3,648 research outputs found
Investment Incentives in Tradable Emissions Markets with Price Floors
Peer reviewedPostprin
Examining systemic and dispositional factors impacting historically disenfranchised schools across North Carolina
This mixed method sequential explanatory study provided analysis of North Carolina (NC) school leaders’ dispositions in eliminating opportunity gaps, outlined in NC’s strategic plan. The study’s quantitative phase used descriptive and correlation analysis of eight Likert subscales around four tenets of transformative leadership (Shields, 2011) and aspects of critical race theory (Bell, 1992; Ladson-Billings, 1998; Ladson-Billings & Tate, 2006) to understand systemic inequities and leadership attitudes.
The qualitative phase comprised three analyses of education leadership dispositions and systemic factors in NC schools. The first analysis of State Board of Education meeting minutes from 2018–2023 quantified and analyzed utterances of racism and critical race, outlined the sociopolitical context of such utterances, and identified systemic patterns and state leader dispositions. The second analysis of five interviews of K–12 graduates identified persistent and systemic factors influencing NC education 3 decades after Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and within the context of Leandro v. State of NC (1997), where the NC Supreme Court recognized the state constitutional right for every student to access a “sound basic education.” The final qualitative analysis consisted of five interviews of current NC public school system leaders, for personal narratives of the state of NC schools compared to patterns from lived experiences of NC K–12 graduates.
The study’s findings suggested NC school and state education leaders experience a racialized dichotomy between willingness for change (equity intentions) and execution of transformative action (practice). Although leaders at the board and school levels recognize the need for inclusivity and equity, a struggle to transcend systemic challenges, especially rooted in racial biases and power dynamics is evident. This study may identify leadership qualities needed for change in NC to address systemic inequities for improving educational access and inform policy to uphold all students’ constitutional right to a sound, basic education
LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volume
LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volum
A Critical Review Of Post-Secondary Education Writing During A 21st Century Education Revolution
Educational materials are effective instruments which provide information and report new discoveries uncovered by researchers in specific areas of academia. Higher education, like other education institutions, rely on instructional materials to inform its practice of educating adult learners. In post-secondary education, developmental English programs are tasked with meeting the needs of dynamic populations, thus there is a continuous need for research in this area to support its changing landscape. However, the majority of scholarly thought in this area centers on K-12 reading and writing. This paucity presents a phenomenon to the post-secondary community. This research study uses a qualitative content analysis to examine peer-reviewed journals from 2003-2017, developmental online websites, and a government issued document directed toward reforming post-secondary developmental education programs. These highly relevant sources aid educators in discovering informational support to apply best practices for student success. Developmental education serves the purpose of addressing literacy gaps for students transitioning to college-level work. The findings here illuminate the dearth of material offered to developmental educators. This study suggests the field of literacy research is fragmented and highlights an apparent blind spot in scholarly literature with regard to English writing instruction. This poses a quandary for post-secondary literacy researchers in the 21st century and establishes the necessity for the literacy research community to commit future scholarship toward equipping college educators teaching writing instruction to underprepared adult learners
Creating shared value:An operations and supply chain management perspective
Focusing solely on short-term profits has caused social, environmental, and economic problems. Creating shared value integrates profitability with social and environmental objectives, offering a holistic solution. This dissertation examines two areas where this integration is crucial. The first topic explores servicizing business models for a transition to a more circular economy, emphasizing environmental benefits and firm profitability. Initially, we focus on pricing policies, comparing pricing schemes across consumer segments to identify win-win-win strategies that meet all people, planet, and profit objectives. Our research reveals that pay-per-use schemes outperform pay-per-period schemes for cost-inefficient or small-scale providers. A win-win (profit and planet) strategy can be achieved by offering a pay-per-use policy to high usage-valuation consumers, but a win-win-win strategy is unattainable. We then investigate consumer choices in servicizing models by conducting a conjoint experiment on payment scheme, price, minimum contract duration, and entry label attributes. The payment scheme emerges as the most influential attribute, with purchasing and pay-per-use schemes being popular options. The second topic focuses on drug shortages. Specifically, we examine the impact of tendering on shortages. Our findings demonstrate that tendering reduces prices but increases shortages, particularly at the beginning of contracts. However, shortages are less severe when alternative suppliers are available, and the market is less concentrated. To address this issue, we propose allowing multiple winners, regionalizing tenders, increasing the time between tender and contract initiation, and incorporating a reliability measure as a winning criterion to mitigate shortages
Modelação e Negociação de Flexibilidade em Comunidades de Energia Renovável
The progressive replacement of traditional generation resources with intermittent
resources has reduced the available supply-side flexibility and increased the need to unlock
flexibility on the demand-side. At the same time, the rising electricity consumption in
residential buildings requires an analysis of the potential flexibility of the loads within them
to contribute to the operation needs of electrical grids. Lastly, regulations governing self consumption have allowed end consumers to form energy communities based on local
electricity markets. This is an additional incentive to define strategies for trading available
flexibility at local level, in separate but simultaneously integrated structures within
wholesale electricity markets.
The proposed dissertation work focuses on studying the flexibility of energy
production and consumption by prosumers within a Renewable Energy Community (REC).
The objective is to investigate how residential flexibility can be determined, modeled, and
aggregated for trading in a local market created for this purpose. The work to be developed
will present a two-stage model that determines residential technical flexibility and
establishes a local market only for its transaction.
In the first stage, the optimal scheduling of domestic devices (flexible units or FUs)
for each prosumer is determined, serving as a baseline for comparison, along with the
technical limits of flexibility (maximum and minimum possible consumption profiles) for
each FU.
In the second stage, a market model is established only for flexibility exchanges. The
technical flexibility determined in the first stage is offered to the Community Manager (CM)
as flexibility offer, with an associated price. This entity acts as an aggregator and
simultaneously as the operator of the local market. At this level, the Distribution System
Operator (DSO) submits its flexibility requirements for the next day to the CM, who is
responsible for executing the clearing process. The pricing of the flexibility offered by
prosumers in the market is based on the base energy tariff they are subject to, which
corresponds to the cost of their optimal scheduling obtained in the first stage, without
considering this flexibility. Therefore, offering flexibility becomes an incentive to reduce prosumers energy costs or increase their utility, complementing their mere participation in
energy markets.
A case study based on a renewable energy community with a strong penetration of
emerging technologies is used to validate and demonstrate the relevance of the proposed
approach in terms of determining and activating residential FU flexibility. The obtained
results show that participation in the local flexibility market leads to a reduction in prosumers
energy costs, around 4.5%, in average. It can be an incentive for prosumers to join RECs
that would not only have local energy trading structures but also mechanisms for negotiating
and sharing flexibility. In addition, it was evidenced that the impact of electric vehicle
chargers and battery energy storage systems on the total flexibility offered and accepted in
the market is much greater than that the impact of other small loads studied. This not only
constitutes an incentive for the study of the operational flexibility of these resources but also
for investments in these emerging technologies.A substituição progressiva dos recursos de geração tradicionais por recursos
intermitentes tem reduzido a flexibilidade disponĂvel do lado da oferta e aumentado a
necessidade de desbloqueá-la do lado da procura. Ao mesmo tempo, o aumento do consumo
de eletricidade nos edifĂcios residenciais obriga a que seja analisada a flexibilidade potencial
das cargas que o constituem, de modo a contribuir para as necessidades de operação das
redes elétricas. Por último, a regulamentação do autoconsumo, tem permitido aos
consumidores finais constituir comunidades energéticas baseadas em mercados locais de
eletricidade. Isto torna ainda mais importante a definição de estratégias para comercializar a
flexibilidade disponĂvel a esse nĂvel, em estruturas de mercado local separadas, mas
simultaneamente integradas nos mercados grossistas de eletricidade.
O trabalho proposto para dissertação assenta no estudo da flexibilidade da produção
e consumo de energia por parte dos prosumidores de uma Comunidade de Energia
Renovável. O objetivo é estudar como a flexibilidade residencial pode ser determinada,
modelada e agregada de modo a ser transacionada num mercado local criado para esse fim.
Assim, o trabalho a ser desenvolvido apresentará um modelo de dois estágios que determina
a flexibilidade técnica residencial e cria um mercado local exclusivo para transaciona-la.
Numa primeira fase, determina-se o escalonamento Ăłptimo dos dispositivos
domĂ©sticos (unidades flexĂveis ou UF) de cada prosumidor, o que constitui uma baseline de
comparação, bem como os limites técnicos de flexibilidade (perfis de consumo máximos e
mĂnimos possĂveis) de cada UF.
Num segundo estágio, é estabelecido um modelo de mercado apenas para trocas de
flexibilidade. A flexibilidade técnica determinada no primeiro estágio é disponibilizada ao
Gestor de Comunidade (CM), enquanto oferta de flexibilidade, com um preço associado.
Esta entidade desempenha as funções de agregador e simultaneamente de operador do
mercado local. A este nĂvel, o Operador do Sistema de Distribuição (ORD) submete os seus
requisitos de flexibilidade, para o dia seguinte, ao CM, que é responsável pelo executar o
clearing. A precificação da flexibilidade oferecida pelos prosumidores em mercado é feita
com base no valor da tarifa base de energia a que estão sujeitos, que corresponde ao custo do seu escalonamento ótimo, obtido no primeiro estágio, que não considera essa mesma
flexibilidade. Portanto, oferecer flexibilidade torna-se um incentivo para reduzir os custos
energéticos dos prosumidores ou aumentar a sua utilidade, o que complementa a sua mera
participação nos mercados de energia.
Um caso de estudo baseado numa comunidade de energia com forte penetração de
tecnologias emergentes é utilizado e valida a metodologia desenvolvida. Para além disso é
evidenciada a relevância da abordagem proposta em termos de determinação e ativação da
flexibilidade de UFs residenciais os impactos das mesmas no fecho de mercado. Os
resultados evidenciam que participação no mercado local de flexibilidade induz uma redução
dos custos energéticos dos prosumidores, na casa 4.5%, em média. O impacto dos
carregadores de veĂculos elĂ©tricos e dos sistemas de armazenamento de energia em baterias
na flexibilidade total oferecida e aceite em mercado Ă© muito superior ao de outras pequenas
cargas estudadas. Tudo isto pode vir a resultar num incentivo ao investimento nos recursos
referidos, bem como à associação de prosumidores em comunidades de energia renovável,
onde para além de estruturas locais de comercialização de energia, existam outras que
permitam a negociação e partilha de flexibilidade
Assessing prioritization measures for a private land conservation program in the U.S. Prairie Pothole Region
Private land conservation has become an important tool for protecting biodiversity and habitat, but methods for prioritizing and scheduling conservation on private land are still being developed. While return on investment methods have been suggested as a potential path forward, the different processes linking private landscapes to the socioeconomic systems in which they are embedded create unique challenges for scheduling conservation with this approach. We investigated a range of scheduling approaches within a return on investment framework for breeding waterfowl and broods in the Prairie Pothole Region of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. Current conservation targeting for waterfowl in the region focuses mostly on the distribution and abundance of breeding waterfowl. We tested whether MaxGain approaches for waterfowl conservation differed from MinLoss approaches in terms of return on investment and which approach performed best in avoiding loss of waterfowl and broods separately. We also examined variation in results based upon the temporal scale of the abundance layers used for input and compared the region's current scheduling approach with results from our simulations. Our results suggested that MinLoss was the most efficient scheduling approach for both breeding waterfowl and broods and that using just breeding waterfowl to target areas for conservation programs might cause organizations to overlook important areas for broods, particularly over shorter timespans. The higher efficiency of MinLoss approaches in our simulations also indicated that incorporating probability of wetland drainage into decision-making improved the overall return on investment. We recommend that future conservation scheduling for easements in the region and for private land conservation in general include some form of return on investment or cost-effective analysis to make conservation more transparent
GREEN INVESTMENT OPTIONS IN FERRY, RO-RO AND RO-PAX INDUSTRY - From theory to practice
An increased focus on sustainability issues and climate change from customers as well as the whole society, jointly with more restrictive regulatory requirements, are triggering shipping lines to progressively adopt green strategies, aiming at reducing emissions and pursuing higher (energy) efficiency standards (Pallis and Vaggelas, 2019). In the shipping sector, the Ferry segment expresses global fleet of about 15,400 ships with a total gross tonnage (GT) exceeding 31 million, and globally transports about 4.27 billion passengers per year and 373 million vehicles; furthermore, it has a contribution on world GDP of 60 billion dollars and allows the employment of more than 1 million people (Interferry, 2019). Because of the importance of the traffic volumes handled both in terms of passengers and cargoes, as well as due to the related impacts originating from business operations, the Ferry, Ro-Ro and Ro-Pax industry is challenged to implement green strategies (Chang and Danao, 2007). Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) paradigms and related theoretical constructs are expected to reshape future goals, strategies and implantation trajectories of major Ferry, Ro-Ro and Ro-Pax companies and improve firm performance (Lun et al., 2015). This PhD thesis scrutinizes green strategies and related investment options which are expected to allow Ferry, Ro-Ro and Ro-Pax group owners, operating European-flagged vessels, to reach sustainability goals without negatively affecting their economic/financial performance.
The document proposes a conceptual framework that addresses the most promising green investment options which Ferry, Ro-Ro and Ro-Pax companies can exploit for making the business more sustainable, reducing environmental impacts and improving energy and material efficiency during day-by-day operations. Using insights from a systematic literature review conducted in the first sections of this PhD thesis, the most relevant green solutions widely investigated at academic level are examined and discussed for the purpose of this PhD thesis.
After an exhaustive description of the state of the art and the state of the play regarding green investment options in Ferry, Ro-Ro and Ro-Pax industry, this PhD thesis proposes an analysis of the most effective green strategies and practices concretely developed and planned in the industry. Empirical evidence shows that the most promising investment options relate to ship propulsion systems, such as the adoption of hydrogen and fuel cells (Trillos et al., 2021), alternative fuels (Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil, Ultra Low Sulphur Fuel Oil and Liquefied Natural Gas), efficiency systems for auxiliary engines and ship design solutions. As confirmed by outcomes gathered in our final empirical dataset, i.e., the “green” sample, among the different solutions analysed, the most adopted green investment options by European companies operating in Ferry, Ro-Ro and Ro-Pax industry are: a) the refitting of bulbous bow, aimed at the implementation of the current design of the hull to increase the overall hydrodynamics of the ship; b) the installation of onboard batteries as a source of energy for ship propulsion; c) the use of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as alternative fuel for the ship propulsion, that contributes to a 100% reduction in sulphur oxides emissions, 80-85% of nitrogen oxides emissions, 95% of particular matter emissions and 20-30% of carbon dioxide emissions compared to HFO/MDO (Burel et al., 2013).
The empirical analysis above mentioned is performed on 1,680 Ferry, Ro-Ro and Ro-Pax ships with flag from European Countries, with data gathered through IHS Maritime & Trade that holds the largest maritime ships database in the world, further integrated with data and information collected from several technical sources (e.g., news press, sustainability report and press release of European companies). Variables investigates within IHS Maritime & Trade regard the type of main and auxiliary engines and fuel type, hull materials, bulbous bow and other technologies and equipment aimed at mitigating the pollution and reducing harmful emissions. The outcomes shed light on the viability and feasibility of some green investments options by shipping companies operating in Ferry, Ro-Ro and Ro-Pax industry at European level.
To deal with this limited result, due to the lack of comprehensive dataset capable to scrutinize the diverse green solutions implemented on board European-flagged vessels, it was decided to develop an original and detailed dataset, capable to provide additional information concerning the approaches, decisions and strategies adopted by each group owners and related future trends about the adoption of green strategies in the sector. Through the examination of different sources (e.g., news press, specialised journals, communications by the companies on their corporate website, academic papers, etc.), information related to innovative technical solutions and cutting-edge technologies for mitigating the pollution and reducing harmful emissions have been extracted for each ship of the database, i.e., the “overall” or “extended” sample. In this way, it has been possible to provide an exhaustive overview of the heterogeneous green solutions, equipment and components installed on board of ships that are part of the “green” sample and the related source, to allow the evaluation and examination from the point of view of the institutionalism of the source. In this way it was possible to focus on top ten best performer group owners of the “green” sample, to analyse the managerial and governance behaviours and attitudes implemented by them and to deepen in brief case histories the main strategies adopted by them
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