Disucuss about about the social, economical, environmental and ethical elements of the identified sustainability issue.
In the recent time, one of the major sustainability issues being emerged in the global scenario is the scarcity of the non renewable sources of energy. This can be treated as a sustainability issue due to the reason that non renewable sources of energy are limited in nature and it is fast depleting (Weinstein, Turner and Ibanez 2013). Thus, the availability for the future generation is a major concern. However, it is also to be noted that there are number of other issues from the perspective of social, economic, environmental and ethical contexts can also get emerged.
This essay will discuss about the social, economical, environmental and ethical elements of the identified sustainability issue. In addition, this essay will also discuss about the major ethical problems associated with the identified issue and will be evaluated with the help of ethical theories. The impact of the identified issue on the business will also be discussed along with discussing an effective solution that can help in overcoming the issue.
The identified ethical issue of scarcity of nonrenewable sources of energy is having major environmental elements involved. Nonrenewable energy sources are mainly the fossil fuels and burning of the fossil fuel is the major sources of degradation of environment in the recent time. Using of nonrenewable sources of energy is causing air pollution in the form of emission, water pollution in the form of wastage (Shafiei and Salim 2014). On the other hand, rapid exploitation of the fossil fuels is enhancing the risk of change in ecosystem and biodiversity. Thus, it can be concluded that using of nonrenewable sources of energy is not only depleting the available resources but also degrading the environment also.
There are number of social elements also being involved and associated with the identified global sustainability issue. One of the major social elements involved with the issue of scarcity of nonrenewable sources of energy is global population. The major impact for the scarcity of nonrenewable sources of energy is faced by the average population. This is due to the reason that the scarcer will be the energy sources, the more will be price of the fuels. This will cause more cost for the population (Capellan-Perez et al. 2014). It is also to be noted that price of every consumer goods are determined by the fuel price. Thus, increase in the price for fossil fuels will cost more for the population in their daily living.
Another major social element in relation to the scarcity of the nonrenewable sources of energy is conflict. This is due to the reason that in the current global scenario, fossil fuel is one of the most valuable factors for every stakeholder. However, the sources for energy resources are not equal in every location rather some regions are having more resources over others. This is leading to the emergence of conflict among different social groups (Mansson 2014). The more will be the demand for the nonrenewable source of energy, the more will be the price that will lead to the increase in the probability of social conflict.
The future generation will also be one of the most affected social elements due to the issue of scarcity of nonrenewable source of energy. This is due to the reason that source of nonrenewable energy is limited in nature and it cannot be replenished. Thus if the demand for nonrenewable source of energy continues to increase without having any alternate option, then it is highly likely that future generation will not have enough resources and they will face more scarcity compared to present time.
One of the major economic elements for the scarcity of nonrenewable source of energy is global economical status. In the current time, the difference between the economies of different countries across the world is much compared to a few years ago. Though there are number of factors that contribute in enhancing the differences between the national economies, but the major factor is the sources of fossil fuel present in different areas and regions. This is due to the reason that regions with having more reserves for fossil fuel will have the better opportunity to enhance their national economy and also earning by initiating international business (Boluk and Mert 2014). On the other hand, countries and regions with having lower reserve sources will have to import the energy resources and thus will have less option in developing their economy.
The availability of fossil fuel reserves also determines the development of newer sources of fuel. This is due to the reason that the more will be the fuel reserves in the country, the more will be the favorable economic condition to develop alternative energy sources (Bloch, Rafiq and Salim 2015). Thus, the scarcity of the nonrenewable sources of energy also determines the development of newer sources of fuel. However, on the other hand, it should also be noted that emergence of scarcity of nonrenewable sources of energy will further reduce the global economic viability. This is due to the reason that the less will be the available sources for fuels, the less will be the availability of economic options to enhance the national economy.
One of the major ethical problems related with the issue of depletion of nonrenewable sources of energy is reserving the resources for the future generation. As discussed earlier, one of the major sustainability issues for the depletion of the fossil fuels is depriving the future generation. The more will be the exploitation of the natural resources in the current time, the more will be the risk of depriving the future generation. Thus, it can be considered as unethical of depriving the future generation for the available resources. In addition, another major ethical problem being identified is degradation of the nature and environment by exploiting the natural resources. This is due to the fact that mining of the natural resources along with burning of the fossil fuel are having adverse impact on the environment and thus it is unethical to degrade the environment and natural resources due to exploitation.
According to the deontological theory of ethics, if the decision is being taken by following obligations and duties, then it can be considered as the ethical decision. Thus, this theory states that it is important to consider different responsibilities and duties in order to ensure the ethics in the decision making process (Paquette, Sommerfeldt and Kent 2015). Thus, in the case of scarcity of natural resources, depriving the future generation will be considered as unethical due to the reason that it is the duty of the present generation to consider the interest of the future generation. Thus it can be concluded that it is unethical according to the deontological theory of ethics to exploit the natural resources such as fossil fuel without considering the interest of the future generation.
Another major theory of ethics is utilitarianism. According to this theory, decisions can be considered as ethical if the decision can help enhancing the benefits for the greater people and factors (Mill 2016). However, in the case of burning of fossil fuels, though the present generation is getting benefited from having the source of energy but nature is adversely impacted. Thus, with the degradation of nature and environment, greater number of people and other elements are getting affected also. According to the utilitarianism theory of ethics, it is unethical to affect the nature and other elements for using the nonrenewable sources of energy.
In the above sections, it is discussed about different elements being involved and affected from the over exploitation of the nonrenewable sources of energy. However it is also to be noted that that scarcity of nonrenewable sources of energy will have both threats and opportunities for the business. The following sections will discuss about the major threats and opportunities for business.
One of the major business opportunities of scarcity of nonrenewable source of energy is the enhancement of the scope for alternate source of energy. This is due to the reason that, the more will be the scarcity of the nonrenewable source of energy, the more will be the requirement for developing alternate source of fuels. Therefore, business organizations will have more market opportunities in operating in the field of alternate fuels (Moka et al. 2014). Another major opportunity to be gained by the business from the scarcity of the nonrenewable source of energy is reduction in the cost of operation. This is due to the reason that average cost of renewable source of energy such as wind and solar energy is less compared to nonrenewable source of energy. Thus, the less will be the cost of energy; the lower will be the cost of operation and increase in profitability for the business organizations.
Apart from the opportunities discussed above, there are number of threats can also be faced by the businesses from the scarcity of nonrenewable source of energy. One of the major threats to be faced by the business organizations is the adverse impact on the production process. This is due to the reason that alternate fuels are still in the nascent stage and they are still not being used in extensive manner. Thus, with the increase in the scarcity of nonrenewable source of energy, production process will get affected. This will lead to the barrier in the organizational performance. Another major threat to be faced by the organizations will be the increase in the cost of production (Kristoufek, Janda and Zilberman 2014). This is due to the reason that with the increase in nonrenewable source of energy, the price for the fuels will get raised and thus the input cost for the organizations will get increased. They will face the challenge to regulate the cost of production with the increase in the cost for nonrenewable source of energy.
It is recommended that initiation and extensive implementation of the solar power technology will be the most viable and sustainable option for the identified issue of scarcity of nonrenewable source of energy. This is due to the reason that solar energy is one of the most extensively available sources of energy. Thus, due to the extensive availability, solar energy can be tapped effectively and efficiently (Hernandez et al. 2014). Moreover, solar energy is free from any type of pollution and emission and thus issue of degradation of the environment can also be mitigated. In terms of the financial barriers, tapping the solar energy is also a financial viable option. This is due to the reason that generation of the energy is not involving any cost; rather the conversion of crude energy in to usable one only involves cost. In addition, for the commercial and domestic usages, initial cost will be bit more due to the installation of the solar panels and others. However, the long term cost will be lower and negligible. It should also be noted that production of solar energy is already got improved technologically and enhanced the convenience of usage different alternate purposes. Initiation of the solar energy can also be termed as ethical due to the reason that solar energy is infinite and abundant in nature. Furthermore, generation of energy from solar resource will not have any adverse impact on nature. Therefore, it can be concluded that solar energy will be the most viable and sustainable option in overcoming the issue of scarcity of nonrenewable source of energy.
Conclusion
This essay concludes that in the current global scenario, scarcity of nonrenewable source of energy is one of the major sustainability issues being emerged. This essay has discussed about different elements from different perspectives in order to have the understanding about the elements associated with the identified issue. In addition, this essay also discussed about the ethical problems associated with the identified issues. Different ethical theories are being used to evaluate the ethical problems with the sustainable issue. The negative and positive factors of scarcity of nonrenewable source of energy in business are also being identified in this essay. This essay concludes that solar energy will be the most viable and sustainable option to mitigate this issue.
References
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