Does Playing Violent Video Games Increase Aggressiveness Research Paper

Does Playing Violent Video Games Increase Aggressiveness - Research Paper Example Principal Investigator (PI) Information Name Maricel Walsh Relationship to NSU: Faculty Staff Student x Home Mailing Address (for students) 15420 SW 74th circle ct City/State/Zip: Miami, Fl 33193 Office Phone: 786 873 0511 Home Phone (for students): 305 752 7884 NSU Center/College/Dept: Farguhar College Behavioral Science Dept. NSU Email Address: wmaricel@nova.edu Fax: Co-Investigators (Co-I) Information (including faculty advisers): Co-Investigator 1 Co-Investigator 2 Co-Investigator 3 Name Todd Coy, Ph.D. Address Dept of Social and Behavioral Science Contract Phone Number Email Address Crandy@nova.edu Have the PI, Co-I, and any research assistants completed the NSU-designated human subject's research training (CITI Program) Yes X No If you answered yes, please include a copy of your training certificate. If you answered no to this question, please note that no IRB action may take place until proof of completion of training is provided. II. Funding Information Will this research be funded Yes No X If yes was indicated, please provide the following information: A. Source of Funding N/A_______________________________________________ B. Project Title (if different from above) ________________________________ C. Principal Investigator (if different from above) __________________________ D. Type of Application: Grant____ Subcontract_____ Contract_____ Fellowship______ E. Date of Submission ______________________ F. Grant Amount ___________________ Do any investigators have a significant financial interest (as defined by NSU policy: http://www.nova.edu/ogc/forms/ogc9906.pdf) in relation to this study Yes No X If you answered yes, please be sure to include within the...Please note, ONLY ONE copy of all research instruments (tests instruments, interview protocols, etc.) must be submitted. The completed package must be received by the OGC by the last business day of the month prior to the next scheduled IRB meeting. The IRB web site should be consulted for the meeting dates of the IRB. Incomplete forms will delay review by the IRB. For either type of review the pages of the packet must be numbered sequentially. For further information, refer to the Policy and Procedure Manual for Research with Human Subjects. If you answered yes, please include a copy of your training certificate. If you answered no to this question, please note that no IRB action may take place until proof of completion of training is provided. If you answered yes, please be sure to include within the description section of all applicable consent forms the following statement: "The principal investigator a

Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 8

Culture - Essay Example Organisational culture is defined as those shared behaviour patterns that individuals demonstrate consistently within a firm as they undertake their respective roles (Mullins 2011: 88). For example, holding weekly staff meeting can be a culture that distinguishes organisation A from organisation B. Values, norms as well as traditions are also shared in companies that have identifiable cultures. It is worth noting that the strength or intensity of the culture may vary from one organisation to another. This paper will seek to address comprehensively the concept of organisational culture and determine some of the advantages strong organisational cultures bring to companies. The essay begins by tracing the development of organisational culture before embarking on evaluating the many benefits of strong cultures within the firm. A question that may perplex someone is how the culture is set and absorbed by members within the organisation. As a matter of fact, the deepest root off organisational culture is extended to the founders. It is the company’s vision and mission as well as the core values that they pioneer the organisation with that forms the foundation of the firm’s culture. Initially the founders identify some of the values that should be fundamental to the operations of the organisation they form. They then hire and recruit person (managers) who share the same values and perceptions with them. In cases where the founders do not find exactly people who do not have the same perception, they may convince and assimilate them into accepting their culture. Through their actions and the behaviour they exhibit, the pioneers indoctrinate the worker to accept their values and perceptions. For example, if the organisation is founded on strong Christian principles, the behaviours and expressions of the founders that portray Christian values will be transferred to and absorbed by the workers (Robbins & Judge

Public Finance - Tax System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Public Finance - Tax System - Essay Example While a tax is imposed it somehow hampers the free market operation and hence tax is subject to some social cost. Thats why an efficient taxation should minimize the social cost or welfare loss. On the other hand it should target to encourage the saving and investment in the society. According to Adam Smith, the tax structure should be fair and clear enough i.e. everyone should have the information regarding the tax that is paid and the administration of the tax system should be clear and easy. While a tax is introduced the following facts should be kept into mind. 1. The tax system should be economically efficient i.e. the benefit of taxation should exceed the social cost of it. The benefit includes the correcting effect, allocation of resources and insurance of equality. 2. The tax system should possess administrative efficiency. It should be easy to monitor and maintain and the system should be simple enough so that the administrative cost and the compliance cost are minimum. 4. There should be close coordination between the political decision makers and the tax system. It implies that tax payers should have the perfect knowledge about the mode of operation of the taxation system and the political decision makers should be well aware of the preference of the people so that the change in decision must be the resemblance of the choice of the majority of the tax payers which is a basic feature of a democratic system. All the aforesaid features are closely related to a fair distribution and the economic benefit of the taxes. Beneficial tax normally refers to the optimal taxation. The optimal tax theory is based on the equality and the economy of collection of taxation. While any government frames a taxation policy it should keep into mind that the taxation should be socially justified and have minimum impacts on the economic decisions. A wide

Difference between entering the markets U.S.A and Austria based on Essay

Difference between entering the markets U.S.A and Austria based on hofstedes cultural dimensions - Essay Example The first category, that is; power distance measures less powerful members of asocial set up to the extent of acceptance of inequality. High gets in power distance indicate that a person workers or employers will not be granted advancement according to merit but rather what social set up has dictated for them. In individualism –collectivism high gets reflect strong person’s independence and a responsibility to one’s own actions.in Hofstede’s cultural dimensions; Masculinity-femininity affected very many societies. The values of women were relatively the same; meaning levels of modesty, caring, and sensitivity were relatively similar. Theworld’saverage in this category is 50. An average score implies that there is a balance between feminine and masculine qualities in a country. When it comes to uncertainty avoidance index, the world’s average in this category is 64. Rules and regulations in terms of intricate planning would be more prominent i n higher scoring countries. In his final cultural category; that is long term orientation Hofstede examines the preference for short term and long term goals in different countries. High scorers in this categoryindicate their culture is more persistent and thrifty (Ball et al., 2005). ... ed as the extent to which the less powerful members of the social set upor organizations within a state expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. The fact that disparities exist within a social set up is accepted by the subjects as well as by their leaders. The U.S.A has a low score on this category (40) which implies that the American liberty and justice for all has been underscored. This can be proved by the focus on equal rights in most aspects of the American social set up and government. Hierarchy is established for convenience for all American organizations just as superiors are always accessible and employers rely in a personworkers and teams for their experience. Both employers and workers in the American social set up expect to be consulted and information is shared frequently.at the same time, their communication is straight, casual and participative. Austria on the other hand gets as low as 11 in this category. This means that Austria is characterized by the f ollowing; there is a lot of independence, there is hierarchy for convenience purposesonly, persons have equal rights, superiors are easily accessible, leaders are viewed as coaches, their management facilitates and empowers workers. Power is not centralized and employers count on the participation and experience of their team members. Workers also expect to be consulted. Control on workers is unlikely and attitude towards employers are informal and on first name basis. Communication is express and participative (Hofstede, 2003). Individualism The most important issue addressed by this category is the degree of interdependence a social set up maintains among its members. This includesself-image defined in terms of â€Å"I† or â€Å"we† .individuals in a individualistic societies are

Proposal Argument Essay Example for Free

Proposal Argument Essay I believe it is an agreed principle by everyone that the importance of sports is in the life of a student is invaluable. Sports play a significant role of first about every individual solely country (Campbell; 4). In one way or the other people are involved in a game or some sort, Whether he/she is watching or playing or by just knowing an individual who plays or watches. Sports often come in various sizes. Cricket is a group sport with individuals playing various roles at the same time play is going on. The matches are played in an open field usually oval or circular in shape. Cricket is an international sport with recognition all over the world. It has a long history since the 19th century and has often been associated with strong passion, that has seen it become more popular the world over. With this reputation that this game has earned all over the years that it has been in existence, The College would be glad to be associated with this game and be part of the effort to develop the games in our society to enable all Americans to compete at the international stage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Austin community college (ACC) wants to develop an exciting and innovative initiative to help advance the careers of students as professional players and to motivate them. The students through the department of sports and the college, proposes to start an established cricket team that will provide training service to the student. This proposal requests $ 800,000.00 from the community and other well wishers through a fund drive to help meet the costs of buying a piece of land that would be used as both training and play ground by the student. Part of this money will also be used towards the purchase of facilities for training and playing like bats and gears among others and for amenities for people involved in the game of cricket at the college. We as the members of the cricket club of Austin community college anticipate that the grants that will be received from the fundraising will be an essential and a basis part of our program. It will also be crucial as it will provide an essential training and educational component to the project thereby allowing us to both extend our effort in academic as well as that of sports and at the same time lowering the costs the college would incur and thus providing the college with an opportunity to meet the needs of its student and as such serve the large society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The program (crickets) which the school envisions is multi-faceted comprehensive as well as innovative. The college community has a tremendous requirement for additional sports. The ACC and its board have already identified an ideal site where the training and play ground can be set up The cost breakdown of the proposed site and facilities is as follows;   Play ground- $ 500,000 Facilities- $ 260,000 Administrative -$ 100,000 The cost estimates of this program have been based on a comprehensive program designed which took in to consideration all of the criteria players coaches, trainers playing facilities as well as other aspects of the cricket game.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Like in every game the facilities that are budgeted for are essential, and without which there will be no much development of the sport. The sport requires a large space from which both the training and playing can take place. However the space within the college is not adequate to accommodate the pitch. That is why the college is soliciting for funds to purchase a piece of land that is about 200 meters from the college. The field is spacious enough, a key to the project. It is the only open field with enough capacity to cater for the game otherwise there is no other such space within the vicinity which can cost less or specious for the program.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The essence of sports is either money or fun like in every sport the game of cricket has both professionals and amateurs (http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/article/sports/sport1.htm.). The school would be serving the role of facilitator and developer of the talents of the amateurs and molding them in to professionals for the betterment of the society. In most cases sports have been known to bring cohesion and together in the community and the larger society. For instance the game of cricket is internationally recognized for the role it has played to bring some kind of peace and tranquility between India and Pakistan. This can translate to bring the students as well as community at Austin community, college. The fans which will be largely the student from the college will be inspired by a good team to come out on large numbers to support their team. I believe that the net effect of this support would be that of the school community working together in harmony. Nevertheless this can only be achieved if the school is able to purchase the parcel of land in question and buy the needs facilities so as to be able to develop the game.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As has been witnessed in other sports the game is able to feature every part of social studies through active involvement in one way or another and which will be of great benefit to all parties involved including the entire society (http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/article/sports/sport1.htm.). For instance, the bowlers must have ample space to run as well as the cricket keepers which will enable them to compete at the highest level of competition and at the same time develop and nurture talents that will not only turn professional but successful sports men/women who will do our country proud and raise the standard of the game in the country.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For the last 3 and half years the students have been using the soccer pitch which has hampered their progress and at the same time interrupted the training program of the soccer players. Currently there about 30 students who are actively involved in the sport but due to lack of enough facilities and an ample space to train in any have not been able to join the team. This is so because there are many students with the interest to join the game but who can not be accommodated due to the current state of affairs. A large number of students are not actively involved in sports but whom cricket would provide with the opportunity to be actively participating and develop.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On behalf the entire organizing committee for the funds drive and the sports department I do believe that your contribution would go a long way in achieving this goal. It is also sure way for everyone through their contributions to be part of the history to be made. Thanks in anticipation. Reference: James Campbell. Excursions, adventure, and field sports in Ceylon Asian education service, 1999 Non profit guides http://www.npguides.org/guide/grand2.htm Social studies for kids; sports as social studies http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/article/sports/sport1.htm.

Analysis of Richard Wrights Black Boy

Analysis of Richard Wrights Black Boy Black Boy Essay In Richard Wright’s autobiography of Black Boy, Richard is determined to leave his family to move to the north because they do not provide the necessities for him to be successful. Richard’s bold and stubborn personality negates him success. This runs parallel to the abuse and manipulation that Richard receives that limits his relationships with others around him. Wright also shows how reading frees a soul suffering from discrimination. The US constitution states that â€Å"All men are created equal,† but in the Jim Crow law era, blacks were always looked down upon. Jim Crow promoted segregation and dehumanization amongst blacks and whites, creating the â€Å"wall† that separates whites from blacks. Racial prejudice, hate and discrimination were everywhere; blacks could be punished in any manor, from being arrested and getting a beating, to being slain based on a white person’s judgment on the action perform by the black individual. Throughout the n ovel we can see Richard’s alienation from the white community as well as the black community. Richard grew up in the south bound by rules and regulations formed by the whites. Secluded within their own confines of living, their struggle to survive in such a harsh environment seemed infinite and hopeless. Richard had to take charge when his mother falls ill and must provide for her and the family; disregarding this own health and focusing on keeping up with the rent and bills that needed to be paid. Richard’s father deserted his family leaving him and his mother to be on their own. Nathan, Richard’s dad was a peasant, and a share cropper. He did what the whites commanded him to do, follow the rules with no desire to succeed or progress in life, and repeat each and every demeaning and menial task day by day just to get by. This is the kind of society which ‘trained’ Nathan to be what the whites forced him to be, a dull and dumb individual with no sense of perception of what’s actually going on around him. Being counted as a subspecies, Richardà ¢â‚¬â„¢s father was conditioned to have no sense of hope, his entire life was based upon one thing, and that is falling in line with all other blacks and follows through with all the commands given by the white with no questions asked. This worked on every level imaginable, using sheer force and fear to tear down any sense of hope or positive thinking which blacks had. Just the thought of blacks surpassing a white individual was unthinkable. Why is this? It’s because it was deemed that way, it was how the society worked at that time. No one could question or challenge what whites could or can’t do, all of their thoughts are final. The ideas of being superior amongst the blacks were socially acceptable. And this included dehumanizing and cruel treatments. Richard wasn’t like the other kids that were in the black society. He was more free willed and ambitious. Richard was an independent individual from the start; not getting attached to anyone or in need of assistance of any sort. Richard was fond of education and learning. His quest for knowledge seemed, in the other black people’s eyes as a waste of time and energy, deemed to be helpful. But in some cases, Richard’s knowledge gets him in trouble, even worse getting hurt. An example from the book, is when Richard has to go to the store and buy groceries, but gets robbed numerous times by a gang of boys. The final time that Richard failed to get the groceries his mother told him, â€Å"Don’t come in here†¦You just stay right where you are, I’m going to teach your this night to stand up and fight for yourself†¦Don’t you come into this house until you’ve gotten those groceries.†(pg.24-25). One of Richard’s top quali ties was taught that night by his mother was perseverance. On the other hand we see the opposite, Shorty. Basically this amplifies my point of doing whatever possible to survive in this dreadful environment. He gets kicked in the gut just to get a quarter. My ass is tough and quarters is scarce.(end of ch12) At what point does a person go to violate self-ethics and morals, and go through with it just to survive. How far are you willing to go until you break? There is a delicate bond between the white people and white people, as humans we have limitations on how much we can handle mentally and physically. We can see from this example that Shorty is willing to degrade himself in order to get a quarter per kick. Shorty and Richard go off on a tangent about how to avoid being dehumanized and do something else. Richard offers to help him but Shorty’s hard headedness prevents him from to take heed the information given by Richard. But in Shorty’s remarks, he states that he is lazy to do anything and won’t change his ways of ho w he earns money. The readers recognize that Shorty has accepted the fact of being caught in the white power web of inferiority; he sees that there is no way out of this terrible situation. He went to school for half of his learning, and the half he was self-taught; by reading little bits and pieces he manages to learn quite a bit. Having knowledge and education grants Richard to be ahead of all the other black people. Wanting to be a writer, Wright pursues his dreams of moving North and writing novels. He takes the challenge by getting any job he can to raise money for himself to move to the north once and for all, and freeing himself from the clutches of racial prejudice and white rule. His ability to persevere also guided Richard toward his prosperity. Richard was a fighter and no matter what obstacle he faced, he manages to knock it down and march forth with his duties. Richard was always rebellious, from when he was really young to young adulthood. For example, when the principal at Richard’s school had asked him to give a speech to the audience of whites and blacks, Richard refused to read the principal’s pre-written speech. Just by reading the principal’s speech he was relieved at the same overly stressed out. He had the will and courage that other black individuals lacked to commence forth with this own speech. Richard was willing to leave school without a diploma just because of this unjust action. The whites knew that Richard was different; they knew that he challenged the â€Å"system† and he wasn’t afraid like the rest of the black people. The readers can sense fear coming from the whites, due to Richard’s attitude towards the whites and the boundaries that surround him. The white’s try to cover up their fear and pushing racism by being cruel and demeaning towards the entire black population. We can see in the scene where Richard gets a new job at the optical place, and his co-workers mistreat him just because the boss is kind to Richard. Later Richard leaves the job knowing that his co-workers would ‘kill’ him if told the boss what happed to him. The hostility portrayed by his co-workers was so great that Richard couldn’t handle it anymore, and was forced to leave his job. All of these events mold Richard into the hardy character he is known for. Wright’s intellect was unmatched by the blacks, and well as his rebellious features and conduct. These were a few reasons that he was able to overcome his background of being black individual, and becoming a successful writer. Based on the fact that he was smart and independent, and his perseverance guided him to reach this status, to which all blacks should uphold to. By reading Black Boy it becomes very clear to the reader how life as a black minority is very difficult. We can recognize all the struggles they faced and how Richard challenged and managed to surpass what no blacks ever did.

Coal Fired Power Plants Engineering Essay

Coal Fired Power Plants Engineering Essay In this chapter is going to be presented the function and some other aspects of a coal-fired power plant. First of all as coal-fired power plant it can be defined that plant which uses coal as fuel so as to produce electricity. Coal is a fossil fuel which is created through the compression of peat as it is buried under the earth. There are two general types of coal, the black coal and the brown coal. The typical mass of a black coal consists of [1]: 88% carbon 5% hydrogen 5% oxygen 1% nitrogen 1% sulphur In this chapter it will be analyzed the thermodynamic principle on which the operation of a power plant is based and some other auxiliary functions which are significant for the proper operation. Furthermore it is presented the emissions of a coal-fired power plant and some efficient ways so as to be constraint. 3.1 Historical evolution of coal-fired power plants The ever increasing demand for energy made it compelling the deployment of a technology which would have the ability to generate electricity in an effective and affordable way. On that basis the development of coal-fired power plants blocks started during 1950s when the first plants had a capacity of 60 MW and nowadays the capacity has raised up to 1010 MW in Europe and 1300 MW in the USA [2]. According to IEA [3] in year 2010 the total installed capacity of coal-fired power plants was more than 1600 GW and it is expected to be installed more 1000 GW until 2035. In Fig.1 it is presented the total capacity of coal-fired power plants installed through the years from 1920 up to 2004 worldwide an more specifically in countries such as the USA, China, Germany etc. where power demand is in very high levels. From the graph in Fig.1 it is obvious that the total capacity of the coal-fired power stations follows an upward trend. This enormous growth in coal-fired power plants can be explained on the grounds that coal is a very cheap fuel and in abundance in many places around the world as many studies have shown [4-7]. Fig. 1: Cumulative pulverized-coal plant installation between 1920 and 2004. Source: [8] 3.2 Clausius-Rankine Cycle In this section it is presented the basic principle on which it is based the operation of a coal fired power plant. This principle is known from thermodynamics as the Clausius-Rankine cycle or steam cycle. In Fig.2 it is shown the four steps that conclude the steam cycle and the basic devices which are necessary so as to be implemented. More specific the working media is water and steam and in the first step (1-2) the pump increases waters pressure and therefore it is consumed work by the pump. Afterwards in the next step (2-3) input heat Qin from the combustion of pulverised coal is transferred to water which is evaporated and converted into steam, and steam is heated further. In the step (3-4) the steam is expanded from a high pressure turbine to a low pressure one and in this way mechanical work is generated in the shaft of turbines. Ultimately in the final step (4-1) the output heat is released and the steam is condensed into water again. Thus the work of the turbine gained is gi ven by (1). WT = Qin Qout WP (1) Fig.2: Steam cycle. Source: [2]. 3.3 Operation of coal-fired power plants In Section 3.2 it was presented the theory which applies in the function of a coal-fired power station. In this section it is described in more detail all stages of a coal-fired power plant and the way in which the basic principle is implemented in practice. In Fig.3 it is shown a schematic of a typical coal fired power plant and all devices that make it up. The first step of the function of a coal-fired power plant is the supply of coal. This procedure is made through a conveyor belt which transfers coal to the coal hopper. After that coal is pulverized so as to become fine powder. In pulverized fuel boilers coal is pulverized into very small particles about 100 microns and this type of boilers is the most common [1]. The next step is coal to be burnt. Thus a preheated air stream drive the pulverized coal to the burners of the boiler, where fuel is burnt in short time and in this way it is produced a flue gas. This flue gas contains the chemical energy of the fuel (i.e. the coal) which has been converted into thermal energy. A portion of this thermal energy is transferred through radiation and convection into the water which circulates in a network of pipes inside the boiler and therefore the water is evaporated and converted into steam. This steam has very high temperature and pressure at this stage of the procedure (about 25 MPa and 5 00-600 oC [1]) and it is expanded from the high pressure turbine to the low pressure one. More specifically first the high pressure steam drives the high pressure turbine and the exhaust steam returns back to the furnace where it is reheated and drives the intermediate and low pressure turbines. This set of turbines rotates a shaft which is connected with a generator and in this way it is produced electricity. The exhaust steam which released by the low pressure turbine is cooled in the condenser and becomes water again. This water is pumped back to the network of pipes insight the boiler and thus the same procedure is iterated. In the condenser cold water is circulated into tubes, which usually comes from a river or sea. Thus the heat of the exhaust steam is exchanged with this cooling water, which temperature is raised after that and respectively the steam is liquefied and becomes water again. If the plant is near the sea or river, then the cooling water flows back in the sea or river with a higher temperature which usually is 10-20 oC up [1]. Otherwise the warm cooling water should be processed through a cooling tower in order to be cooled. The cooling tower is a system, where the warm cooling water is driven in a higher altitude in the top of the tower and then it flows down, being exposed to an upward stream of air and in this way it is cooled. As far as the flue gases are concerned, they are passed through different cleaning stages before discharged into the atmosphere through the stack. In more specific, the first step is to pass them through a device where the biggest amount of the dust particles is collected. This device is called precipitator. There are three kinds of precipitators which are bag filters, cyclone filters and electrostatic filters [1]. Next they pass into the desulphurisation unit so as the sulphur dioxide (SO2) to be removed. C:UsersGeorgeDesktopMSc SESCarbon capture transportAssignment 1ststeam-power-plant.png Fig.3: Schematic of a coal-fired power plant. Source: [9]. 3.4 Efficiency of coal-fired power plants The efficiency of power plant is a very significant factor, on the grounds that by improving it is needed less fuel to be consumed and CO2 emissions can be constrained. Of course it is not possible for every plant to have the same efficiency and there are many factors which can influence it [10]. In Fig.4 is presented in a flow chart which indicates the transformation of energy in one form to another, the losses in each stage and the total efficiency of a typical coal-fired power station. It can be inferred that the majority of losses occur during the conversion of thermal energy into mechanical in the turbines, where a big amount of thermal energy, i.e. heat is rejected through the condenser into the atmosphere. These losses are approximately 45% of the input energy and this fact is reasonable enough as it is explained by the second law of thermodynamics, which says that all heat engines have to reject some heat. Other significant losses occur in the boiler where about 6% of the inp ut energy is lost in flue gas and in auxiliary procedures, such as the pumps where the losses are roughly 9%. Therefore a typical coal-fired power plant has about 30% to 40% percentage of efficiency [1, 2]. Fig.4: Conversion energy stages, losses and total efficiency of coal-fired power plants. Source: [2] 3.5 Emissions of coal-fired power plants The typical emissions of plant which does not have any cleaning stages are [1]: Carbon Dioxide (CO2): 700 tonnes/hour Oxides of Nitrogen (NOX): 1t tonne/hour Sulphur Dioxide (SO2): 1-20 tonnes/hour Nitrogen (N): 2500 tonnes/hour Steam: 150 tonnes/hour Fly ash: 10-20 tonnes/hour It is noticeable that about 2500 tonnes/hour of Nitrogen are released, nevertheless nitrogen is the major component of the air we breathe and therefore it is deemed harmless. Moreover about 700 tonnes/hour of Carbon dioxide are discharged during the combustion process and on world bases whole coal-fired power plants are responsible for 21% of global carbon dioxide emissions [10]. Despite the fact that CO2 might be harmless in small concentrations as it is a component of air mix, in bigger amounts it poses serious threats for the environment and contributes to the climate change as several studies have shown [11, 12]. Therefore it is compelling to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide and for this reason it has been developed several techniques of capturing and storage carbon [2, 13]. Nitrogen oxides contribute to acid rain and harm peoples health. They are discharged in bigger amount when the temperature of the boiler is higher [1]. Sulphur dioxide contributes also to the acid rain and therefore flue gases pass through the desulphurisation unit so as SO2 to be removed. Another very harmful emission of coal-fired power plants is the fly ash, which are known as particulates pollutes the environment in great extent and can also be responsible for respiratory problems in terms of peoples health. However most plants are equipped with precipitators so as to remove this dangerous fly ash as it is referred in Section 3.3. 3.6 Advantages-disadvantages of coal-fired power plants One major advantage of using coal for generating electricity is the reliability that offers. The coal-fired power plants can supply power to the grid with great reliability so as blackouts to be avoided during peak electrical loads. Except for that coal is very cheap fuel compared with other fuels and that fact makes this technology affordable enough and there is in abundance. On the other hand the disadvantages of coal-fired power plants are that they release greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere X. References [1] BOYLE, G., EVERETT, B. and RAMAGE, J.: Energy systems and sustainability,(Oxford university press 2003). [2] SPLIETHOFF, H.: Power generation from solid fuels, (Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010). [3] FINKENRATH, M.,SMITH J. and VOLK D.: CCS retrofit. Analysis of the globally installed coal fired power plant fleet, (International Energy Agency 2012), p 17. [4] ANDRULEIT, H., BABIES H.G., MEBNER, J., REHDER, S., SCHAUER, M. and SCHMIDT, S.: Reserves, resources and availability of energy resources 2011, (German Mineral Resources Agency, Hannover 2011). [5] WORLD ENERGY COUNCIL: 2010 Survey of energy resources. Available on: http://www.worldenergy.org/documents/ser_2010_report_1.pdf. Accessed in October 2012. [6] BP: Statistical review of world energy June 2012. Available on: http://www.bp.com. Accessed in October 2012. [7] THIELEMANN, T., SCHMIDT, S. and GERLING J.P.: Lignite and hard coal: Energy suppliers for world need until the year 2100 An outlook, International journal of coal geology, 2007, 72, pp. 1-14. [8] YEH, S. and EDWARD, S.R.: A centurial history of technological change and learning curves for pulverized coal-fired utility boilers, Energy, 2007, 32, pp. 1996-2005. [9] Image. Available on: http://electricalandelectronics.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/steam-power-plant.png. [10] IEA: Power generation from coal: Measuring and reporting efficiency performance and CO2 emissions. Available on: http://www.iea.org/ciab/papers/power_generation_from_coal.pdf. Accessed in October 2012. 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