Geothermal energy (ethical issues) - Research Paper Example

?Geothermal energy (ethical issues) Interview: Ormat: Engineer Lucien Bronicki, who is the chairman and chief technology officer and his wife YehuditDita Bronicki, the cheif executive officer. ORMAT was established in 1965, formally known as Ormat Turbines Ltd. Lucien Bronicki worked in a physics laboratory which was funded by the government in the late 1950s. Here, he developed a turbine which would be used for electricity production from a wide range of energy sources which includes solar energy (Bronicki (c)). Later on he retired to exploit his ideas commercially where he set up the Ormat together with his wife. Ormat’s early years only focused exclusively with the manufacture of power generating equipment (Bronicki (a) 3). During the 1970s the Israeli government gave Ormat technology financial assistance, and also raised additional capital from the private sector investors. All this was for the building of the world’s first power station to produce electricity from solar energy. However this power station did not meet its target as far as economy was concerned so it was abandoned in 1988. In the 1980s, Ormat began to build systems which generated electricity using heat that would be emitted in industries during industrial processes also known as recovered energy. Later in the year the company ventured into geothermal where they used the company’s technology to generate electricity. In the 1990s Ormat decided to own and be involved with the management of alternative and renewable power station instead of relying on the provision of power generating equipment. The main product that Ormat technology provides is geothermal power solutions and energy recovery solutions. However, it is involved in the design of turbines, heat exchangers, pumps as well as organic fluids that do not degrade the ozone layer done originally by their designers. The company is also involved with the construction of combined cycle geothermal power plants in which power in a back pressure steam turbine is produces first by steam. The bottom of the vapour turbo generator does the condensing of the vapour. This produces additional power. It also provides services which are related to procurement, construction, engineering, maintenance and operations of recovery energy and geothermal plants. Ormat technologies operates and also owns geothermal power plants in Nevada, Nicaragua, New Zealand, Kenya, California, Hawaii, Indonesia and Guatemala. Worldwide, Ormat has 1069 employees in their Reno headquarters in the United States and the other figures distributed in their other stations in other countries. Below is the ranking of the Ormat technologies from the chief technology officer to the independent director. It is in this order; name, age, since and the current position. Name Age since Current position Lucien Bronicki 77 2004 Chairman of the board, chief technology officer Yehudit Bronicki 70 2007 Chief executive officer, director Yoram Bronicki 45 2007 President, chief operating officer, director Joseph Tenne 56 2005 Chief financial officer Nadav Amir 61 2009 Executive vice president -operations Zvi Krieger 56 2009 Executive vice President- geothermal resources Zvi Reiss 61 2004 Executive vice President- Project Management Joseph Shiloah 66 2010 Executive vice President- Business Development, Special Project, Rest of the World Etty Rosner 56 2007 Executive vice President- Contract Management, Corporate Secretary Shimon Hatzir 50 2009 senior vice President- Engineering Nir Wolf 46 2010 vice President- Business development, marketing and sales, rest of the world Robert Clarke 69 2007 Independent Director Dan Falk 67 2004 Independent Director Roger Gale 65 2005 Independent Director David Wagener 57 2010 Independent Director As of the year 2011 Ormat geothermal provider and technology provider had an increase of 17% to $437 million in total revenues. Their product revenue increase is 39% which accounts for 25% of their total revenues. There was an increase of 11% to $323.8 million in electricity revenues from $291.8 million in December 31, 2010 the year ended. The company’s U.S. deferred tax assets against it an approximate amount of $61.5 million was recorded, which included a non-cash-tax-related valuation allowance. Based on the Southern Regional Aquaculture forecast they expect their 2012 electricity revenue $315 and $330 million (“Forbes magazine 2007, par 4”). Ormat technology has career opportunities in this year 2012. In Reno, Nevada they are looking for a benefits administrator and this position involves the formulation and implementation of best operating practices and also be involved in discretion exercising. There is also a post of I&C technician in Reno, Nevada. Some of the other posts available are electrical construction supervisor, construction manager, staff geoscientist, geology intern, El&C technician, staff accountant, project associate, and process engineer. The steps they are taking to address their opportunities are gazetting their job posts vacancies and also advertising about it in their websites. Some of the Ormat technology competitors are Polaris Geothermal Inc (GEO), Nevada Geothermal Power (NGLPF), Western Geopower Corp (WGP) and Geopthermal Resource Ltd. But these companies are not as large as Ormat. It also competes with other major renewable power generating companies such as calpine corporation (CPN) this is a power company which has a generating capacity of 2400MW which includes 60 natural gas powered facilities these distributed across the USA and 17 geothermal plants in the Northern California Geyser region. Chevron Texaco (CVX) is also another major renewable power generating company with an installed power generating capacity of 1273MW in the Philippines and Indonesia. 13% of the world’s current geothermal energy is supplied by Chevron therefore putting it as the largest geothermal energy company in the world. Ormat technology competes with other companies involved in the production of other renewable energy, because it is a company that produces geothermal energy as a renewable source. Renewable sources have similar advantages which are low greenhouse gases, low pollution and self renewing. This advantage makes them compete on scale and cost advantages. Wind energy is one of the growing sources of large scale power though it is a less reliable renewable energy source because wind does not blow all the time. Some market holders in the wind industries are Gamesa, GE Wind, Vestas and Suzlon. Another form of renewable energy is solar power although it is an expensive and not very efficient than other sources, is currently a leading source of power in the small scale (“U.S. Department of Energy, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency page 35). Some of the companies exploring solar power are Suntech Power Holdings which is the major company, First Solar and SunPower. Others of the major sources of renewable energy are ethanol and cellulosic ethanol, biomass, bio fuels, hydrogen and tidal. One of the major concerns facing Ormat as a geothermal energy power generating company is environmental concerns. Some of the applications in producing power involves the production of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide emissions and these requires cooling of as much as 100000 gallons of water per MW per day and a way to dispose toxic waste and dissolved solids. Geothermal energy is not taken full advantage because the current technology is not economical or sufficient enough to warrant its wide spread. High pressure and high temperature blowouts methods of prevention are not yet known. Some of the ethical issues corporations are faced with are violation of the basic rights of workers, ignoring safety, health and environmental standards, use of child labour and forced labour. In this industry a major ethical issue is the over pricing of their products and services. Because they know that they produce quality products they tend to overprice their commodities an example is on the prices of their turbines. There is a consequence for employees for taking industrial action this is because if they withdraw their labour they may be damaging financial consequences for them. They should also be aware they are putting their job at risk (Industrial action and the law guide for employee’s pg13) an employer can also see your dismissal if an employee takes industrial action. Employees have rights in their work place and it includes fair compensation, freedom from discrimination and right to privacy. These policies govern Ormat as an industry any job applicant has a right prior to being hired as an employee. These rights include the right not face discrimination based on race, age, gender, religion and national origin during the hiring process. In the United States and abroad employees have a right to a private workspace. This right applies to personal possession of the employee’s including briefcase or handbags, private mail addresses only to employees, storage lockers which are only accessible by the employee. They may also have a right to privacy in their voicemail messages or telephone conversations. While using the employer’s computer system employees however have limited rights to privacy in internet usage and e-mail messages. Other important rights governing employees include: Rights to fair pay for work performed Rights to work places which are safe free from danger, toxic substances and other safety hazards. The right to be free from harassment and discrimination of all types. The right to be free to refuse to filing a complaint against a workmate. The Americans with Disability Act (ADA) ? has the definition a disabled person as a physically or mentally impairment that substantially limits some if not all life activities. ? a person with a qualified disability should not be discriminated whosoever. ? provides that if a person with a inability is able perform functions which are essential without or with reasonable accommodation, the person should not be shown signs of discrimination on the basis of their disability (“employment law, employment acts 101”) The industry deals with the ethical issues in the companies discretely they human resource manager approaches the employee and they sort out the employees differences. If it is a matter that he is not able to handle it is taken up the ladder and there a solution is found for the problem that had arisen. Applicants who want a job position are selected according to qualifications, and this is done by handing in of their resumes and their application letters. Thereafter an interview is carried out if you are a promising employee. The interview involves a series of showing what you can do i.e. if you are a technologist you will be given a work place of machines and then instructed to demonstrate the level of your qualification. If you are working in the company and you want to go up the ladder your performance across the years is taken into consideration. In this industry the organisation prepares employees for ethic issues that may arise over one’s career by holding seminars. It is also done by bringing well known experienced public speakers who will talk to the staff members in the company; they will talk about ways to face ethical issues in their respective places of work and how to tackle them. Some of the codes governing this industry are the compliance with applicable government rules, laws and regulations. Honest and ethical conduct which include ethically handling of apparent or actual conflicts of interest between professional and personal relationship. Full, accurate, timely, fair and understandable disclosure in reports, and documents, that the company files with, to the securities and exchange commissions, and other public communications of the partner. No personal loans will be allowed without the approval of the audit committee also there is no giving of personal loans because this will create conflicts of interest issues. The company expects the senior financial officer to engage in honest and ethical conduct in accordance with prevailing standards of business conduct, he should also deal fairly with competitors, employees, customers and suppliers of the company in accordance with prevailing business conduct standards. Open door policy is a corner stone of Ormat technologies culture. Ormat technologies demand open and straightforward communication between its partners, shareholders, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. The open door policy provides a way employees can raise issues, grievances of general concern and have their voices heard this will help them have a way of resolving their issues. The company also has internal investigations that help foster a healthy, safe, productive and profitable workplace. The company may take into consideration employees’ actions by monitoring them in order to ensure they comply with the law. According to my research I would recommend that the company should open branches in other countries in order to get the most percentage out of the market share. In doing so, the competitors will be less threatening as far as the market share is concerned. It should also venture in other sectors of the renewable energy since they have the machinery, equipment and the skilled labour to do that. Venturing into hydroelectric power will be a major breakthrough for them even if there are companies providing these services. The hydro electric industry is a good project when it is partnered with the renewable source of power which is geothermal in this case. This is because when sinking their equipments and machinery in the earths crust they come into contacts with gases of very hot temperatures. These gases can be tapped and used to heat water from reservoirs if water is not in a high place where potential energy can be converted into kinetic energy. The company should be holding public forums where they invite the public to here out their ideas; some of the people have brilliant ideas and if taped and taken to consideration can be of great help. They should also be partnering with best performing universities so that after the graduates come up with projects which can benefit the company, they are able to get information straight from them. Partnering with the universities can also pose a great advantage because they can be able to tap talents straight from the university. Ormat technologies should also extensively concentrate with geothermal energy power production, so as to get a large percentage of the market share and also act as a monopoly. They should come up with different technologies of generating geothermal energy that other companies are not using. Ormat, being a world leading renewable energy producing company should direct their capital in a market where very few companies venture in. and it is clean air energy also known as nuclear power. The use of sustainable nuclear fission to generate electricity and heat is very applicable because only a small percentage of about 14% is used to produce the world’s electricity. With a significant 439 power reactors in the world they are not yet enough to sustain the production of clean air energy (Bronicki (b) 13).. Technology has gone to another new level hence embracing nuclear power will be a great technology advancement nuclear fusion and fission are promising ways because the space setup for their reactors is little therefore saving on space with the increasing population. With nuclear power energy production of high voltages can be reached up to 1000 GW. Also considering nuclear power produces far less toxic waste materials as compared to other power plants it’s a project worth venturing into (Nielson, 16). Works Cited Bronicki, Dita. “Ormat Signs Joint Venture Agreement for Solar (PV) Power Systems”. n.p. n.d. Reuters. Web. 19-04-2012 (c) Bronicki, Lucien. “Beyond Fossil Fuels: Lucien Bronicki on Geothermal Energy” Scientific American, n.p. April 30, 2009. Web. 19-04-2012. (b) Bronicki, Lucien. “Ormat technologies inc (ORA:New York)” Bloomberg Business Week. n.d. Web. 19-04-2012. (a) Nielson, Carl, “The History of Solar Pond Science and Technology”. Proceedings of the International Solar Energy Society, 2005. Print. Read More