Consumer's Safety Concerns When Using Smart Meters Dissertation

Consumer's Safety Concerns When Using Smart Meters - Dissertation Example We will be exploring the advantages and benefits of Smart Meters and the widespread acceptance of them by various governments and power corporations / power distribution agencies across the globe. Data will be presented from numerous studies on the Smart Meter and its effectiveness will be showcased. The prime concerns of â€Å"Consumer health† due to RF waves emitted and â€Å"Compromise of Consumer Privacy† and â€Å"Safety Concern† due to the detailed statistical and itemized electricity usage will also be discussed in detail. Ways and means of countering these severe drawbacks will also be discussed and a practical solution will be proposed. A new idea on making Smart Meters more consumers friendly and robust in terms of protecting consumer privacy will be discussed as well. Acknowledgement I heartedly acknowledge and thank my supervisor Dr. Georgios Theodorakopoulos for his valuable guidance and console. I also appreciate the co-operation of my family member s for facilitating my research study. Table of Contents I.Introduction 8 1.1Project Rationale 9 1.2Purpose of Study 10 1.3Objectives of Study 11 II.Literature Review 11 II.1Introduction 11 II.2What are Smart Meters 12 II.3Working of Smart Meters 13 II.4Functionalities of a Smart Meter 15 II.5Smart Meters vs. Conventional Meters 15 II.6Benefits of Smart Meters 16 II.6.1Benefits to Consumers 17 II.6.2Benefits to Utilities 17 II.6.3Environmental Benefits 18 II.6.4Economic Benefits 18 II.7Safety Issues of Smart Meters 19 III.Research Methodology 19 III.1Introduction 19 III.2Research Strategy 20 III.3Ethics 20 III.4Limitations 21 III.5Conclusion 21 IV.Findings and Analysis 21 IV.1Introduction 21 IV.2Findings 22 IV.2.1Issue of Consumer Health 22 IV.2.2Issue of Consumer Privacy 27 IV.2.3Discussion 29 IV.2.4Conclusion 32 IV.3Remedial Models for Safety Concerns of Smart Meters 32 IV.3.1Healthcare Models 32 IV.3.2Privacy Models 34 IV.4Analysis 37 IV.5Conclusion 41 V.Conclusion and Recommendat ion 41 V.1Introduction 41 V.2Conclusion 42 V.3Recommendations 43 VI.Personal Reflection 45 VII.Bibliography 47 I. Introduction Smart meters have been the focus of attention of a considerable number of electricity providers in European Union as well as United Kingdom. A number of smart meter projects are underway in Italy, Japan, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, USA and Northern Ireland (Gerwen, 2006). This unwavering attention given to these smart meters is because of the benefits that the ‘smart’ technology offers. Not only are these new smart grid/meters designed to be more reliable and more efficient but they also give more accurate readings than the existing electrical meters. Smart meters facilitate the operations of meter companies, grid operators, energy suppliers, governments and the consumers (Gerwen, 2006). Despite the large scale advantages offered by the smart meters, there are primarily two issues regarding the effect of these smart meters on the consumer welfare. These two issues alone have created a wave of concern amongst the consumers regarding the usage of smart meters. Owing to some of the reviews published by the environmental and health bodies, the use of smart meters can produce harmful health effect and disrupt the privacy of consumers (Murrill et al., 2012; Dean

Rock and Roll History Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Rock and Roll History - Assignment Example The giant electronic screen behind the stage showed the various band members and the other guest artists from time to time, focusing on one individual at a time. There were times also when the said electronic screen showed some fancy cartoons or caricatures of people. B Description of the Performance – the band was quite remarkable because the band members played all their songs all the way back to their start as a band. In other words, the mixture of the songs was eclectic and there was hardly any misstep in their performance. Band members memorized all their songs, even the old ones, and Linkin Park did not limit itself to purely rock and roll songs or the usual rap metal songs in their albums. For fans of this band, their performance was considered one of the best so far but on the other hand, those who hate the sound of rap may find their music too hard on their ears. All the thumping and the shouting at times may sound like irritating noise instead of soothing music to unfamiliar ears. The sheer volume of the sound system made the song lyrics inaudible most of the time although many of the fans are already familiar with these songs. On the whole, it was an awesome performance. Instrumentation was good while the articulation of the sou nd at high volume was excellent. C Description of the Artists/Band (musical genre) –the songs of Linkin Park are associated with rap metal music and also with nu metal (or alternatively termed as new metal, neo-metal, or aggro-metal) which is a type of music that is heavy on metal combined with hip-hop music and hardcore punk with additional mixtures from grounge music (characterized by growling vocals and sounds from distorted electric guitars) using apathetic, ennui, or angst-filled lyrics. The sub-genre of music from the Linkin Park band is somewhat a cross or blend between two styles of music which are hip-hop and