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Elaeis guineensis Jacq. or oil palm is a native species of West Africa. Its oils, extracted from the fruit mesocarp and the kernel are widely used in the food industry, industrial applications, and bioenergy production. Due to its versatility, profitability and growing demand, the global oil palm agroindustry raises concerns regarding deforestation, effects in biodiversity, contamination and related to social issues such as labor conditions, poverty, and social conflicts. In Mexico, the establishment and subsequent growth of the oil palm industry was promoted by past government policies and financial support. In Chiapas the current main producer of the country, the expansion can be also attributed to oil palm resilience to floods, hurricanes, and the economic profitability.
The objective of this study is to evaluate the sustainability status of the oil palm production system within Acapetahua and Villa Comaltitlán Municipalities by analyzing the indicators of sustainability. To achieve this, the Evaluation Framework for Natural Resource Management Systems (MESMIS), was adapted to measure the attributes status of productivity, stability, reliability, resilience, self-management, equity, and adaptability, of the different dimensions of sustainability (environmental, social, political, and economic).
It was identified that MESMIS is an appropriate framework to study oil palm system in Acapetahua and Villa Comaltitlán municipalities. The methodology allowed the identification of critical points, and relevant indicators that include land use and vegetation cover changes, oil palm cashflow, good agricultural practices, farmers´ training, level of participation and farmers´ well-being. As a result, it was identified that vegetation and land use changes were principally from pastures land and previous oil palm plantations, and a positive profitability in the last two years. Soil and water conservation practices are implemented, and farmers have received different trainings principally from social mills, but other good agricultural practices and awareness of social problems should be improved, while the social participation evaluation showed a weak status of the political dimension.
Mangrove forests have been studied broadly in the recent three decades for their outstanding ability to sequester carbon in the beneath soil and other beneficial ecosystem services. Endeavors to conserve and regenerate mangrove cover are still increasing worldwide as a mechanism to include them in NDCs and carbon markets. Therefore, decision-makers in the private and public sectors require identify possible areas for conservation and restoration prior to blue carbon project investment. Thus, an integral assessment of potential mangrove carbon reservoirs in a landscape scale, considering environmental and socioeconomic factors was performed. This study was aimed to determine areas with the highest blue carbon sequestration potential in the Gulf of Guayaquil through the construction of a Blue Carbon Potential Index (BCPI) based on Spatial Multicriteria Analysis (SMCA). A narrative integrative literature review was employed to select indicators of mangrove carbon sequestration gains and losses. These indicators were pondered following the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) with the judgments of two experts and reclassified in four potential categories based on their thresholds. Since no consensus was achieved in the indicator importance hierarchization, a comparative of equal weighting method and AHP weighting was implemented. The linear combination rule was used to integrate these factors into a unique-scaled index supported by a geographic Information System (GIS). The results showed that 15.82% and 16.21% of the study area belonged to high and moderate potential of blue carbon sequestration respectively. Moreover, no significant differences were found between the two weighting methods applied. The BCPI provides a comprehensive understanding of spatial distribution of blue carbon potential reservoirs and grants a quantification of this potential to prioritize conservation and restoration areas.
Configuration of energy transition factors in Inner Mongolia: A qualitative fuzzy logic approach
(2022)
Transitioning towards a low-carbon society is now increasingly becoming a global concern. The goal of successfully achieving this energy transition has become one of most pressing challenge, both among government decision makers and academia. Energy transition has raised up and become one of the top action priorities in China. Inner Mongolia, as the study area in this research, is significant in China's energy transition as one of leading provinces in terms of energy resources and electricity outward transmission.
The main goal of this dissertation is to identify configurations that influence on the energy transition in IMAR. On the basis of a multilevel perspective (MLP) framework, the method of fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is applied within the thesis, taking 8 Chinese municipalities or leagues as study cases. A qualitative comparative study is carried out of configurations of diversified factors, which affect China’s energy transition. Eight antecedent conditions extracted from landscape level, regime level and niche level respectively.
It is shown that different transition trajectories can have a similar energy transition outcome. Energy transition itself is induced by multiple factors collaboratively. Coal resource curse does not always have negative effects on energy transition in Inner Mongolia. Within this work, two main energy transition modes (supply and demand balance reversed mode in western IMAR and energy technological transformation mode in eastern IMAR) are constructed based on regional differences and yearly dynamics, illustrating the trajectories with different municipal characteristics. The transition pattern also shows different geographical characteristics. Different east-west distribution of the electricity market distributes differently in eastern and western Inner Mongolia, however, the difference in distinct forms of electricity market does not show enough impact on the energy transition trajectory in this dissertation. Overall, this study shows that the local response and its effects on the process of energy transition, in the light of the encouragement and advocacy by the central government. Meanwhile, this study offers a deeper understanding in the feasibility of the application with a methodological combination of MLP and fsQCA in provincial level for future research.
The increase in greenhouse gas emissions, mainly due to the burning of fossil fuels and land use change, has led to changes in the global climate. Agriculture is one of the economic sectors most vulnerable to the impacts generated by climate change. For this reason, the challenge facing humanity today is to develop innovative solutions to address the complexity of agricultural sustainability.
On the other hand, sugarcane is one of the crops that emits the most pollutants into the atmosphere, mainly due to the burning of sugarcane before and after harvesting. Most of these atmospheric pollutants are precursors of climate change and have an impact on the health and quality of life of communities. Moreover, this agricultural practice causes the gradual deterioration of the soil, directly affecting sugarcane production. Consequently, several sugarcane-producing countries have established regulations or dispositions to eliminate this agricultural practice, and one option to eliminate it is the mechanization of harvesting. However, its implementation implies social, environmental, and economic impacts that must be analyzed systemically to avoid potential failures during the technological transition process. It is for this reason that this research, through the MICMAC method, focused on identifying the variables associated with the reduction of sugarcane burning in Campos dos Goytacazes and Tamasopo, to subsequently analyze their direct and indirect interrelationship, and, thus, determine the opportunities and limitations of each locality for the reduction of sugarcane burning.
Through this analysis, it became evident that although the technological transition is an imminent step for the sustainability of sugarcane cultivation, certain factors such as legislation, technological innovation, and the perception of the stakeholders regarding the consequences of sugarcane burning, is what defines in the study sites the speed and subsequent success of this process of change towards green harvesting.
Human civilization has a great history of managing Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WaSH) services. But such services in rural areas have been neglected throughout our history. Numerous multimillion dollars WaSH interventions have been implemented in rural areas to eradicate open defecation, but most of them failed to create a demand for sanitation. Lack of equity and fair participation in approaches to change behavior and mindset, rather than habits, has made it hard for governments to achieve their WaSH related targets. Participatory rural sanitation approaches that focus on behavior change and ownership building among the community members have helped in the transition to open defecation free (ODF) societies. A justice-focused sanitation approach shows potential in fast-tracking this transition. Just transition is a concept that has not been endured in the sanitation discussion yet but shows the potential of sustainable WaSH solutions. This social empirical research has explored the feasibility of a justice-based sanitation approach guiding a transition towards societies with universal access to sanitation services. A just sanitation transition framework was adapted from the considered theoretical foundations and was used to map the capability and justice dimensions of two rural sanitation approaches being implemented in schools in the Mukuyu community in Trans-Nzoia county, Kenya. The adapted framework has been able to compute both sanitation approaches on a scoring tool, quantitatively assessing the productivity and justice dimensions of both approaches. This research has helped in establishing the viability of a just sanitation transition framework to produce an informed understanding of the potential of rural sanitation approaches to produce desired results while being just. Study findings help in filling research gaps and laying the foundation to the just transition debate in the sanitation sector and opens a window to further researches on the same, in the future.
Based on the idea of sustainable development, the BioTrade principles and criteria (P&C), based on the idea of sustainable development, have been the essential core guiding the implementation of BioTrade activities since their inception by UNCTAD in 2007. However, after identifying that BioTrade of medicinal plants causes negative impacts on the traditional knowledge related to these plants, the P&C were evaluated in light of the most relevant international agreements that contribute to the safeguarding of this knowledge. The result obtained from the assessment showed that the P&C present many gaps that prevent evaluating the real impact of trade on the traditional knowledge of medicinal plants in Indigenous and local communities. Therefore, in the same framework of the current P&C, the main recommendations contained in the international agreements and the suggestions of specialists in the field have been gathered to create a BioTrade standard that contributes to safeguarding traditional medicinal plant knowledge within a commercial context in any BioTrade initiative where the commercialized product is a sacred or native plant with traditional and cultural value for a community.
In 2015, the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Paris Agreement provided a basis for considerable optimism for the fight against climate change and efforts to promote sustainable development, but their implementation remains an enormous challenge. Finance, in turn, plays a key role in implementation. This thesis thus seeks to provide new insights into the challenge of implementing the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda by examining pertinent financial flows while taking into considering that making use of thematic overlaps between these two agendas can help to leverage synergies, especially if financial flows take adequate account of these overlaps. Since energy plays an essential role in both the goals of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda (in SDG 7 and beyond it), this thesis focuses on countries’ energy-related national commitments. Against this background, this thesis investigates the question which role energy plays in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement and to what extent climate finance is considered in the context of the energy system transition. The key finding is that financial flow for renewable energy and energy efficiency improves globally with an unchanged track of non-renewable energy in the post-NDC period.
Water risk assessment is becoming an essential part of any decision-making process in the business sector. In the world where freshwater resources are becoming scarcer, water risks are growing and causing high costs to businesses. Therefore, numerous frameworks, guidelines, methodologies, tools, and other approaches were developed during the last century. Various scholars have appeared to give an economic value or price for environment goods in order to understand trade-offs better. Nowadays, the corporate world tends to use different approaches to convert sustainability management data to the financial language of decision-makers. This study explores the possible ways for a company to measure the costs of water related risks. It examines how to convert water risks to financial risks using a Peruvian agricultural company. The results show, that from all today’s available frameworks, guidelines or tools there is no one commonly accepted and recognised as the best for water risk assessment and monetising. It was learned, that available tools could provide just a simple overview of possible water related risks and calculate their costs in a very general way. The work also highlights the importance of regular and appropriate data collection on the company level in order to be able to assess water risk related costs for the business.
Chagas disease is a parasitic infection endemic to America, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi and mainly transmitted to humans by contact with insect species of the Triatominae subfamily (Hemiptera). The disease is known to affect disproportionally rural impoverished human communities where it is known to cause premature death and is considered a social and economic burden. The Mexican government has made important progress into the detection, surveillance, treatment, and prevention of the disease in the last decades, however, Chagas disease has also been reported in areas where it had not been previously reported, and there are still barriers for access to treatment. In the state of San Luis Potosi, the disease is more studied in the east, nevertheless, it has been estimated that the reported cases of the entire state have been underestimated. New approaches to detect Chagas risk areas could help prioritize locations for Chagas disease education and prevention programs, detect cases of the disease in a timely manner, and provide access to the necessary treatments. The objective of this study was to identify risk areas for the transmission of Chagas disease in San Luis Potosí using species distribution modelling to estimate vectors and reservoirs’ distributions. To do this, firstly, important vectors and one reservoir species of T. cruzi were identified by reviewing their reported infection rates in literature and the number of times reported in Mexico. Next, species distribution models were calculated for the chosen vector and reservoir species present in the state. The models were done using the Maxent algorithm. Lastly, the resulting distribution models were combined into a risk map by thresholding the model outputs to produce binary predictions and then performing an overlap spatial analysis. Vector species were found to have suitable areas in 36.08% of the state’s territory while areas suitable for both vectors and reservoir were 7.4% of the state’s total area. While this figure may look small at first glance, the analysis suggests that 30% of the rural population and 52% of the urban population of the state are living in an area suitable for vectors and reservoir and therefore at risk. Species distribution modelling can be a powerful tool for identifying human populations at risk of contracting Chagas disease. In the future, including different species of reservoirs into the analysis could help to discover new risk areas in the state.
Urbanization processes are one of the main factors for habitat loss and fragmentation, driving global biodiversity loss and species extinction. The neotropical Atlantic forest in Brazil is considered a global key biodiversity hotspot and used to be one of the most extensive forests of the Americas. Due to substantial deforestation over centuries, its landscape was transformed into a mosaic of small forest fragments surrounded by a predominantly agricultural matrix. Urban expansion and rural urbanization have created peri-urban zones, which still can harbor natural habitat remnants,
contributing to biological diversity and thus providing essential ecosystem services to urban and rural areas. The maintenance of such ecosystem services requires an understanding of the ecological processes in the ecosystem. A prerequisite for such an in-depth insight is the quantification of the underlying ecosystem functions. The ecosystem function pest control, a trophic interaction between insectivorous birds and herbivorous arthropods, was quantified in an empirical study using artificial caterpillars as prey models. This technique allows the identification of predator groups and the assessment of their predation rates. A total of 888 plasticine caterpillars were distributed at eight sites in secondary forest fragments surrounding the university campus of the federal university of São Carlos (UFScar) in peri-urban Sorocaba, southeastern Brazil. In sixteen point counts, 72 insect-eating birds, belonging to 19 species, were identified as possible artificial caterpillar attackers. Local habitat variables were measured to describe the forest vegetation structure and the landscape context. The study aimed to assess which structural components of the
forest fragments, together with the recorded bird community variables (abundance, richness, αdiversity), best explain the estimated predation rates by birds. The mean predation rate for birds was 8.25 ± 6.3 % for a reference period of eight days, representing the first quantification of the ecosystem function pest control for the study area. The three treatments of caterpillar placement heights (ground, stem: 0.5 -1.0 m, leaf: 1.5 - 2.0 m) were the best and only estimator to explain bird
predation rates. The little dense understory and ground vegetation might have facilitated the accessibility of artificial caterpillars, especially for carnivorous arthropods and birds. The detected contrast in their foraging and predation patterns suggests that arthropods and birds complement each other in their function of pest control. Bird predation rates were found to be negatively related to the vegetation structure. Thus, more open habitats, with less understory and low tree density, but high canopy cover and including dead trees were correlated with the highest predation rates and also exhibited more specialized forest-dependent bird species. This study confirms the importance of the maintenance of forest fragments in peri-urban areas, even if they are small, to preserve forest-associated birds, to contribute to the biological diversity on a broader scale, and to prevent the loss of ecosystem functions and services, mitigating some of the adverse effects of urbanization. Further investigation of the effect among the three treatments of caterpillar
placement on the predation rates is encouraged, including comparative studies among different habitat types. For future studies, it is recommended to model the avian community variables with the vegetation structure measures to predict habitat preferences of insectivorous birds. Therefore, the sampling of more units and on a bigger scale, including over a more extended period, is necessary to improve the robustness of the results, which could provide the basis for a monetary analysis of the ecosystem service pest control by birds.
Habitat loss due to land use and land cover change (LUCC) has been identified as the main cause of global environmental change, responsible for biodiversity decline and the deterioration of ecological processes. Habitat loss and fragmentation have been driven by
processes of LUCC such as deforestation, agricultural expansion and intensification, urbanization, and globalization. The objective of this research was to determine the effects of LUCC on the process of habitat loss and the patterns of fragmentation in the surrounding landscape of the Pacuare Reserve (PR) in the Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica. The PR is a protected area of 800 ha surrounded by an agricultural landscape with a history of over 150 years of bananas monocultures. Landsat satellite images from 1978 to 2020 were used to conduct a temporal analysis of LUCC around the PR. Patterns of change were explored using landscape metrics from the land classification images. To explore potential connectivity routes, the least cost path analysis was used to connect the PR to other protected areas. Overall, forest cover decreased in the study area at a rate of -4.8% per year during the period of 1992-1997. In the year 2001 it reached its lowest cover and then increased at a mean annual rate of 1.6%. A mean overall accuracy of 92% was obtained for the land classification process. A clear fragmentation process was observed, as shown by a decreased in forest mean patch area and largest patch index and by the increase in patch density. Although forest cover increased in the last decade, fragmentation metrics suggest this recover happened in a spatially scattered manner, due to agricultural land abandonment. Connectivity maps showed the importance of forest fragments and of the already established biological corridors for the movement of species to and from the PR, however it also evidenced the lack of connectivity between the coastal forest fragments and further inside the country located protected areas, as well as the need to promote reforestation projects, particularly between fragments of the corridors identified.
This research analyzes the effects that eco-labels have on the demand for organic (Bio) and Fairtrade (FT) food products. The thesis also discusses the individual determinants and motivations behind those effects. The analysis builds on data obtained from a self-programmed and self-conducted survey, with a sample of 869 students from different universities of Cologne, Germany. The Bio/FT preference is measured experimentally by randomly assigning individuals to treatment and control groups. The experiment simulates life decisions using actual pictures and prices of four products: packed and processed spaghetti, fresh tomatoes, packed raw meat, and packed orange juice.
The existence, size, and direction of statistically significant eco-label effects were obtained with two sample tests of proportions. The results prove that the FT label has a positive differential effect on consumer’s demand. The presence of the FT label makes the purchase of this juice 9.1% higher than other juices not labeled as FT. This finding confirms the hypothesis that eco-labels have a positive effect on sustainable consumption. A surprising finding is that the presence of the Bio label lowers the purchase of organic pasta and tomatoes 7.7% and 9.4% respectively. This finding is interesting because it suggests that Bio labels are not driving the demand for sustainable tomatoes or pasta for this population. Regional and cheaper alternatives are preferred by consumers in this cases.
The motivations behind consumer choices of different options were thoroughly analyzed. Binomial logistic regressions and qualitative text analysis show that the variance in the intention to consume eco-labeled food is explained mainly by price concerns and attitudes about value for money, but also by the influence of life partners as shopping referents, and the perceived behavioral controls of time and ability to monitor compliance of label standards, thus trust them.
The final remarks support the use of the Fairtrade eco-label as a market-based instrument to guide sustainable food consumption among young adults in this context, and propose changes that could make the Bio label more attractive for the targeted population. The thesis demonstrates which individual factors should be inevitably considered when implementing labeling to foster sustainable consumption. Hence, it is useful for evaluations of public and private certification schemes, and for companies that support sustainable food markets. Projects looking to understand and drive sustainable production and consumption decisions should consider this reading.
The post-conflict setting in Colombia resulted after the signing of the peace agreement between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the national Government at the end of 2016, faces two main problems. On one hand, the environmental degradation and the pressure over the ecosystems now exposed to the economic and socio-demographic dynamics of the country; and on the other hand, the increase of violence in rural areas characterized by the abundance of natural resources. These two problems can be linked through the complex dynamics of natural resources appropriation. Among the natural resources affecting the course of the post-conflict in Colombia, gold appears as one of the most relevant sources of violence and environmental degradation. This condition makes it crucial to understand the complex local dynamics of mining regions in order to propose alternatives for consolidating a sustaining peace. The armed groups, the state, the private companies, and traditional gold mining communities are all stakeholders involved in gold mining and the conflicts around this activity. Nevertheless, communities have been denied as a formal actor.
This work aims to give voice to those communities, understanding them as a key actor for peacebuilding. This research seeks to understand the relationship between gold mining and the social-armed conflict in Colombia, to identify which are the drivers for the increasing of this activity during the post-conflict, as well as which strategies developed by traditional gold mining communities can contribute to peacebuilding. Thus, an integrative analytical framework is developed. This theoretical framework integrates 1) environmental peacebuilding to evaluate the possibilities of natural resources to becoming tools for cooperation, and 2) political ecology to clarify, from a multi-scalar approach, the socio-political context in which the conflict takes place. Hence, from a qualitative approach that involves several ethnographic methods is found that artisanal-ancestral miners and traditional miners organized to remain in their territories in a context of dispossession, have developed socio-ecological systems and natural resources management strategies relevant to implement initiatives of environmental peacebuilding that can be sustained over time and aimed to overcome the structural causes of violence and environmental degradation.
The southeast of Córdoba province used to be originally covered by hundreds of wetlands that got heavily modified or drained in the last few decades. Since wetlands provide various important ecosystem services (ESS) for human well-being, their degradation created several problems in La Picasa basin, among which floods are the most obvious one. The wise use of wetlands is increasingly acknowledged to be part of nature-based solution approaches reducing disaster risk. However, in the study area these approaches remain a relatively new concept to decision makers and the lack of knowledge on their effectiveness and implementation process poses a serious barrier to their adoption.
To overcome this obstacle, this dissertation applies an ESS perspective on the current problems of La Picasa basin and sets it in a context of socio-ecological system (SES) theory. A comprehensive analysis of (1) the role wetlands have played in the historic development of the SES, (2) important stakeholder dynamics that create opportunities or restrictions for the conservation of wetlands and (3) possible management approaches to inverse negative ESS trade-offs and feedback loops, was performed.
Results demonstrate that the current problems of floods have both natural and anthropogenic causes. In this regard, wetlands hold a vital role in the complex historic interactions between the social and ecological drivers of changes in the water balance. Although a social network between stakeholders exists, several conflicts prevent a proper functioning of a basin-wide integrated management concept based on wetland restoration. Nature-based solution approaches, putting wetlands in the center of attention of future management strategies, were found to hold a high potential to reduce the risk of floods and, as a side-effect boost biodiversity and habitat quality in the study area.
In the Mesoamerican forest Selva Maya, multiple driving forces create an imbalance in the sensitive human-nature relation and demand for innovative management strategies for its re-establishment. Within the Guatemalan Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR), core areas are under strict protective legislation and agricultural activity is permitted only within a bordering buffer zone (BZ), which covers great part of the Guatemalan department Petén. Here, the implementation of agroecological practices by multiple stakeholders aims at tackling the principle driving forces of environmental degradation and thus at reducing the pressure on Central America’s largest tropical forest area. Since 2011, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) has assisted local stakeholders by carrying out the project “Conservation and sustainable use of the Selva Maya”. This project has offered technical support, cooperated with national institutions, and assisted multiple target groups to nudge agroecological transitions at the household and community level. As the establishment of agroecological systems face main obstacles stemming from the socio-ecological setting of the respective area, the following work presents a context specific analysis for the adaption of established strategies in the MBR BZ. Therefore, it raises the following research questions: What are the current properties of the socio-ecological system that describes the BZ? How has the GIZ’s project nudged and guided agroecological transitions? Which factors have favored or limited the turn to agroecological farming? And finally: Which recommendations derive for the navigation of agroecological transitions? The overall research approach is orientated on the framework of ecosystem stewardship1 and incorporates elements of system theory and resilience science. The framework has been adapted by combining two approaches on different management levels. The social-ecological system approach2 is used to describe the socio-ecological system of the BZ, while the evaluation of the pilot groups‘ AESs follows the Mexican MESMIS3 approach for sustainability assessments. By the integration of both approaches, it is revealed that the socio-economic context impedes or hinders the implementation of agroecological strategies for the majority of farmers. The application of the MESMIS framework has revealed that the installed monitoring mechanism is dysfunctional. Findings further indicate that there is potential for transitions of individual AESs, but they demand investments and support with the current circumstances of reducing farmers’ vulnerability. The rapidly decreasing social and environmental conditions for family farmers in the BZ are most likely not addressed by solutions that the agroecological approach tackles. Recommendations for the immediate improvement of the strategy include adjustments of the project’s proceedings as well as fundamental changes in conservation paradigm and governance to maintain the necessary functionality of the socio-ecological system.
As the number and intensity of environmental challenges increase, more faiths have initiated religiously motivated change within their communities or have been involved in cooperation projects with NGOs or GOs dedicated to conservation. Even though a lot of quantitative research had been done on the correlation of religiosity and concern for the environment, no scientific study dealt about the argumentation lines that drive or discourage believers to get involved in environmental conversation. As a basis for the research the Theory of Planned Behavior of Ajzen was modified into a model. By the means of Semi-Standardized Interview guidelines 15 members and leaders of different church communities in Amman were interrogated to retrieve meaning of and cause-effect-chains between the different components of the model. Their answers were coded and analyzed with cross tables to identify interconnections and their tendencies.
The results show that interviewees’ religious convictions about God and the world were the strongest influencer, whereas the community and leaders rarely gave a reason for people to adapt water saving measures. External factors such as governmental, societal, political or economic mostly discouraged people to adapt environmentfriendly behaviors. Approaches by the GIZ have already started catering to those challenges and potentials, however the range of impact did not reach until most of the interviewees.
Soils are complex, evolving systems that simultaneously shape and are shaped by numerous biotic and abiotic factors in a vast web of interactions that creates the conditions for the propagation of life and the maintenance of human societies. Yet, land use and land use change (LULUC) and anthropogenic climate change (CC) are forcing substantial and rapid alterations into soil’s properties and processes, thus affecting the functions and services derived from it. The resulting land degradation (LD) is now spread, according to recent estimates, over nearly 30 % of the world’s total land, mostly on the population dense and impoverished tropics, a zone predicted to withstand the worst impacts of CC. The Atlantic Forest in Brazil is a particularly vulnerable environment, and the unusual drought of 2014-2017 that hit its Southeastern region is likely the harbinger of a progressively drier future.
The way the prelude of what might be an increasingly frequent hazard affected farmers’ livelihoods and natural resources, and the manner in which they reacted to those impacts can thus reveal points of strength and fragility that could be respectively harnessed or addressed to develop a more sustainable agriculture and climate resilience. This master thesis focused on characterizing those impacts and reactions on distinct dairy production systems in two municipalities in Northwestern Rio de Janeiro: Santo Antônio de Pádua and Cambuci. Through interviews and in loci observations, the researcher collected data concerning environmental services (erosion prevention, soil cover and water provision), production variables (inputs and outputs), socio-economic information, farm system management and farmers’ future perspectives. The results show that dairy production systems in the region are heterogeneous and, although they may share common characteristics, drought outcomes were closely tied to the specificities of each farm. Ultimately, outcomes originated from differences in water supply, water demand, and feed availability, their subsequent change by the drought and farmers’ reaction to those changes at each property.
Ecosystems provide a wide range of goods, services or ecosystem services (ES) to society. Estimating the impact of land use and land cover (LULC) changes on ES values (ESV) is an important tool to support decision making. This study used remote sensing and GIS tools to analyze LULC change and transitions from 2001 to 2016 and assess its impact on ESV in a tropical forested landscape in the southern plains of Nepal. The total ESV of the landscape for the year 2016 is estimated at USD 1264 million year−1. As forests are the dominant land cover class and have high ES value per hectare, they have the highest contribution in total ESV. However, as a result of LULC change (loss of forests, water bodies, and agricultural land), the total ESV of the landscape has declined by USD 11 million year−1. Major reductions come from the loss in values of climate regulation, water supply, provision of raw materials and food production. To halt the ongoing loss of ES and maintain the supply and balance of different ES in the landscape, it is important to properly monitor, manage and utilize ecosystems. We believe this study will inform policymakers, environmental managers, and the general public on the ongoing changes and contribute to developing effective land use policy in the region.
The climate is changing and this increases the risk of climate threats, which is affecting the most vulnerable populations, mainly peasant farmers. In order to minimize impacts on these populations, interest has been aroused to develop strategies that increase their resilience to climate-related risks. This issue has been little addressed in Ecuador, despite the increased frequency and intensity of climate-related risks, which are directly affecting agroecosystems and farmers' livelihoods. This research addresses the resilience of farmers to climate risks in the canton of Pedro Carbo, an area located on the Ecuadorian coast of Guayas Province characterized by a high rate of poverty and dedicated mainly to agriculture.
The overall objective of this research was to carry out an analysis of the resilience of small farmers to climate risks, as well as to recommend adaptation/transformation strategies to increase their resilience to climate. For this, farmers' perceptions were considered, as well as the opinion of experts on the subject. Multiple methods were applied such as: literature review, map generation, household surveys, participatory workshops with farmers and interviews with experts. In addition, a multidimensional matrix was developed to analyze quantitative and qualitative data through indicators that measure resilience in the study area. The main findings in this research reflect that farmers have very low resilience due to their socioeconomic characteristics, agricultural practices, lack of infrastructure and technologies, weak community organizations, limited access to credit and insurance, as well as lack of capacity building and technical assistance. Finally, recommendations for strategies to support planning and decision-making were developed.
Keywords: climate-related risks, peasant family farming, resilience, resilience assessment, climate resilience, farmers perceptions, Pedro Carbo
While global food production greatly exceeds dietary energy demand, undernutrition remains, and diets largely fail to ensure the health of the population. Agricultural biodiversity is crucial for the world’s food security, but genetic diversity has been degraded. In Mexico, the dietary transition towards processed foods has contributed to malnutrition and a rise of diet-related chronic diseases. Mexico’s indigenous people are conserving and creating valuable plant genetic resources in their swidden milpas and traditional agroforestry systems but remain the country’s most vulnerable population group. The Teenek (or Huastec), an indigenous group that habitat the Huasteca Potosina, a region in north-eastern Mexico cultivate a high diversity of edible plants in their home gardens (solar), milpas, and agroforestry systems (te’lom, or finca). However, migration has been leading to the abandonment of traditional farming in the region.
The objective of this study was to analyse if the managed agricultural biodiversity of the different traditional land use systems contributes to the food security of the farming households in the community of Jol Mom. Food availability and access were investigated. In total, 40 households were surveyed. Dietary patterns were identified through principal component analysis. Informal interviews, semi-structured interviews and participant observation allowed to account for the people’s own perceptions and provided additional insights. Findings showed that traditional Teenek farming systems are the source of a variety of nutritious foods and resulted to be the most important provider of fruits and vegetables. The average production diversity was 34 out of 56 crops, farmers cultivating more than one or two farming systems showed an increase of four and 11 produced species respectively. Production diversity was strongly correlated with food variety in a household’s diet, with an increment of one per 0.85 produced crop. Two main diverging dietary patterns were revealed, a westernized diet relying largely on purchased foods, to which the younger generation was more inclined, and a traditional diet characterized by a high consumption of cultivated products, mostly observed in the older households.
In conclusion, farming households in Jol Mom profit from the agricultural diversity of their production systems, either through the consumption of nutritious foods or by the sale of agricultural products. However, a tendency towards nutrient-poor diets was observed. Increasing agricultural diversity and consumption of locally produced foods might help to fight this trend but would require a valorisation of traditional foods and an appreciation of the contribution of indigenous people’s traditional agriculture to food security.
The ‘Energy Crisis’ has become the talk of the town in pretty much every developing and lower developing countries in today’s world. It is characterized by a state where the country’s locally available energy resources are being depleted and it is dependent on imported fuel. The problem is considered as although not parallel, but a descendant of the food crisis in terms of the seriousness of the problems in developing nations essentially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Ethiopia is one such country which nevertheless going through a rapid scale of development (nearly 11 % annual growth rate as of 2017 according to the World Bank) and also is endowed with an enormous amount of natural resources such as hydro, wind, solar, geothermal energy potential. The Ethiopian power sector is heavily dependent on the country’s hydropower resources. However, it needs to diversify its energy sector and integrate new and other renewable energy sources because, in the longer term, its extreme hydropower dependence may put its power sector vulnerable to natural risks like droughts which are very likely scenarios due to the climate change. Since the lack of access to modern forms of energy services left no choice for the Ethiopians than to continue their traditional biomass use, and it results in unsustainable environmental harm with deforestation, soil erosion, and many others. To address this issue, Ethiopia is taking necessary steps towards climate-friendly industrialization of the economy.
In order to understand this transition, a socio-technical analysis of Ethiopian ambitious transformation from an agrarian society to a climate resilient green society has been presented in this paper. An analytical framework will be formulated as a prerequisite for the study by introducing the theory of Multilevel Perspective (MLP). This theory enables the understanding of three different levels of socio-technical environment namely niches, regime, and landscape in which the respective actors interact with each other to facilitate the process of transition. As a part of laying the groundwork, this thorough analysis constitutes all the country’s energy-related activities and associated energy demands, conversion technologies, current fuel mix, primary energy resources, and energy policies in the Ethiopian energy system. The LEAP analysis results from Mr. Md Alam Mondal and group are summarized to obtain an understanding of the country’s total energy demand scenarios.
Consequently, the actors from each socio-technical level have been identified in the context of Ethiopia and their dynamics of interaction have been explained in order to understand the process of energy system transition of Ethiopia in the direction of diversification of its energy system and hence result in the expansion of new renewable energy sector. Most importantly the assessment suggests that the transition process is majorly driven by top-down forces and intra-level reconfiguration of regime actors. There are no bottom-up forces acting as only a little research and development work takes place in the country to develop new radical changes/technological niches. A developing country like Ethiopia has undoubtedly a bright future ahead with all systems in place and the nature-gifted natural resource potential. The ambitious goals set by the country and the international help from developed allies are definitely working in tandem to ensure their accomplishment. With its guiding vision towards development and the global climate change movement, Ethiopia surely has the potential to lead by example.
This project is focused on the generation of hardware independent code for PLCs and the comparison for energy consumption patterns of hydraulic and electric drive unit. This works is dedicated to MLC (mould level control) in a continuous casting machine, which is used to cast steel slabs continuously. The code generation is done with the help of the PLC coder which is present in the software Simulink. The programming is done entirely in MATLAB. The application of the generated code is tested on the Siemens S7-1500 PLC. For executing the code and the development of the HMI (human machine
interface) Siemens software TIA Portal V15 has been used. Moreover, for further analysis of signals and testing the code, a PDA or process data acquisition system, IBA system is used. For energy analysis also the IBA system is used.
La Picasa basin, an interjurisdictional endorreic basin of 5282 km2 located in the “Central Pampa” in Argentina, has suffered repeated flooding caused by an increasing water level of La Picasa lagoon, affecting livelihoods, infrastructure, transportation and agriculture. Although water infrastructure has been built to regulate water excesses, it has not been effective in reducing the flood risk.
To improve the knowledge of the hydrological system, the master’s thesis aimed to develop a water balance model of La Picasa lagoon at a monthly time step between the hydrological years 2007/2008 and 2016/2017. Specifically, the objectives were to identify and quantify the most important components and processes determining its water level, area and volume and to propose hypothetical simulation scenarios based on different pumping operation schemes.
The description of the conceptual model and implementation of a sensitivity analysis allowed to identify the inflow and outflow components of the water balance and quantify their relative contributions, namely precipitation, water discharge from channels, surface runoff from surrounding sub-basins of the lagoon, evaporation and pumping. The performance tests applied to the model during the calibration and validation showed a very good performance. Additionally, two simulation scenarios were proposed, namely potential pumping and adjusted pumping, which reflected different trajectories of the water balance.
The master’s thesis concluded that precipitation and evaporation were the most determinant inflow and outflow components in the water balance of La Picasa lagoon respectively. However, the flooding event in 2016/2017 was caused by a simultaneous reduction of net evaporation and an increase in water discharge, surface runoff and intermittent pumping. The simulation scenarios suggested that an optimal operation of the pumping stations could have been effective to increase the storage capacity of the lagoon. However, during longer humid periods, it might not be enough to outweigh additional inflows.
The Highland Plateau region, in San Luis Potosí, involves particular dynamics and needs from those presented within the rest of the state; its culture, vocation, mineral resources and territory, converge to give rise to a unique and particular region. The connectivity within the region has been decisive for its development, since two of the largest and most important national roads in go through this territory.
Despite comprehending about a half of the state's territory, this region has not managed to truly influence the state statistics neither economically nor socially; on the contrary, the employment rate has significantly decreased significantly, and also its population number.
Accordingly, this research aims to analyze the connectivity system within this region to strengthen and complement the development tools of these communities in a sustainable manner and, in this way, increase the welfare of the Highland Plateau population.
Throughout this investigation, it will be possible to understand how the location of this physical network, as well as for the use of resources for the satisfaction of the inhabitants, has been reflected in the communities within this region. Likewise, the statements made by state directors in charge of the economy, road network and social development within the region, will be studied. These statements will also be combined with a “functional grid analysis”, the connectivity between communities and their basic needs.
Plants have certain characteristics which allow them to respond to various environmental conditions, like changes in climate, water loss in the soil, lack of minerals; among others. In some of these so-called traits, the responses to climatic phenomena such as drought can be evidenced through morphological adaptations (spines, succulent tissues, trichomes, among others) or physiological adaptations (regulation of water potential at the cellular level, the concentration of nutrients, etc.)
In certain areas of Brazil such as the Mata Atlântica biome, drought events are increasingly occurring and affecting human activities and the environment, and it is required to understand if tree species with traits adapted to dry conditions are occurring in drought-prone areas. For this reason, it is intended to find out the potential of using morphological functional traits of woody species as indicators of dry conditions in the transition zone of the Atlantic Forest. RJ Brazil.
Therefore, this work was carried out considering a field phase in a drought-prone area known as “Mata de Tabuleiros” or Semideciduous Seasonal Lowland Forest that belongs to the domain of the Mata Atlântica, there were selected morphological traits in order to know which of them can give a hint as drought tolerant traits. On the other side, there was searched in the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden JABOT database for species with recorded characteristics related to drought adaptations. For the traits in the field, and the selected species from the database was elaborated a Species Distribution Model SDM in order to know how some climatic variables allow the distribution of species and morphological traits.
As main result there was elaborated a set of trait indicators that can be considered for further analysis in the region; and also the results of the SDM obtained at large scale for the Mata Atlântica for the species selected from the database, and the SDM for the traits analyzed in the field in the Mata de Tabuleiros. Besides that, the consultations with experts in the subject were an important input that allowed to carry out this research. The use of morphological and functional traits is important to understand the interactions between organisms and their environment, in this case, to cope and tolerate a climate phenomenon like drought.
Keywords: Mata de Tabuleiros, Drought tolerance, Morphological traits, Species Distribution Modeling
Food insecurity, poor nutrition and poverty are closely linked and entail adverse consequences for the health and well-being of children and adults. They constitute major constraints to development efforts as they can imply lifelong negative effects on human development with impairments on physical and mental capacities of a population, resulting in an overall lower productivity and economic growth potential.
Urban agriculture has been advocated as a strategy to improve food security. This paper exemplifies an urban gardening project that addresses food security and economic resilience of the Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese host communities executed in the suburbs of Beirut. The hypothesis underpinning this study is that urban agriculture holds the potential to contribute to increased food security and reduced urban poverty, by increasing the availability and accessibility to a variety of fresh foods that are rich in vital nutrients and by functioning as a source of livelihoods and income.
The brutality of the Syrian Civil War, it’s massive damage and destruction of housing and persecutions for ethnic cleansing led more than a quarter of its originally 24 million inhabitants to seek safety in neighboring countries and Europe. The war has severely hampered the stability and development throughout the region as hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled to neighboring countries where they often compete with host communities over housing, labor, water, food and land. In relative numbers the biggest burden fell on the riparian country Lebanon, currently holding the highest ratio of refugees to nationals in the world. The small Arab country has already been suffering from many pre-existing challenges as food insecurity and widespread poverty.
The high dependence on food assistance, limited access to income and uncertainties on the amount of food aid provided in each upcoming year, all contribute to an unstable and low food security status of Syrian refugee households in Lebanon with spill overs to vulnerable host communities. In 2017, 91% of Syrian families residing in Lebanon remained food insecure to some degree and the share of household’s falling into severe food insecurity keeps increasing with every year.
These numbers provide clear evidence that current efforts of providing food assistance are not sufficient to combat the repercussions of the crisis and get the situation under control.
The paper displays the impact of the urban gardening project on the food security and economic resilience of participating household’s, as well as lessons learned on the project design during and after the implementation phase. The sampling frame is comprised of Syrian and Lebanese families participating in the project. Primary data were derived from a survey using a questionnaire with a sample size of 41 households. The findings aim to enable stakeholders to improve the performance of similar projects in the future and support relevant government authorities, international aid institutions, non-profits and the civic society towards creating sustainable long-term solutions to increase the self-reliance of refugees by providing insights of the suitability of UA for multiple objectives and by highlighting potential challenges and risks.
Policy measures are essential tools for the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources in the electricity generation. Feed-in tariffs (FITs) are the most used policy for support of renewable technologies globally. Nevertheless, Ecuador phased-out FITs in 2016 and adopted auctions in 2015. Ecuador’s implementation of auctions reflects an approach with little relation to practices in other countries and without a technology-specific design. On the other hand, Germany demonstrates a long trajectory in policy-making with vast experience in FITs. Moreover, in 2017 Germany adopted auctions as the official policy to support renewable projects with a scope larger than 750 kW. However, FITs are still in use and complement auctions.
This thesis analyses and compares the country-specific contexts where these policies are implemented through the lens of a multi-level perspective framework. As a result, the most important success factors in Germany have been identified: long-term planning, institutional continuity, legislative stability and principally an actively participating society, which is environmentally aware. Obstacles for the transition in Ecuador are institutional discontinuity, legislative inconsistency, the lack of long-term planning and absence of society as actors of the transition. Due to Germany’s pioneering role plus the successful growth of renewable sources during the last twenty years, their policy implementations appear desirable to adopt in other contexts. Therefore, a prospective transferability of the auction policy from Germany to Ecuador is additionally analyzed.
The objective of this study was to evaluate at the local level in two municipalities of the Northwest Region of Rio de Janeiro State, the perception of smallholder farmers to climate change. Also, part of the study was to identify their measures to adapt, that include the preservation and mitigation of impacts on the regulating and provisioning soil ecosystem services, and their coping capacities to extended drought periods.
Water is an eminently important element for societal development. It must be available in sufficient quantity and quality to meet human requirements of consumption, food production and sanitation. The riverine ecosystems are increasingly deteriorated due to human interventions. This leads to changes in the natural flow patterns. The concept of environmental flow started to emerge. Due to the importance of environmental flow in the integrated river basin management, researchers and scientists worldwide have made great efforts towards assessing the environmental flow requirements in river ecosystems. Various tools and techniques were defined. Governmental authorities and water ministries (all over the world including Egypt) have introduced regulations and policies to assure the vitality of environmental flow in river management and water allocation too.
Although different methods are available for the environmental flow assessment, those techniques are not practically applied. Implementing the environmental flow in real world is a challenge, due to the lack of political will and the stakeholder support, the institutional barriers and conflicts of interest, and finally the insufficient resources and capacity in environmental management institutions. It is a multidisciplinary and intersectoral process.
The present study aims to report the importance of environmental flow regarding the inhabitants’ daily life as well as the overall Egyptian socio-economic, political and health status. It demonstrates the methods of applying the Environmental flow concept in Egypt with a focus on social and political aspects, detailing the current situation in Egypt, and clarifying the obstacles that face the implementation process. The data was collected via local people questionnaires, stakeholders’ interviews and field visits. The study proposes solutions to evade the environmental flow implementation obstacles and overcome current challenges. Moreover, the study predicts future issues and offers solutions to avoid their occurrence.
Desarrollo de Competencias para la Sustentabilidad, a través del Aprendizaje Basado en Escenarios
(2018)
La sustentabilidad, planteada como concepto y solución estratégica frente a la crisis contemporánea, supone diversos retos para la humanidad entre los que se encuentra la formación de individuos capaces de afrontar la complejidad de la problemática ambiental, así como de visualizar y desarrollar una sociedad libre, justa y en equilibrio.
Con el propósito de coadyuvar a dicho cambio, el presente trabajo se propuso investigar la contribución del Aprendizaje Basado en Escenarios al desarrollo de competencias para la sustentabilidad, tanto desde el punto de vista conceptual como práctico, diseñando un recurso educativo y realizando una prueba piloto en estudiantes de la Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí. Los objetivos específicos fueron: (1) Identificar, seleccionar y formular el análisis sistémico de dos casos, uno en México y otro en Alemania, para mostrar la complejidad de la relación entre dimensiones de la sustentabilidad y los desafíos a los que se enfrentan los actores en la gestión de esta y, (2) Diseñar y probar un recurso educativo en torno a su contribución al desarrollo de las competencias de pensamiento crítico y pensamiento sistémico.
La prueba piloto del recurso educativo se realizó con un grupo multidisciplinario, integrando estudiantes de las licenciaturas: Ciencias de la Comunicación, Ciencias Ambientales y Salud, Ingeniería Agroindustrial, Psicología y Psicopedagogía.
Con base en entrevistas de valoración se llegó a la conclusión de que el aprendizaje basado en escenarios si permitió contribuir al desarrollo de competencias para la sustentabilidad. Los dos casos seleccionados: Río Rin y Río Verde resultaron eficaces al evidenciar la complejidad, así mismo, advirtieron los desafíos que resultan de la gestión de la sustentabilidad de ambos, mostrándose análogos. Por último, cabe mencionar que el desarrollo de la competencia interpersonal (diálogo y colaboración principalmente) que no estaba dentro de los objetivos de la tesis, se evidenció a partir de las entrevistas la valoración.
Illegal Gold mining and water quality. A case study of River Offin in the Central Region of Ghana
(2018)
Ghana as a country in the west of Africa is naturally endowed with many rich natural resources some of which includes; Gold, diamond, bauxite, manganese, cocoa, etc. Currently, it’s the second leading producer of gold production in Africa after South Africa. Gold production has produced a lot of benefits to the nation but at the same time contributed to many negativities ranging from pollution (water and air), land degradation, ethnic conflicts and deforestation. Industrial gold mining itself was never a big issue that caused any panic in the country till illegal gold miners “Galamseyers” also commenced operating. The sole objectives of this research were to determine the level of some specific heavy metal (Mercury, Lead, Arsenic and Zinc) concentrations within the Offin River in Dunkwa-on-Offin, Buabenso, Ayanfuri and Nkotumso. Results after the research revealed that, Ayanfuri recorded the highest level of concentrations. Nkotumso followed in that order before Buabenso with Dunkwa-on-Offin recording the least concentrations. It also became clear later that, even though the degree of intensiveness of the illegal mining “Galamsey” operations could have been a main factor for the increased concentrations, another finding was that, towns or communities that recorded higher concentrations throughout the study also showed to be towns that made use of inorganic fertilizers on its farms. The Minerals and mining Act 2006 of Ghana was then analyzed and conclusion was that, though the country has very strong policies regarding illegal mining termed “Galamsey”, there seemed to be institutional loop holes that have not been strong enough to combat illegal mining in the country. In recommending policy directives to improve the river quality, six (6) institutions including the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology(MEST), Minerals Commission of Ghana, Environmental Protection Agency, Forestry Commission and the water Resources Commission were identified with detailed recommended roles clearly spelt out for each institution.
Urban settlements demand the highest levels of resource consumption and waste management.
It has been accepted that cities should be considered organisms. Through Urban Energy Metabolism the planning and management of energy that flows across cities achieves important developments towards sustainability. Energy Efficiency is one of the primary tools used to produce sustainable development. Cities worldwide are developing action plans that implement the teachings of holism and eco-friendly practices. Systems Theory is a field developed with the intention of managing systems based on interdisciplinarity and a holistic approach. Fundamental practices of systems thinking are applicable to the study of cities as sustainable organisms/complex systems. Planning for Energy Efficient Cities (PLEEC) is an European project that was executed by a group of participants from the public, private, and education sectors, with the purpose of designing energy efficiency action plans to meet the targets of 2020. This work introduces, based on a literature review, several systems theories. A critique of the characteristics of PLEEC’s framework is performed to assess the level of systemic consideration into holism and sustainability. The evaluation of the process or success of the energy efficiency plans elaborated is not in the scope of the research. Using a modified version of Michael C.
Jackson’s Total Systems Intervention and a table that summarizes the principles of systems thinking, it is concluded that the plan lacks systemic consideration of cities as complex systems. The framework includes several concepts attributed to the field, such as interconnection of elements exchanging information and resources, but fails in defining self-organizing feedback based structures and function-driven behavior. It is of paramount importance that system thinking basics be at the core of all planning.
With a rapidly growing population and urbanization, most modern slums (favelas) also proliferated in Brazil since the 1950s when many people left rural areas of Brazil and moved into the cities. Rio de Janeiro is one of those cities having a vast amount of favelas with poor living conditions. One of the main problems of electricity supply in favelas is illegal electricity use, called ‘Gato’ in Portuguese. Recent unexpected severe drought, economic crisis, and rapidly increased electricity price in Brazil affected the reliable supply of affordable electricity in favelas.
Considering abundant solar radiation of the country and the government’s willingness trying to shift the framework of energy supply from hydropower to renewable energy, this study analyzes the solar PV potentials to ensure a reliable supply of affordable electricity in favelas in Rio de Janeiro.
Literature reviews regarding solar PV development in Brazil, energy policy analysis in Brazil and electricity issues in favelas are revised. As a case study, the chosen favela ‘Babilônia’ is presented. The survey analysis about electricity consumption situation with social dimension targeting residences in Babilônia is implemented. Lastly, through economic analyses with cost-benefit calculation such as Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Net Present Value (NPV), Discounted Cash Flow, Payback period, Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and Weighted-Average Cost of Capital (WACC) models, this study develops the possible financing alternatives to implement a solar PV project with different scenario analyses in the current solar PV market and solar energy policy of Brazil.
The results of this study can be used as an aid to comprehend the electricity supply issue of the most vulnerable class in Brazil and the solar PV as a solution.
Ghana’s timber industries have traditionally focussed on certifying international demand (exports) to the detriment of domestic wood consumption. The legal wood supply to the domestic market has become insufficient to satisfy the growing needs of the local population. This research aims at gaining greater insight into the sources of wood supply to Ghana’s domestic wood markets focusing on the contribution of legal wood by the mainstream timber companies.
The study used random and purposive sampling techniques for selecting the respondents in the domestic wood market, wood producers as well as consumers. Additionally, the views of the respondents were sought through well semi-structured questionnaires. On the other hand, views from key informants, mostly experts, and regulators in Ghana’s wood industry were solicited through interviews.
The result indicates that the formal timber processors supply 73% of their processed lumber to the export market and 27% to the domestic market. The destination of the 27% is both the domestic market and other lumber demanded sectors especially large scale construction and furniture companies. The carving industry on other hand obtains wood directly from the farmers and not necessary from the domestic wood market. At the domestic timber market, dealers receive lumber supply from both formal (16. 7%) and informal (83.3%) sources.
The domestic wood sector provides livelihood support to both wood dealers, consumers as well as artisans. About 70% of respondents (wood dealers) used in the survey have no other source of livelihood for existence except wood business.
Owing to the immense contribution of the domestic wood market to the country’s economy and developmental agenda, a calls for policy review especially 20% supply of formal processed lumber to the domestic market is timely. Additionally, looking at the various interventions to curtail illegal chain saw and the continued market demand, the study believes more regulated measures will better help the nation to grasped huge revenue lost as a result of illegalities to embark on vigorous afforestation programs to sustain the domestic wood market.
Jordan is deemed as one of the least water-endowed regions in the world. The acute water shortage, accompanied with changing climatic conditions have necessitated the increasing use of treated wastewater (TWW), predominantly in irrigated agriculture sector. This is especially true with the upper Zarqa River. The ample supply of TWW resources can be found there; paradoxically, the practical implementation of TWW reuse is hindered by the enforcement of irrigation water quality standard, compounding pressure on the dwindling groundwater resources. In light of the large potential source of TWW, this study aims to supply knowledge on maximizing the safe reuse of TWW while minimizing the environmental impacts within the local environment of the upper Zarqa River. A SWOT analysis was conducted to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of TWW reuse for agriculture in the local context. In recognition of the projected growth in the treated effluent to more than 135 MCM in the coming ten years, and how it would affect the water use on the study region, several plausible development scenarios were proposed based on expected developments on the ground. Considering the vital role of TWW in sustaining multiple ecosystem services, this study addresses the need to review current standard, encourages managed aquifer recharge with TWW, recommends crops type modification, and enhances knowledge on suitable practices at farm level. Each of these factors is needed in order to deliver a range of ecosystem services to sustain the local rural communities and to advance them in the face of profound challenges, thereby leading to its stability and increased productivity.
Amboseli-Tsavo Ecosystem is a unique landscape in Kenya’s semi-arid rangelands to the border of Tanzania. It is characterized by high abundances of wildlife which frequently disperses between three National Parks, namely Amboseli, Tsavo West and Chyulu Hills. Due to an increased population and a land-use change from prior nomadic pastoralism to sedentary farming activities, the land became highly fragmented and transformed into a human-dominated area. Increasingly wildlife migration routes are becoming blocked, leading to isolation of the National Parks and multiplied human-wildlife conflicts. The African elephant (Loxodonta africana) is sadly famous as the most common conflict animal causing damage to properties, cropland and injuring or killing livestock and, in the worst case, people. However, elephants are at the same time a flagship species and represent the backbone for tourism activities around Amboseli. Therefore, the elephant is both a very valuable and problematic asset in the area. Unfortunately, wildlife conservation practices over the last decades, favoring animals over humans, have led to a negative perception of wildlife among the population in the ecosystem which challenges appropriate conservation mechanisms.
To maintain the tourism attraction of viewing elephants and to minimise the conflicts between local communities and animals, migration routes should remain open. The concept of landscape connectivity ensures biodiversity conservation, particularly for far-distance migration animals such as elephants. The elephant was therefore chosen as a keystone species in this study on which the analysis is based.
Using a least-cost path analysis (LCP) in ArcGIS, “cheapest” travel routes of Loxodonta africana between the three National Parks were identified. Factors included were selected and weighted by information gathered in expert interviews. Satellite imagery were classified using ESA SNAP toolbox to obtain vegetation covers and waterbodies for two different seasons (dry and wet), aiming to illustrate the temporal variability of potential connectivity paths. Additionally, key informant interviews and interviews of Group Ranch members around Amboseli National Park were conducted to gather information regarding the current state of management in the ecosystem and perceptions about wildlife management. A subsequent SWOT Analysis on three optimum routes obtained through LCP, takes the social-political factors and information obtained into account to discuss the different options for their conflict solving potential.
On the one hand, recommendations resulting from this study identify possible elephant migration routes that should be maintained by using a participatory conservation approach to secure landscape connectivity in long-term. On the other hand, management recommendations include a design for improved relationships between Group Ranch members and the responsible governmental institutions by equally distributing benefits, implementing financial benefits and establishing a functioning and adequate compensation scheme. By ensuring peoples’ active participation in conservation and wildlife management, a more positive attitude towards wildlife might be induced, which will positively influence the wildlife conflict in long run.
Researchers are always looking for innovative ways to collect the environmental data and ease the process of data collection on the field. Advancement in sensor technologies and drones has led to easy technological access to design custom solutions even with basic electronics and technical knowledge. This paper documents, construction and working of “ITT Smart Sense”, which is a low power, easy to use and cost effective environment monitoring system using wireless sensor network that runs autonomously on battery power for an extended period of time. Along with that, a UAV based platform, titled “ITT Smart Sense Fly”, focused on environmental monitoring and scientific research and is tailored to the needs of researchers has been proposed in this paper. This platform is comprised of an autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)/Drone with a camera sensor, an autopilot mobile app for mission planning and other required Photogrammetry tools. The drone navigates over the area of interest based on a pre-programmed flight plan and captures a series of photographs using the on-board camera. The collected image data set is processed to create orthomosaics, high resolution maps and 3D point cloud. The proposed solutions were demonstrated with three distinct case studies.
Located in the Urubamba mountain range, the Chicón glacier is the third highest tropical glacier of this area and the source of water for the Chicón watershed. Moreover, from this watershed four communities obtain water for human consumption and agriculture, which is their main economic activity. In the last years glacier retreat is evident in the area and threatens the livelihoods of the people because it affects the availability of fresh water.
The general objective of this research is to analyse the perception of people living in this watershed to climate change, disaster risk, and ecosystem-based solutions. The specific objectives are to identify natural hazards and climate change effects in the community, to recognise potential ecosystem services suitable for Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) and Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR), and to assess to which climate change effects and disasters the communities are vulnerable based on their own perception. The methodological steps are based on literature review, expert interviews, questionnaires to the community, a workshop and field observations.
The results show that people perceive changes in the climate such as increase in temperature, less precipitation and shifts of the rainy and the dry season. The climate-related disasters that were identified are Glacier Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF), droughts, frosts and hailstorms. However, GLOFs are not frequent in the area and drought is the hazard that people consider will be more frequent. Additionally, pests were identified as biological hazards. Several ecosystems services can be obtained for EbA and Eco-DRR from forests, especially if native trees such as Qiwiña (Polylepis spp.), Chachacoma (Escallonia resinosa) and Aliso (Alnus jorullensis) are used in ecosystem management. Finally, the hypothesis was partially accepted since people in the study area are to some extent aware of climate change impacts, but only partially understand causes and effects. Further, they recognize most of the ecosystem services that forests provide. Therefore they are starting to implement ecosystem-based solutions in the watershed with the support of external institutions.
Zusammenfassung
Ansatz der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, mit Blick auf den in einer großen Variationsbreite existierenden Brauprozess in Brauereien mit unterschiedlichster jährlicher Produktionsmenge und technologischem Stand, die wesentlichen charakteristischen Teilprozessschritte hinsichtlich Ihrer Bedarfe an den thermischen Energieformen Wärme und Kälte, unter Berücksichtigung der jeweils in den Teilprozessen herrschenden Temperaturniveaus, darzustellen. Dies ist in Kapitel 2 sowohl für die in Trocknungsprozessen vorbehandelten feststofflichen Braukomponente Gerstenmalz und Hopfen, sowie für die mit dem Beginn der Erwärmung von frischem Brauwasser startenden Prozesse des Einmaischens, Läuterns, Kochens, Gärens bis hin zur Reifung des Jungbieres, erfolgt. Zunächst wurde das jeweilige Temperaturniveau der einzelnen Phasen des Brauvorgangs, trotz seiner unterschiedlichen verfahrenstechnischen Realisierung, abgesteckt. In Kapitel 5 wird der rein für den Prozess notwendige Wärme- und Kältebedarf, auf der Basis der wesentlichen Zustandsänderungen des entstehenden Produktes, bestimmt. Dabei liegt bei jedem Prozessschritt entweder ein Wärme- oder ein Kältebedarf vor. Die Teilprozesse bilden eine zeitliche Abfolge innerhalb des Brauprozesses, welche die Vorstufen des Bieres nacheinander durchläuft. Die in den Kapiteln 3 zum Thema Kälte und in Kapitel 4 zum Thema Wärme dargestellten Grundlagen, liefern die Grundlagen für das Verständnis, des Verhaltens eines Systems im Umfeld von thermischer Energie und bilden die thermodynamischen Kenntnisse, die für die Beurteilung des Transportes, der Erzeugung und der Speicherung von Wärme und Kälte ergeben. Die Wärme und Kältebedarfe in ihrer zeitlichen Abfolge ermöglichen uns unabhängig von gängigen technischen Realisierungen in der Praxis noch einmal in Kapitel 6 die Frage zu stellen, in wie weit zunächst für jeden einzelnen Teilprozess Energieeffizienzverbesserungen durch Eingriff in den Prozess möglich sind. Die Frage der Heranführung der Wärme bei Wärmebedarf des Produktes an das Produkt hat in der Entwicklung der Brauereitechnologie sehr verschiedenen konstruktiven Ausführungen der Maischgefäße und der Gefäße für die Würzebehandlung geführt. An dieser Stelle ist der Einfluss von Veränderungen, welche den Transport von Wärme verbessern könnten, auch auf das Produkt zu hinterfragen. Die modernen Ausführungen der Maisch- und Würzepfannen sind auf ein produktschonendes Verfahren ausgelegt. Änderungen im Anlagenpark erfordern von jeder Brauerei einen langerprobten Umgang, um trotz der Veränderungen an diesen Prozesshilfsmitteln, dennoch die geschmackliche Qualität des Bieres nicht unerwünscht zu beeinflussen. Die Rückführung der Verdampfungswärme beim Kochen und teilweise Verdampfen der Würze in der Pfanne, in den Prozess, unter Beibehaltung des höchstmöglichen Temperaturniveaus dieser Wärme, ist ein Beispiel aus Kapitel 6 für die Effizienzsteigerung des Teilprozesses. Stärker in den produktbeeinflussenden Teilprozess des Maischens greift die Wahl zwischen den zwei etablierten Wärmezufuhrverfahren, dem traditionellen Dekoktionsverfahren und dem in letzter Zeit deutlich überwiegenden Infusionsverfahren. Hier liegt mit der Wahl des letzteren Verfahrens, innerhalb des Teilprozesses Maischen ein Effizienzsteigerungspotential in der Praxis.
Die teilprozessübergreifende Kopplung der einzelnen Verfahrensschritte erlaubt den Transport von Wärme und Kälte, zwischen diesen Teilprozessen, unter Berücksichtigung der zeitlichen Versetzung der einzelnen Teilprozesse. Damit lassen sich Wärme- und Kältebedarfe untereinander bedienen, wenn eine Speichervorrichtung für Wärme auf den jeweiligen Temperaturniveaus vorhanden ist. Das Temperaturniveau der thermischen Energien ist, wie bereits in der Theorie in den Kapitel 3 und 4 gesehen, wo großer Bedeutung. Denn es geht bei der Steigerung der Energieeffizienz des Gesamtprozesses um die Erhaltung des Potentials der Wärme und Kälte trotz naturbedingter Einbußen, welche die Übertragung der Wärme aufgrund eines notwendigen Temperaturgefälles mit sich bringt. Die Kopplung der Teilprozesse entlang des Brauprozesses führt nach der Analyse in Kapitel 6 dazu, dass Energiezufuhr von außen am heißesten Ort entlang der Prozesskette erforderlich ist, da an dieser Stelle des Würzekochens und Verdampfens innerhalb des Gesamtprozesses keine Wärme auf diesem Temperaturniveau „ausgeliehen“ werden kann. Als Resultat erhält man, das eine Dampferzeugung zur Wärmebereitstellung mit einer Temperatur oberhalb der Siedetemperatur von 100°C erforderlich ist, sowie Kältebereitstellung für die kühlen Prozessschritte Gären und Reifen, bei denen die Aufrechterhaltung einer Temperatur bei knapp 0°C gegenüber der wärmeren Umgebung über eine längere Zeitdauer erforderlich ist.
Hiermit kommt man zu der zweiten Fragestellung aus der Einleitung, welche Szenarien der Bereitstellung der Energie, ggf. in Form einer Selbstversorgung der Brauerei sinnvoll ist.
Energetisch ist die Erzeugung von Wärme auf einem vergleichsweise moderaten Temperaturniveau von benötigten 120 bis 140°C durch die Verbrennung des Primärenergieträgers Erdgas im Dampferzeuger nicht optimal. Es bietet sich an, das Gas bei der Verbrennung einen guten Teil seiner Exergie in Reinform zur Verfügung stellen zu können, in dem es z.B. in einem Gasmotor mechanische Arbeit leisten darf, die über einen Generator zu elektrischem Strom veredelt wird, und die Wärmebedarfe in der Brauerei aus dem Abgas und dem Kühlwasser des Motors gedeckt werden. Diese Form des gasbetriebenen Blockheizkraftwerkes (BHKW) ist in der Industrie seit einiger Zeit weit verbreitet. Der Strom deckt Bedarfe durch Elektromotorenantriebe, Kälteerzeugung mit Kompressions-Kältemaschinen, Lüftungsventilatoren, Pumpen und Beleuchtung. Überschüssiger Strom kann ggf. an den Stromversorger verkauft werden.
Der Wärmebedarf für den Brauprozess, sowie für die Wärme im Flaschen- und Fassreinigungsprozess, sowie zur Pasteurisierung des Bier (bei Rückgewinnung eines Teils der Wärme auf leicht niedrigerem Temperaturniveau) wird durch eine Wärmebedarfsauslegung des BHKW weitestgehend gedeckt. In der Ausführung des BHKW sollte berücksichtigt sein, dass die Wärme in ausreichender Menge bei höherer Temperatur durch optimale Nutzung des heißen Abgases entnommen wird, um auf jeden Fall den Dampfbedarf in der Würzepfanne zu decken.
This thesis presents the perspective and basis for modeling of retail electricity price components in Germany. Detailed Python models are developed to provide predictions for yearly development of average network charges, EEG, StromNEV-19 and KWK surcharges for the period 2015-2035. For network charges and EEG surcharge, scenario-B (2035) from NEP2015 has been chosen as the model scenario. For KWK surcharge, the 2025 KWK share target, set by KWKG-2016, has been chosen as the model scenario. Individual component model results are validated against available academic literature and institutional reports. Model results for EEG surcharge, indicate an increasing yearly EEG costs till 2024, after which the expiring EEG plants of past will unburden the related high costs and EEG surcharge will drop but still be around 99% of 2015 level in 2035. Model results for network charges indicate a consistently increasing yearly trend owing to high grid investments needed for reaching the target RE share of 57%. KWK model results also indicate a growing KWK surcharge until 2020 which then would remain stagnant at that level onwards. All model results are collected under three consumption categories, namely, households, privileged and nonprivileged industries. The final results indicate that the average German household will face an overall increase of around 3.37 Cents/kWh in retail electricity prices (excluding VAT) till 2028, after which the retail prices will drop a little due to dropping EEG surcharge. The similar but slightly reduced trend can be seen for nonprivileged industrial consumption. The increment effect, however, is only minute for privileged industrial consumption due to high exemptions in EEG & KWK surcharges and reduced individual network charges.
In Sierra Leone, at the moment 10 out of the total 14 districts are faced with the problem of large-scale land investments for industrial agriculture (oil palm, sugarcane…). The production is mainly for the local, regional and world market. There are quite many of these investments in the planning stage, while some are extending their operations by taking more land from communities or are already at the production stage. Studies and media reports have claimed a number of negative impacts felt in communities hosting these companies, ranging from loss of land, food insecurity, increase in poverty to loss of livelihoods, environmental degradation as well as social and cultural problems. The goal of this thesis is to examine the impacts of the operations of “Socfin Agriculture Company” on food security of local communities in Malen Chiefdom, Pujehun District of Sierra Leone.
Both quantitative and qualitative research methods are used for data collection, analyses, and interpretation of results. The research uses household income and expenditure to compare household food security before and after the start of the company’s operations. It examines consequences of community’s loss of land to support household food production versus casual wage earn from employment created by the company to meet household food security.
The results show a loss of household’s income sources and a significant decrease in households’ income. Households’ food crop production has reduced accompanied by a complete loss of cash crop farming. Households affected by the operations of the company have lost access to land and other natural resources that support food production. Furthermore, the company employs very few people in comparison to the total population of affected communities. Calculation of total wage earn from employment by the company cannot meet the staple food (rice) needs of the households. Also, households claimed a host of unfilled promises made by the company and national government at the onset of the operations of the company.
In conclusion, household food production is the most significant determinant for household food security, with regards to food availability, accessibility, utilization and stability of supply. Therefore, national government should carefully study and develop a framework that addresses food security of households impacted by the operations of the rapidly growing large-scale land investment companies and ensure a fair share of the local community in the economic development of the country and suggesting ways of improving access rights in the context of tenure.
Carbon Sequestration under different land uses and soils in the State of Quintana Roo, Mexico
(2017)
Rising in global temperature is evidently related to atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) concentrations; this has become an environmental problem. The use of renewable energy, the development of eco-friendly merchandise and the enforcement of biomass management have been proposed to mitigate the issue. In the ecosphere, the pedosphere stores 1,500 to 2,500 PgC, which is four times more than the carbon stored in biomass; hence, it is very important to carry out soil carbon studies because of more long-term stability of such storage. In the study, soil carbon quantification was applied to the entire state of Quintana Roo, using a purpose oriented sampling, to observe the dynamic between land uses and soils, relating all relevant characteristics and properties of the landscape. To study the carbon content stored in soils, total carbon was estimated through loss-on-ignition, organic carbon by Walkley-Black method and inorganic carbon by calcium carbonate determination. The result portrays that the coastal dune vegetation-Arenosol (1,256 Mg C ha-1) is the combination with the highest soil carbon density, while Leptosol is the soil type with the highest storage capacity (852 MtC). Consequently, the soil carbon storage not only relates to soil properties but also associates with the surface area occupied by the specific soil type. In addition, the characteristics of the landscape play an important role in the storage of soil carbon. Due to that, soil carbon storage can be explained by biogeomorphoedaphic factors.
The present thesis research was focused on the assessment of hydrological drought in the Tempisque-Bebedero catchment system in Costa Rica as part of the TropiSeca project framework. The study area is in the province of Guanacaste and has an extension of 5449.94 Km2, the region is characterized by a defined wet and dry season resulting in a marked seasonality in precipitation and streamflow regime which provokes frequent periods of water deficits considered as drought.
The main objective of this research is to conduct an analysis on hydrological drought in the study area through the understanding of the behavior of hydrological cycle and its implications for the rice sector by applying different drought indices such as Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Streamflow Drought Index (SDI). From the values obtained in the calculation of drought indices were studied the temporal distribution and spatial distribution based on the characterization of drought periods in terms of frequency, severity, duration, and seasonality.
For the characterization of meteorological drought in the study area an approach based on area average precipitation was implemented to calculate a regional representative SPI for each sub-basin, in contrast, hydrological drought was assessed using only two streamflow gauges data provided by the ICE from 1973 until 2003.
As result, Tempisque showed longer drought periods in comparison with Bebedero whose mean duration was lower but the number of drought events were more frequent. In terms of spatial distribution, it could be found that the upper basin experienced extreme meteorological drought periods at high time scales tied to a severe streamflow deficit probably justified by its low permeability due to geological characteristics that allow a slow movement of groundwater.
Additionally, one of the aims of this thesis was to analyze the existence of correlation between precipitation and streamflow anomalies with rice yield and, to determine the influence of ENSO in climate variability using Sea Surface Temperature indices; in this phase of the research was found that climate patterns in the catchment system exhibited a significant influence by ENSO events with a significance level of 99% (r > 0.7) showing an important dependence of meteorological drought periods presented during the period 1980-2016.
In terms of temporal behavior of rice yield anomalies was revealed moderate correlation coefficients (r < 0.4) in both watersheds due to in most of the cases the response of water deficit did not have significant impact in terms of magnitude as expected; in some periods in which drought period was present categorized as mild-drought, rice yield had a considerable decreasing compared with those in which was categorized as extreme event; these differences can be justified mostly because crop yield depends not only on weather, but also on variety of seed used and its coping capacity to periods of water scarcity, fertilizers, soil moisture, farming techniques, sowing date, temperature, irrigation, use of pesticides etc.
The results of this thesis can be used to motivate future researches in the elaboration of crop models to predict yields based on physiological processes during plant development considering water requirement to take enough measures to mitigate the effects of drought periods. Furthermore, it should be considered to implement a drought monitor system in the area as an important tool of early warning system and as an indicator for the efficient water resources management.
Development of renewable energy projects within photovoltaic energy sector has reached unrestrainable pace in recent years and thus the investors are more vigilantly considering the further business deployment towards this sector. Underpinned with clear support from KfW Development Bank, the company MACS Energy & Water GmbH decided to facilitate future verification of credit lines towards these projects by deploying special eSaveTM software which would include technical and financial appraisals specially designed for their clients. Hereof this thesis comprises the initial phase development of this software within the MS Excel and endeavors to provide a proper guideline for the software engineers included in this task in the company. In order to simplify the explanation process this report sticks to 50 kW power plant project in Prokuplje. It is anticipated that this model would enhance, improve and expedite the feasibility analysis between the cooperatives by delivering the projections of energy yield, payback periods and sensitivity analysis of the loan conditions specified for the target country and PV projects in the same. However, besides this main task this report aims to fulfill all the other necessary prerequisites for accomplishing a good due diligence practice. Therefore the thesis places its focus to Republic of Serbia where exceptional due diligence reports were made, among which the Prokuplje project, and compiles the assessments in terms of legal, environmental and risk into one general framework for PV projects in this country. By doing so, the desktop-based model and results obtained with this user-friendly tool can lean on the full due diligence assessment and provide the reader a clear comprehensive overview of possibility to invest into this renewable energy sector in Republic of Serbia.
Keywords: PV, Due diligence, Serbia, eSaveTM, feasibility, model