The Lifeblood of the Worlds Economies - Electricity - Essay Example

“The Lifeblood of the Worlds Economies – Electri Research Question: “A proper regulation of electri is crucial for running economies of the world.” The purpose of this research question is to verify the importance of electricity in regulating the economies of countries like US, India and China. Moving forward, the research paper will focus on how electrical appliances are important in economies of countries. The paper is verified in the light of pie and graph charts. INTRODUCTION For any nation, electricity is an omen of development. It is the pivot, on which the infrastructural development of a country rotates. The importance of electricity cannot be undermined in the sense, that it is vital for the running and invigoration of several electrical appliances of technological era including computers, telephones, television, electric lights etc. Moreover, the industrial sector and business of any country owes its development to the electricity system of that country. Energy consumption is also an omen of a country’s wealth, because higher consumption indicates a higher proportion of middle class, who can afford to utilize energy. (Hill) (Fission Uranium Corp.) This graph show that Global demand for Electricity is set to grow 76% by 2030 (source: WNA, July 2012) .This is only a little reflection of the whole story, whereas in developed countries like United States, frequent brownouts result when the consumption grows. It also results in total blackouts at times of storms. In other countries such as India, it is getting difficult to fulfill the energy demand for domestic matters, resulting in power outages for several hours. This is worsened with the additional buying of electric appliances, inability of electric companies to generate electricity and illegal theft by people. But, frequent brownouts or prolonged blackout affect the sales of electrically powered products. A major part of the electricity generated every year goes to power electrical appliances at home such as televisions, computers, kitchen appliances, etc. Sudden blackout affects the performance of electrical appliances. Fluctuating voltage, which is the result of this blackout, causes lower operational efficiency in electrical appliances. This frequent brownout and prolonged shutdown affects the electrical appliances in a way that it increases the losses of the buyers, causes changes in power and voltage and premature wearing of the router. Blackout may also produce defective parts in automatic or computerized machines and it causes unwanted triggering of the units of UPS, thereby causing the malfunctioning of the security system and inconsistency in the speed of the motor. All these defects that occur as a result of frequent brownouts and prolonged blackout increase the after sale service cost of the electrical appliances which ultimately increases the overall cost of the machine. The after service cost of electrical appliances that increases as a result of frequent brownouts and prolonged load shedding is a loss for the overall economy as it increases total maintenance cost of the product, reduces its useful life and affects the operational efficiency of the equipment (Global Offering- Report). How much powers will India need in five years (consider current population, population growth rates and current electricity/power consumption)? India and China are two of the top consumers of coal. China currently is planning to build the world second largest dam to fulfill the increasing energy demands of its people. On the contrary, India is currently taking effective measures to meet the demands of the electricity to be consumed by the people in the future years. The electricity consumption of India as recorded in 2013 stood at 233.929 Giga Watt (GW), which is considered as world’s fourth largest electricity consumption. In recent years the energy demand in India has outweighed the availability of energy in country. The electricity demand in India, as of year 2013 was 861,591 Megawatt (MU) whereas its availability was 788,355 Megawatt (MU). However, the electricity deficit was 8.5 percent last year. During the peak loads, the demand was as high as 122 Giga Watt (GW), whereas approximately 110 Giga Watt (GW) units were available, with a shortfall of 9.8 percent (Friedman). The GDP of India is growing at a fast rate and so the energy requirement is increasing with the development in the country. As the economy is growing on one hand, its energy intensity is declining. Based on the projections of growth rates the per capita electricity generation would be about 5300 kWh per year. Considering the records of the past years and seeing the growth of the Indian economy it is necessary to boost the power plant sector and the target the generation of electricity to be about 8000 million kWh per year in the coming five years (Electricity Demand Projection). (Vashishtha) How would intermittent power access like that in India and other part of the world affect sales of electrically powered products? The trend in the prices of irregular energy sources declares that solar and wind operators must sell their products in bulk as well as at low prices. The irregular energy is not generated through costly means and it is generated by the help of wind or solar energy, which is considered as a cost effective mean of generating energy. The demand of such products is increasing day by day. Running the product through alternating sources of energy is quite cost effective procedure for the customers and therefore such products have grasped the attention of a vast market segment and affected the sales of electrically powered products. Entrepreneurs and businesses which attract more customers and sell more products are the ones who stick to more value added processes. They usually view users as agents and include them in processes such as transformation, production and distribution processes but the only condition is that the entrepreneurs and businesses must be successful in the development of promising social business for the customers (Renewable Energy and Electricity). There are vast opportunities for many companies in developing markets. What can companies do to help developing nations plan for the infrastructure needs associated with economic development? Economic growth is considered to be an important means of raising the income of people. It not only creates new jobs for people but it also allows families to build a stable future for them. International organizations as well as government institutions may play a major role in the economic development of a country or region. The participation of the private sector in the economic development of any country is considered to be critical as it may play a significant role in providing funding, expert advice and implementation of policies that are necessary to build complex infrastructure projects. The role of government is to act as entities that sponsor certain infrastructure development projects in the country and bid out the contracts to other international and local companies. In order to develop the infrastructure of a country, companies invest in things like transport, electricity generation projects, providing qualitative services to people and water supply projects. They work in collaboration with the other countries and regions and help the country to unblock problems regarding the infrastructure. Companies also fund some private infrastructure development projects taking help from private investors, which help to provide a better infrastructure to the country thereby increasing the performance of the overall economy. Private companies may work to increase the living standards of the poor and of the people working in farms and factories. Improving the working conditions in countries such as Lesotho, India and Bangladesh may also eventually lead to improvement in the living standards of people. (Jason). RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHEAPER AND BETTER ELECTRICITY The following recommendations can be given for production of cheaper and better electricity in developing countries: Solar Panels - Cheap Electricity: Solar Panels are an effective way of producing cheap electricity, whereas it requires only £10,000 for an average system. The larger the system, the cheaper each panel becomes (Meara) Compact Wind Turbines - A Money Saving Tip for People in Exposed Areas: It is more popular in UK, where people can easily produce electricity and in cheap cost. It requires only £2,000 for a 1kw roof mounted system Hydroelectricity: This option is most suited to community based electricity generation projects. It is very rare that an individual will have a suitable but previously untapped source of hydroelectric power in their back garden. Typically, hydroelectricity is used by multiple households that share mutual access to a river or stream. It requires only around £25,000 for a community to install it. Micro-Combined Heat and Power: Micro-CHP is not a truly renewable source of electricity, but it is rather clever.  It harnesses the heat generated and wasted by conventional gas powered heating systems and converts it to electricity. Moreover, these systems have two key benefits. They can be installed as easily as conventional boilers and are easily adapted to benefit from future technologies, such as fuel cells. There is a good chance that micro-CHP could be the cheapest and most reliable source of electricity in the long run. CONCLUSION To conclude, it can be stated that electricity is an important factor which regulates the economies of the world. It is truly the lifeblood of the world economies. In the absence of proper regulation of electricity, or in the presence of blackouts or prolonged shutdown, a country’s domestic and infrastructural matters are severely affected. Therefore, our research question that “A proper regulation of electricity is crucial for running economies of the world” is verified and holds true, in the light of statistics above. Bibliography Electricity Demand Projection. 2013. 17 Febuary 2014 . Fission Uranium Corp. July 2012. .. Friedman, Lisa. India Has Big Plans for Burning Coal. 2012. 17 Febuary 2014 . Global Offering- Report. 2013. 17 Febuary 2014 . Hill, Lawrence. Power to the people:Integrated Resource planning in developing countries. . Jason. Infrastructure Fuels Growth in BRIC Countries. 2012. 17 Febuary 2014 . Meara, Sean O. Watch my wallet.co.uk. 22 February 2013. . Renewable Energy and Electricity. 2013. 17 Febuary 2014 . Vashishtha, Dr. Sanjay. First Green Consulting Private limited. 29 August 2013. . Read More