Competing coalitions: The politics of renewable energy and fossil fuels in Mexico, South Africa and Thailand

This paper analyses why middle-income countries incentivize renewable energy despite inexpensive domestic fossil fuel resources and lack of international support. We examine the politics of renewable energy programs in Mexico, South Africa and Thailand. All three countries hold abundant local fossil fuel and renewable energy resources. We argue that renewable energy programs become implementable policy options in fossil fuel resource-rich middle-income countries when coalitions of powerful political actors support them. This study presents an analysis of the domestic coalitions in support of and those in opposition to renewable energy policies from a discourse network perspective. Discourse networks reflect actors and the arguments they share to advance or hamper the policy process. The analysis draws on a data set of 560 coded statements in support or opposition of renewable energy from media articles, policy documents and interviews. Findings show similar structures of competing coalitions in all three countries, with the discourse in all three countries revealing strong linkages between environmental and economic considerations

Experimental cultivation of the red seaweed, Gracilaria gracilis (Rhodophyta) in land-based tank culture systems on abalone farms in the Western Cape, South Africa

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-111).The feasibility of growing red seaweed, Gracilaria gracilis (Gigartinales, Rhodophyta) in land-based culture systems was investigated in two Western Cape abalone farms i.e. Jacobsbaai Sea Products (JSP) and Irvin & Johnson (I&J) and large size culture tanks (I&J). All the tanks were stocked with at 2 kg m⁻² supplied with unfiltered seawater (24 and 4 volume exchanges d⁻¹) JSP and I&J, respectively. This study also tested the efficiency of G. gracilis as a biofiltering species as well as investigating the effectivenss and influence of nutrient-enriched seawater i.e. turbot and abalone effluent (JSP) and fertilized seawater and abalone effluent (I&J) on the growht of Gracilaria

Response to Todd, De Groot, Mose, McCauley and Heffron's critique of "Examining energy sufficiency and energy mobility in the global south through the energy justice framework"

We thank Todd et al. (2019) for providing their thoughts on Monyei et al. (2018) and for opening a debate around the notion of "energy bullying". However, as we argue in this correspondence, Todd et al. (2019) have arguably adopted an unbalanced approach in their criticisms and offer an ambiguous solution. We reinforce our earlier position by providing empirically backed arguments that motivate for more resilient electrification systems and a paced approach to electrifying the global south. We conclude by stressing the need for more tangible contributions that seek to pursue climate protection, electrification of the global south and justice progress side-by-side