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The Nigerian government is committed to sustaining rice production to meet national demand. Nevertheless, political tension and climate-induced stressors remain crucial constraints in achieving policy targets. This study examines whether climate change and political instability significantly threaten rice production in Nigeria. First, we employed nonparametric methods to estimate the country's rainfall and temperature trends between 1980Q1 and 2015Q4. Second, we employed the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) technique to examine the effects of climate change and political instability on rice production. The results show that while temperature has an increasing pattern, rainfall exhibits no significant trend. The findings from the ARDL estimate reveal that rice production responds negatively to temperature changes but is less sensitive to changes in rainfall. In addition, political instability adversely affects rice production in Nigeria. We argue that Nigeria's slow growth in rice production can be traced back to the impact of climate change and political tension in rice farming areas. As a result, reducing the overall degree of conflict to ensure political stability is critical to boosting the country's self-sufficiency in rice production. We also recommend that farmers be supported and trained to adopt improved rice varieties less prone to extreme climate events while supporting them with irrigation facilities to facilitate rice production.

While there is a consensus on the multifaceted advantages of wind farms, only a handful of developing countries harness it to the fullest potential. Among the various factors that contributed to the low development of wind farms in those countries, the dearth of methods for identifying a suitable site is the leading one. Studies conducted elsewhere on wind farm industry identifies criteria such as slope, wind speed, land use/land cover, geology, distance from electric transmission grids, roads, and settlements. However, the relative magnitude of each factor to the optimum location of the wind farm is inadequately examined. This study focuses on the combined use of geographic information systems (GIS) and spatial multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) for selecting the most appropriate sites for wind-farm development. Using a pairwise comparison method of the analytical hierarchical process, we computed the relative importance and weight of parameters affecting wind farm sites in a weighted overlay technique. Based on the analysis of pertinent data collected from Bahir Dar City and its surroundings, northwestern Ethiopia, we categorized the study area into five suitability classes ranging from extremely suitable to not suitable. Our result, revealed a spatial pattern of the potential sites suitable for wind farm investments that are economical, environmentally sound, and aesthetically amenable. We recommend replicating the method developed in this study in other areas of developing countries where transitioning to renewable energy sources through windfarm development is sought.

PurposeThis paper examine beneficiary women's awareness of the harmful effects of traditional cooking fuels and the benefits of cleaner cooking fuel (LPG) in the Indian state of Haryana after the inception of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.Design/methodology/approachDescriptive statistics, factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, Mann–Whitney U test and Kruskal–Wallis H test were used for the data analysis.FindingsThe paper finds that the women of the scheduled caste were highly aware of the hazards of traditional cooking fuel. They perceived that the usage of LPG led to significant health and environmental improvements. However, the refilling was low among the respondents. So, the only low awareness was not the cause of the low refilling of LPG among Ujjwala beneficiaries.Research limitations/implicationsTechnological advancement, accessibility and successful adoption require convergence with socio-economic and institutional aspects. It was evident that focus on technology might not necessarily serve developmental purposes if it is not integrated correctly with socio-economic and institutional factors. These should have conversed with the household's needs, preferences, affordability, social structures, policy support and delivery mechanism, as it was observed that, in different cases, high-end technologies have limited access.Originality/valueThis study shows that the low awareness is not the barrier to the adoption of cleaner cooking technologies in India. So, the policymakers have to revive and further investigate the real cause of the low adoption of cleaner cooking technologies in India.

Abstract Sustainable production of biofuels has provided an attractive alternative to fossil fuels, which has relieved the concern regarding energy supply and global climate change. Currently, interest in metabolic engineering of yeasts as microbial cell factories for biofuel production, which varies from short-chain ethanol to long-chain fatty acid-derived molecules, is growing. The commercial production of new energy-dense biofuels using yeasts and new synthetic biology tools is now possible due to recent developments in metabolic engineering. Here, it is attempted to comprehensively and critically review the latest advances in metabolism-targeted strategies and the production of different types of biofuels using yeasts. Furthermore, the key challenges and perspectives have been discussed for improving yeast biorefineries for the production of biofuels, such as host compatibility of heterologous genes, substrate extension for alternative feedstocks, better tools for reprogramming cell metabolism, host robustness for tolerating or alleviating toxicity induced by end products, and new design principles with predictable behaviors for the constructed biological systems.

The rapidly evolving global warming is triggering all levels of actions to reduce industrial carbon emissions, while capturing carbon dioxide of industrial origin via microalgae has attracted increasing attention. This article attempted to offer preliminary analysis on the carbon capture potential of microalgal cultivation. It was shown that the energy consumption-associated with operation and nutrient input could significantly contribute to indirect carbon emissions, making the microalgal capture of carbon dioxide much less effective. In fact, the current microalgae processes may not be environmentally sustainable and economically viable in the scenario where the carbon footprints of both upstream and downstream processing are considered. To address these challenging issues, renewable energy (e.g., solar energy) and cheap nutrient source (e.g., municipal wastewater) should be explored to cut off the indirect carbon emissions of microalgae cultivation, meanwhile produced microalgae, without further processing, should be ideally used as biofertilizer or aquafeeds for realizing complete nutrients recycling.

AbstractAcross the world, social‐ecological rangeland systems have been transformed from a preindustrial extensive status to intensive exploitation, often leading to long‐term livestock population booms, overgrazing, and rangeland degradation. To understand the regulatory mechanisms involved in such historical social‐ecological transformations, we collected population data on the native sheep of the last nomadic county in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (1961–2005). We detected changes in internal feedbacks (e.g., density‐dependent effects) and external disturbance (e.g., winter harshness, rainfall, harvest) between the extensive and intensive management periods using regression models of sheep population growth rate and counterfactual analyses. We found that, in the extensive period, sheep populations were regulated during harsh winters by climate, while they were regulated during mild winters by negative density dependence. In the intensive period, the negative feedback of density dependence was removed through the provision of additional forage and shelter, and only winter climate and growing season rainfall regulated sheep populations. Counterfactual analyses also confirmed the irreplaceable role of density‐dependence in maintaining a sustainable rangeland ecosystem. Although herders attempted to adapt to the removal of negative feedbacks by improving livestock harvest, overgrazing and grassland degradation remain a challenge in this system. We conclude that internal feedbacks within social‐ecological systems should be carefully anticipated and accounted for when managing rangelands for sustainability.

As one of the most abundant biomass resources, crop stalks are great potential feedstock available for anaerobic digestion (AD) to produce biogas. However, the specific physical properties and complex chemical structures of crop stalks form strong barriers to efficient AD bioconversion. To overcome these problems, many efforts have been made over the past few years. This paper reviewed recent research in the evolving field of anaerobic bioconversion of crop stalks and was focused on three critical aspects affecting AD performance: various pretreatment methods and their effects on the improvement of crop stalk biodegradability, determination of specific AD operation parameters for crop stalks, and development of AD technologies. Finally, recommendations on the future development of crop stalk AD were proposed.

About 3.2 million households in South Africa use different types of unclean fuels for cooking most of whom are living in informal dwelling/shack at the backyard and structures built on a separate stand or yard or on farm. The highest statistics using unclean fuels for cooking in rural and urban areas are found in Limpopo and Gauteng provinces respectively. With the focus on use of firewood as an unclean energy source for cooking, Limpopo province was chosen for this study. The study revealed that rural women and girls are mostly affected by the use of unclean cooking facilities including premature deaths, health hazards, domestic/shack fire accidents, literacy, etc. There is need to address these challenges through appropriate awareness on the demerits on unclean fuels and merits of clean fuels, affordable, subsidized and incentivized clean cooking facilities, etc. among others.

AbstractBiomass‐derived char (bio‐char) is a stable and concentrated form of carbon that finds multiple applications from carbon sequestration to catalyst. The ambient conditions during bio‐char production play a major role in determining its physico‐chemical characteristics. This study employs a design optimization (RSM) technique to analyze the slow pyrolysis of rice husk under two different environments—inert (N2) and reactive (CO2), and analyzes the bio‐char produced. The slow pyrolysis process was optimized in a way to determine the conditions required for obtaining significant bio‐char yield with maximum carbon content. The optimal conditions under N2 environment were identified to be 521°C, 48 min, 0.87 LPM and under CO2 environment were identified to be 545°C, 43 min and 0.87 LPM, respectively. The bio‐char produced under CO2 environment was observed to have higher porosity, surface area, pH and aromaticity. These results indicated that the bio‐char obtained under a reactive (CO2) environment could be used as a potential adsorbent. The bio‐char obtained under N2 environment was found to have higher carbon content and thus, could be utilized as soil conditioners or soil enhancers, to increase the soil fertility.