The Extraction of Aluminium Essay Example for Free

The Extraction of Aluminium Essay The metal aluminium is a very important to many of the worlds industries how ever it requires a special process called electrolysis to extract it form other metals which is commonly found with. As i mentioned aluminium is an extremely useful metal and has many uses which we depend on in our daily lifes which are any thing from packaging to being used in transportation. This means that we have to to be able to extract aluminium, as it is extremely rare to find aluminium as a free metal. In fact, it is know to combine with over 270 other metals. Extraction is a major problem for aluminium and there is no ideal solution. However there are many not so perfect solutions that are currently being practiced today. In this essay I will look into some of the limitations and benefits of the current extraction techniques. I will also look at some of the economic and environmental effects the extraction of aluminium has. When aluminium is extracted from the other metals it must go through processes called electrolysis. Aluminium is not an easy metal to extract from other metals it is found in nature with, therefore it takes a lot of electricity to extract aluminium. Because it is such an energy consuming processe researchers have found ways to cut down the energy usage by adding different compounds to the aluminium. The most common way to do this is to add molton cryolite to the molton aluminium. With adding molton cryolite to the molton aluminium alone it effectively lowers the temperature needed extract from 2000à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C to 950à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C, that is more than a 50% decrease in the required temperature 2. However due to the fact that the oxygen reacts with the carbon positive electrodes this can cause an inconvenience. When oxygen (O) reacts with carbon (C) it forms carbon dioxide (CO2). When the carbon dioxide forms it eats away the positive electrode over time. As the positive electrodes are eaten away they must be replaced on a frequent and regular basis, this is a negatieve inconvenience that further adds to the cost of producing aluminum which is already high form the large amount of energy that is needed 3. In the remainder of this essay I will look at the aluminium electrolysis plant located in Reydarfjordur, Iceland. I will look at some of the environmental and economic consequences of this plant run by Alcoa. When a new plant or factory is created it can either be good or a bad thing and have both positive and negative effects on the economy and the environnent. With this plant in Reydarfjordur it has a great effect on the economy as it brings many new jobs to this not yet developed region of Iceland. In order to build this plant it requires around 1800 temporary jobs. After the plant is in a running and stable condition it will require about 450 people on a daily basis as well as another 300 jobs that will be indirectly created 1. As jobs in the eastern Iceland or Reydarfjordur area have been steadily decreasing over time this will hopefully boost the employment rate and provide jobs for many. When extracting aluminium there is no environmentally friendly solution however many new plants, including the Alcoa plant in Reydarfjordur have much lower emissions than others that are older or less environmentally friendly. The new plan for the Alcoa plant in Reydarfjordur has significantly lower emission rates than other Alcoa plants which are all within local standards. Alcoa claims they are a large supporter of sustainable development and for this plant alone they have over 60 experts looking in to and implementing ways to preserve our environment. This new factory meets and exceeds all European Union and Icelandic emissions requirements, this is the first step to creating a sustainable plant. In fact, a recent study regarding this factory shows Alcoa factory located in Iceland had 35% lover CO2 emissions than other leading aluminum plants. As well as having lower CO2 emissions they also boast 40% less PFC emissions and a 80% lower nitrogen oxide emissions 1. Bibliography: 1. Alcoa. Acoa. 2 Feb. 2008 http://www.alcoa.com/iceland/en/info_page/reydarfjordur.asp. 2. Various. Alumiumum. Wikipedia. 1 Feb. 2008. 2 Feb. 2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium. 3. Extraction of AL. BBC. 2 Feb. 2008 http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/chemistry/usefulproductsrocks/electrolysisrev3.shtml.

J.C. Penney Gift Certificate Concerns :: GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

J.C. Penney Gift Certificate Concerns J.C. Penney Company, Inc. has recently introduced a new point of sale (POS) system developed by NCR Corporation into their stores. In the first six months of operation, it has become apparent that there are unanticipated problems with the accounting and control functions pertaining to gift certificates. The new POS system does not provide for adequate tracking or control of the certificates on the sales floor, store level sales audit has inadequate procedures or data capture capabilities in place to track sales accurately and assign responsibility for missing certificates, and corporate accounting has no control over the gift certificate accounting on the store level and are constantly struggling to reconcile gift certificate information. Problems on the Sales Floor At the POS terminals on the sales floor, gift certificates are being stored underneath the cash register in a drawer with no security or control. The security and control of gift certificates has been overlooked during the drafting of the procedures for the new POS system. As a result, the security and control on gift certificates on the sales floor that had been in place with the old system has simply stopped. Employees are purely on the â€Å"honor† system. When sales associates ring up a gift certificate sale they have to key 1) the appropriate twelve-digit SKU from a list of 3 choices, and 2) a dollar value for the gift certificate shown on the face. For example, SKU #1 represented the $25 gift certificate, SKU#2 represented the $50 gift certificate, and SKU #3 represented the $100 gift certificate. After the sales transaction is complete, the sales associate must manually record the dollar value of the gift certificate on their cash audit report. During times of high volume, sometimes this final step is overlooked. Typically, the cashiers are just keying SKU #1 for any gift certificate sale and keying in the appropriate dollar value from the face of the gift certificate. The SKU’s are not electronically tied to a dollar value. This is a limitation of the previous POS system that was not addressed during the testing stage of the new system. Therefore, the error rate is very high and discrepancies in gift certificate sales are common. At the close of the shift, an electronic cashier report is generated on the register that just shows a total dollar amount tied to a SKU.

Describing of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act

1. In two to three paragraphs, describe the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and why it is important to the accounting profession. (15 points) Sarbanes-Oxley Act was created in order to ensure that controls were implemented and monitored by the regulating authority. Congress wanted to make sure that there was a specific standard and guideline for companies to follow in order to prevent fraud at such a large scale. When followed correctly there are controls set in place that are internal which are governed by the managers and checked upon by the Federal regulatory authorities.This act was passed in 2002, prior to then the rules were more relaxed and when the crisis occurred with Enron that was a breaking point for the American people, especially those who lost a lot of money. Needless to say this just made it harder for fraud to occur. There were and still are several grey areas that the players involved exploit.2. Name and briefly describe the five components of COSO’s internal control fram ework. (10 points) The five components of COSO are as follows: a. Control Environment: Basically means that the leaders of the organization set the tone for ethics and enforce them with a code of conduct followed by consequences when not abided by. b. Risk assessment: this just means they check there controls for weaknesses regularly and fix any discrepancies with stronger controls. c. Control activities: These are segregation of duties, account reconciliations, and info processing controls. They are considered internal controls as well that protect the processes in place. d. Information and communication: The internal and external reporting process. The text book stated that it includes technology assessments as well.3. Describe the relationship between the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and COSO. (10 points) COSO is used to check in on the organizations and offer guidelines for them to follow when setting upo their controls. If all five elements are followed then they will not have much to wo rry about when auditing occurs and fraud would be less likely.4. Tom Jackson is a CPA who really likes to go to Las Vegas, play poker, and bet on football games. Tom knows that the accounting profession disapproves of gambling, but because he spends a lot of time studying sports facts and how to win at poker, he feels that he is simply making educated decisions based on facts. He says that this is no different from using accounting information to buy stocks. Use the fraud triangle as a basis to comment on Tom’s gambling activities. (15 points) In this case Tom has all of the elements in place to commit fraud. He has the opportunity because of the nature of his business.He has already decided that gambling excessively is ok because it is a calculated risk. Not realizing he is putting himself in a position where the pressure will come into place when he does lose. Debt is always looked at when being evaluated for sensitive positions that deal with national security or money inv olvement. Even if it is just a public trust clearance that the person is seeking on order to get the position they still will review your credit history at a minimum.

Analysis of Mores The Prince and Utopia Essay - 1545 Words

i. Introduction Sir Thomas More was born in London to Agnes and John More a lawyer in 1477. Tomas after being a page in the Morton Household was sent to Oxford University and became a successful lawyer. After becoming an MP for the Under-Sheriff of London he started writing the book Utopia and finishing it 1516. After writing the book he was appointed as the privy councilor to King Henry VIII in 1518. He was latter executed in 1535 for refusing King Henry VIII to be the head of the church. Utopia is a fictional book about Mores talk with Raphael Nonsenso and his travels to Utopia. Niccolo Machiavelli was born in Florence, Italy in 1469 to a middleclass family. The time in which Machiavelli lived Italy as a country†¦show more content†¦Also each house elects a skyward who is representatives and they also elect the mayors of the town by secret ballot which is a life term. There is also a bencheater for every 10 skywards that meets every 3 days and debates or disuses issues with the mayor and debates the issue for 3 days and each day there is 2 different skyward invited to the meetings. Machiavelli would not agree with this system of government he would say that there should only be one in charge of the government that makes decisions for the people and the land. Machiavelli would agree with the fact of having advisors such as a bencheater talking with a mayor but being limited when they can speak ?Yet he should question them about all matters?welcome the more freely they are spoken.?(Machiavelli 88). In certain case the prince should have a strong and trustful advisor or minister that it loyal to the prince and the prince only. ?Now, as to the means by which a prince may learn the character of a minister?.the result will always be disastrous to both.?(Machiavelli 87) iii. War The subject of war in Utopia is that they never sign any treaties since they are constantly broken and violated ?But they never make any actual treaties of the kind that they are so constantly being made, broken, and renewed by other nations?(More 88). All Utopians are military trained including the woman but they rarely go to war unlessShow MoreRelatedEssay on Utopia1351 Words   |  6 Pages Thomas More’s, Utopia is one of the most politically and socially influential texts to date. His audience, which ranges from academic and social scholars to college students, all can gain a different understanding of the work and it’s meaning. In order to fully comprehend More’s message, one must have an appreciation for the time and culture in which he lived. After grasping historical concepts, one reads Utopia, not as just a volume recounting a fictitious island society, but rather as a critiqueRead MoreAp European History Outline Chapter 10 Essay example5639 Words   |  23 PagesLatin Language revealed that a document titled Donation of Constantine, purported to be a grant of vast territories that the Roman emperor Constantine donated to the Pope during the fourth century, was fraudulent * Valla used textual analysis and historical logic to prove that the document had been written in the eighth, rather than the fourth, century * Less than a century later, Valla became a hero to Protestant reformers * Civic Humanism emerged out of the belief