Crop residues as a potential renewable energy source for Malawi's cement industry

Crop residues have been undervalued as a source of renewable energy to displace coal in the national energy mix for greenhouse emission reduction in Malawi. Switching to crop residues as an alternative energy source for energy-intensive industries such as cement manufacturing is hampered by uncertainties in crop residue availability, cost and quality. In this study, future demand for energy and availability of crop residues was assessed, based on data at the sub-national level. Detailed energy potentials from crop residues were computed for eight agricultural divisions. The results showed that the projected total energy demands in 2020, 2025 and 2030 were approximately 177 810 TJ, 184 210 TJ and 194 096 TJ respectively. The highest supply potentials were found to be in the central and southern regions of Malawi, coinciding with the locations of the two clinker plants. Crop residues could meet 45–57% of the national total energy demand. The demand from the cement industry is only 0.8% of the estimated biomass energy potential. At an annual production of 600 000 t of clinker and 20% biomass co-firing with coal, 18 562 t of coal consumption would be avoided and 46 128 t of carbon dioxide emission reduction achieved per year. For sustainability, holistic planning and implementation would be necessary to ensure the needs of various users of crop residues are met. Furthermore, there would be a need to address social, economic and environmental barriers of the crop residue-based biomass energy supply chain. Future research should focus on local residue-to-product ratios and their calorific values

Next generation interactive tool as a backbone for universal access to electricity

Energy planning in rural areas and in developing countries most often relies on the outputs of specialized analytical tools, of which only a handful have been developed. Over the years these tools have been upgraded, and the newest among them take into consideration, to a greater or lesser extent, all key determinants of energy generation and distribution. This article focuses on a “pool” of web‐based geo‐referencing open‐source tools and highlights the extent to which each analytical tool reflects the particularities of the various determinants of energy generation and distribution. In doing so, the present work identifies aspects of the tools that need to be strengthened. Building on this information, the article further maps the suitability of each tool with regard to calculating (at a local level) the six Sustainable Development Goal indicators that are closely related to energy. This makes it possible to draw conclusions about monitoring needs in study‐areas. Bringing together these two sets of findings, the article concludes with a research agenda for analytical tool development in the area of energy planning, which spills over developmental agendas

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant use in first trimester pregnancy and risk of specific congenital anomalies: A European register-based study

Evidence of an association between early pregnancy exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and congenital heart defects (CHD) has contributed to recommendations to weigh benefits and risks carefully. The objective of this study was to determine the specificity of association between first trimester exposure to SSRIs and specific CHD and other congenital anomalies (CA) associated with SSRI exposure in the literature (signals). A population-based case-malformed control study was conducted in 12 EUROCAT CA registries covering 2.1 million births 1995-2009 including livebirths, fetal deaths from 20 weeks gestation and terminations of pregnancy for fetal anomaly. Babies/fetuses with specific CHD (n = 12,876) and non-CHD signal CA (n = 13,024), were compared with malformed controls whose diagnosed CA have not been associated with SSRI in the literature (n = 17,083). SSRI exposure in first trimester pregnancy was associated with CHD overall (OR adjusted for registry 1.41, 95% CI 1.07-1.86, fluoxetine adjOR 1.43 95% CI 0.85-2.40, paroxetine adjOR 1.53, 95% CI 0.91-2.58) and with severe CHD (adjOR 1.56, 95% CI 1.02-2.39), particularly Tetralogy of Fallot (adjOR 3.16, 95% CI 1.52-6.58) and Ebstein's anomaly (adjOR 8.23, 95% CI 2.92-23.16). Significant associations with SSRI exposure were also found for ano-rectal atresia/stenosis (adjOR 2.46, 95% CI 1.06-5.68), gastroschisis (adjOR 2.42, 95% CI 1.10-5.29), renal dysplasia (adjOR 3.01, 95% CI 1.61-5.61), and clubfoot (adjOR 2.41, 95% CI 1.59-3.65). These data support a teratogenic effect of SSRIs specific to certain anomalies, but cannot exclude confounding by indication or associated factors

Technology Transfers and the Clean Development Mechanism in a North-South General Equilibrium Model

This paper analyzes the potential welfare gains of introducing a technology transfer from Annex I to non-Annex I in order to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Our analysis is based on a numerical general equilibrium model for a world economy comprising two regions, North (Annex I) and South (non-Annex I). As our model allows for labor mobility between the formal and informal sectors in the South, we are also able to capture additional aspects of how the transfer influences the Southern economy. In a cooperative equilibrium, a technology transfer from the North to the South is clearly desirable from the perspective of a global social planner, since the welfare gain for the South outweighs the welfare loss for the North. However, if the regions do not cooperate, then the incentives to introduce the technology transfer appear to be relatively weak from the perspective of the North; at least if we allow for Southern abatement in the pre-transfer Nash equilibrium. Finally, by adding the emission reductions associated with the Kyoto agreement to an otherwise uncontrolled market economy, the technology transfer leads to higher welfare in both regions