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The study assessed the effects of firewood usage on rural women health in Ogun State. Samples of 128 respondents were randomly selected from four local government areas of Ogun State. Data were collected with the aid of structured questionnaire. Percentages were used for data analysis. Majority of the respondents were married (91%) with a mean age of 50 years. Most of the respondents (86.7%) used firewood for cooking, the preference of the utilization of firewood over other alternatives was due to non-availability of other sources (40%) and availability of firewood (33%). Some perceived health effects on the respondents were discomfort caused by the smoke from the firewood (𝑥 ̅ = 2.81) and eyes irritation (= 2.53). The study recommended alternative energy sources that are with lesser health hazards be made readily available at subsidized rate in the rural areas since this was the major attractive driving force for the use of firewood.

AbstractElevated CO2 concentration has been reported to decrease grain nutrient concentrations and thus worsen nutritional deficiency and hidden hunger. One nutritional aspect is mineral content, yet mineral bioavailability can be limited by the presence of phytic acid. Given that future climate scenarios predict elevated global temperature driven by elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations, we used Temperature by Free‐Air CO2 Enrichment (T‐FACE) field experiments to investigate whether elevated temperature alters the effects of elevated CO2 on grain mineral concentrations, grain mineral yields, and their bioavailability in a range of wheat and rice genotypes. We found that the negative effects of elevated CO2 were compensated for by positive effects of elevated temperature. As a result, the combined elevated CO2 and elevated temperature increased concentrations of some minerals by up to ~15% in both rice and wheat relative to control conditions. Moreover, the combined elevated CO2 and elevated temperature did not significantly change total yields of some minerals despite lower grain yields. The combined CO2 and temperature elevation increased phytic acid concentration in rice by 18.1% but decreased it in wheat by 3.5%. The mineral bioavailability, estimated as the mole ratio of phytic acid to minerals in rice and wheat grains, was limited by the combined CO2 and temperature elevation in only a few cases. Our results indicate that under future climate conditions of elevated temperature and CO2, the nutritional quality of rice and wheat with respect to minerals may remain unchanged.

Abstract The main hindrances to the large-scale development of renewable-energy projects are the lack of bankability and the inability to align investments and investors with suitable financial instruments or robust policy measures. To illustrate a bankable project, this paper presents a research-based case study on the installation of solar photovoltaic panels on the rooftops of 195 trains of the Indian Railways. Detailed information on the annual running hours, exposure to sunlight, efficiency of solar photovoltaic generation and electrical power demands of each rail coach is considered to conduct a quantitative measure of the tentative amount of fossil fuel savings. The purpose is to provide insight into the types of renewable-energy projects that can be highly attractive to financial institutions and promoters due to their lucrative internal return on investment. As seen in this case study, there are annual savings in diesel of 12 323 088 litres and a CO2 reduction of 32 755 tonnes, with return on investment of 1.3 years. Furthermore, this study conducts a comprehensive analysis of the limitations of existing renewable-energy project financing mechanisms in India. Subsequently, three policy measures are recommended to develop a robust financial mechanism that can effectively meet the needs of investors and investors. These measures include increasing equity injection through a buy-and-hold strategy, providing direct tax benefits to promoters and financing through real-estate investment trusts. The findings are highly relevant to address the challenges associated with bridging the financial gap between access to finance and capital investment in the renewable-energy sector, especially for Asian countries.

AbstractClimate change poses new and unique challenges that threaten lives and livelihoods. Given the increasing risks and looming uncertainty of climate change, increasing attention has been directed towards adaptation, or the strategies that enable humanity to persist and thrive through climate change the best it can. Though climate change is a global problem often discussed at the national scale, urban areas are increasingly seen as having a distinct role, and distinctive motivation and capacity, for adaptation. The 12 articles in this special issue explore ways of understanding and addressing climate change impacts on urban areas. Together they reveal young but rapidly growing scholarship on how to measure, and then overcome, challenges of climate change. Two key themes emerge in this issue: 1) that we must identify and then overcome current barriers to urban adaptation and 2) frameworks/metrics are necessary to identify and track adaptation progress in urban settings. Both of these themes point to the power of indicators and other quantitative information to inform priorities and illuminate the pathway forward for adaptation. As climate change is an entirely new challenge, careful measurement that enables investment by private and public parties is necessary to provide efficient outcomes that benefit the greatest number of people.

AbstractBioenergy projects can lead to direct and indirect land use change (LUC), which can substantially affect greenhouse gas balances with both beneficial and adverse outcomes for bioenergy's contribution to climate change mitigation. The causes behind LUC are multiple, complex, interlinked, and change over time. This makes quantification uncertain and sensitive to many factors that can develop in different directions—including land use productivity, trade patterns, prices and elasticities, and use of by‐products associated with biofuels production. Quantifications reported so far vary substantially and do not support the ranking of bioenergy options with regard to LUC and associated emissions. There are however several options for mitigating these emissions, which can be implemented despite the uncertainties. Long‐rotation forest management is associated with carbon emissions and sequestration that are not in temporal balance with each other and this leads to mitigation trade‐offs between biomass extraction for energy use and the alternative to leave the biomass in the forest. Bioenergy's contribution to climate change mitigation needs to reflect a balance between near‐term targets and the long‐term objective to hold the increase in global temperature below 2°C (Copenhagen Accord). Although emissions from LUC can be significant in some circumstances, the reality of such emissions is not sufficient reason to exclude bioenergy from the list of worthwhile technologies for climate change mitigation. Policy measures to minimize the negative impacts of LUC should be based on a holistic perspective recognizing the multiple drivers and effects of LUC.This article is categorized under: Bioenergy > Economics and Policy Bioenergy > Climate and Environment

Abstract With promising benefits such as traffic emission reduction, traffic congestion alleviation, and parking problem solving, Electric Vehicle (EV)-sharing systems have attracted large attentions in recent years. Different from other business modes, customers in sharing economy systems are usually price sensitive. Therefore, it is possible to shift the usage of shared EVs through a well-designed Dynamic Pricing Scheme (DPS), with the objective of maximizing the system operator's total profit. In this study, we propose a novel DPS for a large-scale EV-sharing network to address the EV unbalancing issue and satisfy the vehicle-grid-integration (VGI) service based on accurate station-level demand prediction. The proposed DPS is formulated as a complex optimization problem, which includes two Price Adjustment Level (PAL) decision variables for every origin-destination pair of stations. The two PALs are employed to affect the EV-sharing demand and travel time between each station pair, respectively. Physical and operational constraints from both EV demand and VGI service aspects are also included in the proposed model. Two case study are conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Aggregate and limestone mining in San Antonio’s Bexar and Comal counties in Texas, USA, has caused considerable health concerns as of late. Aggregate mining actions can result in localized air quality issues in any neighborhood. Furthermore, heavy truck traffic, hauling, and transportation of the mined material contribute to pollution. In this research, PM species were sampled at four locations north of the San Antonio city limits. The data were collected using a TSI Air Quality Sampler that sampled PM1, PM2.5, PM4, PM10, wind speed, wind direction, temperature, and relative humidity. Continuous data with 1 min averages were recorded during the study period from August to September 2019. The instrument was stationed at every location for a period of 7 days each. The four locations were a ranch, an open field, a residential compound, and an elementary school. PM1 and PM2.5 concentration levels were lower compared to PM10 concentrations at all four studied sites. Our results suggest that PM concentrations are primarily impacted by mining activities. PM species were highest at the residential compound due to its proximity to an active mining area, resulting in deleterious health effects for neighbors living in the vicinity of the sampled site.

This article takes as a case study a provincial city in an attempt to analyse the dynamics of location, creation and extension of the high schools of Metz, from the imperial high school to the current high schools, including those built during the annexation of the city to Germany (1871-1919), the remarkable extensions of the inter-war period, and finally the industrialised constructions of the “Trente Glorieuses”, the 30 years of post-war economic boom in France. This transversal reading of public buildings within a defined communal territory inevitably fits into a perspective between the local and the national, for example in the choice of the architects behind these constructions. Covering nearly two centuries, this article highlights the history of these buildings, emphasising the context of their construction and their evolution.