Alliance of Fuel Developing and Exporting States

The Alliance of Fuel Developing and Exporting States, commonly abbreviated to AFDES, is a CJ union that was created on September 10, 2008. It is a confederal union with 10 members. Its aim is to develop new forms of energy and fuel, and to foster cooperation between members.

History

In Summer 2008, Franklin County and Virgin Shores entered into an oil refining agreement. Virgin Oil would refine Franlinite oil from the Forest Basin Oil Field for a fee. Diplomacy and cooperative endeavours soon followed. Franklin and Virgin Shores were considered to be in an informal alliance.

Expansion of the Alliance

Virgin Shores also had an informal alliance with the Follomer Chancellery, then known as the New Follomer Republic. Patricius Maximus, the creator of Franklin County, had an early interest in Follomer, and formed an informal political triad between Virgin Shores, Franklin, and New Follomer. Later, Three City Council Members, TimeMaster, Ntq$310, and Psander5 became interested in the Alliance. The Alliance became a light talk in Virgin Shores. A few days later, an Council Member called SimA12 joined the alliance. Also, frequent visitors un1, GreekMan, and MrWacko also became interested. Soon Deathtopumpkins sought a private topic just for the Alliance-In-The-Making.

Formation of a Union and Public Notice

On September 10, Deathtopumpkins created a private topic for discussion. At the time, the union did not have a name. After a vote of prospective members in the following days, the name 'Alliance of Fuel Developing and Exporting States' was chosen. The union was now formal. A few days after AFDES became a formal union, a public thread was created for AFDES. Amazingly, the thread became popular, and more and more impressed CJers were waiting to join in. All of the AFDES Members were in a hurry to get the climax set up.

Early Days of AFDES

Through September, business was conducted informally, in the absence of a charter. The rotation order and timeframe of Summits were determined. The order of rotation would be in descending order of population, and summits would be held once a month. This was only an informal agreement, but all members felt it was a good one. On September 28, the first AFDES Summit was initiated in Calder City.

The First Summit

Psander5, creator of Calder City, officially opened the Summit before midnight on the 27th of September. It was only intended to last 2 days, but it ended up spilling over to 4 days. The member states accomplished much at the Summit, including:

• Ratification of a Charter
• Adopting a Statement of Intent
• Determining Summit rotation
• Establishment of a cooperative space program
• Adopting a Flag

The Summit in Calder City was, by every member's account, very productive, and the question of how the alliance would be run was settled.

As of October 2008, the Alliance is going strong, and has a bright future ahead of it.

The Second Summit

At this time the second summit is set to happen sometime in october in the Follomer Chancellery.

Membership

Each member in AFDES is called a 'member state', and is treated equally. Membership is currently capped at 10, although the cap is not formal, and is projected to change soon. More members will be accepted in a few months once everything is running smoothly. The current members are:

• Ntq$310: Flint
• Patricius Maximus: Franklin County
• TimeMaster: Yepatilla Archipelago
• Archean: Follomer Chancellery
• DTP: Virgin Shores
• un1: Nipigon Island
• Psander5: Calder City
• GreekMan: Halifax
• MrWacko: Neo Esson
• Sim-Al2: Banff

Administration

As a confederal union, all member states are treated equally, and Alliance business is decided democratically. Ntq$310 put out the idea of departments, but it was rejected by the member states, although some expressed desire to consider it in the future.

AFDES Charter

Preamble

We, the member states of the Alliance of Fuel Developing and Exporting States, establish this Charter of the Alliance to foster cooperation between member states, to ensure development of member states, and to strengthen, streamline, and clarify processes, do establish this Charter of the Alliance of Fuel Developing and Exporting States.

Article I

This charter may be referenced as the ‘AFDES Charter’

Article II

Section I

Member states are sovereign, and should be treated in the Alliance as such.

Section II

Member states reserve the right to secede or withdraw from the Alliance in any way, shape, or form, for any purpose.

Section III

Member states are obligated to be a producer or distributor of energy, energy-related materials,or energy-related technologies within 90 days of acceptance into the Alliance.

Article III

Section I

A Summit of Alliance members shall be convened at least once in a calendar month. Attendance of half of the member states is necessary to initiate a Summit.

Section II

Location of the Summit shall rotate in descending order based on population. For the purposes of determining the Summit location, the following Summit shall be in the member state with the highest population as reported on the date of ratification of this Charter.

Section III

Population figures for the rotation order of Summits shall be determined by a union-wide Census when there are no more states with lower populations to host the Summits.

Section IV

A member state may initiate a motion for a Summit at any time. In the event of such a motion, a poll of member states shall be initiated. A motion for a Summit is ratified if it receives the approval of more than half of the member states. When ratified, the Summit’s location shall be determined in the manner prescribed in Article III, Section II.

Article IV

Section I

A state may be accepted into the Alliance by means of a poll of existing member states. If more than half of existing member states approve of the acceptance of the aspiring state, then the state attains the status of AFDES member state.

Section II

A member state may be expelled from the Alliance by means of a vote of all member states excluding the state in question. If more than three-quarters of voting states approve of expulsion, then the state in question shall be expelled from the Alliance. A member state may introduce a motion to expel another state, listing rationale for the motion.

Article V

Section I

This charter may be amended with additional articles by a vote of member states. If an amendment proposal obtains the approval of more than sixty percent of the member states, then it is ratified into the AFDES Charter.

Section II

This charter shall require the ratification of all member states to enter into force.

Section III

A Member State may introduce a motion to convene a Summit to draft a new charter, and it shall be subjected to a vote. If the motion receives the approval of more than half of the member states, then a Summit shall be convened. The location of the Summit shall be determined in the manner prescribed in Article III, Section II.

AFDES Statement of Intent

"The Alliance of Fuel Developing and Exporting States exists to strengthen the member states' energy production capabilities and sustainabilities. The Alliance believes in responsible energy production and management, both environmentally and economically. Technology, trade and co-operation are at the centre of the alliance's plan to achieve these aims.

AFDES promotes peace and diplomacy between member states and the wider international community, and intends to set an example of responsibility to all other nations and states.

AFDES supports economic Development of all cities and nations in the alliance. It supports efficient buildings and good business practices that increase the productivity of all nations.

The scientific and engineering communities of the member states have agreed in principle to launch an alliance led space programme to further push the boundaries of human development and advancement, with its mid-term aim in developing an alternative to rocket based launch systems."

AFDES Programs

AFDES Space Program

At the First Summit, four AFDES states expressed support for a joint space program. Franklin County, Clader City, and the Follomer Chancellery are the states that are organizing the program, and Virgin Shores signed on to help finance it.

Follomer and Franklin are currently working on antigravity propulsion for expansion into space. On October 1, Franklinite scientists developed a method of electromagentic propulsion using diamagnetic superconductors. They are testing the idea in North River, Franklin County.

Follomer has its own form of antigravity propulsion, and is also working on extending it to spacecraft. Currently both groups are organizing a conference to examine the two ideas.

The first target of the space program is the planet Agonus, which was discovered by Franklinite astronomers after a meteor from that planet spontaneously fused in a laboratory, killing more than 10 scientists. A coventional probe is currently at Agonus exploring it from orbit.

Energy Programs at the Present

Most AFDES members produce some sort of energy-yielding material, whether that be a fossil fuel or renewable energy technology. Virgin Shores has some heavy oil reserves, and an oil refinery. Franklin County also produces oil, and sends it to Virgin Shores to be refined. Nipigon Island is proposed to be a strong oil producer and refiner. Flint, IL is right in the middle, and plays a important place in storage of oil, and also has a major role in wind energy. Yepatilla Archipelago is currently working on using clean biomass, and has a few light oil reserves. Calder City is one of the first nations to get to exporting renewable energy and technology, and the city exports mostly Wind and Solar Technology.

Energy Programs in the Future

Many members of AFDES are oil producers, and as such have large amounts of capital avaliable for energy programs. Franklin County has initiated a program to get itself completely off of oil. A long-term goal of AFDES is to produce cleaner, more efficient energy for export, most AFDES members are trying to get research completed on Renewable Energy and Fusion.

Calder City as well as Franklin are developing technology for fusion reactors. The spontaneous fusion observed on Agonus naturally interests the two states, and is one of the reasons they are initiating a joint space program.