The digital divide: Patterns, policy and scenarios for connecting the ‘final few’ in rural communities across Great Britain

The Internet can bestow significant benefits upon those who use it. The prima facie case for an urban-rural digital divide is widely acknowledged, but detailed accounts of the spatial patterns of digital communications infrastructure are rarely reported. In this paper we present original analysis of data published by the UK telecommunications regulator, Ofcom, and identify and reflect on the entrenched nature of the urban-rural digital divide in Great Britain. Drawing upon illustrative case vignettes we demonstrate the implications of digital exclusion for personal and business lives in rural, and in particular remote rural, areas. The ability of the current UK policy context to effectively address the urban-rural digital divide is reviewed and scenarios for improving digital connectivity amongst the ‘final few’, including community-led broadband, satellite broadband and mobile broadband, are considered. A call is made for digital future proofing in telecommunications policy, without which the already faster urban areas will get ‘faster, fastest’ leaving rural areas behind and an increasingly entrenched urban-rural divide

The greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation options for materials used in UK construction

The UK construction industry faces the daunting task of replacing and extending a significant proportion of UK infrastructure, meeting a growing housing shortage and retrofitting millions of homes whilst achieving greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions compatible with the UK's legally binding target of an 80% reduction by 2050. This paper presents a detailed time series of embodied GHG emissions from the construction sector for 1997–2011. This data is used to demonstrate that strategies which focus solely on improving operational performance of buildings and the production efficiencies of domestic material producers will be insufficient to meet sector emission reduction targets. Reductions in the order of 80% will require a substantial decline in the use of materials with carbon-intensive supply chains. A variety of alternative materials, technologies and practices are available and the common barriers to their use are presented based upon an extensive literature survey. Key gaps in qualitative research, data and modelling approaches are also identified. Subsequent discussion highlights the lack of client and regulatory drivers for uptake of alternatives and the ineffective allocation of responsibility for emissions reduction within the industry. Only by addressing and overcoming all these challenges in combination can the construction sector achieve drastic emissions reduction

Risk-based water resources planning in practice:a blueprint for the water industry in England

Resilient water supplies in England need to be secured in the face of challenges of population growth, climate change and environmental sustainability. We propose a blueprint for water resources planning that uses system simulation modelling to estimate the frequency, duration and severity of water shortages at present and in the context of future plans and scenarios. We use multiobjective optimisation tools to explore trade-offs between these risk metrics and cost of alternative plans, and we use sensitivity analysis to identify plans that robustly achieve targets for tolerable risk, alongside other performance objectives. The results of a case study in the Thames basin demonstrate that the proposed methodology is feasible given commonly available data sets and models. The proposed method provides evidence with which to develop water resource management plans that demonstrably balance the risks of water shortages, costs to water users and environmental constraints in an uncertain future

Non-traditional business models for city-scale energy storage: evidence from UK case studies

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Economia e Politica Industriale. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40812-017-0083-8.This paper investigates emerging non-traditional business models for decentralised energy systems with a focus on the role of city-scale storage technologies. We discuss the key characteristics of the different business models which have been identified in the literature and we discuss case studies across the United Kingdom in order to illustrate the key factors which influence their adoption and implementation. On the basis of evidence from recent UK case studies we investigate the market and regulatory barriers, contractual and transactional issues which may prevent key actors from exploiting the full market potential of their assets. We find that emerging business models rely on a range of different revenue sources with some limitations due to complex contractual relations, regulatory barriers and limited access to markets for ancillary services. The evidence we provide can be used by companies and organisations intending to operate in this fast developing market and inform policymakers aiming to promote the expansion and improvement of emerging business models