Environmental Regulation and Business Strategy in UK and Scotland Essay

Environmental Regulation and Business Strategy in UK and Scotland - Essay Example The plan also espouses the maximization of the remaining waste by utilizing its energy through waste-to-energy incineration plants. Electrical/and or heat energy can be produced by burning or incineration of wastes (Scottish Environment Protection Agency, 2011). This is an aspect of concern because the burning of solid and liquid material will produce mixtures of solid and gaseous emission like heavy metals, dioxins, particulates, ash residues, and acidic gases. An incineration plant refers to the technical unit and equipment that are dedicated for the purpose of burning or thermal treatment of waste material and in so doing, produce combustion heat (Council Directive 2008/1/EC of the European Parliament and of the European Council ). The definition for the incineration plant includes the site, incineration lines, waste reception, waste storage, fuel and air supplies, post-treatment areas for exhaust gases, waste and wastewater, and all other facilities and devices for control and mo nitoring the operations in incineration. Incineration of waste is achieved by oxidation, pyrolysis, and gasification. Strictly speaking, the energy produced by the incineration of waste materials cannot be considered renewable energy, but it can replace and supplement the energy that is sourced from fossil fuels like oil and coil, natural gas, and other renewable sources. As stated by the Scottish Planning Policy 6 on renewable energy, the energy derived from waste can help Scotland meet its targets for increasing electricity derived from renewable energy sources (Scottish Development Executive Department, 1997). Energy from waste is therefore considered a part of the response to climate change towards sustainable development. The Renewables Obligation gives incentives to suppliers of electricity to obtain electrical energy from renewable sources (Renewables Obligation, 2007). In Scotland, the Renewables Obligation, and the Renewables Obligation Order were enforced on April 2002. Th e schemes were introduced by the Scottish Executive and the Department of Enterprise and Trade, and are administered by the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority. The Renewable Orders set the amount of electricity from renewable sources to 5.5% and 6.7% in 2005-2006, and 2006-2007 respectively. In 2009, the Scottish government published the Renewables Action Plan, which committed the country to achieving 20% energy coming from renewable sources by 2020, which also meant that there must be a large increase in the energy derived from the heat (11% increase) and transport sectors (10% increase) (The Scottish Government, 2009). In the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) Amendment Order of 2011 which was enforced in April 2011, waste materials were already included as renewable energy sources. According to SEPA, incineration can be considered compatible with high recycling rates, which is also highly dependent on the segregation of wastes. Energy can be recovered from residual waste that ca nnot be recycled due to economic and technical reasons. Despite the economic crisis, the practice of waste incineration has risen worldwide (ecoprog/Fraunhofer UMSICHT, 2010). In the last decade, the annual global capacity of the incineration plants increased from 180 to 350 million tonnes. This can further rise by 20% in the next five years. It is further expected that with landfill sites decreasing, new plants will be

Thomas Nagel's Moral Luck Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Thomas Nagel's Moral Luck - Assignment Example This makes a person’s action and judgement as the key elements of life. According to Nagel, good will represents an inner feeling exhibited by the people in their daily interaction systems (Nagel 1). Without the good will, the wished-for end of anyone is prone to be unsuccessful. Presumably, the good will enhances a wider-range of friendly relationships and the achieving of the end drives in life. The bad will, on the other hand, becomes a bit complicated in the determination of the people’s peaceful co-existence and their destinies (Nagel 1). The bad will is normally inclined towards evil deeds. The evil deeds do not have a place in most societies. This, therefore, makes bad deeds be grouped under sanctions, which are punishable by the societal laws. The bad wills are against the norms of several social groups. People whose mindsets revolve around the bad will judgements and actions, in most cases, are normally viewed as the social misfits (Nagel 2). This, according to Nagel, is because the bad will paves way for a poor moral responsibility, which does not bring morally acceptable resolutions to many in the long-run (Nagel 1). Nagel further argues that moral judgement and actions are the key elements where the most problems normally emanate from (Nagel 3). A problem experienced at an individual level normally affects behaviours positively. At the societal level, the problem experienced by one person will form a stable pattern thus affecting the completely social organization. Nagel believes that judgement differs from the evaluation of something good or bad morally (Nagel 3). The functional and dysfunctional elements of a moral judgement greatly differ. This is because what is morally upright or functional for one person may be morally unstable or dysfunctional for another, in the determination of their luck. Control measures, which include both the positive and the negative sanctions, should be used for the conformity and compliance in the moral judgement of the individuals. This is because the moral judgement revolves around ignorance and the involuntary movements both in the external and the internal behavioural aspects exhibited by the individuals. Not every action or moral judgement should rely on the goodwill or the bad will moral behaviours in order to find the social or behavioural changes solutions in the end luck. Moral judgement, according to Kant, has got the external influences either positively or negatively thus making the environment a key determinant of the individuals bad will or good will moral judgments (Nagel 3). The moral luck is not paradoxical. This is justified by Nagel in his book. This behavioural aspect can be compared to the theory of knowledge in philosophy. In the theory of knowledge, there are various natural occurrences emerging just like the moral luck in people’s behaviour hence making them hard and challenging to understand (Nagel 6). Our beliefs, therefore, become the basis upon w hich these factors emerging from an individual’s behaviour can be understood. This, on the other hand, is because of the lack of the external social control mechanisms and the impracticality of encompassing these emerging issues without being at the mercy of others who are on the leading and influences our already questionable knowledge on the moral luck, judgments, actions and goodwill and bad will. The ways in which the natural objects subjects individuals to moral luck include through the constitutive luck, which emanates from the personality. The other classification of luck includes one’s situations. The different situations and problems the individuals undergo calls for the different measures in their moral luck determination (Nagel 6)). Lastly, there are effects and causes of action and