Green computing or green IT, refers to environmentally sustainable computing or IT. It is “the study and practice of designing, manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers, servers, and associated subsystems—such as monitors, printers, storage devices, and networking and communications systems—efficiently and effectively with minimal or no impact on the environment. Green IT also strives to achieve economic viability and improved system performance and use, while abiding by our social and ethical responsibilities. It’s resultant of global warming but actually it is ‘Desktop Warming’.

To comprehensively and effectively address the environmental impacts of computing/IT, we must adopt a holistic approach and make the entire IT lifecycle greener by addressing environmental sustainability along the following four complementary paths:

Green use — reducing the energy consumption of computers and other information systems as well as using them in an environmentally sound manner Green disposal — refurbishing and reusing old computers and properly recycling unwanted computers and other electronic equipment Green design — designing energy-efficient and environmentally sound components, computers, servers, cooling equipment, and data centers Green manufacturing — manufacturing electronic components, computers, and other associated subsystems with minimal impact on the environment

Background information: The U.S Environment Protection Agency launched energy star’, a voluntary labeling program in year 1992, which is designed to promote and recognize energy-efficiency in monitors, climate control equipment, and other technologies. This resulted in the widespread adoption of sleep mode in computers and electronics popular among consumer electronics. The term “green computing” was probably introduced after the Energy Star program began; there are several USENET posts dating back to 1992 which use the term in this manner. Concurrently, the Swedish organization TCO Development launched the TCO certification program to promote low magnetic and electrical emissions from CRT-based COMPUTER DISPLAYS; this program was later expanded to include criteria on energy consumption, ergonomics, and the use of hazardous materials in construction. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published a survey of over 90 government and industry initiatives on “Green ICTs”, i.e. information and communication technologies, the environment and climate change. The report concludes that initiatives concentrate on greening ICTs rather than tackling global warming and environmental degradation through the use of ICT applications. In general, only 20% of initiatives have measurable targets, with government programmes including them more frequently than business associations.Many governmental agencies have continued to implement standards and regulations that encourage green computing. The energy star program was revised in October 2006 to include stricter efficiency requirements for computer equipment, along with a tiered ranking system for approved products. More than 26 US States that have established state-wide recycling programs for obsolete computers and consumer electronics equipment. Green Computing Impact Organisation (GCIO) is a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting the end-users of computing products in being environmentally responsible motivating community of environmentally concerned IT leaders who pool their time, resources, and buying power to educate, broaden the use, and improve the efficiency of, green computing products and services. Members work to increase the ROI of green computing products through a more thorough understanding of real measurable and sustainable savings incurred by peers; enforcing a greater drive toward efficiency of vendor products by keeping a community accounting of savings generated; and through group negotiation power.

It is becoming widely understood that the way in which we are behaving as a society is  environmentally unsustainable, causing irreparable damage to our planet. Rising energy prices, together with government-imposed levies on carbon production, are increasingly impacting on the cost of doing business, making many current business practices economically unsustainable. It is becoming progressively more important for all businesses to act (and to be seen to act) in an environmentally responsible manner, both to fulfill their legal and moral obligations, but also to enhance the brand and to improve corporate image. Companies are competing in an increasingly ‘green’ market, and must avoid the real and growing financial penalties that are increasingly being levied against carbon production.

IT has a large part to play in all this. With the increasing drive towards centralized mega data centers alongside the huge growth in power hungry blade technologies in some companies, and with a shift to an equally power-hungry distributed architecture in others, the IT function of business is driving an exponential increase in demand for energy, and, along with it, is having to bear the associated cost increases.

How to Contribute in Green Computing

As computers play an ever-larger role in our lives, energy demands, costs, and waste

are escalating dramatically. Consider the following from the Climate Savers Computing

Initiative:

In a typical desktop computer, nearly half the power coming out of the wall is wasted

and never reaches the processor, memory, disks, or other components. The added heat from inefficient computers can increase the demand on air conditioners and cooling systems, making your computing equipment even more expensive to run. Even though most of today’s desktop computers are capable of automatically transitioning to a sleep or hibernate state when inactive, about 90 percent of systems have this function disabled. Some 25 percent of the electricity used to power home electronics—computers, DVD players, stereos, TVs—is consumed while the products are turned off. Turn off your computer at night so it runs only eight hours a day—you’ll reduce your energy use by 810 kWh per year and net a 67 percent annual savings. Purchase flat-screen monitors—they use significantly less energy and are not as hard on your eyes as CRTs.Purchase an Energy Star–compliant computer. Note that laptop models use much less energy than desktop units.  Plug your computer into a surge protector with a master control outlet, which automatically senses when the computer is not in use and cuts power to it and all your peripherals. Plan your computer-related activities so you can do them all at once, keeping the computer off at

other times.  Consider a smaller monitor—a 14-inch display uses 40 percent less energy than a 17-inch one. Enable the standby/sleep mode and power management settings on your computer. Forgo the screen saver—it doesn’t save energy or your screen unless you’re using an old monochrome monitor. Review document drafts and e-mails onscreen instead of printing them out. Power off your monitor when you are not using it instead of using screen savers. Consider using an ink-jet printer—although a bit slower than laser printers, inkjets use 80 to 90 percent less energy. Buy vegetable or non-petroleum-based inks—

they are made from renewable resources, require fewer hazardous solvents, and often

produce brighter, cleaner colors.  Turn off all printers and peripherals unless you are using them. Do not leave the computer running overnight or on weekends. Choose dark backgrounds for your screen display—bright-colored displays consumer more power.  Reduce the light level in your room when you are working on your computer.

Network and share printers where possible. Print on recycled-content paper. Look for non-chlorine bleached papers with 50 to 100 percent post-consumer waste. Use double-sided printing functions. E-mail communications as an alternative to paper memos and fax documents.

Create Green Machines:

Activating the power management features on your computer saves energy and money while helping the environment. Your computer’s SLEEP and HIBERNATE settings are two of the most effective ways for you to make your computer more environmentally friendly. You can activate these functions manually or through your operating system’s pre-set power management settings.

Sleep Mode

Sleep or standby mode conserves energy by cutting off power to your display, hard drive, and peripherals. After a pre-set period of inactivity, your computer switches to a low power state. When you move your mouse or press any computer key, you exit sleep mode and your computer takes you back to its previous operating state. Sleep mode is an especially effective way to conserve battery power in a laptop computer. However, if your computer loses power for any reason while in sleep mode, you may lose unsaved work.

Hibernate Mode

Hibernate mode saves energy and protects your work by copying system data to a reserved area on your hard drive and then completely turning off your computer. It also reduces wear and tear on your components. When you turn power back on, your files and your documents appear on your desktop just as you left them. Be sure to set your system to automatically go into hibernate mode any time your battery power reaches a critically low level.

Related posts:

1. Going Green at the Office – Tips to Help Your Business Go Green
2. Numerous Job Openings in Computing Field
3. Green Printing – a Great Way to Go ‘green’!

“Recently my stepdaughter was at the end of an English lesson and the teacher asked what she had next. When mathematics was mentioned, the teacher indicated that maths was a tough subject and not really what a person doing English should be studying.” This anecdote from Professor Peter Main, director of education and science at the Institute of Physics (IOP), points to the existence of a worryingly archaic attitude in British schools.

The perception that ‘boys do maths and science, and girls do humanities and arts’ is one that most people would scoff at today, but research into the options chosen by boys and girls at 13 suggests that gender-stereotyping still exists in schools and is narrowing the career options of thousands of teenagers.

Worryingly, recent tests have shown that that teenage girls in Britain are lagging further behind boys in science than anywhere else in the Western World. A study of 57 nations by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) analysed the results of tests taken by around 20 million 15-year-olds. It found that boys in Britain were 10 points ahead of girls in science, a bigger margin than most of the participating countries, apart from Indonesia and Chile.

In the UK, girls are ahead of boys in the Double Award for science, but this is due to the popularity of biology and chemistry. It’s physics that appears to be the problem. Since the 1980s, the numbers of pupils choosing to study physics has fallen from 45,000 to 29,000 and girls, in particular, are gravitating towards other subjects.

The long-term effect of this brain-drain could be profound, as Professor Main makes clear when he asks, “Where are the engineers of the future to come from?”

“When you look at the challenges we face, from climate change and energy security to an ageing population… we need more of the next generation of school and university leavers to be scientifically trained,” says Professor Main.

The brain drain conundrum

There are those educationalists who would propound the theory that girls’ and boys’ brains are hardwired differently and hence boys naturally gravitate towards blowing things up or dismantling engines and putting them back together again. If this is so, why are girls lagging behind in science in the UK and the problem is not so acute elsewhere? It’s a conundrum that is baffling scientists, ironically.

Boys and girls are less inspired by physics

There’s a plethora of government-backed schemes to usher girls into science – and many good role models to offer inspiration – but experts like Professor Main believe that the people behind these schemes are missing a trick.

The IOP has collated research into the reasons why girls might feel alienated from the physics lab. According to Professor Main, it’s down to a “complex mix of psychology, sociology and peer group pressure”.

The IOP report Girls in the Physics Classroom (Murphy and Whitelegg, 2006) highlighted the following key findings:

Girls are more likely than boys to value the social context in which tasks are placed in defining a problem. Typical secondary physics tends not to be concerned with the social context at all.  There’s a generally held belief among teachers and pupils that physics is ‘difficult’ and this is off-putting.  A lack of success in the subject increases the ‘sense of inadequacy’, something that girls seem feel more than boys.  Males are more likely than females to rate themselves as successful learners in maths and science. There is a lack knowledge of the range of science-related careers.

Teachers make all the difference

Girls respond better when they have a supportive, attentive physics teacher, which comes as no surprise. However, Girls in the Physics Classroomrevealed several worrying trends about science teaching and gender. 

It appears that teachers expect boys to do better than girls in science and physics, and in science classes, teachers tend to give more attention to boys as a group than girls….

Take a deep breath. Clearly there is much work to do in order to boost girls’ confidence and make physics more engaging and relevant to them. So, how do schools begin to address these issues?

“Within the school, two factors seem to be very important,” says Professor Main. “The first is that teachers are aware that different things are important to girls and boys; for girls, context can be important and they seem to be more sensitive to a poor classroom experience. 

“The second factor is the culture of the school. The schools that encourage most girls to study physics post-16 are those that have a positive, ‘can-do’ culture.”

The IOP has prepared a series of recommendations for teachers on how to make physics teaching more engaging for girls, and has CD Roms and videos available via Teachers TV to make physics more attractive to girls (for more details, see panel below).

“Take risks in the classroom”

Many science teachers are already trying to introduce change. William Austen, a science teacher at Summer Fields, a prep school in Oxfordshire, says, “Science is about blowing things up and cutting things up and boys have always just seemed to take to it more naturally than girls. I don’t think that it is a gender specific subject anymore, though. 

Wycliffe’s students are visiting Houston next year“In the past, the subject has been taught very poorly, but it should be the easiest subject to teach. The key is practical work, rather than textbooks. Give demonstrations with bangs and smells. There are endless possibilities and you have to take risks.”

Excursions and creative approaches have helped to ‘modernise’ science teaching at Wycliffe College in Gloucestershire. “Science is a very high profile subject at the school,” says head of physics Lorraine Paine. 

“We have made it more exciting by organising trips to the large Hadron collider at Geneva. We went before the machine was fired up and were able to stand in the tunnel miles under the earth, which you can’t do now. I still refer to it when teaching and the students were so fired up on their return that it is very much in conversation. We are taking the students to Houston next year, prior to the remaining space shuttle missions.” Wycliffe also organises ‘mock murders’ where students have to carry out DNA tests to find the murderer.

The teacher’s view: Damien King, a science teacher at Brighton College

“Boys definitely like to jump into things while girls like to sit back and consider things first. In a lesson, boys won’t read any instructions and leap into trying to make something whereas girls will read through things first – girls are scribes and boys are do-ers. 

Top independent school, Brighton College“I plan lessons so that they are relevant and stray away from unconnected facts. You have to make it interactive. I usually start with a wow-factor, show them something amazing and use the lesson to make them understand why that happens and why it is amazing. Both girls and boys seem to do very well in the written exams.

“We always try to engage girls back into science. For example, we may concentrate in a lesson on a Formula One engine or the material of diamond. Girls like to see the context and how science relates to the bigger picture. Girls also seem to be very encouraged by getting good marks.

“A general problem that may be affecting girls’ interest in science in the UK is that of unenthusiastic teaching, for example a biology teacher having to teach chemistry. This will have an affect on the students’ enthusiasm.

“A national view may be that girls’ role models aren’t the same anymore. They are looking more to celebrities than to role models such as the British scientist Susan Greenfield.”

Case study The pupil’s view: “Science is never boring”

Millie Pang, student at Wycliffe College

Millie Pang is 17 years old and is studying AS-level sciences, maths and art at Wycliffe College in Gloucestershire. She aims to study bio-medicine at Oxford, Cambridge or London next year.

“I’m passionate about science because it’s the reason why we’re all here. Science is in what we see, do and eat.

“I don’t think that science is gender specific. I enjoy working with both sexes as everybody brings something different to the table.

“The reason that pupils may not be as interested in science is the delivery of the subject. If science is taught in the right way, it can set a spark off in anyone. Science is never boring.”

Read more articles on education at www.tom-brown.com

Take it further

For more information, contact The Institute of Physics, tel 020 7470 4815; www.iop.org

www.teachers.tv

Related posts:

1. Kansas City Schools Change Licensing Requirements
2. Welcome to the Indianapolis Schools
3. Characteristics of a Teacher: Know What Schools Look for – Your ESL TEFL TESOL Teacher Profile

There can be little doubt that one of the most hotly debated topics in recent years has been the environment – and to what extent human activity over the past century has contributed to global warming.

Indeed, there is still some dispute as to whether recent climate change patterns are entirely down to the actions of people or whether it is simply Mother Nature at work. It is becoming increasingly accepted that, for the most part at least, we are to blame.

There have been many initiatives in recent years, designed to combat this and even reverse some of the damage. It would seem that the message is finally starting to get across and campaigns to get people to turn their lights off, ditch their cars and fly less seem to be having a degree of success.

In keeping with this, the UK government has recently unveiled its own new mandated green IT targets, which is a world’s first for a governing body. Whether or not there will be penalties in place for failure to adhere to the green IT policies remains to be seen, but it is a clear sign that the issue of climate change is being taken seriously and it may act to spur other nations into action too.

Ten of the original 18 recommendations have been mandated, many of which are very simple to implement. The proposed measures of achieving the goals range from removing active screensavers and switching monitors to low power, to shutting down PCs after office hours and applying timer switches to non-networked technology.

The wider goal is to agree and establish international standards and regulations on green IT, with links being forged with global organisations such as the UN International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This should go some way towards setting the wheels in motion for this initiative to be taken up on a global level.

Of course, having the world’s governments on board is one thing. The upshot of this should be that it sets an example to international businesses in how to run an environmentally friendly organisation and, with ambitions to be carbon neutral by 2012, the UK government is certainly setting the bar high for others to follow.

Communications and IT play a vital role in the modern day business world but a consequence of this is a considerable amount of energy is consumed to power the technology revolution. Simple steps such as using the services of a web hosting company with strong green principles can make a big difference. This could involve carbon-offsetting, or using the most power-efficient hardware technology available.

Ultimately though, time is running out in the battle to save the planet from irreversible damage. The time to act is now and the government’s new green IT mandates are a step in the right direction.

Related posts:

1. Government Policies and International Voluntary Sector
2. Government Environmental Policies and Regulations
3. The Wealthy Affiliate University…step-by-step System to Becoming a Highly Successful (and Profitable) Internet Marketer!

Aarkstore announce a new report  “Top Ten Global Energy Trends in 2010″ through its vast collection of market research report.

Summary

The leading business intelligence provider, has released its latest research “Top Ten Global Energy Trends in 2010” The study, which is an offering from the company’s Energy Research Group, provides an analysis of the key challenges and potential short term trends in the global energy sector during 2010. The major areas of focus include impact of the financial crisis and the after effects of the crisis and the global economic recession on the energy sector. Challenges in conventional as well as non conventional energy sector, technological developments in new and alternative energy sectors and the nuclear industry are also analyzed. The global economic recovery and the impact on the capital expenditure in the petroleum industry in 2010, growing trend towards the offshore oil and gas industry and the approach of the oil and gas companies to prepare for the upturn are some of the other issues that have been analyzed in the report. The report highlights and analyses the most critical trends or issues in the global energy sector in 2010. The report is built using the data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research and in house analysis by Global Markets Direct’s team of industry experts.

The global energy industry is at a key juncture in terms of its short and long term outlook. On the one hand, the highly volatile commodity markets and the prevalent low prices following the global recession have resulted in an overall bleak outlook for the industry in the short term. On the other hand, 2009 is the year of Global Climate Change Summit which is expected to lead to a global climate change framework thereby establishing norms to mitigate climate change which in turn is expected to have a significant impact on the energy industry in the long term. The two main factors of global recession and climate change are threatening the energy industry by providing a negative outlook for the energy demand in the future. However, there have been signs of a global economic recovery with many of the large economies growing positively in the second half of 2009 which is expected to be the key trend in 2010. The negative outlook on the energy industry also had depressed the valuations of the companies and their assets. However, companies with strong fiscal positions are seeing this as an opportune time for mergers and acquisitions and buying assets. With the global economy poised for recovery in 2010, the energy industry is expected to witness a positive outlook with various segments witnessing these key trends.

Global energy consumption was about 11294.9 Mtoe in 2008 which was an increase of 1.7 per cent from 2007. The economic downturn by the end of 2008 had a negative impact on the growth in energy consumption. This downward trend has continued in 2009. Global energy consumption in 2009 is expected to slightly increase to about 11428.1 Mtoe with an annual growth rate of 1.2 percent from 2008. As lack in demand in major energy consuming sectors and a general unhealthy environment for consumer spending has had a negative effect on the growth of the energy consumption from the second half of 2008. The US total energy consumption had a negative growth in 2008 and is expected to continue in 2009. Similarly, many European economies including Denmark, Portugal, UK and Asia Pacific economies such as Japan, Taiwan and Australia also consumed less energy in 2008. Further, the total energy consumption in the OECD economies is expected to continue to witness a negative growth in 2009. However, with the global economy expected to recover in 2010, energy consumption in the OECD economies is expected to grow. The improving economic conditions in 2009 and the expected recovery in 2010 will further drive the growth in energy consumption in these economies.

Scope

The report provides an in-depth analysis of the top global trends in the energy sector in 2010 with challenges and future prospects for the overall industry. The report provides critical analysis of the various trends in the different segments of the energy industry including oil and gas upstream and downstream, unconventional and offshore oil and gas sectors, nuclear energy, alternative energy, electricity sector and coal sector. The report also provides deal analysis of the oil and gas, nuclear and alternative energy sectors.

The scope of the report includes:

- The report analyses the impact of the financial crisis and the after effects of the global economic recession on the global energy sectors and its potential reverberations in 2010.

- Highlights the issues and challenges that the energy industry is expected to face in 2010.

- Covers deal activities in the oil and gas, upstream and downstream energy sectors.

- The report also provides information on deal activity in the alternative and renewable energy sector.

- The report also analyses the current and estimated capital expenditure in the exploration and production sector

- The report also covers the non – petroleum energy sectors such as coal, nuclear and clean energy and the electricity sectors and highlights the future trends in 2010.

For more information, please visit :

http://www.aarkstore.com/reports/Top-Ten-Global-Energy-Trends-in-2010-7887.html

Or email us at press@aarkstore.com or call +919272852585

Related posts:

1. Ivanhoe Energy Inc. – Financial Analysis Review—-Aarkstore Enterprise Market Research Aggregation
2. FX Energy, Inc. Oil & Gas Exploration and Production Operations and Cost Analysis – Q3, 2009—-Aarkstore Enterprise Market Research Aggregation
3. Royale Energy, Inc. Oil & Gas Exploration and Production Operations and Cost Analysis – Q3, 2009—-Aarkstore Enterprise Market Research Aggregation

Why cap-and-trade instead of a carbon tax?

(Abhishek Uppal)

Some local governments (e.g. Boulder, Colorado, USA; British Columbia, Canada) and early-action countries (Sweden, Finland, and Netherlands in the 1990s) have implemented carbon taxes. Over time, however, a cap-and-trade orientation has begun to dominate policy approaches.

In simple terms, a cap-and-trade sets a target for emissions in a geographic region consistent with a carbon stabilization level (i.e. 450 ppm). The cap is then pushed down to individual industries and companies that are given permits to emit that can be traded. These permits can be auctioned or provided for free. In either case, for markets to function properly, clear rules of private ownership must be established for what was, initially, a public good. Once emissions permits have been allocated, companies can then trade excess or deficits in their permits. The trading system can also include credits from other geographies. There are other important issues, such as sector coverage and banking and borrowing of credits that are important parts of the architecture of cap-and-trade regimes.

While either a tax or a cap-and-trade system can address greenhouse gas reductions, cap-and-trade has a number of advantages. Cap-and-trade drives efficient mitigation by encouraging businesses with inexpensive mitigation opportunities to reduce emissions as much as possible and sell excess credits to businesses with higher marginal mitigation costs. It allows Ricardo’s theory of comparative advantage to work with emissions mitigation. We recognize that markets with public goods are less efficient than standard markets, but believe that the advantages of a market approach outweigh the disadvantages. The result of a carbon market – even one with suboptimal efficiency – is that those who can reduce emissions most efficiently are able to free up resources for those who cannot, and emissions reductions are therefore achieved at the lowest total cost to the economy.

A cap-and-trade system also allows the market to set the appropriate price of carbon, whereas in a tax regime, regulators would need to try to derive that price. The principal disadvantage of cap-and-trade is that price is less certain, and there is potential volatility. Inclusion of flexible mechanisms in a cap-and-trade regime, such as offsets, banking and borrowing, brings measures of stability to the market and mitigates the biggest disadvantage of cap-and-trade. Clear signals from regulators – which are at the origin of demand for carbon credits – can also help to bring long-term stability to the markets. While faith in market mechanisms has been shaken by the credit crisis, and there has been talk that could potentially lead to more focus on a carbon tax rather than a cap-and-trade regime, we believe that the benefits of cap-and-trade outweigh the disadvantages.

While the UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol do not specify that carbon must be priced, the Kyoto Protocol includes explicit mechanisms to permit emissions trading. Policy options such as the Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation enable international cap-and-trade mitigation at least cost. Through these mechanisms – and the growing European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) – cap-and-trade is growing in prominence year by year. The International Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP), which shares best practice in carbon trading schemes across borders, and other initiatives are promoting global linkages between and scaling of cap-and-trade regimes. The US is looking at its options for creating a cap-and-trade system through the Liebermann-Warner and the Dingell-Boucher bills, and as well as other proposals before the House and Senate. The importance of a robust global solution continues to grow.

Why carbon pricing isn’t enough at the initial stage.

While in theory, an adequate carbon price should be all that is required to achieve efficient mitigation. In the real economy, this is not always the case.

There are a number of mitigation policy options that are viable at a negative carbon price in 2030 (i.e. they save costs). Many of these opportunities – such as improved insulation – are economic today. In a perfectly efficient market, these mitigation policy options should already be ideally fully utilized and profitable even without a carbon price. While the recent rise in energy prices has led to an increase in uptake of these measures, as reported in The Observer on August 3, 2008, we are far from capturing the total potential savings represented by energy efficiency.

The fact that these methods are still not fully employed demonstrates that, for a variety of reasons (lack of information, short-term up-front costs and other behavioural factors), carbon prices may not be sufficient initially to promote adequate greenhouse gas mitigation in the real world. This leaves a role for energy efficiency standards and some incentives. At the other end of the curve, some technology solutions are currently very expensive and innovation theory suggests they should be incentivized directly.

Carbon pricing is only one part of the solution, and that the regulatory policies used in traditional regulation and innovation policy are both vital tools in the climate change toolkit. Carbon pricing is only one part of a strategy to tackle climate change. It must be complemented by measures to support the development of technologies, and to remove the barriers to behavioural change, particularly around take-up of energy efficiency.

Long-term optimal carbon price

Using carbon prices alone to incentivize the early development of emerging technologies – some of which could require carbon prices of nearly €100/ton to prompt inefficient, as such a high carbon price may put a disproportionate drag on the overall economy. This would also entail enormous transfer payments – potentially larger in scale than those that flow from the OECD to petroleum exporting countries today. The recipients of these payments would benefit from enormous windfall profits at very high carbon prices. And the poor may be hit harder than the rich, as carbon pricing is without compensating transfer, a regressive tax. This is unlikely to be politically or socially acceptable, unless it comes about gradually.

“Optimum” or even “acceptable” long-term carbon prices are therefore likely to be well below €100/ton, although during the process of establishing the trend, they may spike to high levels if the market does not move fast enough towards mitigation. Other regulatory instruments, such as R&D subsidies, can be used to drive innovation of what are currently more expensive opportunities such as CCS; this will allow government to buy promising technologies down the learning curve without subjecting the entire economy to very high carbon prices. The economy-wide costs of the subsidies and incentives associated with such a policy are likely to be much lower than the economic drag associated with a very high carbon price.

Therefore, climate change mitigation policy will need to include two distinct sets of regulation to compliment carbon pricing: Traditional regulation and innovation policy. These policy options will overcome market failures and prevent imposition of an initial carbon price so high that it could have negative consequences for the entire economy.

Related posts:

1. Get the Help of Carbon Calculator that Provides Personalized Carbon Footprint
2. Sustainable Growth In Low Carbon World
3. New Clicks Gets Carbon Footprint

There is no denying the fact just before the emergence of Bangladesh in the middle of 1970; the intact Western globe materialize to have moved into the essence of managerial as well as Financial reforms. Moreover, these restructuring policies actually demonstrate to show up certain general features. They all tend to be more or less managerial reforms. The trend in the track of public management reform is perceptible in the United States, Great Britain, and other Western European management, but on the other side of the globe as well, in Australia, New Zealand and other ‘Western’ countries. The style of reports on developments of administrative reforms of the OECD authenticate that most developments point in the same direction, which is the introduction of ideas, models and techniques of public management, that is the adoption of business management techniques, a greater service and client orientation, the preamble of market process and competition in public administrations.

The adoption of the Public Management Reform is linked with the rise of neo-liberalism and its political variants such as ‘Reaganism’ and ‘Thatcherism’. Hood sees its origin as a marriage of two different streams of ideas: the new-fangled institutional finances and business type ‘managerialism’. According to Linda Kaboolian, the preamble of new public management imparts two extra-ordinary chances to the scholars. She promulgates, ‘The Public Management Reform strategy provides scholars of public administration and public management two extra-ordinary opportunities. The first is to see the unfolding of an international reform movement defined by clearly articulated principles. A phenomenon of this magnitude is a natural object of empirical inquiry to scholars. The second opportunity is to engage in theoretically grounded empirical work and theory building that crosses the boundaries of the disciplines that have studied the public sector’.

In developed states, the orthodox welfarist model of improvement has largely been displaced by the new public management revolution, which involves a major rethinking of the state of its relations with the market. The radical critique of the centralized, inefficient, unaccountable, over-extended state has produced a transformative conception, and intensive efforts to run this conception into practice. Later the new public management has been focussed as an ideological system, featured by the introduction of ideas generated in private sector settings within public sector organisations.

In a recent analysis of public management reforms, it is over and done with that despite differences in nature, size and approach to reforms, a common agenda has developed, ‘a new paradigm for public management has emerged, aiming at fostering a performance-oriented culture in a less centralised public sector’. According to the OECD, this new public management paradigm is characterised by the following eight main trends:

developing authority, providing flexibility

improving the management of human resources

ensuring performance, control, accountability

optimising information technology

developing composition and choice

improving the quality of regulation

providing responsive service

strengthening steering functions at the centre

Hood presented his widely known definition of ‘new public management’ in his inaugural address in London School of Economics, based on the OECD review.

Hands on professional management

Competition

Standards and performance measures

Private sector style management

Output controls

Discipline and parsimony

Disaggregating of units

The components of new public management were both structural (disaggregated organisations and greater competition) and managerial (more visible hands-on management, private sector management practices, tighter cost control, explicit measurement and greater emphasis on out put controls). While the justification for the reforms was founded on the need to make the delivery of public services manageable and accountable, to avoid waste and reduce costs, to encourage competition and customer responsiveness, to apply proven private sector practices and to focus on results, it lead to changes away from a uniform and inclusive public sector and from ‘qualitative and implicit standards and norms’ towards an environment of fewer procedural constraints, more discretionary powers, and to performance-related pay and less secure conditions of employment.

After F.W.Taylor’s ‘The principles of scientific Management’, the various management theories and schools have been developed. There is one theory, model and technique of business management. The trend to introduce business like management in government therefore seems not so much inspired by scientific reason as it is by the ideological Zeitgeist. Several authors have examined the phenomenon of managerial reforms in western administrations, and various more or less different typologies have been published. What they all have in common is at least the following three characteristics:

1. business management techniques,

2. service and client orientation,

3. Market-type mechanisms such as competition.

-

‘In Britain, PUBLIC MANAGEMENT REFORM has two divergent strands: managerial and the new institutional economics. Managerial refers to introducing private sector management in the public sector. It stresses: hands-on, professional management, explicit standards and measures of performance, managing by results, and value for money and more recently closeness to the customer. It is often synonym for the ’3Es’. The new institutional economics refers to introducing incentive structures (such as market competition) in to public service provision. It stresses desegregating bureaucracies, greater competition through contracting-out and quasi-markets and consumer choice’

The introduction of businesslike management began in the British civil service when Margaret Thatcher created the Rayner scrutinies. Mr. Rayner came from a private office and presided in the cabinet office over a project group, which had to support the many scrutinies in the various departments. The terms of reference for the scrutiny team which produced the report ‘Improving Management in Government: ‘The Next Steps’ “to identify the progress achieved in improving management in the civil service” and “to identify the institutional, administrative, political and attitudinal obstacles to better management and efficiency that still remain”. This report recommended reducing the civil service to a small “core” of policy makers and “transferring” other officials to work under free standing agency boards. The ‘agencies’ should be established to carry out the executive functions of government within a policy and resources framework set by a department. Next step report was published in 1987 with view to ensure higher efficiency, better quality, and more value for money-by granting more autonomy to the executive service delivery agencies. Germany, the concept of PUBLIC MANAGEMENT REFORM adopted in different name, which is called New Steering Model. It is evident that France does not particularly have an Anglo-Saxon tradition in respect to state, government and civil service.

New public management in Belgium is associated with a more business-oriented style of management, cutting back on public spending and privatisation. The tradition of neo- corporatism, however, is still firmly in place. In the new structures of the Autonomous Public Enterprises, conventional political and interest groups are settling down in the executive boards with a view to controlling the policy of the public organisations. In these circumstances the freedom of action of the PUBLIC MANAGEMENT REFORMs is likely to continue to be limited.

The advent of new public management to Ireland seems to be already changing the climate and culture of public sector organisations, at the same time as there has been no fundamental structural change in the machinery of government; a more results oriented approach is developing. Relations between the new public manager and politics remain unchanged, both sides seeming to be happy with the present situation: the new public manager has continued to be adverse to politics, seeing that area as best left to political adverse, program managers and the private offices of politicians.

The Nordic countries have also tagged along the concept of PUBLIC MANAGEMENT REFORM but they adopt it on the basis of their own administrative requirement. Markku Temmes believed, “The PUBLIC MANAGEMENT REFORM doctrine seems to have become a water shade in the recent administrative policy of the Nordic countries. Denmark has been a pioneer in applying Public Management Reform, and Danish solutions have been quite typical Public Management Reform- type solutions, although the administrative policy followed has been more carefully pursued than in the Anglo- Saxon countries”.

In Finland, the reform of public sector management, which started in the late 1980s, has spread rapidly throughout all levels of government. Public Management Reform was identified within 134 organisations. Most public managers are located in three types of organisations: result-budgeted and net-budgeted agencies; institutions and business action plans; and public enterprises and state owned companies. These are concentrated in industry and trade, communications and training, and public utilities. Finland has been the most coherent and determined applier of Public Management Reform among the Nordic countries. This impression may have been partly created by the fact that Finland’s radical reforms have come within a fairly short period of time, the year’s 1987-95.

After careful pore over the practice of public management system in the western democracies, it obviously focuses that a major transformation has been made in the public sector management through this new concept. It is true that the main thrust for Public Management Reform began when the western democracies felt that existing government machineries are not functioning well with traditional concept of management. The success of Public Management Reform influenced the donors to introduce this concept in developing countries as condition of their loan. Developing countries are heavily suffered with the huge manpower in the public sector though these peoples are not giving proper service because of their inefficiency and traditional system of management. ‘Developing countries seem intent on following new public management as an organising principle for their societies. This is occurring with encouragement from the World Bank and other international agencies as an effort to overcome their endemic problems of development and the failure of earlier model of development economics and development administration’.

Related posts:

1. Public Debt Management System in Govt. Accounting Phenomena
2. Public Speaking Opportunities, How Effective Public Speaking Increases Business and Expands Reputations
3. D-day Evasion. European Day Against the Death Penalty Controversy: Underlying Conflict and the Democratic Deficit

Albania is a South Eastern Balkan country situated on the eastern Adriatic Coast in Europe. The country borders the former Yugoslav provinces of Montenegro, FYR-Macedonia, Serbia and Greece to the South. The capital is Tirana. (The World Bank Group, 2009).

Personal foreign direct investment (FDI) interest in Albania is derived from closely monitoring Albania’s transition into a NATO country and prospective European Union (EU) member. The process of accession of Albania to the EU started in January 2003. Albania’s admission to the EU depends on the countries future economic and political stability. Albania has been engaged with EU institutions and joined NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) April 1, 2009. (Wikipedia Contributors cited 2009). Albania formally applied for EU membership 28 April 2009.

Ranked as one of the poorest European countries, numerous Albanian ex-patriots reside and work throughout the EU and Switzerland. A contributing high birth rate, the country has vast foreign direct investment potential considering its prospective EU status, geographical and geopolitical location. Albania is a distinctive classification of an emerging market and future currency change from the Lek to the Euro (improving the countries purchasing power and wealth), reveals there is a vast monetary opportunity for multinational Australian business to invest in a venture with a controlling interest.

FDI occurs when a firm invests resources in business activities in countries outside its home base (Hill 2009, p11), such as Albania. The main foreign direct investment areas that Australian Multinationals should be considering are Construction (highways, infrastructure), Property, Renewable Energy, Finance and Tourism. The types of companies that may be interested in this type of investment are the likes of Origin Energy, McMahon holdings, Raine and Horne.

Historically, most FDI has been directed at developed nations. FDI into developing or emerging nations has traditionally increased substantially (Refer to Graph 1, Appendix 1) since 1990 (Hill 2009, p243-244). Therefore Albania is an excellent FDI opportunity that may provide substantial profitability for Australian firms. Most recent inflows have been targeted at the emerging economies of South East Asia, hence there is an unexplored potential for Australian firms to invest in Albania.

Real GDP in Albania has averaged 6% in previous years due to a surge in public investment. Consumer price inflation is under the 4 per cent upper limit of the central bank’s informal target. (Refer to Graph 1, Appendix 2). The Albanian LEK will continue to be supported in 2009 by large foreign-currency remittances from Albanians living abroad as well as relatively high interest rates. Exports should grow relatively strongly in 2009 and forecasted current account deficits averaging around 11% of GDP. (Business Eastern Europe, 2008). (Refer to Table 2, Appendix 2).

The feasibility of the client company to enter the Albanian market is positive. The democratic Albanian government encourages foreign investment, thus in an ongoing effort to privatize public enterprises, the government is seeking qualified foreign investors in key sectors, including telecommunications, energy, oil and gas, finance, and construction. (Foreign Investment Climate, 2008)

Albania’s infrastructure is currently inadequate, and there is little budgetary money for improvements. The government inherited a poor highway system from the Communist period. Major road building projects are currently underway, and an estimated 6000 kilometres of roadway will be implemented by 2013. (Euromonitor International, 2009). Therefore there is an immense opportunity for Australian based Civil Engineering/construction firms to tender for a substantial sector of work, and scope for profitable investment.

Feasibility of the client company entering the Albanian markets in a Greenfield capacity is varied. Currently, Albania ranks 89th out of 183 countries in the benchmark of Ease of doing business. Starting a business, Albania rank’s 68th in 2009 and set to move to 46th in 2010. (Refer to Table 1 in Appendix 3). The average time in days for Starting a business is 5 days as compared to 13 days for the overall OECD Average. This demonstrates that the Albanian government is moving in a positive direction to attract foreign investment. (The World Bank Group, 2009). However, the cost of starting a business Cost (% of income per capita) is substantially higher than the OECD Average (Refer to Table 1 in Appendix 4).

“Foreign firms obtaining credit” and “protecting investors” demonstrates that Albania is advanced in certain business investment areas – projected ranking 15th out of 183 country’s in both these facets in 2010, placing Albania in the top 10%. On the contrary, dealing with construction Permits (173rd in year 2010) and Employing workers (105th in year 2010) demonstrates that the foreign direct investment firms specialising in renewable energy and civil construction will need to take these important factors into consideration when investing and starting a Greenfield project. (The World Bank Group, 2009).

 The types of business ventures that are attractive for FDI are centred on construction infrastructure and energy. Albania’s energy crisis has been caused by the annual growth rate in the demand for power. The rate has been in excess of 8% and generation has struggled to keep pace. In a recent EU report it is acknowledged that Albania had undertaken some bold steps to restructure and liberalise the energy sector. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) indicates that it will provide immense financing for new power generation. Therefore, renewable energy is also an extremely attractive foreign investment option. (GMB Publishing 2009).

Hydroelectricity generation has historically provided the majority of Albania’s energy capacity and continues to represent its main generation source. Through a lack of investment funds, only 35 per cent of potential capacity for development is currently being exploited. (GMB Publishing 2009). Australian based hydroelectric energy firms have a substantial advantage in expertise in exploiting the Albanian market. Studies show that Albania has a good solar energy potential. There are no large scale PV projects currently in operation; however the installation of major solar energy projects in planned by the Albanian government in 2015. (GMB Publishing 2009). Australian solar firms have the opportunity to explore Greenfield solar energy projects.

Various US Asset Management firms are launching into the fledgling Albanian property market to take advantage of the growing mortgage market. Albania is set to benefit from its planned accession to the EU, which it expects to be completed by 2014 and has already received €100m in funding. A 2007 World Bank report highlighted Albania’s high GDP growth and a dramatic decrease in poverty. Albania has received significant investment from international bodies such as International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. (Hirst, T, 2008). Commercial and residential property is an area of foreign direct investment that is attractive with the high power of the $A as compared to the Albanian LEK currency. Currently $1A = 85.01 ALL (Albanian LEK) and 1ALL = 0.1177 $A. (Quick Cross Rates, 2009). When Albania enters the EU zone, their currency will become stronger and inline with Euro zone parity.

Albania’s capital markets remain amongst the most embryonic within the whole of the central and Eastern Europe region. There are encouraging steps taken to put in place the legal and regulatory framework to build a functioning stock exchange. This makes convergence with the EU easier and provides financial and banking opportunities through a foreign investment framework to operate within. (Market Access 2008).

Albania recently witnessed an impressive growth in tourism in 2009. The government of Albania announced that there was a 42 percent increase in the number of tourists visiting the country, AENews reported.  Albanian government is claiming its coasts are more beautiful than those of the Riviera. (Forbes S, 2008). With new hotels, resorts, and restaurants, the Albanian private sector in tourism has been growing an average of 30 percent for five years. The Albanian economy had the best growth in Europe; foreign investments in Albania have increased 59 percent this year. Australian firms can invest in the infant tourism industry by providing expertise, with huge profit potential. (New Europe 2009).

The Albanian government has induced an affirmative attitude towards foreign investment; its strategy to strengthen the business environment was incorporated by the removal of administrative barriers to investment. The privatisation agenda is gaining momentum and the government is encouraging foreign investment. Almost one-third of the country’s population works outside the country. The remittances they provide help alleviate poverty and drive a boom in housing construction as well as infrastructure (Euromonitor International, 2009).

Albania’s Albania’s Democratic Party government knows full well that a battle for foreign investment looms and that Albania has some catching up to do. The previous low level of foreign interest is largely due to the fact that Albania’s international image is poor, but wrongly so. Albania’s service sector, especially its restaurants and hotels, are exceptional. The hospitality is great and Albanians are an outward-looking people. They are ready for an influx of tourists. Albania is also rich in natural resources, such as oil, gas, copper, chrome and hydroelectric potential. (Austin RC 2006)

The Albanian government under Prime Minister Berisha has created an excellent environment to attract investors to Albania. Special emphasis was paid improving infrastructure. The efforts on improving the legal system to protect investors also proved significant. It was also reported that many Western European companies have chosen to escape the high taxes in Europe by investing in Albania as the latter offers the best tax system in Europe with a 10 percent flat tax. (NEWEUROPE 2009).

The Albanian government has worked to make it easier to invest and do business in Albania, instituting a one-stop shop for registering a new business. Education is also emphasized, particularly by the private sector. Since the fall of communism, Albania has been an ally of the US, supplying troops. Its positive foreign policy attitude, economic and anticorruption successes are models for other Muslim nations. (Forbes S, 2008).

 Foreign firms experience various investment restrictions in Albania. Despite some recent improvement, Albania’s business freedom remains constrained by a burdensome regulatory environment. Even though starting a business is relatively quick, obtaining a business license requires 24 additional procedures and almost 100 more days than the world average of 225 days. (The Heritage Foundation, 2009).

Foreign and domestic firms are treated equally under the law, and nearly all sectors are open to foreign investment. Agricultural land may not be purchased by foreign investors but may be leased for up to 99 years. The Albanian state can expropriate an investment or asset for the purpose of public interest, but there are no legal provisions for compensation. This can be a deterrent or restriction for an Australian firm specialising in niche Albanian markets. Non-transparent regulations, inefficient bureaucracy, and corruption also restrict and discourage foreign investment in Albania. (The Heritage Foundation, 2009).

The financial system is relatively underdeveloped by western standards, even though progress has been made. Even though many banks have expanded their services, the use of cheques and credit cards is still not widespread. Although short-term credit is available, it is extremely expensive and difficult to obtain without large collateral security. This can restrict foreign investment for an Australian firm. In addition customer service is relatively poor compared to western standards. (Macro-Accessibility 2007).

The government has separated the Tirana Stock Exchange from the central bank, but the stock market remains inactive, and no shares are listed yet. Australian financial investment firms are currently restricted considering the Stock exchange is at an infant stage. Albania’s judicial system enforces the law weakly and is one of the country’s most tainted institutions. Judges are often appointed strictly for political reasons and can be corrupt. Protection of intellectual property rights is weak, and violations of copyrights and trademarks are common, therefore Australian and foreign firms with patented investments are subject to infringements without legal protection. (The Heritage Foundation, 2009). Land rights are not well defined, especially in coastal areas, and 70 percent of all civil court cases involve property disputes. This could have adverse effects for civil engineering organisations. (The Heritage Foundation, 2009).

Corruption in Albania is perceived as widespread. Albania ranks 105th out of 179 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2007, a very slight improvement from previous years. Corruption pervades all sectors and levels of government. Albania is a major transit country for the traffic in arms, narcotics, contraband, and humans. (The Heritage Foundation, 2009).

There a vast advantages and gains of FDI into Albania. It stimulates economic development and has helped developing countries such as Albania when faced with economic hardship previously. (Economy Watch 2009). Multi-billion dollar projects are underway in the energy sector to produce energy from wind, and solar sources, in addition to road and infrastructure construction. With FDI in the tourism industry, construction jobs in hotels and resorts are underway, also generating employment in the Albanian services sector. (New Europe 2009).

FDI into Albania permits the transfer of technologies and assists in competition between producers within the local market. Gains in the economy include the development of skills, and human capital resources by Albanian employees of Energy, Construction and Engineering firms receiving training on the operations of a business. The creation of new jobs, and increases the salaries of workers leads to lifestyle enhancement. (Economy Watch 2009).

The profits that are generated by FDIs that are made in Albania can be used for the purpose of making contributions to the revenues of corporate taxes. FDI allows for the development of the manufacturing sector. (Economy Watch 2009).

The Albanian economy has been on the rise, with an average annual GDP growth higher than anywhere else in the region. Such impressive growth has been largely due to controlling inflation in addition to investment. Previously, Albanian professionals would immigrate to other nations. “Brain drain” is used to describe the phenomenon of emigration of highly qualified professionals from Albania to other EU nations. FDI in Albania contributes to positive economic growth, and professionals are a source of capital for developing countries such as Albania. Reversing the brain drain has had positive effects on education, income distribution and economic welfare. (Centre for Social and Economic Studies, 2006)

A country’s balance of Payments accounts calculates its payments to and receipts from other countries.  If the FDI in Albania is a substitute for goods and services, the effect can positively improve the current account of the host countries balance of payments. (Hill CW, 2009). According to a UN report, inward FDI by foreign multinationals has been a major driver of export led economic growth, which can be utilised by Albania.

Adverse effects of foreign investment in Albania mean that enhanced competition as well as being a positive aspect could drive indigenous companies out of business. Additionally, foreign multinationals could raise prices, causing inflationary pressure within the Albanian economy. Key decisions affecting the host country’s (Albania) economy may be made by a foreign investment company that does not have total commitment to the Albanian economy. (Hill, CW, 2009)

Considering there are minimal well established incumbent enterprises in Albania, a Greenfield investment may be an option, even though there may be benefits in acquiring an existing firms skill’s, embedded competencies and culture through purchasing an established organisation. (Hill 2009, p506). However, the process of setting up a new Greenfield hierarchy may be the only viable mode in certain instances in Albania within engineering and construction due to lack of infrastructure and expertise in an ex-communist nation.

Appropriate entry modes of investment into Albania include investing with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) which is a US government agency that sells investment services into emerging markets. The most important fund for the region is the $US 150 million Southeast Europe Equity Fund (SEEF), managed by Soros Private Funds Management. (Macro-Accessibility 2007).

The Trade and Development Agency is also a US government agency which promotes private sector participation in developing countries. In Albania, TDA has recently financed projects to implement roads, ports, the energy sector as well as various private sector projects. (Macro-Accessibility 2007).

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is a member of the World Bank Group that offers a full array of financial products to companies in developing member countries such as Albania. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) promotes competition, privatisation and entrepreneurship taking into account different stages of transition of developing countries. The EBRD has equity positions with the Albanian National Commercial Bank, and the Albanian Reconstruction Equity Fund and the Italian-Albanian bank. (Macro-Accessibility 2007). In addition to acquiring an existing company, obtaining finance from these corporations is a feasible entry point for an Australian firm entering a Greenfield project in Albania.

 Poor transport, telecommunications and other infrastructure are considered to be the main obstacles and barriers to investment. Albania was Europe’s poorest country, but levels of per capita income have more than doubled over the past 10 years. Despite this, the economy remains vulnerable on several fronts due to a culture of tax evasion, significant amounts of long term domestic debt and weak anti-money laundering laws. (Euromonitor International, 2009).

Corruption issues within the government and a weak judiciary system pose problems in Albania’s efforts to achieve greater cooperation with the EU. The EU’s members are concerned about the countries commitment to improving the rule of law and crime. (The World Bank Group, 2009). Multinational businesses may consider the lack of law as an impediment to a foreign direct investment.  (Euromonitor International, 2009).

 A major barrier to investment may be the issue of developing free trade zones to attract foreign investment. Existing law provides the authority to establish free trade zones and a special zone commission has been established by the Albanian government to identify potential free zone sites. However, no free trade zones have yet been established. (Macro-Accessibility 2007).

Apart from the monetary opportunities and profit yields that Australian firms and the home countries establishing FDI’s receive, there are opportunities for the host country (Albania) of such foreign investments. Albania’s young, literate populace represents a surplus of labour, reflected in the unemployment rate of 14 percent. While some members of the labour force are highly skilled, many work in inefficient industries with outdated technology. Via foreign firms investing in Albania, the skill sets and technological capabilities of the Albania’s young work force is enhanced. (Macro-Accessibility 2007). Albania’s are rapidly learning market economic practices and often display impressive entrepreneurship. (Macro-Accessibility 2007). There are definitely significant opportunities for the host country Albania through FDI.

 

References

 

 

Austin RC 2006, ‘Albania’s new investment strategies’, SETimes.com, viewed 22 October 2009, <http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/articles/2006/10/02/reportage-01>

 

Business Eastern Europe, 2008, ‘Business outlook – Albania’, 10 Oct 2008, Vol. 37 Issue 377, p3-3.

 

Centre for Social and Economic Studies, 2006, ‘From Brain Drain to Brain Gain: Mobilising Albania’s Skilled Diaspora’, Development Research Centre on Migration, Globalisation and Poverty, University of Sussex, UK

 

Economy Watch, 2009, ‘Benefits of Foreign Direct Investment’, viewed 23 October 2009, < http://www.economywatch.com/foreign-direct-investment/benefits.html>

 

Euromonitor International, 3 Jul 2009, ‘Albania: Country profile’ viewed 21 October 2009, <http://www.portal.euromonitor.com/passport/ResultsList.aspx>

 

Forbes, S 2008, ‘Muslim Success Story’, Business Source Complete, 4 Jul 2008, Vol. 181 Issue 7, p15-16

 

Foreign Investment Climate, 2008, ‘Albanian Investment Overview’ Albania Review 2008, viewed 21 October 2009.

 

GM Publishing, 2009, ‘Renewable Energy in SEE – Albania, viewed 21 October 2009.

 

Hill, CWL, 2009, International Business – Competing in the Global Marketplace, 7th edn, McGraw-Hill Internation Edition, Washington USA.

 

Hirst, T, 2008, ‘Fund Launch’, Fund Strategy, viewed 20 October 2009. <www.fundstrategy.co.uk>

 

Macro-Accessibility 2007, ‘ICON Group International, Inc’, viewed 23 October 2009, <www.icongrouponline.com>

 

Market Access, 2008, ‘Albania: Building a Stock Market’ viewed 20 October 2009, <www.emergingmarketsmonitor.com>

 

NEWEUROPE 2009, ‘Albania has the world’s best growth in tourism investment’, neurope.eu, viewed 23 October 2009, <http://www.neurope.eu/articles/96778.php>

 

Quick Cross Rates, 2009, ‘XE.COM exchange rates’, viewed 25 October 2009, <www.xe.com?

 

The Heritage Foundation, 2009, ‘Index of Economic Freedom – Albania’, viewed 22 Oct 2009, <http://www.heritage.org/Index/Country/Albania>

 

The World Bank Group, 2009, ‘Doing Business in Albania’ viewed 18 October 2009, <http://www.doingbusiness.org/ExploreEconomies/?economyid=3>

 

Wikipedia Contributors, 2009 September 30, ‘Accession of Albania to the European Union’. [Internet]. Wikipedia The Free Encyclopaedia, viewed 21 October 2009, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Accession_of_Albania_to_the_European_Union&oldid=305088136

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix 1

 

 

 

Graph 1 – Foreign Direct Investment Inflows by Region ($US Billions). (Hill 2009, p244).

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix 2

 

 

Graph 1 – ALBANIA. GDP and Consumer Prices % Change, Year. (Business Eastern Europe, 2008).

 

 

 

 

 

Table 2. Albania – Data and Forecasts. (Business Eastern Europe, 2008).

 

Category

2008 Rank

2009 Rank

2009 Rank

Population, mn

3.10

3.11

3.12

Exchange rate ALL/EUR

120.25

119.40

119.45

Imports, US$bn

4.50

4.90

5.30

Exports, US$bn

1.30

1.50

1.70

Trade Balance, US$bn

-3.20

-3.40

-3.60

Current account, % of GDP

-6.90

-5.50

-4.20

Forex reserves (gold) US$bn

2.50

2.95

3.43

Foreign debt, % of GDP

18.2

17.5

16.3

 

 

Appendix 3

 

 

Table 1. This table shows summary Albania Doing Business 2010/2009 data for the selected economy (out of 183 countries), and the rankings by each topic. (The World Bank Group, 2009)

 

 

Ease of…….

Doing Business 2010 Rank

Doing Business 2010 Rank

Change in rank

Doing Business

82

89

+7

Starting a Business

46

68

+22

Getting Credit

15

12

+3

Protecting Investors

15

14

-1

Employing Workers

105

105

0

Dealing with Construction permits

173

170

-3

 

 

 

Appendix 4

 

 

Table 2. This table shows the challenges of launching a business in Albania. Included are the steps entrepreneurs can expect, the time it takes on average, and the cost and minimum capital required as a % of GNI capital. (The World Bank Group, 2009).

 

 

Indicator

Albania

Eastern Europe & Central Asia

OECD Average

Procedures (number)

5

6.7

5.7

Time (days)

5

17.4

13.0

Cost (% of income per capita)

17.0

8.3

4.7

Min. capital (% of income per capita)

0.0

21.5

15.5

 

Related posts:

1. Albania Property Investment, Latest property News, Property Update, Albania joins NATO!
2. Albania, Property Investment Hotspot for 2009!
3. Increased Foreign Investment Thresholds to bring more overseas investment to Australia

INTRODUCTION

 

Marketing is about selling people more. So can sustainable marketing really work?

- Marketing comprises a set of skills that generally enable companies to sell more stuff to more people to get a greater share of the market. These skills are usually portable: it doesn’t matter what’s being sold to whom in what marketplace. The social and environmental impact of the stuff that’s being marketed remains, for the vast majority of people in marketing, until recently, largely irrelevant. The idea of sustainable marketing is inevitably sort of ridiculous.

- Sustainable development comprises a set of ideas, principles, values, mindsets and practices that enable individuals and organizations to improve their quality of life in ways that simultaneously protect and enhance the Earth’s life-support systems, in other words, without destroying the planet. At the very least, it can mean consuming in more environmentally and socially responsible ways; for some, it means consuming less.

The idea of sustainable marketing is, therefore, sort of suspect. The marketplace is greener now than ever before and will become even more responsive to products and services promising environmental responsibility well into the 21st century. The reasons are many. People are worried. In the 1980’s, environmental calamities dominated the news. Almost daily, headlines trumpeted oil spills, toxic-waste dumps, and nuclear meltdowns. A hole punctured the ozone layer, a garbage barge searched in vain for a dumpsite; apples were not considered safe to eat. The issues were no longer in someone else’s backyard far-away, but in our own. The environment rose to the top of the public’s worry list.

 

 

MARKETING INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABLE MARKETING

 

Nowadays, businesses that fall short of developing effective value propositions have difficulties in taking advantage of market opportunities that are characterized by uncompromising market forces such increased competition, shortened product lifecycles and more sophisticated and variable customer demands. It is a disconcerting fact that many, if not most, businesses struggle to develop sustainable, innovative value propositions that help them sustain their market positions.

Marketing innovation and sustainable development are today’s hottest topics of our planet among intellectuals. Why not harness the creativity and innovation of one of the oldest professions there is to move forward our societies onto a much more sustainable footing? Humanity has been known to tackle far more challenging tasks, anywhere from placing a man on the moon, to persuading people to buy aloe vera toilet paper, as Steve Hilton from Good Business often illustrates. Surely, therefore, bringing together these innovators and persuaders needed to make the world more sustainable should also be possible.

Will we assist to less growth with marketing sustainability? Not really. I think if it is well done, it could mean better, smarter and much more efficient ways of buying and making stuff. What if marketing sustainability is just a pipe dream when consumers are largely ambivalent about the green credentials of the products and services they buy, and certainly find it difficult to pay ‘green premiums’? We don’t think it will be. If done properly, it will appeal to personal values and allow that twinge of “I would really like to do something”.

However, I have to notice that efforts by the odd responsible company are not nearly enough to make producer and consumer change stick. A much wider collective effort is needed if we are going to be successful at reversing unsustainable patterns of consumption and production, considering most of us are not willing to sacrifice Aloe Vera toilet paper for banana leaves. If marketing can turn “lead into gold”, then it has the potential to make sustainable development a household word, a universally recognised way of adding both social and economic value. Marketing can create, influence and change target audience attitudes, beliefs and perceptions. In a nutshell, marketing works; that’s why companies do it. A more interesting question is how can it be used to reinforce sustainable development?

I have to mention that although sustainable development and marketing innovation are the 21st century most discussed topics, they are conflicting concepts. Today’s evolution about these topics is to set a challenging sustainable development benchmarks for every element of the marketing mix and build intrinsic brand value in and through sustainable development. Through engaging companies from a range of sectors that are both already active in sustainable development and have high brand awareness, as well as leading media and communications agencies open to new opportunities, we hope to build wider competencies in sustainable marketing within the profession and more broadly in businesses. 

 MARKETING INNOVATION

Much of the discussion about marketing and sustainable development focuses on developed markets; on the levels of consumption amongst the world’s richest people and the changing nature of their preferences. Companies face fierce competition for growth in developed countries whilst, in contrast, the most disadvantaged people in the world represent a market with enormous potential. And if the world’s population expands in line with current predictions, over 90% of people will be living in (what are now) developing countries within 30 years. It is no surprise, then, that marketers are increasingly interested in the opportunities amongst the world’s poor, which may involve addressing their basic needs. But is this wishful thinking, or are there compelling commercial reasons for business to pay attention to developing markets? As the term sustainable development enters the business mainstream, the responsibility for managing social and environmental issues is slowly shifting from the corporate fringe to an important business function.

The implementation of communication strategies is a marketing innovation. Not only does the company inform the general public of its efforts to reduce its environmental impact, but in addition, it listens to its clients and tries to gain acceptance of its employees. A sophisticated form of the communication strategy consists of taking part directly in the development of restrictive measures (emission standards, branch agreements, etc.). This effort seems to show a proactive approach to companies on the environmental question, but on the other hand, it could be a way to impede environmental progress by means of a lobbying policy.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a company in possession of a good (or poor) fortune must be in want of innovation. Yet, by all accounts, some 40-90% of innovations fail in the market. In this elective we examine the drivers of market adoption, taking the perspectives of both ‘objective reality’ and the ‘perceived reality’ of the players in the decision. We then offer some suggestions for bringing innovations more successfully to market.

Invention and innovation have proven to be crucial components for the development of modern societies. However, 1.3 billion people who currently live on less than a dollar a day do not enjoy the benefits that many modern inventions have brought. At the same time some key new technologies are known to have caused enormous damage to the global environment.

SUSTAINABLE MARKETING

Increasingly, business is investing in sustainable development strategies, often not fully embraced by their marketing departments.

The result of this means that mixed messages are being transmitted to shareholders and stakeholders alike. There is a real need to join sustainable development business strategy with the marketing departments that drive that strategy forward.

Because marketing influences the development of products and services, as well as the communication methods used to influence consumer behaviour, it is at the axis of one of the most challenging issues facing business today: addressing the current unsustainable levels of production and consumption in an uncertain world.

There are two key approaches to marketing and sustainability. One seeks to embed sustainable development within a company’s core marketing strategy from innovation to the market. The other aligns opportunities for marketing and advertising with the values of sustainable development, either overtly or covertly.

Why is it now that people think about sustainable marketing?

As mainstream marketing is changing and as we enter a ‘third age’ of branding, the context for brands is changing irrevocably. The first age of branding was the age of functionality, where product purpose was legitimised through trademarks. The second age was the age of aspiration, meaning brands served a self actualising purpose. The third age of branding is the age of reconnection, that is, solutions-oriented branding. Empowering consumers to make the world a better place through the products they buy.  For example, if we take the case of the refrigerators, we can say that in 1950’s, somebody could easily be convinced to buy a refrigerator just because it looked cool in his/her eyes, but in today’s uncertain world, we might ask ourselves about the impact of the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that our refrigerator is emitting and demand a more environmentally friendly refrigerator.

So, if today’s successful marketing is about appealing to personal values and delivering consumer empowerment, then surely the time is right to inject sustainable development into the marketing mix to help address some of the gritty issues currently facing our planet.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Today’s fast technologies innovation and invention have made people worry about their living environment. Although they need improvements for the household equipments they are daily using, they started asking themselves about the future of the world. Based on this, we have to mention that marketing innovation is developing with consequences for humankind. In this 21st century, sustainable development remains a term which many marketers have become accustomed to hearing alongside jargon such as stakeholder engagement and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Sustainable development is a compelling idea for many people. It is concerned with how business can contribute to some of the most significant challenges that the world faces today; from climate change and biodiversity, to working conditions and health amongst the poorest in the world. But marketing managers have struggled to translate these ideas into viable commercial propositions into marketing strategies that create competitive advantage, build trust or develop new business opportunities.

Moreover, marketers have often faced criticism for being part of the problem for pushing the consumption of unsustainable products and lifestyles.

Sustainable development is becoming a key strategic issue for companies. With growing pressure from global warming, natural resource depletion, widening social gaps, legislation, societal pressures, and the evolution of consumer expectation, the role of marketing within an organization is changing dramatically. Consumer demand for “ethical” products and services is increasing and the marketing is a lever for innovation to answer to this new demand. Social and environmental values are now elements of a brand, marketers need to tackle these issues. Sustainable development is the practice of protecting the environment while improving living standards for all, and invention and innovation is key to its success. Invention and innovation for sustainable development isn’t just about developing new technology, but includes new processes and new ways of solving old problems. Creative thinking is the rubric. Creative thinking has always been integral for improving well-being.

Despite the fact that people everywhere have an innate ability to be creative, rich countries are not doing enough to stimulate and harness invention and creative thinking, and poor countries tend to stifle innovation and creativity outright. This is typically due to a combination of factors: insufficient financial resources, lack of role models, education systems that don’t inspire or value creativity, and social/political environments that discourage creativity, invention and entrepreneurship. Sustainable development has different meanings and implications in different parts of the world. Julia Marton-Lefèvre, executive director of LEAD International, an organization dedicated to leadership for environment and development in a workshop on “invention and innovation for sustainable development” held in November 2003 said to understand the challenges and ramifications “not only in London and Paris and New York, but also in tiny villages in Nigeria and Indonesia and China.” Sustainable development is for all countries, not just developing ones. Based on what she said, I can mention that while rich countries need to develop alternative sources of energy and other technologies that reduce their own impact on the environment, poor countries need to develop their own innovation capacity, in order to address their own particular needs.

CHALLENGES FOR MARKETERS TO ACHIEVE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Companies create competitive advantage by understanding the shifts in society; from technological innovations such as the 3G communication system to the unwinding consequences of events such as May 12th China earthquake. These trends are the foundations of marketing strategy, and the emergence of sustainable development as a matter of public and corporate concern is one such change in the marketing environment. In recent years, hundreds of companies have developed ethical policies or mission statements. These initiatives appear to be grounded in market realities. For example, a Weber Shandwick survey of 8,000 consumers in 2001 indicates that 80% of high-education/high-income people in the USA have considered switching brands when a company was negatively portrayed in the media in respect of social responsibility issues. But today, the question for marketers is: is there really an opportunity for them to use sustainable development as a lever of brand innovation, rather than the greenwash?

Marketers rightly insist that appealing to sustainability values will not overcome a fundamental weakness in product quality, yet with excellent products there is evidence that social and environmental aspects can be used to differentiate or create a profitable niche. For them, Sustainability values can be a successful differentiator; a key part of the functional and emotional attributes of a product or service. Many of marketers argue that integrating sustainability values into a brand can contribute to market growth. As one professional has commented, “As long as performance, price and place are right, then corporate responsibility can become a differentiator, although a significant price premium is not possible.”

Nowadays, a lot of businesses have tried to differentiate specific products on the basis of their social and environmental impacts. For example, Toyota has used celebrity endorsements to promote the environmental credentials of the Prius, their hybrid fuel car; it has also approved plans to use more distinctive badging on its hybrid Highlander and Lexus models. And niche businesses (increasingly joined by mainstream retailers) supplying fair trade coffee and organic products have targeted consumer concerns regarding working conditions and chemical pollution in the food supply chain, often using eco-labels and social labels to enhance the consumer understanding of their products.

The opportunity for differentiation is perhaps more significant in the business-to-business sector. Business-to-business companies are increasingly identifying opportunities to position their products and services in the wider context of their social and environmental impact as well as their cost and functionality. As one marketer has suggested: “Corporate customers are more interested in these issues than individual customers” Another marketer has confirmed the basis of this business-to-business market: “The challenge is what do customers care about: sometimes it is just price and delivery, but functionality can include aspects of sustainability, like reducing your customers’ waste so their operations run better, helping them deal with and/or eliminate regulatory issues.”

Today’s challenge for marketers to achieve their goals by integrating marketing innovation with sustainable development is to build trust with customers, consumers and society.

Reputation – the goodwill that an organization has acquired from its past performance – is the foundation of future success, the basis on which a business will be trusted in years to come. Companies remain among the least trusted institutions in society, with some businesses particularly vulnerable to pressure group campaigns and consumer boycotts. As a result, many marketers are asking themselves how to minimize the risk of criticism from stakeholders, and whether sustainable development has a role to play in these efforts. Perhaps more positively, they are also wondering what part their companies’ ambitions and achievements on social and environmental issues can play in building and maintaining trust with consumers, customers and society as a whole.

Some marketers are also concerned that reputation and trust may not be sufficient to preserve their brands in the longer-term: current patterns of consumption are not sustainable, and so customers and consumers must be educated in order to protect or secure the resources on which business is based.

Products with sustainability attributes will only appeal if they are clearly consistent with the values and activities of the company.

Many people care about the social and environmental impacts of business. Yet people trust companies when they believe they are acting according to their values, and not just because it happens to make sense in that particular instance. Credibility comes from the confidence that a business will continue to behave ethically in the future: a business will gain little reputational benefit – and more likely harm – from helping a community if local people see the contribution as a short-term ‘bribe’ that will be withdrawn as soon as its immediate objective is achieved. Marketers have a critical role in building trust. In particular, they can help to create inspiring communications, which are honestly based on the abilities of the organisation and the resources that it can realistically devote to enhancing its social and environmental performance.

However, reputation and trust may not be sufficient to safeguard a brand. To succeed, marketers must lead the path towards more sustainable consumption.

International policy makers are paying more and more attention to some of the greatest challenges to society and the environment. For example, UK previous Prime Minister Tony Blair placed poverty in Africa and climate change at the top of the G8 agenda for 2005. These issues are critical to the long-run success of business. In short, companies cannot operate effectively in societies and economies which fail to protect and support the production and consumption of their products and services. Business needs reliable access to sources of raw material, safe working conditions for production, storage and distribution, thriving consumer markets, and safe mechanisms for the disposal of product waste. There is much that governments must do. But if consumers aren’t switching to more sustainable products, then it will also fall to business to break the current patterns of consumption. And it is often the marketer who will be best positioned to create this connection between business and consumers.

CONCLUSION

Purchasing organic or fair trade produce is now very easy, but making purchasing decisions about other products such as mobile phones on environmental, social or ethical grounds remains difficult. Innovation for sustainable development would inevitably lead to new product-service systems. Current consumer culture with its emphasis on ownership as a status symbol creates significant barriers to the acceptance of these new product service systems.

Although new products and services may be essential for future growth and profit,

companies must survive today to be around tomorrow. Short term financial objectives tend to focus companies on making incremental improvements that keep sales up, keep customers happy and satisfy city analysts rather than the more radical approaches that would promote innovation for sustainable development.

Transforming today’s companies into sustainable innovation stars is not a simple case of creating a new sustainable innovation tool. Product and service innovation is part of a much wider innovation system and is affected by conditions as wide ranging as government leadership on sustainable development and organisational structures within companies. Addressing the barriers to integrating sustainable development into product and service innovation, therefore, requires change to take place across the entire system; from the introduction of new tools into the immediate product development process to the integration of sustainable development objectives into innovation policy.

Sustainable development specialists (and those with equivalent positions or responsibilities) are no longer just responsible for the management of philanthropic initiatives, community engagement programs or environmental impact assessments.

Instead, in leading companies, these managers are expected to act as agents of change: to develop the structures, systems, ways of working and personal values that will support the organisation’s sustainable development objectives; and to encourage others in the company to act as enthusiastic agents of change.

 

 References

 

- Aggeri, F., Pezzet E. and Alii (2005), “Organiser le Développement Durable”, Paris, Vuibert

- Asselineau, A. and Pierre Piré-Lechard (2008), “Développement Durable et Entreprise Responsable : Une voie pour l’innovation de rupture ”, Communication présentée lors des 3èmes journées Neptune, 1ère université : Réalités et Prospectives du développement durable organisationnel, ERMES, IAE de Toulon, Observatoire du développement durable, Université du Sud-Toulon-Var, Toulon, 13-14 Novembre 2008

- Bridgewater, S. and Peter Doyle (1998) “Innovation in Marketing”, Business and Economics

- Buisson, J. (2006) “La Responsabilité sociale de l’entreprise”, Economie et Management, N°119, Avril.

- Commissariat général au développement durable (2009) “Stratégie nationale du développement durable 2009-2012”, Ministère français de l’écologie, de l’énergie, du développement durable et de l’aménagement du territoire

- Cravens, D. (2006) “Strategic Marketing global challenges and Opportunities”, Handbook of Business Strategy, Vol. 7, Issue. 1, pp.63-70

- Fuller, D.A. (1999) “Sustainable Marketing”, Sage Publication, London-New Delhi

- Guignard, S.and Claire Prendleloup (2008) “Le développement durable”, Agence de l’environnement et de la maitrise de l’énergie, Service Valorisation des informations et des connaissances

- Harribey, J.M. (2004) “Développement ne rime pas forcément avec croissance”, Le Monde Diplomatique, Juillet

- Hauser, J., Gerard J.Tellis and Abbie Griffin (2006), “Research on Innovation: A Review and Agenda for Marketing Science”, Marketing Science, Volume 25, Number 6, November-December 2006, pp.687-717

- Jaffro, V. and Anne-Gaël Girrard (2008), “Responsabilité Sociale et Développement Durable, comment construire un modèle d’innovation et de collaboration pour les entreprises ” www.biggerthinking.com/sustainability/innovation

- Kates, R.W., Thomas M. Parris and Anthony A. Leiserowitz (2005) “What is Sustainable Development? Goals, Indicators, Values and Practice”, Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, Vol.47-Number 3, pp.8-21

-  Lambe, P. (2003) “Marketing Innovations”, www.greenchameleon.com

- Lawrence, G. (2006) “promoting Sustainable Development: the question of Governance”, Research in Rural Sociology and Development, Vol.11, pp. 145-174

- Longhurst, J.W.S., Stephen A. Dalton and David C. Gibbs (1995) “Towards a sustainable future: Promoting Sustainable Development”, The Environmentalist, Vol.15 Number 4/ December 1995

- OECD (2001) “Sustainable Development: Critical Issues”, Policy Brief-September 2001

- Patris, C., Gerard Valenduc and Francoise Warrant (2001) “Technological Innovation fostering Sustainable Development”, Report on a Research Project at the Federal Service for scientific, technical and Cultural Affairs (SSTC), under the Levers for sustainable development programme

- Reynaud, E. (2006) “Le développement durable au cœur de  l’entreprise. Pour une approche transverse du développement durable”, Dunod

- Taylor, J. (2002) “Sustainable Development: A Dubious Solution in search of a problem”, Policy Analysis Number 449- August 26, 2002

 

Related posts:

1. Challenges of Achieving Sustainable Development
2. Sustainable Tourism- A Prerequisite of Sustainable Development
3. What is Sustainable Development

It stands to reason that governments around the world are looking to expand their use of nuclear energy in coming years given the potentially catastrophic effects of climate change and the current international focus on reducing carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions. More than 130 new nuclear power plants are under construction worldwide and the World Nuclear Association forecasts that demand for uranium will grow between 25% and 50% per annum over the next 13 years.

Uranium ore prices have begun rising again this past month, breaching US$90/lb., after having fallen back and settled around the US$80/lb. level after skyrocketing up to US$138/lb. in June this year from lows around US$7/lb. that lasted decades and prompted mine closings and the curtailment of exploration programs. Lately it’s been sharp run-ups and volatility in oil and gold prices that have attracted the focus of energy and mineral resources investors and the media.

Energy and uranium market fundamentals haven’t changed, however. The base case reference scenario for the US Energy Information Association’s International Energy Outlook 2007 is based on worldwide electricity demand increasing 2.4% per year, from 16,424 billion kilowatt-hours in 2004 to 303,364 in 2030, most of it non-OECD nations. Coupled with ever greater resources being devoted to mitigating climate change and significantly cutting back global greenhouse emissions, junior uranium explorers such as Vancouver’s Atomic Minerals Ltd. (TSX.V:ATL) are raising capital and gearing up to follow through on ambitious acquisition and development plans.

From Southwestern Colorado…

Listing on the Toronto Venture Exchange in June, Atomic Minerals owns 932 claims covering 19,250 acres and has signed a Letter of Intent to purchase an additional 1,585 acres on what it considers to be a prime, untapped area for uranium ore prospects: the Dolores Anticline, a large, asymmetrical northwest-trending fold in southwestern Colorado’s Dolores and San Miguel counties.

Located within the Paradox Basin and Uravan Mineral Belt some 30 miles from southeastern Utah’s Lisbon Valley, this area in the Four Corners region was the scene of a uranium boom in the 1950’s after an initial discovery by “Uranium King” Charles A. Steen led to the development of a number of mines. In total, these have produced more than 80% of the uranium mined in Utah—in excess of 103 million pounds.

Atomic management considers Dolores to be the last saltwater anticline in the southwestern US with excellent uranium ore prospects. A recently completed NI 43-101 report confirmed that the claim area, which is approximately 30 miles away from Denison Corp.’s White Mesa Mill, has the potential to host a uranium deposit and Atomic has put together exploration plans for a US$2 million Phase Two drilling program to further explore and define the potential resource.

The Salt Wash Member of the Morrison Formation of Late Jurassic Age and the Moss Back Member of the Late Triassic Chinle Formation in and near the Uravan Mineral Belt in San Miguel, Montrose and Dolores Counties, Colorado have produced economically significant amounts of uranium ore. Drilling programs on the Dolores Anticline conducted by Hunt Oil and Newmont in the 1970s indicated that the uranium ore-bearing Moss Back Member of the Chinle Formation is present in the area.

Atomic on November 15 announced that it had begun drilling on a first transect of a planned 30,000 feet for the Summit Point and Box Canyon Exploration Projects in San Miguel County.

“Our initial drill hole at Summit Point will be looking for the mineralized zone of the Moss Back member of the Chinle Formation. Upon completion of this hole, we will be working along the flank of the Anticline with the next eight holes. Our rotary drill rig is running 24 hours a day, and this first hole of up to 2100 feet should be completed by Friday morning.”

Additionally, the Dolores Anticline was drilled by both Hunt Oil and Newmont in the 1970s. Drill logs from this wide spaced drilling indicate that the favorable Moss Back Member of the Chinle Formation is present in the area.

Atomic also owns 119 claims spanning 2,460 acres known as the Troublesome Creek property where a potential resource estimated as high as 6-7 million tons U308 grading between 0.08 to 1.14% holds out the possibility of in situ leach processing of uranium channels. Similar potential, as well as mining an unconformity type uranium deposit, exists at the Little Wolford property, where Atomic has filed for a state lease covering 640 acres. Rounding out Atomic’s Colorado holdings, the Beaver Creek property consists of 27 claims spanning 540 acres adjacent to a Newmont exploration project that has reported grades of 0.35-1.33% U308.

…to Southwestern Tanzania

Atomic has also cast its net farther afield. It has signed a Letter of Intent with Tanzania’s Geo Can Resources for an option to acquire up to a 100% interest in a land package totaling approximately 1.3 million acres located in the United Republic of Tanzania.

The LOI for the option covers ten licenses and seven parcels of land with known occurrences of uranium in southwestern Tanzania, as well as three “key” parcels in the Ruhuhu Basin, part of the Malawi Extension where 60 kilometers away in Malawi Perth-based Paladin Resources Ltd. (TSX:PDN) is developing its Kayelekera uranium ore project.

Atomic’s agreement with Geo Can Resources on the shores of Lake Nyasa, also known as Lake Malawi, extends into southern Africa’s Karoo Basin system, a deposition region known to contain significant sandstone-hosted roll front uranium deposits of the same type found on the Colorado Plateau and the world-class Mi Vida Mine near Moab, Utah that are mined by in situ leaching methods.

Current estimates for Paladin’s Kayelekera project in neighboring northern Malawi holds measured and indicated resources of 14,000 tonnes U308 and an additional 2,000 tonnes inferred. Paladin completed a Bankable Feasibility Study for Kayelekra early this year, has met environmental regulations and is investing US$185 million to develop a mine site. Production is expected to commence late in 2008 and expand up to 1270 tonnes per year.

Australia’s Western Metals (ASX:WMT) on Oct. 22 reported that ongoing drilling and trenching at its Mtonya project continues to discover high-grade uranium mineralisation over a 7 kilometre trend including 1.2 meters at 7,723 ppm U308 and 0.8 m at 1,035 ppm at the Grandfather prospect. Western Metals plans to spend A$3.5 million on exploration in Tanzania over the next 15 months.

Uranium Mining, Business & the Environment

Tanzania has set a goal for the mining sector to grow from a current 2% to 10% of GDP by 2025, deputy minister of mining and minerals William Gereja has been reported as saying. Uranium ore may join gold and diamonds as one of the country’s top mineral exports if additional exploration and resource definition work pans out as well as is anticipated. Tanzania is Africa’s third-largest gold producer, ranking behind South Africa and Ghana.

“This is good news,” Gereja told a reporter from Voice of America’s Kenya bureau at the end of July. “Uranium is used for many industrial uses in the world and we expect that uranium in our country, Tanzania, would make us benefit a lot. We expect to raise revenues from this uranium mineral.”

Security and environmental health and safety are always issues when it comes to uranium.

“We have passed all environmental and Arc studies needed as per the BLM in Colorado. In Tanzania, we are in the midst of doing the equivalent for the same requirements. The main thing to look at in Tanzania is not only the land but also the many jobs this will create,” Atomic Minerals’ Chris Brown told Resourcex Investor.

Tanzania, as well as other African countries, has been a favored transit point for smugglers. In 2005 Tanzanian customs officials discovered a large shipment of uranium from Kinshasha bound for the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. Four Tanzanians, including a government economist, were arrested in Tanzania in 2002 after 110 kilograms of uranium in plastic containers were found and seized.

The Tanzanian government is working to clamp down on both smuggling and corruption. The deputy minister of mining and minerals has said that laws and safeguards will be enacted if and when uranium is mined and produced to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.

In terms of foreign miners doing business in Tanzania, “The Mining Act of 1998 legislated a clear exploration and mining regime that guarantees against nationalization and expropriation with a fair, predictable tax regime. A Chubb Group World Risk Survey in 2006 had Tanzania in the 10 lowest investment risk countries,” according to Western Metals.

This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.

Related posts:

1. Uranium Boom Echoes in Atomic Minerals’ Colorado Exploration
2. Universal Power Corp. Sees Analogies in Key Uranium Regions
3. Universal Power Revs Into Exploration in Tanzania

In an attempt to attract greater foreign investment to Australia the Federal Government has recently doubled the current foreign investment thresholds.

Current legislation dictates that foreign investors looking to purchase a share of 15% or more interest in an asset valued at $100 million or more must apply to the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) for approval. Additionally, there are other different thresholds that apply for offshore takeovers, US investors and US offshore takeovers.

With the proposed changes to the current application and screening processes, it is expected that the number of foreign investors who will be required to seek permission from the Federal Government to purchase assets in Australia will decrease by up to 20% of current levels.

On announcing the legislation review, Treasurer Wayne Swan, acknowledged that the existing criteria of FIRB’s screening process could often result in additional compliance costs for applicants. This could both directly, and indirectly, result in making the Australian economy a less attractive platform for foreign investors.

In the current global economic climate it is important to take steps that ensure not only consistent and continual levels of overseas investment but to introduce new ideas and practices, such as increasing the currently threshold levels, that seek to increase foreign investment in our country.

As a result of the changes it is estimated that one in five business applications will no longer require screening by FIRB.

As you can see from the above table, not only have the existing thresholds been significantly increased but the changes see the current requirement to seek permission from the FIRB for foreign investors who are looking to establish a business in Australia that is valued at over $10 million to, has been abolished.

Seemingly prompted by recent predictions of a drop in foreign investment across the globe, these changes are intended to reorganise the country’s foreign investment processes in an attempt to increase the country’s competitiveness and perception in the world economic community as an attractive place to invest.

It is obvious that global capital markets are not exactly in a state of rapid growth at the moment. In light of that, it is important that our economy takes action to encourage greater levels of cross border investment and attempt to further stimulate the economic upturn. It is interesting to note that Australia is one of only six OECD countries to have actively effected changes to their foreign investment policies.

It is understood that changes to foreign investment will not have an immediate overnight effect. However, the Government remains positive that this action will play its part in the economic recovery of our country as part of the global economic community.

If you have further questions regarding the changes to Australia’s foreign investment restrictions or for advice regarding any investment issues that you may have please contact The Quinn Group on 1300 QUINNS or click here to submit an online enquiry

Related posts:

1. Overseas Property Investment – Best Destinations to Buy – Slovenia
2. 2008 Global Alpha Forum Will Bring Together Institutional Investors From Around the Globe With Connecticut’s Alternative Investment Elite
3. ALBANIA – Foreign Investment in an emerging market