Biofuel - today essays

Biofuel - today essays In todays world day in and day out we see fleets of cars, buses, two-wheelers and trucks on our streets. Poisonous fumes damaging our lungs, noise pollution deafening our ears and harried commuters fed up with their lot. Is this what mankind has come to? Imagine the situation in a few years when the existing sources of fuel are almost exhausted! Shortage of petrol, shortage of cooking gas and scarcity of fuel in industries. Prices of all types of fuel will shoot up making life all the more expensive. Utter chaos! That is what the scenario will be especially in the major cities of the world. Isnt it time we looked out for alternative sources! Energy is the key for food, housing, production and transportation. There is nothing more important for a developing country like India than a good energy plan. Therefore biofuel is todays extreme need. Well, what is this biofuel? In contrast to fuel based on products derived from the petrochemical industry, biofuel is based on raw material derived from living organisms and therefore can be classified as a renewable resource. Biofuel can be of microbial or of plant origin. Of the microbial biofuel products, three basic types are fuel alcohol, biogas which is also known as methane and hydrogen. At present there are 2 main markets for fuel alcohol, Brazil (Proalcohol) and U.S.A. (Gasohol) used either blended with petroleum or as 95% Ethanol) water mixture in purpose-built engines. Biogas is the term used for anaerobic methane production, a biochemical reaction in which CO2 is the ultimate electron acceptor producing either CO or CH4. Since both of these products are volatile they are relatively easy to obtain in pure form. Biological hydrogen production is done mostly during nitrogen fixation. Biofuel has millions of uses as well. One of the first benefits Rudolph Diesel a german engineer said, The use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may s ...

Free Essays on Minoan Crete

Crete’s island was covered with mountains and valleys. The rich soil and mild climate made Crete a good place to live. Their technology called the plow made it easy to grow more crops in rain-watered regions and civilization was able to spread beyond the river valleys. People living by the sea and ocean can supplement agriculture by fishing. In the eastern Mediterranean, these factors contributed to the rise of civilization on the island of Crete. Although scholars still have not figured out the origins of the first people of Crete, it is obvious that around 2000 BC the Cretans had made a strong civilization. Their civilization was all about great palace complexes, the famous one at Knossos. Historian named the civilization Minoan, after the legendary king minos. At the top of Minoan Society stood the rulers of the different palaces. These rulers governed all aspects of Minoan society. Under them were nobles, followed by a class of artisans, merchants, farmers and herders, and a specially trained class of scribes who served as the ruler’s bureaucracy. By looking at the lack of weapons displayed in Minoan art or found in their tombs, the Minoans were not violent and did not wreak their cities against invaders. The Minoans built structures that were technologically and architecturally advances, because Crete lies on an active fault zone and suffers a lot of earthquakes. Most families had timber and stucco houses. The royal and rich families had running water and lavatories. Homes were usually decorated with nice looking frescoes. Frescos are painting made right on the plaster walls. Many frescoes are of animals and plants from Mesopotamia and the Nile valley, suggesting trade contacts with these other regions. Minoan Men and women may have had the same status. Frescoes shoe women and men being in sports games like boxing and bull leaping in special bullrings. Minoan religion also showed the status of women. Its main figur... Free Essays on Minoan Crete Free Essays on Minoan Crete Crete’s island was covered with mountains and valleys. The rich soil and mild climate made Crete a good place to live. Their technology called the plow made it easy to grow more crops in rain-watered regions and civilization was able to spread beyond the river valleys. People living by the sea and ocean can supplement agriculture by fishing. In the eastern Mediterranean, these factors contributed to the rise of civilization on the island of Crete. Although scholars still have not figured out the origins of the first people of Crete, it is obvious that around 2000 BC the Cretans had made a strong civilization. Their civilization was all about great palace complexes, the famous one at Knossos. Historian named the civilization Minoan, after the legendary king minos. At the top of Minoan Society stood the rulers of the different palaces. These rulers governed all aspects of Minoan society. Under them were nobles, followed by a class of artisans, merchants, farmers and herders, and a specially trained class of scribes who served as the ruler’s bureaucracy. By looking at the lack of weapons displayed in Minoan art or found in their tombs, the Minoans were not violent and did not wreak their cities against invaders. The Minoans built structures that were technologically and architecturally advances, because Crete lies on an active fault zone and suffers a lot of earthquakes. Most families had timber and stucco houses. The royal and rich families had running water and lavatories. Homes were usually decorated with nice looking frescoes. Frescos are painting made right on the plaster walls. Many frescoes are of animals and plants from Mesopotamia and the Nile valley, suggesting trade contacts with these other regions. Minoan Men and women may have had the same status. Frescoes shoe women and men being in sports games like boxing and bull leaping in special bullrings. Minoan religion also showed the status of women. Its main figur...

Cultural diversity in the workplace Research Paper

Cultural diversity in the workplace - Research Paper Example It has always been a good sign within any organization when employees find it easy to communicate with one another. It allows for fresh ideas to flow and linkages become easier to manage. Any company that fosters multicultural relationships eventually reaps the benefits in the long run (Cox, 1994). On the same footing, the organizations which lack the basic skills of getting along with their employees lose out on quite a few tangents. If employees feel that they are being looked after well and that they continue to grow along with one another, it becomes a very attractive proposition for them to stay with such an organization for quite a long period of time. Also they have positive things to say about such multicultural diversity realms that have come about within the organizational levels. When employees have good relationships existing within their fore, they find it easier to work along. This brings in more productivity for the organization which essentially helps everyone to grow and develop. Good relations immensely allow for effectiveness and efficiency to reign in as and when required. This means that the employees feel that they are not made to work while being caged but they feel free and relaxed whilst working at their best. This is a good omen for the organization because it then knows that its employees are growing along together, and working to their best to foster relationships that would eventually boost the basis of the business from a strategic viewpoint. When employees come from different backgrounds, they bring with them a plethora of knowledge and skills which are specific to their respective natures. Similarly their cultural values are transferred quite easily towards a multicultural diverse setting which has prospered within the organization. The need is to understand where success lies and how to derive it for the best possible results in the long run. This will set the ball rolling for the employees and give them the much needed edge tha t they so require. Also it will tell all concerned how serious the organizational environment is in terms of fostering relationships and what this means for the sake of the business in the long run. It indeed is a win-win situation which needs to be studied, properly analyzed and then taken into consideration before being implemented in a head on fashion. When creativity is much desired, diversity resolves this issue instantly. This is because diversity allows the people to come from different backgrounds and thus explore the basis of creatively tackling a problem at hand. It also gives the permission to find out alternatives which might not have come about if diversity was absent. Any organization that knows the true value of creativity would always give its employees a chance to express themselves and this can only happen when there is a workforce which is open to understand each other better. Business creativity gets enhanced when people hailing from different backgrounds give in their side of the experience which essentially is a success factor (Boyett & Conn, 1992). This makes the organization feel proud that it offered the multicultural workforce a chance to express themselves, which came about in the form of creativity within the business ranks. It always allows the top management to find out where they can explore new options and how the routes can be envisaged for the same. Some