Green Economy for XYZ Ltd or the XXX Sector - Case Study Example

? Green economy for xyz ltd or the xxx sector Executive summary The increased pollution and global warming effects have increased the need for the businesses both small and large to start programs of utilizing the available renewable energy sources. This paper will be analyzing the benefits of taking up the initiative of implementing the policy of using green energy. Some of these include reduced cost of business operations, improved environmental conditions and increased levels of employment. Nevertheless, there are many factors that will hamper the initiative. Some of these includes lack of adequate skills to operate new technology and also finances to implement the policy. The paper analyzes the solutions to these barriers and takes an insight on the effect it will have to the business and world at large. One of the major breakthroughs of the initiative will be making the world a better place to reside in as fuels are cited as major contributors of world pollution. Introduction In the current days, there has been an increased change in the environmental conditions. This has resulted to global warming which is a condition that has earned global concern all over the world. Global warming has mainly been associated by increased release of carbon dioxide and other gases in the environment. The highest contributor of the gas release is the petroleum and its products. This has called for an urgent review on the alternative methods that can be used to get alternative sources of energy to supplement the use of petroleum. Non-governmental organization has started campaigns to sensitize people on dangers that the world faces in case it does not change to other renewable sources of energy such as sun, wind, water and geothermal energies. Nevertheless, this has faced great setback as the major releaser of these gases such as china and united states have failed to contribute to various protocols that has been formed such as Kyoto protocol to come up with a more sustainable environment-friendly energy sources. Energy contributes above 60% of the business cost of production therefore; this issue will be of high concern to the businesses. Literature review Reasons for the move towards more environmentally friendly approaches One of the reasons behind this shift is that petroleum and its products are the greatest polluters of the environment. In the current days the world has experienced increased release of green gas in the atmosphere which has had an effect on the world overall temperatures. One of the most affected areas is the arctic regions where increase in the temperature levels is changing the ecosystem of the areas through melting of the ice. This has caused distress to animals living in these areas and even some of them succumbing to the temperature changes. Also, the overall world temperatures levels have increased. This has led to increased desertification in various parts of the world. The sea levels have also changed. The sea levels have gone up leading to changes in aqua-system. The move by businesses to use environmental friendly measures would prevent these conditions from aggravating further (Bleischwitz & Hennicke) Green energy is cost savings. In the current days the petroleum prices have seen an increased trend in prices which is bringing a difference in the cost of production. As a result the prices of the commodities have increased tremendously. This has had an impact on the total revenues of the commodity as the consumers’ consumption has changed leading to lowering the revenues of the company. Environmental friendly energy sources are less costly e.g. solar energy and wind energy as they are offered free by nature. This gives an opportunity to business to operate at a lower cost and make profits. Mainly the petroleum industry is controlled by cartels whose main aim is to make profits (HPS, 2009). This has made some of them to take advantage of the growing demand of the commodity. Although for the business to harness the energy it requires capital to install the materials such as solar panels, the cost of investing in this sector is much lower in comparison with the benefits that are to be accrued from this investment as it is long termed (HPS, 2009, P. 5). The whole world has become sensitive concerning changes that are being experienced in the environment. This has therefore, changed consumer consumption behavior by mainly consuming products that use environmental friendly methods to produce goods. This creates loyalty of the customers towards the products as they know that the company cares about their welfare. This has resulted from increased campaigns on the health hazards that are caused by use of environmental unfriendly energy sources (HPS, 2009, P. 3). New customers are also to be attracted to the products that have been produced through environmental friendly manner. This has resulted from the policies that some business have implemented of eco-labeling their products for the customer to know that the products are environmental friendly Businesses are able to grow when they use environmental friendly means in production. Due to the savings made after using the green energy sources that are cheap, the business is able to expand its operations. This would help in improving the competition ability of the business. Currently, businesses have seen tremendous growth which has increased the level of competition. As a result businesses have opted to reduce prices of the commodities making the business revenues to decrease tremendously (Seidel et al, 2008, 128). Shifting of the businesses to environmental friendly measures would increase innovation and development of new technology to harness this form of energy. Innovators invest their energy in looking for business ideas if the sector has market for their ideas. Business shift to this form of energy will increase the demand for new and efficient technology making it even more efficient and reliable (Bleischwitz, Hennicke, 2004, p. 117) In the current decade, businesses have been unable to sustain their employees as the revenues obtained cannot be able to pay them their salaries. As a result there has been increased cutting of the numbers of employees in order for the business to operate beyond the breakeven price. This has increased the unemployment levels in the world thereby increasing the poverty level in the world. When the businesses implement the policy of using the green energy they will reduce the cost of production which can be channeled towards creating more employment (Bleischwitz & Hennicke, 2004) Impacts and barriers of shifting to green energy by the businesses One impact that the change will have to the business is the need to restructure the organization structure. This source of energy needs experts to monitor it and research on how to improve it. As a result, there is a need to form a new department which will be specializing on green energy. This calls for more capital which will be channeled towards employment of these specialists (Seidel et al, 2008, 125). Major barrier towards implementation of the idea is financial constrain especially to small business enterprises. The green energy harnessing project requires heavy investments on new technology such powerful solar panels which can be costly for the small and growing businesses. Such businesses would find it difficult to shift to the use of these energy sources (Seidel et al, 2008, 128). Some of the processes that needs heavy investment such as production, marketing and distribution of products might be hampered an aspect that can make the business to operate at a loss. Some of the green energy are not reliable e.g. solar and wind energy. Mainly, solar energy is strong during the day. Such a scenario would force businesses that were using fuel to operate during the day and night to cut their night shift operations and operate only during the day. This would have an impact on the total output that the businesses produces leading to massive loses of total revenues. On the other hand, wind energy keep on varying an aspect that would hamper efficient flow of business operations (Seidel et al, 2008, 129). Recommendations Steps to mitigate the effects In order for the businesses to avoid losses after investing in green energy project, it must ensure that it sets aside adequate funds to purchase the latest technological materials that can store harnessed energy for use when the energy is not available. This would enable the business to run without its operations being hampered at any cost (Bleischwitz & Hennicke, 2004) Second, the businesses must ensure that it employs personnel who have skills and experiences on handling the renewable energy sources. This would prevent the company from making losses in case a breakdown occurs in the company. Conclusion For a business to succeed in the next few years it must be ready to implement the use of green energy. This is as a result of a growing pressure from the government, customers, investors and even global supply chain for the business to go green. The benefits that business will accrue from implementing this project will enable the business to be competitive enough in the market. The impact of implementing this policy will change not only to the business environment but the whole world at large. This will be through reducing rising global temperatures and increased pollution that has been experienced in the past decade. References Seidel, M, Seidel, R, Ted ford, D, Cross, R and Wait, L. 2008. A Systems Modeling Approach to Support Environmentally Sustainable Business Development in Manufacturing SMEs. Retrieved from: http://www.waset.org/journals/waset/v48/v48-20.pdf HPS. 2009. The Business Case for Environmental Sustainability (Green). Retrieved from http://www.leanandgreensummit.com/LGBC.pdf Bleischwitz, R, Hennicke, P. 2004. Eco-Efficiency, Regulation, and Sustainable Business: Towards a Governance Structure for Sustainable Development. Massachusetts: Edward Elgar Publishing. Read More