Current Developments and Problems of Electricity Regulation in the European Union and the United Kingdom

This paper deals current developments and the problems of regulation in European electricity in general and -in somewhat more detail-, England and Wales in particular.electricity

Evaluation of nuclear decommissioning and waste management

A report commissioned by the Department of Energy and Climate Change. Crown Copyright 2012

Response to the DECC Consultation of the siting process for a Geological Disposal Facility, 2013

Several members of SEG (Matt Gross, Phil Johnstone, Florian Kern, Gordon MacKerron, and Andy Stirling) have participated in a written response to the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC) consultation of the siting process for a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) for nuclear waste. This consultation follows the rejection by Cumbria County Council earlier this year to hosting a Geological Disposal Facility. The government have therefore gone back to the national level to find a suitable location, and the issue remains a multifaceted and controversial one. Matt Gross and Phil Johnstone also represented SEG at the one day consultation on the same issue run by DECC at Centre Hall, Westminster, involving several round-table discussions with civil service, nuclear regulators, and local politicians on the various issues surrounding the siting of a GDF

Technology and carbon mitigation in developing countries: Are cleaner coal technologies a viable option?

human development, climate change

Response to the Parliamentary Energy and Climate Change Committee inquiry into low carbon network infrastructure

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The acceleration of transitions to urban sustainability: a case study of Brighton and Hove

Cities raise major challenges and opportunities for achieving sustainability. Much literature on urban sustainability focuses on specific aspects such as planning practices, urban policy or the diffusion of more sustainable technologies or practices. However, attempts at understanding the mechanisms of structural change towards sustainability have resulted in the emergence of an interdisciplinary field of sustainability transitions research. Transitions research has developed a phase model of transitions in which predevelopment, take-off, acceleration and stabilization phases are distinguished. However, the acceleration phase has received limited attention so far. This is a crucial gap as policy makers are keen to accelerate transitions. This paper aims to enhance our understanding of how local actions contribute towards accelerating urban sustainability transitions. It does so by testing an acceleration mechanisms framework through exploring the collective agency of local initiatives in urban sustainability transitions. Drawing on a case study of the city of Brighton & Hove (UK), the paper finds that despite favourable local political conditions, there is a lack of evidence of acceleration apart from in individual domains such as food or mobility. Progress is found to depend on the agency of initiatives to both scale up sustainable practices and embed these practices into local governance arrangements

Morphophysiology of potato (Solanum tuberosum) in response to drought stress: paving the way forward

The cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is currently the third most important food crop in the world and is becoming increasingly important to the local economies of developing countries. Climate change threatens to drastically reduce potato yields in areas of the world where the growing season is predicted to become hotter and drier. Modern potato is well known as an extremely drought susceptible crop, which has primarily been attributed to its shallow root system. This review addresses this decades old consensus, and highlights other, less well understood, morphophysiological features of potato which likely contribute to drought susceptibility. This review explores the effects of drought on these traits and goes on to discuss phenotypes which may be associated with drought tolerance in potato. Small canopies which increase harvest index and decrease evapotranspiration, open stem-type canopies which increase light penetration, and shallow but densely rooted cultivars, which increase water uptake, have all been associated with drought tolerance in the past, but have largely been ignored. While individual studies on a limited number of cultivars may have examined these phenotypes, they are typically overlooked due to the consensus that root depth is the only significant cause of drought susceptibility in potato. We review this work, particularly with respect to potato morphology, in the context of a changing climate, and highlight the gaps in our understanding of drought tolerance in potato that such work implies

Occupant productivity and office indoor environment quality : a review of the literature

The purpose of this paper is to review the existing literature to draw an understanding of the relationship between indoor environmental quality and occupant productivity in an office environment. The study reviews over 300 papers from 67 journals, conference articles and books focusing on indoor environment, occupant comfort, productivity and green buildings. It limits its focus to the physical aspects of an office environment. The literature outlines eight Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) factors that influence occupant productivity in an office environment. It also discusses different physical parameters under each of the IEQ factors. It proposes a conceptual model of different factors affecting occupant productivity. The study also presents a review of the data collection methods utilised by the research studies that aim to investigate the relationship between IEQ and occupant productivity. The study presents a comprehensive discussion and analysis of different IEQ factors that affect occupant productivity. The paper provides a concise starting point for future researchers interested in the area of indoor environmental quality

Regulation

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