Geology and the Environment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Geology and the Environment - Research Paper Example The paper outlines the perspective of using solar power as the future source of energy, compared to coal-mining industry. As the world gets bigger, as economies get larger, as the human population increases, the demand for energy also amplifies. Everyone wants the maximum amount of energy that can be produced; over the centuries, man has found numerous ways to bring power into their lives, ranging from combustion of fossil fuels, to wind power. This essay will compare and contrast two of these possible energy sources, coal with solar energy, and attempt to find out which source produces energy in the most effective and desirable way. Solar power is more environmental friendly as compared to power released from coal, in terms of the physical effects it has on the environment. As mentioned earlier, solar power is generated using only radiation from the sun; we receive sunlight every single day on earth, and solar panels only have to capture this radiation and convert it into power to u se. Generating power using coal, however, requires coal to be dug out from the ground. There are several ways of extracting coal from the ground, including strip mining, surface mining, open pit mining, mountain top removal. These types of mining inflict tremendous amount of damage to the environment since they involve the complete destruction of all trees, mountains, rivers, anything that is in the vicinity of the coal mine. Mining for coal can also lead to the pollution of the air and water bodies near the coal mine. (Shah, 2011); toxic materials from the mining process can get washed away into rivers or lakes that are near the mining site ("Coal," page 8). Also, the removal of trees can lead to increased chances of landslides and subsidence ("Coal," page 4). All in all, the process of extracting coal leaves behind a barren, ugly landscape, whereas solar power is generated in a way that does not harm the physical environment. Solar power also means no more grid systems (Whitburn, no date). Solar power can be generated using solar panels that are attached onto the roofs of houses, there is no need to be connected to electrical grids to receive power. This feature of solar power is particularly useful to the people living in isolated areas far away from electrical grid, since it means they no longer have to face the problem of "frequent power-cuts," and expensive electricity, (Whitburn, no date). Indeed, this "transmission infrastructure," is the  "major culprit  behind skyrocketing electricity prices"; also, reliance on off-grid solar power means that the 7 - 10%  line loss  that occurs as power is being transmitted along the power lines, can be avoided, (Land use: Solar Power Vs. Coal Fired Electricity Generation, 2010). Energy produced by coal however, does require the support of grid systems to transfer it to people. How do people working in the coal mining and solar

Leadership Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Leadership - Case Study Example nd avoidance/passive styles) and different features of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, diminishment of personal accomplishment) were made by authors. Out of these five hypotheses only two were fully supported: the one - about positive association between passive leadership style and both depersonalization and emotional exhaustion; the second – about positive correlation between transformational leadership and personal accomplishment. The highest achievement of the authors and therefore the best feature of the article is the fact that the article provides a thorough literature review. A lot of sources providing research on the different styles of management as well as the research on different features and reasons of burnout were analyzed. The analysis of correlations between leadership styles and burnout which already exists in the literature is also presented by the authors of the article. However, the empirical researches as well as the conclusions made in the article contain certain limitations. First of all, taking into account the fact that out of five hypotheses made by the authors of the article only two were fully support with the data, their conclusions about the connections between styles of leadership and burnout as a whole seem somehow overgeneralized. Those hypotheses which were fully supported with the data present just one side of the burnout. Besides that, there are limitations connected with the sample which is used for the research. Even though the authors of the article argue that the response rate of 26.2 percent is normal for this area of research as it involves sensitive issues, it is still very low and as we don’t know anything about the remaining 73.8 percent of the planned sample, the results of the research may be seriously biased. Such a small number of answers (131) provides doubts about the credibility of research results. Even though the study contains certain limitations, especially from the methodological