An assessment of financial incentives for encouraging South Africa's domestic solar water heater market

Includes bibliographical references (p. 102-104).SA has a demand for domestic hot water, which is supplied by a number of different technologies. For a number of reasons, including health reasons and versatility, Government has encouraged the demand for electricity to meet domestic requirements. But currently there is a shortage of electricity supply, with negative impacts for the development of SA. Solar water heating (SWH) is a renewable energy technology that could relieve some of the demand for electricity, and the aim of this study is to assess which types of national financial incentive programmes should be implemented in order to encourage the use of SWH systems in households, within the context of SA's energy policy and the current electricity crisis. However, only hybrid SWH technologies were considered, due to a lack of information. A review of literature shows that domestic SWH technology use is uncommon, resulting from households preferring other technologies for reasons of cost and convenience. The modelling of current and hypothetical scenarios of energy consumption for domestic water heating show that the increased use of hybrid SWH technology would benefit SA's sustainable development. A literature review was used to identify the barriers stopping these benefits from being translated into the domestic sector. A literature review of energy policy documents confirmed SA's commitment to sustainable development and introduced a number of developments intended to reduce the barriers to renewable energy technologies. Investment incentives and set-asides were identified as potential financial incentive options for SA. A literature review of the SWH market identified the existing structures and capacity of expertise, and identified options for reducing SWH barriers. A criteria analysis was performed on a set-aside option and investment incentive options, which included a direct subsidy, an income tax deduction, and an interest rate subsidy. The criteria used for this analysis were derived from this study and a report of international experiences, and the analysis provided an assessment of the suitability of each of these financial incentives. The assessment resulted in the recommendation that a direct subsidy programme be implemented, possibly using a system of Tradable Renewable Energy Certificates (TRECs), which could allow for compatibility with developments that could enhance the success of the programme

THE ROLE OF ECTOMYCORRHIZAL FUNGI ON FERTILIZED AND UNFERTILIZED NURSERY GROWN WHITE SPRUCE

Nursery grown seedlings are an essential part of the forestry industry. These seedlings are grown under high nutrient conditions caused by fertilization. Though grown in a controlled environment, symbionts such as ectomycorrhizal fungi (EcMF) are often found in these conditions. To examine the effects of EcMF in these conditions, colonized Picea glauca seedlings were collected from Toumey Nursery in Watersmeet, MI. After collection, the EcMF present were morphotyped, and seedlings with different morphotypes were divided equally into two treatment types- fertilized and unfertilized. Seedlings received treatment for one growing season. After that time, seedlings were collected, ectomycorrhizas identified using morphotyping and DNA sequencing, and seedlings were analyzed for differences in leaf nutrient concentration, content, root to shoot ratio, total biomass, and EcMF community structure. DNA sequencing identified 5 unique species groups- Amphinema sp. 1, Amphinema sp. 5, Thelephora terrestris, Sphaerosporella brunnea, and Boletus variipes. In the unfertilized treatment it was found that Amphinema sp. 1 strongly negatively impacted foliar N concentration. In fertilized seedlings, Thelephora terrestris had a strong negative impact on foliar phosphorus concentration, while Amphinema sp. 1 positively impacted foliar boron, magnesium, manganese, and phosphorus concentration. In terms of content, Amphinema sp. 1 led to significantly higher content of manganese and boron in fertilized treatments, as well as elevated phosphorus in unfertilized seedlings. Amphinema sp. 5 had a significant negative effect on phosphorus content. When examining root to shoot ratio and biomass, those seedlings with more non-mycorrhizal tips had a higher root to shoot ratio. Findings from the study shed light on the interactions of the species. Amphinema sp. 5 shows very different functionality than Amphinema sp. 1. Amphinema sp. 1 appears to have the highest positive effect on seedling nutrition when in both fertilized and unfertilized environments. Amphinema sp. 5 and T. terrestris appear to behave parasitically in both fertilized and unfertilized conditions

Partnerships and communities of practice: a social learning perspective on crime prevention and community safety in Scotland

This social learning analysis of Community Safety Partnerships in Scotland will develop two sets of arguments – one empirical and one epistemological. The empirical argument is that the well-documented difficulties in partnership working (largely a result of the very different occupational cultures, structures, roles and functions of the agencies generally brought on board) are not only very much in evidence but that current ways of organising and structuring partnership working in Scotland are also very often not conducive to overcoming them. It will be argued that viewing partnership working through the lens of a relational social learning perspective (Etienne Wenger’s theory of communities of practice) provides a clear set of recommendations for resolving these problems. These empirical arguments shall form the main focus of the thesis but, given the theoretical perspective employed, a related epistemological argument also emerged and shall be developed. It is generally accepted in theoretical criminology (and elsewhere in the social sciences) that the ideas and mentalities of the discipline have been shaped by the institutional contexts in which actors were doing criminology or criminal justice work (whether as practitioners or as scholars). Therefore, it will be argued that Community Safety Partnerships are important not only as sites of criminal justice practice but also as new institutional spaces in which ways of thinking about crime and community safety have the potential to be transformed. The empirical and epistemological arguments are interrelated because it will only be where the problems of conflict and communication within partnerships can be positively resolved that their potential to become sites of thinking that transcend traditional criminal justice mentalities will be fulfilled

Model uncertainty and the equilibrium value of the real effective euro exchange rate

On the basis of historical data aggregated over the period 1973 to 2000, we estimated four different equilibrium exchange rate models for the synthetic euro. Using the same data set, variable definitions and sample period offers the possibility to assess the uncertainty surrounding such equilibrium levels, both from a statistical and a theoretical perspective. We employed reduced form co-integration models, a structurla VAR, a Natrex model (estimated in structural form) and the ECB's small-sized euro area wide macro-economic model. In this order the approaches feature an increasing degree of 'structure', in the sense of the constraints based on economic theory embedded in the econometric models that were estimated. The results confirm the high leikelihood for the euro ahving been undervalued in Q4 2000, while stressing the significant empirical and theoretical uncertainty with respect to the equilibrium exchange rate level