Recently, there is an increasing concern on the problem in the abundance of fossil fuels for the world’s energy consumption. As the demand for the fossil fuel is higher than the supply, the cost for these natural resources will naturally increase. Because of the increasing cost of fuel, Singapore Power has to increase the electricity tariff by 22%. To cut down on the power bills, businesses have to go green by reducing the use of electrical power and hence, help to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere by the generator. In the pursuit for businesses to go green and cut power bills, the Singapore government has provided many new initiatives to assist them.
Firstly, $6million is used to train energy managers. They will acquire the professional skills during their course of training to help companies in planning the most energy efficient plan. They will be able to assist the companies to cut down their power usage too. Secondly, The National Environment Agency (NEA) would help and subsidies the company for designing their workplace in a most energy-efficient manner. This is to reduce the carbon dioxide been generated and at the same time, reduce the energy wastage. NEA will also provide more monetary assistance to add energy-saving equipment and energy audits for the companies. These include the switching to a more efficient generators, air-conditioners and light bulbs. Lastly, grants will be given to firms to take on projects that use less fossil fuel or produce less carbon dioxide. These encourage the firms in cutting down their use of power energy and also to minimise the release of greenhouse gas.
There are number reasons on why government have to put in so much effort for the businesses to go green. First of all, the government is promoting a cleaner environment for us to work in. The second reason is, reduce in energy usage will reduce the use of fossil fuel and hence reduce carbon dioxide emission. Finally, all these initiatives will help the companies to cut down their power bills.
All in all, with the help of the government, businesses still can function normally and generate revenue for the economy without doing much harm to the environment. However, each individual plays a vital role in helping the companies to cut down the electricity usage. If they do not help to save energy by switching off any appliances or lights when not in used, the amount of assistance given by the government to aid them will be fruitless.
Reference
Kesava, S. (2008, October 18). New ways to help businesses cut power bills. The Straits
Times, p. H3.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
1. Broome maintains that how we deal with climate change in our generation is an ethical issue. Do you agree that our decisions and actions relating t
Global warming is one of the increasing concerns for the world today. It is due to the emitting of greenhouse gases which was trapped in the atmosphere, causing the temperature of the earth to increase. The main contribution of greenhouse gases is due to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels for energy. Due to our negligence, the problems of global warming have arise which affecting the survivability of our generation or even our later generation in the near future. One of the problems is climate change. We should not allow other people or our future generation to answer for our actions. Therefore, I agree that our decisions and actions relating to climate changes are ethical issues.
Firstly, developed countries are the main cause of emitting greenhouse gases due to rapid expansion in their industries. Is it ethical that third world countries should suffer the same setback with them? The people in the third world countries are innocent parties who do not contribute much of the greenhouse gases, but they are experiencing the effects of climate change now. For instance, India is facing the flood problem due to the monsoon rain over the part of Bihar. Villages that are previously not prone to flood are also affected (Oxfam International, 2008). The changing patterns of rainfall will cause inconvenient and constant rainfall due to climate change will cause flood prone areas to be flooded as well. The self-centred thinking of the developed countries has deteriorated the climate change. They have been generating revenue for their countries while causing suffering in the third world countries.
Secondly, we should not allow our future generations to suffer from the effects of climate change. We should answer for our actions and not them. The damage caused by climate change is devastating. According to Broome (2008), “the European heat wave of 2003 is estimated to have killed 35000 people.” And I believed the number of death will increase in the future as the Earth’s temperature continues to rise. This way of act is unethical as we are putting our future generation’s life in danger. We have no rights to endanger their lifes. Hence, we should try to alleviate the effects of climate change.
The consequences brought by the climate change are severe. The climate change is the results of our continuous production of greenhouse gases for our own benefits such as driving a car. We should not let any third party or our future generation to suffer because of our wrong doings as this is unethical. Therefore, our decisions and actions relating to climate change are ethical issues.
References
Broome, J. (2008, May 19). The Ethics of Climate Change. Scientific American
Magazine. Retrieved November 4, 2008, from
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-ethics-of-climate-change&ec=b_atl1
Oxfam International. (2008). India Flood 2008. Retrieved November 4, 2008, from
http://www.oxfam.org/fr/emergencies/india-floods
Item 5: The two articles in “A computer that can ‘read’ your mind” and “Ethics and mapping the brain” describe the positive and negative effects brain
If you have watched the X-Men movies, did you remember a character called Professor Xavier? Have you ever thought of having his ability to read the people’s mind? This amazing ability can be accomplished with the help of today’s technology. Being working with my fellow colleagues for years we “are [now] closer to knowing how specific thoughts activate our brains” (The National Science Foundation, 2008). Computational modelling has become powerful enough to predict activities patterns which will improve scientists understanding of how the brain processes information from the senses. However, with this great discovery been uncovered, many potential unethical abuses will arise in our work.
One unethical abuse is invasion of privacy. With the use of this brain mapping technology, a person can invade one’s privacy and is able to ‘read’ one’s mind. This is a very disrespectful and unethical behaviour as everybody has their own rights of not disclosing their secrets or private matters. It will be disturbing when you cannot do your personal things in a discrete place as everyone knows where and what you are going to do! This unacceptable behaviour can be prevented by allowing only certain authorised personnel to use the brain mapping technology for critical conditions such as instigating the criminals.
Another potential abuse will be the marketing of the brain mapping technology to the consumers to earn large sums of money. The creating of this technology is not for sale in the first place. The purpose of brain mapping is to study the human brain and to provide the beneficial to mankind. This technology “could have applications in the study of autism, disorders of thoughts such as paranoid schizophrenia, and semantic dementias such as Pick’s diseases” (The National Science Foundation, 2008). According to Wilksinson (2008), neurologists from the Imperial has been using brain mapping to monitor the conditions of the stroke patients so as to “study the changes in the language pathways of the brain before and after the rehabilitation.” There are many medical benefits that have yet to be discovered using this technology. The main purpose of brain mapping technology will be defected if it is sold to the consumers. It will be very unethical for my researchers and me, if we are willing to sell our technology for money. If such technology will be laid onto the consumers hands, the problem of invasion of privacy will arise. To minimise this problem, only authorised dealers are allowed to sell the brain mapping technology to authorised users such as the Police Academy. Offenders will be dealt with legally if they sell the technology to unauthorised users.
The last unethical issue I want to bring about is treating the patients as ‘experimental tools’. Many people will say that it is unethical for us to do research on patients. By connecting them with wires, we are using them as our ‘specimens’ to conduct our experiment. I beg to differ. Before we conduct our research, we will make sure that we have a mutual trust and respect with the patients and their next of kin. The patients are aware of their great importance in this major project and not as ‘experimental tools’. The public must know that in order to have a breakthrough in medical history, we have to examine the patient’s brain and conduct the essential experiment. This is the only possible way to find the solution to some of the medical problems arises in our society. For instance, the using of brain mapping technology has proven to be successful in monitoring the rehabilitation progress of the stroke patients.
In conclusion, there are many unethical issues which arise from the research of brain mapping such as the invading of personal privacy, marketing of brain mapping technology to the consumers and making use of patients as our ‘experimental tools’. However, these potential issues can be minimised and prevented if the measures are acted as accordingly. Now you know that, even though humans can be Professor Xavier, but not everybody has the authority to posses this power.
Reference
National Science Foundation. (2008, May 30). A computer that can ‘read’ your mind [Press
release 08-091]. Retrieved November 2, 2008, from
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111641&org=olpa&from=news
Wilksinson, E. Helping stroke patients to speak. BBC News. Retrieved November 2, 2008
from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7330790.stm
One unethical abuse is invasion of privacy. With the use of this brain mapping technology, a person can invade one’s privacy and is able to ‘read’ one’s mind. This is a very disrespectful and unethical behaviour as everybody has their own rights of not disclosing their secrets or private matters. It will be disturbing when you cannot do your personal things in a discrete place as everyone knows where and what you are going to do! This unacceptable behaviour can be prevented by allowing only certain authorised personnel to use the brain mapping technology for critical conditions such as instigating the criminals.
Another potential abuse will be the marketing of the brain mapping technology to the consumers to earn large sums of money. The creating of this technology is not for sale in the first place. The purpose of brain mapping is to study the human brain and to provide the beneficial to mankind. This technology “could have applications in the study of autism, disorders of thoughts such as paranoid schizophrenia, and semantic dementias such as Pick’s diseases” (The National Science Foundation, 2008). According to Wilksinson (2008), neurologists from the Imperial has been using brain mapping to monitor the conditions of the stroke patients so as to “study the changes in the language pathways of the brain before and after the rehabilitation.” There are many medical benefits that have yet to be discovered using this technology. The main purpose of brain mapping technology will be defected if it is sold to the consumers. It will be very unethical for my researchers and me, if we are willing to sell our technology for money. If such technology will be laid onto the consumers hands, the problem of invasion of privacy will arise. To minimise this problem, only authorised dealers are allowed to sell the brain mapping technology to authorised users such as the Police Academy. Offenders will be dealt with legally if they sell the technology to unauthorised users.
The last unethical issue I want to bring about is treating the patients as ‘experimental tools’. Many people will say that it is unethical for us to do research on patients. By connecting them with wires, we are using them as our ‘specimens’ to conduct our experiment. I beg to differ. Before we conduct our research, we will make sure that we have a mutual trust and respect with the patients and their next of kin. The patients are aware of their great importance in this major project and not as ‘experimental tools’. The public must know that in order to have a breakthrough in medical history, we have to examine the patient’s brain and conduct the essential experiment. This is the only possible way to find the solution to some of the medical problems arises in our society. For instance, the using of brain mapping technology has proven to be successful in monitoring the rehabilitation progress of the stroke patients.
In conclusion, there are many unethical issues which arise from the research of brain mapping such as the invading of personal privacy, marketing of brain mapping technology to the consumers and making use of patients as our ‘experimental tools’. However, these potential issues can be minimised and prevented if the measures are acted as accordingly. Now you know that, even though humans can be Professor Xavier, but not everybody has the authority to posses this power.
Reference
National Science Foundation. (2008, May 30). A computer that can ‘read’ your mind [Press
release 08-091]. Retrieved November 2, 2008, from
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111641&org=olpa&from=news
Wilksinson, E. Helping stroke patients to speak. BBC News. Retrieved November 2, 2008
from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7330790.stm
Sunday, November 2, 2008
1. Briefly compare and contrast any two waste disposal schemes and decide which one might be more suitable for your country.
Singapore has been using the incinerators to burn 90% of their waste for the past decades. Four incinerators are in used. The ashes produced from the incinerators are sent to Pula Semakau to be land filled. However, this offshore landfill will be filled up after 2040. After that, it will be a problem for us to find land to fill up ashes. Therefore, we should find an alternative waste disposal scheme which supports sustainability. Zero waste system should be adopted by Singapore as it increased profits resulting from significant cost savings, improved environment conditions and stronger local economics. It also helped in solving the problem of finding more land to bury the ashes produced by the incinerators.
By adopting the zero waste system, it could reduce dramatically the need for incinerators and landfills. This is because the approach of zero waste is to turn waste into profitable resource by repairing, reusing or recycling them. Waste are not burnt, thus incinerators and landfills are not required. However, by using the convention method, waste is burnt into ashes, which will be then sent to a landfill to be buried. In this case, land must be made available. And this will be a problem for land scarce countries such as Singapore. The use of incinerators involved the combustion of waste which emits harmful gases into the surrounding such as dioxin. Moreover, the ashes produced are buried into the ground, polluting the land. Unlike the use of incinerators, zero waste is more environmental friendly since no burning is involved. Hence zero waste improved the environment conditions. The amount of money used in building, operating and maintaining the incinerators is very high. Singapore has four incinerators that are in used. Hence, it is a financial burden for us. By using zero waste system, minimum money is required to regenerate the waste into useful products Since the main objective is to reuse and recycle the waste, money can be saved from buying resources that are needed to be extracted from the nature. This increased the profits resulting from the significant cost savings. Furthermore, resource recovery facilities and exchange networks were forced to be turning waste into an asset, creating small business opportunities and employment in struggling communities. Therefore, zero waste will make our local economics stronger.
Both the use of incinerators and zero waste system have a common goal, which is to manage the waste. However, the latter has the ability to eliminate the waste to the minimum. The zero waste approach is more suitable for the Singapore since land is not required to bury any ashes. More money can be saved as using incinerators to burn waste is not necessary. In addition, zero waste approach are more environmental conscious and it can provide a strong local economics.
By adopting the zero waste system, it could reduce dramatically the need for incinerators and landfills. This is because the approach of zero waste is to turn waste into profitable resource by repairing, reusing or recycling them. Waste are not burnt, thus incinerators and landfills are not required. However, by using the convention method, waste is burnt into ashes, which will be then sent to a landfill to be buried. In this case, land must be made available. And this will be a problem for land scarce countries such as Singapore. The use of incinerators involved the combustion of waste which emits harmful gases into the surrounding such as dioxin. Moreover, the ashes produced are buried into the ground, polluting the land. Unlike the use of incinerators, zero waste is more environmental friendly since no burning is involved. Hence zero waste improved the environment conditions. The amount of money used in building, operating and maintaining the incinerators is very high. Singapore has four incinerators that are in used. Hence, it is a financial burden for us. By using zero waste system, minimum money is required to regenerate the waste into useful products Since the main objective is to reuse and recycle the waste, money can be saved from buying resources that are needed to be extracted from the nature. This increased the profits resulting from the significant cost savings. Furthermore, resource recovery facilities and exchange networks were forced to be turning waste into an asset, creating small business opportunities and employment in struggling communities. Therefore, zero waste will make our local economics stronger.
Both the use of incinerators and zero waste system have a common goal, which is to manage the waste. However, the latter has the ability to eliminate the waste to the minimum. The zero waste approach is more suitable for the Singapore since land is not required to bury any ashes. More money can be saved as using incinerators to burn waste is not necessary. In addition, zero waste approach are more environmental conscious and it can provide a strong local economics.
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