Assessment of highly distributed power systems using an integrated simulation approach

In a highly distributed power system (HDPS), micro renewable and low carbon technologies would make a significant contribution to the electricity supply. Further, controllable devices such as micro combined heat and power (CHP) could be used to assist in maintaining stability in addition to simply providing heat and power to dwellings. To analyse the behaviour of such a system requires the modelling of both the electrical distribution system and the coupled microgeneration devices in a realistic context. In this paper a pragmatic approach to HDPS modelling is presented: microgeneration devices are simulated using a building simulation tool to generate time-varying power output profiles, which are then replicated and processed statistically so that they can be used as boundary conditions for a load flow simulation; this is used to explore security issues such as under and over voltage, branch thermal overloading, and reverse power flow. Simulations of a section of real network are presented, featuring different penetrations of micro-renewables and micro-CHP within the ranges that are believed to be realistically possible by 2050. This analysis indicates that well-designed suburban networks are likely to be able to accommodate such levels of domestic-scale generation without problems emerging such as overloads or degradation to the quality of supply

The role of energy efficiency in reducing Scottish and UK CO2 emissions

In 2003, the UK government launched its long-anticipated White Paper on energy, the centrepieces of which were ambitious targets for the production of electricity from renewable technologies and the long-term aspiration of a 60% reduction in UK greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In the White Paper it was recognised that such a dramatic reduction in emissions will require significant changes in the way in which energy is produced and used. However there has been a general failure to recognise the fact that in order to meet emissions targets, the UK will have to significantly reduce its energy consumption; this is not helped by the general misconception in the UK that reductions in CO2 emissions will occur simply by increasing the production of electricity from renewable sources. Specifically, this paper highlights the current trends in renewables deployment and energy demand, with a specific focus on Scotland, where the authorities have set more ambitious renewables targets than the rest of the UK. As will be demonstrated in this paper, without energy demand reduction, the deployment of renewables alone will not be sufficient to curtail growth in UK CO2 emissions. This is illustrated using a case study of the Scottish housing sector; whilst this case study is necessarily local in scope, the results have global relevance. The paper will also address the magnitude of energy savings required to bring about a reduction in emissions and assesses the status of the policies and technologies that could help bring such reductions about

Zooming to the study area in GIScience research: a three stage approach

6-8 Apri

Let's Get Organised: Practicing and Valuing Scientific Work Inside and Outside the Laboratory

Over the past thirty years there has been a significant turn towards practice and away from institutions in sociological frameworks for understanding science. This new emphasis on studying \'science in action\' (Latour 1987) and \'epistemic cultures\' (Knorr Cetina 1999) has not been shared by academic and policy literatures on the problem of women and science, which have focused on the marginalisation and under-representation of women in science careers and academic institutions. In this paper we draw on elements of both these approaches to think about epistemic communities as simultaneously practical and organisational. We argue that an understanding of organisational structures is missing in science studies, and that studies of the under-representation of women lack attention to the detail of how scientific work is done in practice. Both are necessary to understand the gendering of science work. Our arguments are based on findings of a qualitative study of bioscience researchers in a British university. Conducted as part of a European project on knowledge production, institutions and gender the UK study involved interviews, focus groups and participant observation in two laboratories. Drawing on extracts from our data we look first at laboratories as relatively unhierarchical communities of practice. We go on to show the ways in which institutional forces, particularly contractual insecurity and the linear career, work to reproduce patterns of gendered inequality. Finally, we analyse how these patterns shape the gendered value and performance of \'housekeeping work\' in the laboratory.Women, Science, Laboratory, Epistemic Community, Organisation, Value, Work, Career, Housekeeping

Heat and light from renewable energy for village houses in England

This paper reports on an investigation into supplying from renewable sources the entire domestic energy needs, both heating and electricity, for three remote communities in the English Pennines. The study took a whole system approach converging the pattern of energy demand, appropriate technologies, the possible sources of energy and opportunities for energy efficiency. The results indicate that the energy needs could be readily met through the use of solar power for some electricity and heat by using photovoltaic roofs and solar collectors; wind for electricity; and biomass for heat and electricity. There was strong local support for the proposals and the future challenge is to develop renewable energy communities to demonstrate the possibilities

Applying Budd's model to partnership

Over the last decade, the notions of workplace partnership and labour-management cooperation have resulted in distinctive and vociferous debates regarding forms of employee voice in the UK. It is proposed that there is a need to reconsider how we actually evaluate both the process and outcomes of partnership. This article reports on detailed case studies conducted in three diverse banking organizations in order to understand more about the process and outcomes of partnership. The study then applies the 'efficiency, equity, voice' framework developed by Budd, which has not been widely employed in industrial relations research. Accordingly, the article examines if and how partnership contributes to the balancing of efficiency, equity and voice. Judged in this light, the case studies demonstrate various degrees of success in terms of the extent to which partnership has facilitated voice and promoted more considered decision-making, for both management and employees. The article also demonstrates the usefulness of the Budd framework as a device in analysing employment relations processes and outcomes

Emerging resource flows for social entrepreneurship; theorizing social investment

In the UK and elsewhere, a ‘market’ in social investment has been developing rapidly over the last 10-15 years, yet there has not been an academic study of the phenomenon to date. This paper aims to address this important gap in social entrepreneurship research. Empirically, the aim of this paper is to outline the nature, scale, and forms of these financial flows. Theoretically, the aim is to conceptualize social investment and build an analytic model of its different orientations. The paper suggests three future scenarios for social investment that blend, in different combinations, instrumental and substantive rationalities and logics

Delivering job search services in rural labour markets: the role of ICT

This paper reports original research on job seekers in two contrasting rural areas in Scotland: one a remote rural area; the other semi-rural with strong metropolitan connectivity. It seeks to answer two key questions. Firstly, what are the potential benefits and barriers associated with the delivery of services for rural job seekers through the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT)-based systems? And following from this, what is the nature and extent of the 'digital divide' affecting unemployed job seekers and what policies are required to address this problem? Rural labour markets in the United Kingdom, like those across Europe, have recently experienced a period of continuous and rapid change. The decline of primary sector industries has been accompanied by increases in service employment, especially in tourism. However, in the UK, as elsewhere, this economic transition has not been without its difficulties. Whilst social exclusion is less prevalent in rural areas than in many cities, instances f poverty remain. Unemployment, and particularly long-term unemployment, has been cited as an important factor explaining the continuing problem of social exclusion in many rural areas. Recent research has suggested that an important barrier to work faced by unemployed people in rural areas relates to the absence of locally-based job search and advice services. The Employment Service (the main public agency in the UK dealing with job seekers) has argued thagiven the remote and sparsely populated nature of many rural labour markets, ICT-based job search and advice services (e.g. delivered through telephone helplines and the Internet) may offer the most efficient and cost-effective policy solution in many areas. However, the viability of this policy is dependent on the level of ICT awareness and access among job seekers. Interviews were conducted with over 400 job seekers in the two areas. The Caithness and Sutherland area in northern Scotland is among the most remote and least densely populated in Europe, with unemployment rates well above the national average. West Lothian, in contrast, is situated near to Scotland's economic centre and is a major centre of manufacturing activity with unemployment below the national average. The interviws examined the level of ICT skills possessed, attitudes towards and access to ICT, and additionally collected information on a range of personal skills and attitudes. Evidence of relatively low levels of ICT awareness and access was found in both communities Although those residing in the more remote study area were also more likely to have Internet access, a significant minority did not even have access to a telephone at home. The paper concludes that, if ICT is to prove to be the waforward in delivering services for job seekers in rural areas, community-based access and support facilities must be provided, along with appropriate training for job seekers in basic and higher level ICT skills.

Sector-specific corporate responsibility in the United Kingdom

The economy of the United Kingdom (UK) is dominated by services and particularly financial services industries, and it was thus hard hit by the financial crisis. The UK has a long tradition of free trade, and its politics over at least the last 30 years have been characterised by a market orientation. UK governments have, on the whole, favoured light-touch regulation and voluntary rather than mandatory approaches to encouraging businesses to work in the public interest. The idea of corporate responsibility (CR) has a longer tradition in the UK than in other European countries. Likewise, government encouragement of CR has been on the agenda for several decades now. There are a number of initiatives aimed at specific industry sectors. These initiatives take a variety of forms and administrative arrangements. A voluntary CR approach to achieving public goods is generally favoured by industry, and such initiatives can have good industry responses. However, in the light of the financial crisis and stringent cutbacks in the public sector spending, the future of such initiatives is unclear. The chapter gives an overview of public policy CR initiatives in the United Kingdom and discusses three sector specific initiatives in detail: The Courtauld Commitment, aimed at reducing waste in the food and drinks manufacturing and retail industries; the Strategy for Sustainable Construction, a high-level strategy aiming to bring together a range of separate sustainability initiatives for the construction sector; and Treating Customers Fairly, a regulatory initiative aimed at improving customer care in financial services