The Strategy of Explanations

To better understand the strategic aspects of human decision-making, we conduct a power-to-take game in which takers are required to send messages explaining their actions to receivers. We vary the types and timing of information takers have available to them to investigate the effects of empathy and deceptive framing. We determine that takers who have more information tend to act and explain themselves more strategically. We also find that receivers prefer to interact with female takers even though all interactions are anonymous. These findings suggest there is value in explanations that is often overlooked in modern analyses of human decision-making

Carbon Capture and Storage and the London Protocol: Recent Efforts to Enable Transboundary CO2 Transfer

AbstractIn the absence of new energy policies or supply constraints, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2050 will be twice 2007 levels. However, the ETP 2012 2DG Scenario provides a technically achievable, low-cost strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to a level consistent with a 2°C temperature increase. Under the 2DG Scenario, carbon capture and storage (CCS) would contribute just under one-fifth of total emissions reductions by 2050.To enable CCS to contribute at the levels in the 2DG Scenario, rapid growth in the number CCS projects is needed between today and 2020, and then the number of projects must grow steadily through 2050. As well as being a major financial, technical and logistical challenge, this is a significant regulatory challenge. Legal obstacles associated with global CCS deployment must be removed today including the prohibition on transboundary CO2 transfer under the 1996 Protocol to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, 1972 (London Protocol).This paper reviews recent international actions to remove this prohibition; undertakes a legal analysis to identify possible options available to contracting parties under international law to allow transborder movement, pending entry into force of a formal, 2009 amendment enabling cross-border transportation of CO2; and makes clear recommendations on the next best approach. It then looks at efforts undertaken by contracting parties and other organisations in 2011 and 2012 to update the 2007 Specific Guidelines for Assessment of Carbon Dioxide Streams for Disposal into Sub-seabed Geological Formations (2007 CO2 Storage Guidelines) in light of the 2009 amendment

Tactical branding and positioning

Whether you are in a resource-based commodities business, the manufacturer of a product, or a provider of services, the issue of branding and positioning your offering in a highly competitive market is of critical importance. Where Chapter 2 focused on the corporate brand and its importance to strategic marketing, this chapter considers the tactical branding and positioning efforts that impact the success of brands in the market, whether individual products and services, or as part of a portfolio of brands. Positioning is also one of the key elements of the classical strategic marketing process of segmentation, targeting attractive segments, and positioning brands in the targeted segments (see Chapter 5). This chapter builds on Chapter 5 and examines the important role of brands and branding as a key element of the segment positioning process. In the process, you will learn how to enhance brand equity and thus the intangible value of brand on the organization\u27s balance sheet

Are classroom internet use and academic performance higher after government broadband subsidies to primary schools?

This paper combines data from a government programme providing broadband access to primary schools in Ireland with survey microdata on schools’, teachers’ and pupils use of the internet to examine the links between public subsidies, classroom use of the internet and educational performance. Provision of broadband service under a government scheme was associated with more than a doubling of teachers’ use of the internet in class after about a two year lag. Better computing facilities in schools were also associated with higher internet use, but advertised download speed was not statistically significant. A second set of models show that use of the internet in class was associated with significantly higher average mathematics scores on standardised tests. There was also a less robust positive association with reading scores. A set of confounding factors is included, with results broadly in line with previous literature

The Virtual Digital Forensics Lab - Expanding Law Enforcement Capabilities

Law enforcement is attempting to respond to the growing and complex need to examine all manner of digital evidence using stand-alone forensic workstations and limited storage solutions. Digital forensic investigators often find their cases stalled by cumbersome and inflexible technology limiting their effectiveness. The Virtual Digital Forensics Lab (VDFL) is a new concept that applies existing enterprise host, storage, and network virtualization technologies to current forensic investigative methods. This paper details the concept of the VDFL, the technology solutions it employs, and the flexibility it provides for digital forensic investigators. Keywords: Virtual Digital Forensics, digital forensic investigations, law enforcement, virtual lab, Digital Forensic

The Transition of CCS from Fossil Fuel CO2 Control to Negative Emissions

The last decade’s major investments in CCUS as a fossil fuel control technology have brought the field to the point that it is effective and readily designed. However even more rapid development of renewable technology is likely to keep CCUS from being a major player in world electric generation as investment in clean electricity from wind and solar is more cost effective and lower risk. However, at least 25% of the ultimate reductions in carbon emissions, and then any required atmospheric remediation through negative emissions, will require those same technologies in slightly different approaches. Much smaller scale capture plants will be required for industrial emissions and for biofuel plants. Fortunately a number of industrial players are already developing technology at this scale. The development of low carbon fuel standards is a huge innovation driver in this space. California regulations will, in the future, permit carbon capture on biofuels to be included in carbon footprint calculations. That market is designed to maintain a price of $100/ton for CO2, and current prices hover around that point. This confluence of new small carbon capture technology and innovative means for providers to get paid for capture will create a new generation of carbon capture, and ultimately negative emissions technologies. Challenges include CO2 transportation and underground storage when the sources are smaller than today’s power plant plans. This talk will focus on the US market for small scale-capture driven by biofuel production, and the approaches that carbon capture providers are taking to make their technology appropriate at this scale

How social housing tenants respond when their homes are made more energy efficient. ESRI Research Bulletin 2019/05

Social housing is an important form of support for many vulnerable households. As well as requiring physical accommodation, these households also need heating, lighting and other basic services. The social welfare system provides many people with income supports, but there are also targeted measures to help with particular aspects of housing quality. This study examined the effects of subsidies that are mainly intended to improve household energy efficiency but which confer multiple benefits on vulnerable households. Our aim was to learn more about how social housing tenants react to these measures; in particular, when social housing is made more energy efficient, do the tenants tend to reduce their spending on energy services or do they maintain their spending and enjoy more thermal comfort? Both of these behaviours offer benefits to the households, but the balance between them has implications for the achievement of other public policy objectives. For example, reducing energy use would advance climate policy goals, while taking more thermal comfort should improve public health

Cost-effective, near-term deployment of carbon capture and storage from biorefineries in the United States

Abstract: Capture and permanent sequestration of biogenic CO2 emissions play a pivotal role in stringent climate change mitigation. Bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration (BECCS) technologies, in particular, can remove atmospheric CO2 emissions while producing valuable energy products such as fuels, electricity, and gaseous hydrocarbons. Yet, most near-term assessments of climate change mitigation opportunities assume BECCS is either too costly or commercially unavailable. In contrast, biogenic CO2 capture and sequestration from industrial fermentation is already deployed at commercial scale, including several corn ethanol facilities in the United States. Such capture opportunities target pure streams of biogenic CO2 from existing biofuel infrastructure, resulting in a low cost of capture and sequestration. Moreover, existing and proposed policies in the United States, including California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and the 2016 Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage Act (S.3179, the CCUS Act), could provide sufficient financial incentive for industry-wide deployment of CCS for saline aquifers. Here, we study the abatement potential and costs of biogenic CO2 capture and sequestration from biorefineries in the United States using process engineering, spatial optimization, and lifecycle assessment. We minimize the total cost of capture, compression, transportation, and sequestration, building from existing spatial pipeline optimization models [1]. We consider two options for CO2 transport: pipelines, and trucking, which recent work has shown is cost-effective at low CO2 volumes [2]. Preliminary results identify ~44 Mt of biogenic CO2 emitted annually from 217 facilities, most of which can be captured for under $30/tCO2. We also find strong evidence for economies of scale in pipeline transportation. Recent financial incentives under California’s LCFS (~$75-150/tCO2 abated) and proposed in the U.S Senate ($50/tCO2 stored in saline aquifers) suggest a substantial near-term opportunity to permanently sequester biogenic CO2, given proper policy incentives. This opportunity can catalyze the growth of carbon capture, transport, utilization, and sequestration across the U.S. and improve the lifecycle impacts of conventional ethanol. When complete, we expect to produce the following results: Spatially-optimized infrastructure design and supply curves for biogenic CO2 capture, transport, and sequestration in the United States, for both pipeline and truck transport Lifecycle carbon intensity impacts for transportation fuels, evaluated under CA-GREET Cost-optimal deployment levels under multiple CA LCFS and CCUS Act price scenarios References: [1] N. Johnson, J. Ogden, Detailed spatial modeling of carbon capture and storage (CCS) infrastructure deployment in the southwestern United States, Energy Procedia, 4 (2011). [2] P. Psarras, P. Bains, P. Charoensawadpong, M. Carringon, S. Comello, S. Reichelstein, J. Wilcox, A Pathway Towards Reducing CO2 Emissions from the Industrial Sector (In Press)

Are classroom internet use and academic performance higher after government broadband subsidies to primary schools? ESRI Research Bulletin 2015/2/6

The connection of schools and other educational institutions to broadband networks continues to be high on the agendas of politicians and policymakers around the world. Successive Irish governments have invested in programmes to improve internet access for schools at both primary and second level. Policy statements have stressed the positive role broadband would play in education, arguing that it would “significantly enhance the potential of ICT in teaching and learning” and would “pay dividends in years to come” (DCMNR, 2004)

Brand alignment : developing a model for competitive advantage through a study of selected South African companies

The role of brand has evolved to take on a broader application as a post-modern management concept and has attracted increasing attention in the 21st century as a key component for the development of competitive advantage. Far removed from its origins as an identity device, branding now transcends the pure marketing interpretation and is increasingly seen as a catalyst for corporate strategy and a tool for holistic reputation management and business performance. This thesis evaluates the extent to which brand is being adopted as a mechanism to align with corporate strategy, internal culture and supporting behaviours and external delivery or organisational performance: in essence, the concept of a brand-driven organisation that deploys brand as a core capability in pursuit of competitive advantage. This evaluation takes into account defined South African perspectives and examples in a case research approach. It seeks to evaluate how the brand alignment methodology can advance current theory and be applied as a management practice. The research argues that brand extends beyond the marketing function or the end-point of organisational systems and delivery. Rather, it suggests that brand becomes integrated as one of the primary elements of corporate strategy and seeks to embrace strategic organisational intent, internal culture and external manifestation of the business vision and results. The organisational architecture model is adapted to suit this research and offer a brand alignment framework that facilitates the effective and efficient implementation and realisation of strategic intent. This links brand alignment to resource-based theory and posits that it is considered as a core capability within the firm, enabling the attainment of competitive advantage. iv This thesis concludes that brand is not confined to an aspect of marketing, but should be deployed holistically in the organisation as a core capability and opportunity for competitive advantage. The research demonstrates an emerging body of thought and advances theory and practice in this area of business, both academically and in a professional management context, offering possibilities for continued further research in this field of management.Business ManagementD. B. L