Constructing a greenhouse gas emissions inventory using energy balances: the case of South Africa for 1998

This paper discusses the procedures and results of constructing a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory for South Africa, using the official national energy balance for 1998. In doing so, the paper offers a snapshot of the South African energy supply and demand profile and encompassing greenhouse gas emissions profiles, disaggregated into 40 economic sectors, for the reference year. For convenience, energy supply and use are reported in both native units and terra joule (TJ), while emissions are expressed in carbon dioxide equivalents and reported in giga-gram (Gg). While carbon dioxide makes an overwhelming contribution to global anthropogenic GHG emissions, the inclusion of methane and nitrous oxide offers considerable richness to the analysis of climate change policies. Applying the energy balances, it was possible to compile a comprehensive emissions inventory using a consistent methodology across all sectors of the economy. The inventory allows the economic analyst to model various economic policies either with fuel as an input to production, or the consumption of fuel or the emissions generated during combustion, as a base of the analysis. The dominant role of coal as a source of energy, with a total primary energy supply (TPES) of 3.3 million TJ or 70 per cent of the total TPES, is clearly shown. Emissions from coal combustion (263 783 Gg of carbon dioxide equivalents or 74.7 per cent of total emissions) are henceforth the largest contributor to total emissions, estimated to be 352 932 Gg carbon dioxide equivalents

Benefits of restoring ecosystem services in urban areas

Cities are a key nexus of the relationship between people and nature and are huge centers of demand for ecosystem services and also generate extremely large environmental impacts. Current projections of rapid expansion of urban areas present fundamental challenges and also opportunities to design more livable, healthy and resilient cities (e.g. adaptation to climate change effects). We present the results of an analysis of benefits of ecosystem services in urban areas. Empirical analyses included estimates of monetary benefits from urban ecosystem services based on data from 25 urban areas in the USA, Canada, and China. Our results show that investing in ecological infrastructure in cities, and the ecological restoration and rehabilitation of ecosystems such as rivers, lakes, and woodlands occurring in urban areas, may not only be ecologically and socially desirable, but also quite often, economically advantageous, even based on the most traditional economic approaches.Peer reviewe

Eye tracking: empirical foundations for a minimal reporting guideline

In this paper, we present a review of how the various aspects of any study using an eye tracker (such as the instrument, methodology, environment, participant, etc.) affect the quality of the recorded eye-tracking data and the obtained eye-movement and gaze measures. We take this review to represent the empirical foundation for reporting guidelines of any study involving an eye tracker. We compare this empirical foundation to five existing reporting guidelines and to a database of 207 published eye-tracking studies. We find that reporting guidelines vary substantially and do not match with actual reporting practices. We end by deriving a minimal, flexible reporting guideline based on empirical research (Section "empirically based minimal reporting guideline")

The attitude and vulnerability of people as determinants of poverty: The case of Lesotho

Lesotho is one of the poorest countries in the world.  After reviewing the growth and poverty debate, which suggests that policy reforms and economic growth have largely failed to contribute to the alleviation of poverty in Lesotho, the paper explores the core constraints to poverty reduction.  It is argued that the attitudes of the people in Lesotho and the extent to which they are vulnerable to exogenous shocks are important variables towards removing structural and fundamental constraints that impede poverty alleviation.  To quantify the values of attitude and vulnerability, an econometric model is constructed that uses an HSRC public perceptions survey in Lesotho.  The economic significance of this alternative measure provides a new dynamic on how to approach the issue of poverty alleviation in Lesotho

Restoring Natural Capital: Science Business and Practice.

Please help us populate SUNScholar with the post print version of this article. It can be e-mailed to: [email protected] en Entomologi

Restoring Natural Capital: Experiences and Lessons Introduction

Please help us populate SUNScholar with the post print version of this article. It can be e-mailed to: [email protected] en Entomologi

Restoring Natural Capital: Science Business and Practice.

Please help us populate SUNScholar with the post print version of this article. It can be e-mailed to: [email protected] en Entomologi

Determining a charge for the clearing of invasive alien plant species (IAPs) to augment water supply in South Africa

South Africa is running out of water supply options. One option, however, is to control invasive alien plant species (IAPs) within water catchment areas and in riparian zones. The National Water Act and subsequent  documentation provide a guide for the use of economic instruments to manage invasive alien plant species at a national, but also at a water management area level. This paper determines the method and level of such an invasive alien plant control charge as part of the water resource management charge

Restoring natural capital: Definitions and rationale.

Please help us populate SUNScholar with the post print version of this article. It can be e-mailed to: [email protected] en Entomologi

Restoring natural forests to make medicinal bark harvesting sustainable in South Africa

Please help us populate SUNScholar with the post print version of this article. It can be e-mailed to: [email protected] Houtkund