Open Learning Network: the evidence of OER impact

Much of the initial work on Open Educational Resources (OER) has inevitably concentrated on how to produce the resources themselves and to establish the idea in the community. It is now eight years since the term OER was first used and more than ten years since the concept of open content was described and a greater focus is now emerging on the way in which OER can influence policy and change the way in which educational systems help people learn. The Open University UK and Carnegie Mellon University are working in partnership on the OLnet (Open Learning Network), funded by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation with the aims to search out the evidence for use and reuse of OER and to establish a network for information sharing about research in the field. This means both gathering evidence and developing approaches for how to research and understand ways to learn in a more open world, particularly linked to OER, but also looking at other influences

Sulfur-Dioxide Control By Electric Utilities: What Are the Gains from Trade?

Title IV of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) established a market for transferable sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission allowances among electric utilities. This market offers firms facing high marginal abatement costs the opportunity to purchase the right to emit SO2 from firms with lower costs, and is expected to yield cost savings compared to a command and control approach to environmental regulation. This paper uses econometrically estimated marginal abatement cost functions for power plants affected by Title IV of the CAAA to evaluate the performance of the SO2 allowance market. Specifically, we investigate whether the much-heralded fall in the cost of abating SO2, compared to original estimates, can be attributed to allowance trading. We demonstrate that, for plants using low-sulfur coal to reduce SO2 emissions, technical changes and the fall in low-sulfur coal prices have lowered marginal abatement cost curves by over 50% since 1985. The flexibility to take advantage of these changes is the main source of cost reductions, rather than trading per se. In the long run, allowance trading may achieve cost savings of $700-$800 million per year compared to an "enlightened" command and control program characterized by a uniform emission rate standard. The cost savings would be twice as great if the alternative to trading were forced scrubbing. However, a comparison of potential cost savings in 1995 and 1996 with actual emissions costs suggests that most trading gains were unrealized in the first two years of the program.

Open Learning Network : the evidence of OER impact

Much of the initial work on Open Educational Resources (OER) has inevitably concentrated on how to produce the resources themselves and to establish the idea in the community. It is now eight years since the term OER was first used and more than ten years since the concept of open content was described and a greater focus is now emerging on the way in which OER can influence policy and change the way in which educational systems help people learn. The Open University UK and Carnegie Mellon University are working in partnership on the OLnet (Open Learning Network), funded by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation with the aims to search out the evidence for use and reuse of OER and to establish a network for information sharing about research in the field. This means both gathering evidence and developing approaches for how to research and understand ways to learn in a more open world, particularly linked to OER, but also looking at other influences

Sulfur Dioxide Control by Electric Utilities: What Are the Gains from Trade?

Title IV of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) established a market for transferable sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission allowances among electric utilities. This market offers firms facing high marginal abatement costs the opportunity to purchase the right to emit SO2 from firms with lower costs, and is expected to yield cost savings compared to a command and control approach to environmental regulation. This paper uses econometrically estimated marginal abatement cost functions for power plants affected by Title IV of the CAAA to evaluate the performance of the SO2 allowance market. Specifically, we investigate whether the much-heralded fall in the cost of abating SO2, compared to original estimates, can be attributed to allowance trading. We demonstrate that, for plants using low-sulfur coal to reduce SO2 emissions, technical changes and the fall in low-sulfur coal prices have lowered marginal abatement cost curves by over 50% since 1985. The flexibility to take advantage of these changes is the main source of cost reductions, rather than trading per se. In the long run, allowance trading may achieve cost savings of $700-$800 million per year compared to an "enlightened" command and control program characterized by a uniform emission rate standard. The cost savings would be twice as great if the alternative to trading were forced scrubbing. However, a comparison of potential cost savings in 1995 and 1996 with actual emissions costs suggests that most trading gains were unrealized in the first two years of the program

Data from: Are Brazil nut populations threatened by fruit harvest?

Harvest of Brazil nuts from the large, iconic tree Bertholletia excelsa generates substantial income for smallholders, providing a strong incentive to conserve the mature forests where it grows. Although much previous work has focused on the impact of nut harvest on new seedling recruits into B. excelsa populations, the connection between harvest rates and long-term population stability is still unclear. Moreover, there is additional uncertainty for Brazil nut management in terms of population response to climate change and other anthropogenic influences. We drew on 14 years of research in two sites in Acre, Brazil with different B. excelsa nut harvest intensities (39% and 81%), to produce stochastic and deterministic matrix population models which incorporated parameter uncertainty in vital rates. Adult abundance was projected to remain close to the current observed abundance or higher through the next 50 years. Elasticity analyses revealed that the asymptotic population growth rate (λ) was most sensitive to stasis vital rates in sapling, juvenile, and adult stages. Deterministic transition matrices calculated using diameter growth rates dependent on rainfall yielded average λ values around 1.0 under extreme high, extreme low, and average annual rainfall. While sustained high rates of Brazil nut harvest and climate change could potentially negatively impact B. excelsa populations, changes in human use of the forested landscape are more immediate concern. To reduce the risk of population decline, smallholders and managers of B. excelsa rich forests should focus on conservation of pre-mature and mature individuals

Cachoeira growth and fruit production

DBH growth and fruit production data for trees in the Cachoeira study site from 2008 to 2015