Energy Policy (Essay Sample)

Energy Policy
Name
Institution
Date
Essay 1
Fate of the world
When played the game, I decided to put into use unique strategy that I thought would be successful. I focused on Africa, Latin America and United States of America. The reason for focusing on theses regions was due to the high levels of pollution and lack of resources in the other regions. I invested in nuclear and renewable energy during the first decade in the four regions so as to reduce the levels of pollution. Latin America is known for forest and so I pushed for the protection of forests and opened up offices in the region. Offices were also opened in the other regions with the electric car being developed in China, USA. The presence of the offices played a vital role in ensuring that the environmental, technological and political cards were played. During challenges such as recession, it was important to win the support. Measures were put in place to deal with unemployment, floods and drought. Biofuels were also banned at this time to reduce the levels of competition that it beings for other resources such as land and food. Over the next decades, shale oil was banned as it increases the temperature. Fewer amounts were spent on the political issues during the regime change. At all times, emissions in different industries were monitored effectively with the temperatures being monitored in other different regions. This greatly contributed to the wining of the game.


Different regions had different challenges and working with others played an important role in obtaining more information about the different regions. The information that was obtained from other was important during the game. A lot of lessons were learnt when playing the game. I learnt that the conservation of the environment requires a lot of resources. The support from the regions is also important during the process on environmental protection. Each region has particular practices that negatively impact the environment. As a result of this, different strategies are required for the purposes of protecting the environment in different regions. Some of the important metrics included the levels of emissions in different regions. Different sectors produce different levels of emissions and it is important to control the emissions in all the sectors so as to prevent the increase in temperatures. I also learnt that the economic situation of a country is directly related to the levels of pollution. What surprised me is the impacts that the political processes have on the environmental protection. Regime change may have impacts on the process of environmental protection due to the policies that may be put in place by the regimes. Political instability has negative impacts on the protection of the environment. This is because it makes it difficult for the polices that are in place to be implemented. The problem that seemed insurmountable is dealing with problems such as economic depression which also affects the environment. Technology is also a factor that can be used for the purposes of promoting environmental protection.
The focus was on Africa, Latin America and United States of America


Explanations
The main problems experienced is that in most of the African and South American problem’s is that the HDI cannot be raised to the expected standards which is always above 0.7. Most parts of Africa face water problems compared to other wealthy regions.








Because of this, people recommended crashing the regions Agriculture and invest in ‘Cap and Trade’ card. After that, invest in ‘Grow Industry’ card. Investment in ‘Drought’ is not needed.
However, for those who want Africa and South America to be happy, the game managed to get 0.94 HDI for both regions Key issues
Manage health and water in the region
Economic growth comes secondMore details
Reject coal power
Reject oil power
Commit to 4th nuclear
Reject Cap and trade
This will achieve 1.0 life expectancy index by the year 2080 Water
Improve drought
Ban tight gas
Vegetarian revolution
Improve vegetarian HDI
Cap and Trade
Improve commerce
Reduce the number of children
Improve education
Crop yield improved


The game has some lessons on the real life situation in terms of protecting the environment. The game indicates that the protection of the environment requires a proper utilization of funds. The protection of the environment requires the efforts of different stakeholders in order to ensure that policies are put in place. The political goodwill is equipped so as to ensure that policies are in place to ensure that the environment is protected. The game indicates that the life on earth may be threatened if the environment is not protected. Each nation has its own challenges and it may affect the decision making problems when going from a single decision maker to a loosely cooperating nation. The differences in the economic situation may greatly affect the countries during the implementation of policies. Science and technology has been presented well in the game and it brings about a sense of reality. However, it is also important to note that the game has unclear game mechanics which makes it difficult to play. The difficulty curve in the game is quite complex and it also lacks a feedback mechanism (Greenwood, 2012). The modeling of the economic and environment activity in the game reflects the reality of the environmental situation. The complexity of the environmental crisis has been clearly outlined in the game which plays an important role in creating awareness about the importance of environmental conservation. The game has high levels of accuracy in terms of modeling the environmental issues.
Essay 2
Question 2
Introduction
Energy wastage in the United States of America is quite high and this has negative impacts on the sustainability process. The culture of wasteful energy has been in place over a long period of time and people are already used to the practices that involve the wastage of energy. Many suggestions have been put in place for the purposes of dealing with the culture of energy wastage. The development of cultural and social motivation was proposed by Amory Lovins but it has not been fully successful (Nguyen & Aiello, 2013). The paper thus discusses the methods that can be used to improve on the culture of wastage in the United States of America.
Discussion
According to the practice theory, routine behaviors are usually shared among people, time and space. As a result of this, the routine behavior forms part of the culture of the people. This situation is the same in the United States of America where routine behaviours have become cultural and have contributed to the wastage of energy. In the United States of America, the use of reticulated water supply and the modern bathrooms is common and it has almost become a culture (Mazloomi & Gomes, 2012). Such practice affects the consumption of energy and it leads to wastages. At the individual level, the people waste a lot of energy by taking long showers on a daily basis with some of the individuals showering for more than two times a day. This problem therefore requires a solution that will lead to the changes in behaviours of the individuals. Creation of awareness among the individuals is one of the possible solutions to the problem. The stakeholders can launch awareness campaigns in order to sensitize the people about the culture of energy wastage. Thos is for the purposes of promoting behavior change among the people. The concepts of behavioural psychology are therefore useful in ensuring that the people are able to change their behaviours and reduce the wastage. However, it is also important to note that this method may not be fully effective as awareness does not necessarily guarantee behavior change. The awareness may only change the behavior of a few people in the society.
The social economics methods can also be useful in the development of strategies that encourages the people to reduce wastage. The social economical method may contribute to the reduction in the rate of energy consumption as compared to the use of campaigns aimed at changing the behaviours of the individuals. Most of the appliances that are used in different homes in the United States of America are directly responsible for the energy wastage (Bradbury, et al, 2014). The manufacturers of the home Appliances should be involved in the process. They should be encouraged to design the appliances that reduce the wastage of energy. This can further be reinforced by putting in place policies that are aimed at reducing the wastage of energy. The appliances should be in a position to meet the demands of the individuals while at the same time reducing the consumption of energy. The individuals purchasing the new appliances or requiring replacements will have to use the new appliances that are energy saving. This will go a long way in ensuring that the wastage of energy is reduced to a huge extent. The design of the houses should also be carried out in a way that it reduces the wastage of energy. The concepts of green building should encouraged so as to ensure that the buildings contribute to power saving. The power sockets and switches within the buildings should be located in areas that are easily accessible so as to enable the individuals to remove plugs and witch off electricity.
The behaviours of the individuals usually change when the environment is changed. This concept can be used for the purposes reducing the wastage of energy in the country. The provision of the recycling bins should be carried out for the purposes of encouraging the recycling process. This is one way of modifying the environment and it will influence the way people dispose the wastes. How...