Significant Impacts Of Iron Smelting Environmental Sciences Essay

Significant Impacts Of Iron Smelting Environmental Sciences Essay After having a clear idea about the project and its effects according to my considerations the following impacts are very important. The impacts are listed in the order of their importance:- AIR QUALITY The air pollution that will be caused by the plants is the biggest issue to be considered. The coke making process involved is responsible for large amount of VOCs (Volatile organic compounds) and carbon monoxide emissions. Further the working of blast furnace and the processes of casting and rolling are responsible for significant releases of nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides. The use of heavy diesel equipments, generators and vehicle movement will also contribute to air pollution. As the region experiences moderate winds the pollutants will be carried to the surrounding areas increasing the pollution to a large extent. It will adversely affect the local vegetation, surrounding grasslands and the native assai palm trees. The local temperature will also increase due to the industrial activity and decrease in vegetation. The greatest risk is on the local population which is already facing health problems and the cattle farming in the surrounding areas. The mitigation measures to be u sed for controlling the air pollution are not adequate for such a large project and require reconsideration. Classification of impact: LT, IR, D,(-), L and R. WATER QUALITY The Pequia River is the main source of water for the local population for drinking, cooking and other recreational activities. The waste water generated from the plants have large amount of contaminants, that require effective removal and treatment before it is disposed into the water body. The water quality of the Piquia River will be affected by the disposal of high temperature waste water from the ovens containing large amount of chemical compounds discharged into it. The soil in the area is permeable and has good drainage properties. These characteristics will allow the flow of solid wastes dumped at a site to flow into the ground water and the river along with the rain water. Thus, contaminating the ground water and the river water. No proper measures have been observed in the plan for calculating the quantity of waste water that will be discharged into the river. Moreover, it is being assumed that the palm trees on the river are good purifiers but they wonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t be affective if the pollution will be of such a large extent. Classification of impact: LT, IR, D, (-) and L. HEALTH OF LOCAL POPULATION The health problems caused by the iron smelting plant are inevitable. The emission of poisonous gases like nitrogen oxide, sulphur oxide, carbon monoxide etc poses a serious threat to the health of the people of Pequia. These gases can cause many problems like asthma, skin infection, damage to eyes and even cancer in some cases. Fine particles suspended in the air in the vicinity of the plant can cause respiratory problems to the workers. The area covered by air pollution will increase if the winds start blowing thus affecting even more population in the surrounding areas. The noise and vibrations caused by the heavy machinery can cause hearing problems if proper measures are not taken by the workers. Moreover, the mitigation measures like using tree belt as a sound barrier is not effective in case of such a large industry. The Pequia village is already facing problems regarding health due to contamination of the water which will be further aggravated due to disposal of waste water c ontaining fine ore and charcoal into the river. There will always be a danger of accident at the plant and it can cause unpredictable impact on the population surrounding it. Classification of impact: LT, R, D, (-) and L. INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT Due to the growing demand of the iron both the plants are designed to produce pig-iron for the steel plants and foundries. The initial estimate is to produce 50,000 tons per year with a future plan to expand it to 100,000 tons per year. The primary objective of the plants is to export the pig iron to the international market, with national steel plants consuming a great part of the production. This will help to improve the economy of the country and the boost the industrial development of the area. As stated in the document industrial development in the area is the major goal of the Federal Government and is a part of a collaborative effort by the Carajas railway and Carajas mining project. The plants will draw in some new industry in the surrounding area and help in creation of more jobs. But this proposal can be shifted to some other site where it will bring the same industrial development but will have less severe impacts on the local habitat and the environment. Classification of impact: LT, IR, D and ID, (+), L and R. INCREASE JOB DEMAND The development of the iron smelting plants in the area will create a large number of jobs for the local and the regional population and he people will be involved both directly and indirectly. According to the plan each plant will employ 200 workers from the village and specialized training will be given. It will help to improve the living standards of the population which otherwise earn their living by commerce of milk, small shops and some odd jobs. But this will not be a very significant impact compared to the above impacts because only a small section of the population will be employed. The majority of population will still deal with cattle farming and vegetation and these will be adversely affected by the industrial plants. Classification of impact: LT, D and ID, IR, (+), L and R. To conclude, the project will have severe adverse effects on the environment of the area and will degrade the air quality and the quality of water in the Pequia River. The emissions are more severe than what is predicted in the plan and measures taken are not adequate. Moreover, the proposal does not include any effective mitigation measures for the noise pollution control and waste material that will be added to the river. So, the plant should not come up at the proposed location and a new site should be proposed where it will have less severe environmental impacts.

Financial Institutions Essay

The best financial institution for the high debt and high income professionals looking to obtain insurance and investment advice and services is a financial planning services company such as Ameriprise Financial. Financial planning looks at life events and life goals such as retirement and estate planning and offers advice and provides products to help meet those goals. Many financial planning services companies also offer loans and deposit banking accounts. Generally one representative who is licensed to sell insurance, investments, and loans will work with this couple throughout their relationship with the company. The representative’s goal is to periodically review changes in life events and modify the couple’s insurance and investment portfolio to meet their changing goals and objectives. For this couple, the representative may suggest a product that combines insurance and investment such as an annuity or universal life insurance. The couple can establish a relationship with a financial services firm in a local branch or through an interactive website maintained by the company. In some cases the bank that they are already established with may have a financial planning division that they can access in the local branch or through the bank website. Scenario B The best financial institution for a student looking to establish a checking or saving account, establish credit, and develop a relationship with a financial institution should consider a credit union. A credit union is similar to a bank in that it offers deposit accounts and loan programs, but differs from banks in that credit unions are non-profit organizations that are owned and operated by members as opposed to being owned by stockholders and operated by executive boards. Credit unions generally offer higher interest rates on savings accounts, lower fees on checking accounts, and lower interest rates on loans and credit cards. Credit union membership is generally tied to an organization such as a labor union, many large corporations have employee credit unions, some churches or communities have credit unions for members. This student can establish a credit union relationship through parents or may become employed in a local business that offers credit union membership as an employee benefit. Organizations like the Credit Union National Association provides resources and information for consumers. Scenario C The best financial institution for a small business owner who needs multiple deposit and checking accounts, investment services, and access to branches in other cities should consider a national bank such as Bank of America that has branches nationwide as well as online account access. Bank of America, and similar national banks, offer online payroll processing, credit card processing for retailers, and provide businesses with the option of importing bank statement information into popular accounting software formats such as Quicken, QuickBooks, and Microsoft Money. National banks have departments dedicated to small business lending and offer various types of Small Business Administration (SBA) loans. They also have services to meet the needs of specialty industries including financing and leasing partnerships with auto dealers. The business owner can establish a relationship with a banking professional at a local branch or can establish accounts online. National banks generally have extensive, interactive websites which provide information and guidance on establishing the business banking relationship. References Ameriprise Financial. Financial planning advice and financial advisors. Retrieved March 11, 2009, from http://www. ameriprise. com/default-home . asp Bank of America. Small business loans, payroll services & other small business services. Retrieved March 11, 2009, from https://www. bankofamerica. com/smallbus iness/index. jsp Credit Union National Association, Consumer Info. America’s credit unions: where people are worth more than money. Retrieved March 11, 2009, from http://www. creditunion. coop/what_is_a_ cu. html

Ikea Invades America Essay

Founded in 1943 by a poor Swedish farmer named Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA is now one of the largest furniture retailers in the world. From its inception, Kamprad wanted to create cheap, quality furniture that everyone could afford. That formula led to IKEA’s early success in Sweden and has carried over until today. To its customers, IKEA is not just a store but a way of life, which may be evident through the cult-like following the company has achieved. When talking about the four P’s of marketing (product, price, place, promotion), there are few companies in the world that have mastered this concept better than IKEA. IKEA has been able to recognize the demands of its shoppers and create compelling products that meet those demands at a reasonable price. Its products are sold at unique stores that serve strategically important, geographic markets. This paper examines the factors that have made IKEA such a big success and offers some recommendations for future growth in the United States. Today, IKEA has over 240 stores in 35 countries and has revenues of over $26 billion. Its revenues double every 5-6 years and the company is now expanding to growing markets like China, Japan, and Brazil. The future of IKEA looks brighter than ever. For a brief snapshot of IKEA’s current sales around the world see Appendix 1. In 1985, IKEA decided to invade America. Faced with this early failure, IKEA retooled its furniture to fit American tastes. IKEA soon became the fastest growing furniture retailer and the 14th largest furniture retailer overall in the United States. IKEA executives needed to find a balance of how to create new furniture offerings without losing its unique design and corporate soul. By examining IKEA’s marketing strategy and answering a series of four questions, we have developed recommendations (see Appendix 2) that we think will lead to IKEA’s continued growth and success. 1) What are some of the ways that furniture retailers have sought to overcome these purchase obstacles? : a) identifying a product that consumers like, b) visualizing the product in the consumer’s home, and c) getting the product in the consumer’s home? In furniture sales, there are two general strategies: the low-end and the high-end. The low-end offers cheap, utilitarian furniture that is dreary looking. Cheap furniture is marketed to people such as college students who have a small budget. The cheap furniture is also displayed in poorly lit showrooms that offer little to no customer service. High-end furniture stores compete on quality and service. The high-end offers a large selection in each style and sub-style of furniture, which results in the showroom having a large inventory. The broad, variety strategy virtually guarantees that a customer’s preferred style will be available. The high-end stores also have high touch sales associates to help customers with product selection and furniture measurement. Sales associates are trained to educate their customers; such as explaining the life spans of different materials. They also reassure customers that their furniture will last a life time. Visualizing a piece of furniture in a person’s home can be very difficult. The high-end furniture stores have beautiful showrooms that are elaborately decorated to help the customer visualize where they can place new furniture or how they can redecorate their home. High-end stores also offer interior design services. Most retailers offer credit to make high-end furniture more affordable. All retailers offer home delivery, sometimes free, to make the transition as painless as possible for the customer. As an added bonus, retailers offer to assemble the furniture in the customer’s home. Sometimes, delivering the furniture also involves rearranging furniture, as well as removing and discarding old furniture. Providing these services makes the purchase of new furniture an easy and worry-free process. 2) Explain IKEA’s reverse positioning strategy. IKEA created a matrix used to prioritize product lineup and price. (See Appendix 3) Primarily the matrix is used to set a target retail price and select a product style. With the matrix system, IKEA is able to identify product line opportunities and gaps; creating a well rounded store. IKEA has avoided the image of the low end furniture store by displaying furniture in brightly lit showrooms. These showrooms help customers envision how the furniture interacts with the allotted space. Plus color coordinated cards provide design tips and information kiosks are on hand to help customers. All of these features reinforce IKEA’s self service ethos without making the customer feel abandoned. In IKEA’s case, the firm rejected the standard business models for both high-end and low-end furniture stores. IKEA’s furniture is composed of cheaper parts that are not visible and are not under high stress through use and a higher quality material is used for the visible parts or parts under high stress. This gives IKEA’s furniture a higher end look while keeping their costs low. IKEA’s reverse positioning kept prices low, while eliminating many services thought essential to a higher-end store. The company replaced them with unique services for its category: a bright, inviting showroom, furniture that was attractively designed, a child care center, a restaurant serving Swedish meatballs, and brightly colored house wares and clever toys. As a result, IKEA successfully avoided the feel of the low-end retailers, and customers â€Å"find the IKEA shopping experience to be immensely appealing (Moon, â€Å"IKEA Invades America,† 5). 3) What are some of the various product/service attributes that IKEA has chosen to withhold from its customers? IKEA seems to incorporate a hybrid strategy focusing on both cost and differentiation. IKEA attempts to price in the low to midrange category. IKEA does not build its furniture to last a lifetime, which in-fact flows well with its ad campaigns focused on letting go of the semimetal value Americans often place on furniture. IKEA products are known for falling apart after a few years; however, its customers are typically satisfied with the look, functionality, and affordability of IKEA products (Moon, 2004, p. 5). Its focus is on cost-efficiency, so the company uses higher-quality materials on visible surfaces and lower-quality materials elsewhere. High-end stores compete on quality and â€Å"high touch† experience and selection. Nearly all types of furniture stores offer delivery services. However, IKEA successfully eliminated many of these attributes. IKEA products are designed to be transported unassembled in flat boxes, which keeps shipping costs low and prevents IKEA from having to deliver/assemble furniture for customers (Moon, 2004, p. ). Customers are responsible for transportation of their furniture and assembly of their furniture. Although this step may seem like its decreasing the consumer experience/perceived product value; it’s actually keeping the customer involvement level high. Moreover, the competitive pricing offered at IKEA is attributed to letting customer build their own furniture, which keeps costs to a minimum. Formerly, IKEA only produced a few different designs; however, this has changed in recent years. In order to be consistent with IKEA’s self-service ethos and to keep costs low, the ratio of sales assistants to customers is kept low. The low number of sales associates can have a negative effect on the consumer experience. To handle furniture questions, customers are provided with product descriptions and measuring tape so they can make their own measurements. 4) What are some of the areas that IKEA has managed to achieve cost efficiency by implementing a number of firm-specific operation processes? A number of cost effective operating processes have been implemented by IKEA. In furniture design, IKEA engineers often select cheaper/low quality materials for less visible areas that experience minimal stress and expensive materials for visible areas that undergo stress. This aids IKEA in producing durable, good-quality products at low costs. IKEA has worked with over 1,800 suppliers in over 50 countries and often uses suppliers from developing countries. To keep costs down, IKEA usually purchases in bulk and often orders various components of a given product from different suppliers. IKEA is strict with employees about waste; it enforces minimal travel budgets and requires them to save electricity. IKEA keeps a small staff in stores and provides self-serve trolleys to aid consumers in loading their vehicles. Typical furniture retailers require a larger staff and/or incur shipping costs for delivery of their bulky, already assembled products. Flat packaging allows IKEA customers to transport their purchases home and eliminates the expense of home delivery. IKEA’s flat packaging strategy is another firm specific operating process. The strategy was inspired by an employee who, in 1955, removed the legs off a table to fit it into a customer’s car. This strategy requires designers to keep in mind the amount of space their products take up in their unassembled form. Flat packaging also helps prevent damage to the products during the shipping process. IKEA will often redesign their products multiple times to achieve space optimization and reduce shipping costs. Space optimization typically lowers prices for consumers; however, it may lengthen the assembly process. IKEA should continue to incorporate cost cutting activities across the board so long as the consumer experience remains positive.

Lab Experiment Physics Chemistry - 1031 Words

Lauren Taylor DeJohn, Heather Poole, Adelia Wright, Ellie Casey, Kate White Taylor Masson Chemistry Honors- 07 October 29 2014 Chemistry Honors Lab 1: Measurements Theory The overall objective of this lab experiment is to learn about measurements. Most to all experiments and labs require some form of measurements. Because there are many various kinds of measurements, it is important to be aware of the different factors of each measurement involved with the current lab experiment. It is also important to have a general understanding of them because they will need to be used in calculations for the lab. Precision and accuracy will be used most in this lab. A knowledge of the following†¦show more content†¦When calculating measurements in experiments, it is vital that one will accurately measure the quantities that are given to you. This goal can be easily accomplished by testing the following hypothesis: If a rock is dropped into a graduated cylinder that if full of water, the rock will push aside an amount of water that is equal to its volume. This will cause the water level to rise. The volume of the rock will be equal to the volume of the water with the rock in it, minus the volume of the water without the rock included. Materials Used Water Rocks Graduated Cylinders Beakers Pipets Balance Procedure --- Part A --- Reading and recording volume from a graduated cylinder 1. Find the graduated cylinder that already contains water. 2. Read and record the maximum capacity of volume for your specified cylinder. 3. Read and record the amount of water in the cylinder. Don t forget to look at the bottom of the meniscus for your recording. Procedure --- Part B --- Filling graduated cylinders with specified amounts of liquid 1. Find an empty graduated cylinder 2. Using the beaker containing clear water, fill your graduated cylinder to the specified amount below 3. If your cylinder is a 250 mL cylinder, then fill it with 100 mL 4. If your cylinder is smaller, then fill it with 50 mL 5. Next, use a pipet to add 2 more mL to your graduated cylinder.