in biodiesel enables more complete combustion to CO2) and reduces the sulfate fraction (biodiesel contains less than 15 ppm sulfur), while the soluble, or hydrocarbon, fraction stays the same or increases. Therefore, biodiesel works well with emission control technologies such as diesel oxidation catalysts (which reduce the soluble fraction of diesel particulate but not the solid carbon fraction). Blends of 20% biodiesel with 80% petroleum diesel can generally be used in unmodified diesel engines.Biodiesel can also be used in its pure form, but it may require certain engine modifications to avoid maintenance and performance problems and may not be suitable for wintertime use. Just like petroleum diesel, biodiesel operates in compression-ignit ion engines. Higher blends, even pure biodiesel (100% biodiesel ), may be able to be used in some engines (built since 1994) with little or no modification. 7. ELECTRICITY Electricity can be used as a transportation fuel to power battery electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles and in limited use in hybrid-electric vehicles.Fuel cell vehicles use electricity produced from an electrochemical reaction that takes place when hydrogen and oxygen are combined in the fuel cell â€Å"stack. † The production of electricity using fuel cells takes place without combustion or pollution and leaves only two byproducts, heat and water. Even though the battery electric vehicle itself produces zero pollutants, when emissions from the power generating stations from traditional sources (coal, oil-fired or nuclear) are factored in, battery powered electric cars still produce less than 10 percent of the emissions of standard internal combustion engine cars.Clean electricity production is possible in future years since the wind and solar power generating stations are becoming as a sources. Maintenance for battery electric vehicles is less, which have fewer moving parts to service and replace, although the batteries must be replaced every three to six years. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are hybrid cars with an added battery. As the term suggests, plug-in hybrids – which look and perform much like â€Å"regular† cars – can be plugged in to a 120-volt outlet (for instance each night at home, or during the workday at a parking garage) and charged.Plug-ins run on the stored energy for much of a typical day's driving – depending on the size of the battery up to 60 miles per charge, far beyond the commute of an average American – and when the charge is used up, automatically keep running on the fuel in the fuel tank. A person who drives every day a distance shorter than the car's electric range would never have to dip into the fuel tank. M ost of the energy used by plug-ins comes from electricity and not from gasoline.That electricity can be generated efficiently and cleanly from America's abundant domestic energy resources, thus greatly reducing our dependence on imported oil. Unlike in the 1970s, when much of our electricity was generated from oil, today only 2% of our electricity is generated from oil. Hydrogen storage returns around 47% of original energy, while advanced batteries return 75-85%. According to the report, using electricity to charge electric vehicles (EVs) provides twice the miles per kilowatt hour than employing electricity to make hydrogen fuel.Lithium ion batteries developed for portable electronics can store electricity at an energy density about six times greater than conventional lead acid batteries and in the future could go nearly 250 miles between charges. 8. P-SERIES FUEL P-Series fuel is a mixture of natural gas liquids (pentanes plus), ethanol, and methyl tetrahydrofuran(MTHF), a biomass -derived co-solvent. P-Series is predominantly derived from renewable resources and burns much cleaner than gasoline. It can be mixed with gasoline in any proportion and is used in multi-fuel vehicles.Pure Energy Corporation holds the exclusive worldwide license to produce and supply P-Series fuel. Reference 1. Retrieved November 30, 2006, from http://oee. nrcan. gc. ca/transportation/fuels/hydrogen-fuelcells/hydrogen. cfm? attr=16 2. Retrieved November 30, 2006, from http://www. nrel. gov/vehiclesandfuels/hev/plugins. html 3. Retrieved November 30, 2006, from http://www. ethanol. org/e85. html 4. Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles. Retrieved November 30, 2006 from http://www. iags. org/pih. htm 5. K. R. Gerdes and G. J. Suppes. 2001. Miscibility of Ethanol in Diesel Fuels . Ind. Eng. Chem.Res. , 40 (3), 949 -956, 2001 6. A. C. Hansen, P. W. L. Lyne, and Q. Zhang, â€Å"Ethanol-Diesel Blends: A Step Towards Bio-based Fuel for Diesel Engines,† ASAE Paper No. 01-6048, July2001. 7. Hua Lu Karlsson. 2006. Emissions from Conventional Gasoline Vehicles Driven with Ethanol Blend Fuels. http://www. senternovem. nl/mmfiles/ ethanol_blend_emissions_in_conventional_vehicles_tcm24-195177. pdf. 8. U. S. Department of Energy. 2006. http://www. eere. energy. gov/ afdc/afv/prop_vehicles. html. 9. Ethanol Fact Book. 2005. www. cleanfuelsdc. org/pubs/ documents/2003EthanolFactBook. pdf.

Business Law1

Business Law1 Essay The full name of the first company I chose is Entrust Technologies Inc. The state and year of incorporation is Texas in 1996. The company was a spin-off of Nortel Networks. The worldwide headquarters for the corporation is 4975 Preston Park Blvd Suite 400 Plano, Texas 75093. The Chief Executive Officer and President of the company is John Ryan. The number of shareholders is in the 26, 000 range and the stock is traded on the NASDAQ. The ticker symbol for the corporation is ENTU. The CUSIP number is _________. The price range of Entrust Technologies from 1998 1999 was $24 upon opening on January 1, 1998 and its close was $60 on December 31, 1999 (See chart 1.1, attached to back of paper full year price range). The corporation has many subsidiaries that it recognizes: Entrust Technologies Limited, Entrust. net, Entrust Technologies (United Kingdom, Switzerland, Japan), Entrust Technologies GmbH (Germany) and CygnaCom Solutions. Entrust Technologies Inc. provides products and services to ensure secure electronic communications and transactions over the Internet, Extranets and Intranets. (http://biz.yahoo.com/p/e/entu. html) The company is ahead of its game in the Internet business. A lawsuit was filed against the company in February of 1999 by Surety technologies, Inc. The lawsuit involved the supposed infringement of patent rights on the part of Entrust Technologies. Surety said they developed a digital timestamping method using hash and sign. They claim it was their method and only theirs. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled for Entrust claiming that the patent covering the special hash -and- sign method used by Surety was not a new thing. Any company could use the technology to better their communication systems by timestamping electronic documents. The lawsuit and verdict proved to the rest of the world that Entrust Technologies is ready to advance all companies with special devices to make their business run a little bit smoother. The verdict was handed down in November 1999 and gave ENTU a very strong third quarter. Their revenue increased from $13.0 million to $22.6 million in one year. The lawsuit benefited, not hampered the business practices of Entrust Technologies. There are literally hundreds of competitors in the computer services business. AutoBytel Com Inc., Agency Com LTD, Publicard Inc, Zapme Inc., Knot Inc. and Paychex Inc. are just some of the companies that compete in the business with Entrust Technologies (See 1.2, attached file regarding the competitors). VectorVest rates the long-range outlook for the stock poorly in most areas. They rate stocks well that are steady and predictable. All the stocks are rated on a 0.00 2. 00 scale, a relative safety greater than 1.00 is safe and below 1.00 is not a safe buy. ENTU was given a relative safety of 0.71, very poor. The relative value is a 0. 82, also poor. When a stock has a relative safety and value greater than 1.00 the earning rate will increase and shares will increase in value. Entrust was given a relative timing rating of 1.04, which is fair in this field. The trend established is fair and might last depending on the stocks dependability. VectorVest also suggests that ENTU is overvalued and having a high-risk dividend because it does not pay a dividend. This also shows that ENTU has not dividend growth and that indicates future outlook and past history. In conclusion, Entrust Technologies has a below average safety with below average upside potential. This reflects the stocks potential and almost ensures below average, inconsistent returns. Reesegroup.com rates ENTU as having no interest at this time. Entrust Technologies Inc. was a good buy. I disagree with the critics on this one. When I bought the stock on January 20th it was at $56 and it rose up and down slowly to 92 .

Understanding advertising media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Understanding advertising media - Essay Example A small conclusion follows at the end of the paper as a summary to the detailed discussion.Internet defines a small network provided that the 'i' is not capitalized. "The Internet" however, defines the Internet of internets and is the immense global network spread all over the globe. A formal definition can be summarized as "a global networks that links thousands of computers by data lines and wireless systems".According to the Wikipedia web site the predecessor of the Internet is called "ARPAnet" (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), and was originally employed as one can easily conclude for military purposes by the U.S in 1969. The Internet catalyst today, the core of the Internet in other words, is the NFS (National Science Foundation).Even though the Internet provides a lot more services other than those known to the wider audience such as Telnet and FTP, the paper focuses to the advertising medium of the Internet, namely the WWW (WorldWide Web). The WWW is a hypermedia in formation system that links computer-based resources around the world. That is includes a lot more than the familiar to most of us microcomputers, namely servers and mainframes and other sharing resources or intangible resources liek database systems that reside in the electronic mediums we are familiar with. Such resources become available to us through the web browsers. Browsers enable words or icon to display text, video, graphics and sounds on computer screen. The most famous browser to most of us is more likely the Internet Explorer but others like Opera and Mozilla have been catching up in popularity. 90% of the users and using the Internet for email exchange and 77% and 69% for general information and surfing respectively. 46% only are using it for their work and 27% and 26% for stocks' quotes and job searching respectively. Trading and banking are low in the pyramid with 12% and 7% respectively. Apparently the Internet has not become integrated to every day activities yet and its potential remains unknown to the wider public possibly due to ignorance or fear due to inexperience with its working and safety mechanisms. The Internet facilities are mostly used by higher education level persons, at a younger age of 18,5 and high level income. Details of Internet users' activities can be viewed at the Stanford University Web Site at Advertising Format Advertising techniques employed are the banners displayed on web pages, the key words entered in search engines, sponsors for web sites and emails send to users, and viral marketing with the use of email addresses a person acquires through the recipient lines of an email. Other common techniques include mobile marketing and a variation like PPS, Kiosk and Podcasts. The most famous search engine is inarguably Google. With ongoing update on any moment, the Google web site enables chat with MSN, AOL, and Yahoo instant essaging system without any program or Java applet. Banner rates are set on 5 CPM. The second most popular search engine is Yahoo! with ongoing frequency at any moment that does not charge the customers, while more than 80% of users reach UK Online consumers through partners including: MSN, Yahoo, Lycos, AltaVista and others. There are of course of rates for this service. Another advertising technique has found applicability through the most popular chat client program. MSN Messenger

English - Writing Directions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

English - Writing Directions - Essay Example The following flow chart will help to clarify the actions that will be described: Choose a paint color and buy it ? set up the equipment and lay down the drop cloths ?put blue tape for delicate surfaces against all the edges ? use an angled brush to outline all the close edges ? open the can and stir the paint ? use a roller brush to fill in all the spaces in an X pattern After considering this flow chart, these are the directions. Instructions for Painting a Wall Painting a wall can be a source of achievement and pride when the room looks dingy and needs to be made to look fresh and alive. The area around the wall should be cleared away so that access to all portions is made convenient and clear of items that could be in the way. Equipment must either be gathered or purchased, so the first thing to do once the wall area is clear is to make a list of everything that is needed, including the paint. Choosing the paint color is the first step in deciding to paint a wall. This can be don e before the process begins or during the initial step as the equipment is being gathered. The wall will need to be taped off so that the edge beyond what is desired painted is protected. A two inch angled brush is used to paint near the tape, allowing for a clean edge that has not bled into the space that is not desired to be painted. The walls are then rolled in an x pattern so that there are no roller marks. When this is done, it is allowed to dry and then the tape removed in order to check for bleeds. The equipment is cleaned up and the room put back into order. The following instructions will outline exactly how to do each of the steps involved in painting a wall. 1. The first step in painting a wall is in clearing away the items around the space in front of the wall. This means that there should be enough room in front of the wall to put up a ladder. The ladder should allow access to every space of the wall that will be painted 2. The second step is to make a materials list, g ather what is already on hand and go purchase the materials that are yet needed. Steps one and two are interchangeable, but it can be preferable to have my work space clear and to see exactly what will be required for the job. 3. A basic materials list includes screwdrivers, spackle, blue delicate surface tape, two inch angle brush, roller pan, roller, roller head, and ladder. Do not forget the paint! 4. The third step is to choose the paint color, again interchangeable with steps 1 and 2. A paint color can be chosen long before the job will be done or during the trip to the store when all other materials needed will be purchased. One method of choosing a paint color is gathering paint sample cards from a store and taping them to the wall. There are many ways to choose a color and that will be up to the buyer. When purchasing materials, purchase the paint and it is recommended to use one of the new paints that have primer in them in order to get good coverage on the wall. 5. Once th e materials are brought to the site of the wall they must be organized. First, tools required to take off electrical plates and to fix any holes in the wall should go to one side of the wall away from the painting equipment and placed securely away from the wall so they can be grabbed, but not in the way. The floor should be covered with drop cloths to protect it from spills and drops that might damage

Planning Phase of the Jalupa Company Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Planning Phase of the Jalupa Company - Case Study Example The cause of action is to generate a decent investment that will see the strategy take off for the next 5 years. The facts that support this problem definition are that Kaluga has already created a JalupaBook that will see it reap higher returns. Another fact is that the margins will remain without having to split them into other costs. Â  The future of the Kaluga solution is that will attract more clients from different age groups in a bid to keep the margins constant. This is because it will incorporate different technological advancements to control its market share. I want the new system to bring together users with different musical instrument requirements to interact and share their experiences. Â  Dave D, who is the Marketing Group Vice President, is the individual who has shown interest in the outcome of the project. He is the best person for the project because of his vast experience in the industry, political connections, and expertise in musical instrument marketing. Â  This initiative shall start in 5 years time because of impending considerations of sourcing for funds and sponsorships. The prevalence of e-marketing and social media are the internal or external events that take place to justify the date to be the perfect one. Â  The completion date shall be 2020 because the JalugaBook shall have gained prominence among the new users and advertisers. This is the best date because all stakeholders will have understood the significance of conducting online businesses. Â  There are a number of risks that the management fears might affect their planning strategies. For instance, the operational fear is the creation of JalugaBook since this is the organization’s first project in this field of online commerce. As a result, it might prove difficult to attract consumers and advertisers because some of them may not be comfortable conducting online business.

Photosynethesis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Photosynethesis - Essay Example 1). The name ‘photosynthesis’ (a chemical change process) is derived from Latin terminology, ‘formation of light’. The ‘formation of light’ process is important in the sustenance of the food chain in which â€Å"all human food energy and the food energy of many living organisms are directly or indirectly derived from the photosynthetic processes† (Gale Science, 2011, p. 1). For example, an organism (i.e. a cow) eats plants and, therefore, consumes the plant energy that was generated via photosynthesis; this is energy indirectly via photosynthesis. â€Å"Photosynthesis is the process by which plants use the energy of light to produce carbohydrates and molecular oxygen, (O2) from carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). 6CO2 + 6H2O – sunlight – C6H12O6 + 6O2 Virtually all ecosystems on earth depend on photosynthesis as their source of energy. Incredibly, all free oxygen on the planet, including atmospheric oxygen, originates fro m photosynthesis† (Robinson, 2009, p. 1). The following articles analyze and demonstrate current research on the topic of ‘photosynthesis’. Each is concerned with scientific research and measurable analysis of the photosynthetic processes. The test methods of certain scientific questions and studies offer unique theoretical insights, and interpretations of scientific methodologies. Article #1: â€Å"Comparing light-conversion efficiency of plants and manmade solar cells† by Durham, Sharon (2012). Agricultural Research. (60.1)7. In this scientific article written by researcher Sharon Durham (2012), the research study question is asked†¦ â€Å"When using light energy, how do manmade photo cells compare to a plant’s photosynthesis†? (Durham, 2012, p. 1). Explain what the scientist were testing During scientific inquiry, scientist from the Agricultural Research Service conducted a study in which comparisons were drawn between plant cells and photovoltaic cells – how efficiently each cell type converted sunlight into energy. The significance of purpose of the study was to find out how scientists and researchers â€Å"could improve plant photosynthesis – a critical first link in the global supply chain for food, fiber, and bioenergy production† (Durham, 2012, p. 1). Explain (briefly) how they tested it Scientists conducted detailed-oriented scientific methodology and measurement to compare plant cell and manmade solar cell photosynthetic processes. Research leader, Donald Ort, conducts scientific studies on photosynthesis from his field office – the ARS Global Change and Photosynthesis Research Unit in Urbana, Illinois. According to Ort (2012), â€Å"scientists know that plants are not as efficient as manmade solar cells at converting light into energy. But there is a way of comparing the two systems more accurately. The study identified specific redesigns that hold excellent promise for impro ving efficiency† (Ort, 2012, p. 1). Researchers set comparison standards, first considering current technology then strategies for improvements. Explain what they found As noted by S. Durham (2012), â€Å"†¦comparing the two systems is a challenge. Although both processes harvest energy from sunlight, they use the energy in different ways. Plants convert the sun’s energy into chemical energy, whereas, solar cells produce electricity† (Durham, 2012, p. 1). Research scientist, Ort, points out†¦ â€Å"While, in context of our efficiency analysis, solar cells have a clear advantage compared to photosynthesis. There is a need to apply

Aviation Careers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Aviation Careers - Essay Example Employers for graduates of aviation courses are airlines, airports, national and international unions, companies in the logistics and supplier industry and government. A career in aviation offers excitement, the opportunity for regular travel, and the chance to constantly learn new skills. However, the preparation for this fast-paced industry is an extensive process. A career in aviation means you will meet and work with a wide variety of people. One has to be able to perform well under pressure and must be able to understand the complex technical concepts of aviation. Technology is an important and crucial aspect in any aviation career. Experts in the area of computers, electronics, instrumentations, inspections, and investigations are in great demand in the aviation industry. Several opportunities are also available in research and development because of the need to always determine safer and more efficient ways and techniques to upgrade the industry. The search for new products an d technology is simply non-stop. If one wishes to work with an airline, there are various entry level positions which will cover a wide variety of duties and responsibilities. One may opt to be a flight attendant which will require extensive customer contact. It is important that one possesses strong interpersonal and communication skills.