Critical Assessments of the Potential for Integrating Renewable Energy into Isolated Grids on Vietnamese Islands: The Case of the An-Binh Grid

Renewable electricity for off-grid areas is widely seen as one of the top choices in supporting local economic development in most countries, and so is Vietnam. Over the years, many isolated networks using renewable energy sources have been deployed for off-grid areas in Vietnam. However, the use of these energy sources in Vietnam’s isolated networks is still facing many challenges due to its infancy here. The issues of reliability and vulnerability of these networks are not given the expected attention. Another challenge is that the issues of the operational security of these systems could also be negatively affected by the variable nature of renewable sources, including static and dynamic security. For this reason, this study aims to contribute to a better understanding of integrating renewable energy into isolated networks, and in this case, using solar power for the An-Binh Island grid in Vietnam. The findings from this study suggest that choosing the right structure of the power mix could contribute to improving the operational security of isolated networks. Moreover, several solutions to enhance the reliability of this grid are also proposed. The NEPLAN environment was selected for simulation and analysis for all the scenarios in this study

Sustainable Value Co-Creation in Welfare Service Ecosystems : Transforming temporary collaboration projects into permanent resource integration

The aim of this paper is to discuss the unexploited forces of user-orientation and shared responsibility to promote sustainable value co-creation during service innovation projects in welfare service ecosystems. The framework is based on the theoretical field of public service logic (PSL) and our thesis is that service innovation seriously requires a user-oriented approach, and that such an approach enables resource integration based on the service-user’s needs and lifeworld. In our findings, we identify prerequisites and opportunities of collaborative service innovation projects in order to transform these projects into sustainable resource integration once they have ended

Sustainable transport policies under scarcity of oil supply

A strategic land-use–transport interaction model is used to investigate the impacts of policies in technology, infrastructure, pricing and regulation under different assumptions about energy supply. Six scenarios have been defined, analysing three policy strategies in two different contexts of energy supply—A, generally accepted energy supply forecast and B, worst-case energy supply forecast (scarcity of energy). Policies include: business as usual; investment in infrastructure and technology; and a demand regulation based approach involving changes in taxation and tolls. The paper assesses the impact and robustness of each policy against assumptions about future oil supply/demand. Our results demonstrate three key issues. First, scarcity of oil will accelerate the development and take-up of alternative fuel technologies; second, investment in alternative technologies alone will alleviate the impact of local emissions and reduce energy consumption per kilometre travelled but will only reduce yearly carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions after a time lag of about 15 years; so that, third, some form of regulation of demand will be necessary to reduce total emissions and externalities caused by congestion. Research is required to define the necessary level of regulation in combination with technology investments. However, we suggest that a policy involving improvements in infrastructure coupled with investments in fuel technology and differentiated fuel taxes will be required in the future

Developing flood resilient transport systems in coastal cities: a case study of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Flooding has emerged as an increasing problem in many cities across the world. Investigations of recent flood incidents have proved that climate volatility is likely to exceed present day conditions, meaning that existing protection systems are not likely to be suitable for dealing with extreme events. The problem is particularly acute in Southeast Asia. Here, flood vulnerability is often exacerbated by inappropriate planning for urban expansion, associated with transportation development. This has so far proved to be a significant challenge for governments seeking long-term strategies related to urban resilience. Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), an emerging-coastal in Vietnam, is facing frequent flood events as a result of rapid development. This research uses HCMC as a case study to show how resilience theory, along with key experiences from other coastal cities such as New Orleans, Manila and Bangkok, can be used to explore: i) The evidence of increasing flood vulnerability in HCMC as the consequence of rapid urbanisation in new development districts situated on flood plains. ii) The challenges and opportunities for emerging coastal cities to integrate flood resilience into urban planning in order to reduce flood vulnerability. iii) The application of resilience theory to transportation to conceptualise a model of a Flood Resilient Transport System (FRTS) applicable to HCMC. iv) A number of potential adjustments to the current plans for transportation development, also referred to as the transport component in the general plan for HCMC. Overall, the implications of this research, including the combined method approach to flood simulation and GIS analysis, have the potential for application not only in HCMC, but also referenced in other emerging coastal cities, especially in Southeast Asia, to mitigate flood impacts

Dynamic experimental internationalization: Strategy of SMEs from a transition economy

This paper presents a model of dynamic experimental internationalization which we developed by employing Straussian Grounded Theory to explain how and why small- and medium-sized enterprises in a transitional economy (Vietnam) internationalize. Unlike other knowledge-based internationalization models, our model proposes that the internationalization process of these firms is largely influenced by their current experience rather than past experience because of frequent shifts in the institutional environment. Moreover, this process is directed not only by organizational goals but also critically by managerial goals. As such, these firms internationalize by continuously conducting multiple experiments to find strategies that optimize their chances of meeting these goals by ensuring the best fit with their current environment and thereby also quick responses to environment change

Review on Construction Procedures of Driving Cycles

The goal of this paper is to give an overview of the literature of construction techniques of driving cycles. Our motivation for the overview is the future goal of constructing our own driving cycles for various types of vehicles and routes. This activity is part of a larger project focusing on determination of fuel and energy consumption by dynamic simulation of vehicles. Accordingly, the papers dealing with sample route determination, data collection and processing, driving cycle construction procedures, statistical evaluation of data are in our focus