• Energy Research
• 1. No poverty close
• 8. Economic growth close
• GB close
• DK close

Energy interventions can improve the lives of crisis-affected populations and the efficiency and performance of humanitarian operations. However, there is little existing data around humanitarian energy interventions, and little coordination around how this data can or should be collected, used and shared.

AbstractPerceptual studies on the environment and natural resources are important, if unsustainable use of these resources is to be abated. This paper unravels the hitherto unknown drivers of deforestation and/or forest degradation, and the causes of climate variability and change (CVC), by assessing their synergy based on participants self-reported cases in the Ejisu-Juaben Municipality, Ashanti Region, Ghana. Drawing on the criterion and simple random sampling techniques to sample 360 respondents from 4 different communities and adopting the empiricist paradigm to derive trends and patterns in responses, this study demonstrated the bi-directional association between forest degradation and climate change. Results suggested that participants across the various socio-economic status fields were adequately informed, and knowledgeable about changes in climatic variables. Participants’ perceived the loss of forest, extinction of tree species and changing forest to savanna lands as indications of deforestation. Respondents with basic education and/or high school education adequately predicted that CVC factors influence decisions regarding forest removal compared with the uneducated. Removing one hectare of vegetation cover change per year (being it an increase or decrease in the area) (1 ha/year+/-/) or about three hectares (3 ha/year+/-), at a rate of 60%, and forest cover at rates of 57% were perceived as significant drivers of CVC. In recommendation, policies targeted at reducing forest degradation and deforestation and contributing to the fight against CVC in the Municipality should henceforth take into consideration the opinions of the indigenes in addition to scientific evidence in order to ensure the effectiveness of such policies.

More than two decades have passed since the start of the worldwide market- oriented electricity sector reforms. The reforms have varied in terms of structure, market mechanisms, and regulation. However, the passage of time calls for taking stock of the performance of the reforms in developing countries. This paper surveys the empirical literature on electricity sector reforms and draws some conclusions with a view to the future. Overall, the reforms have tended to improve the technical efficiency of the sector. The macroeconomic benefits of reforms are less clear and remain difficult to identify. Also, the gains from the reforms have often not trickled down to consumers because of institutional and regulatory weaknesses. In order to achieve lasting benefits, reforms need to adopt measures that align their pursuit of economic efficiency with those of equity and provision of access. Reforms can deliver more economic benefits and alleviate poverty when the poor have access to electricity. New technologies and institutional capacity building can help improve the performance of reforms.

This work explores the relationship between energy efficiency, productivity and exporting for a sample of firms located in thirty Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries. This relationship has not been studied in depth although it is important and relevant to policymaking. We apply a standard constant returns to scale Cobb-Douglas production function with labor, capital, and knowledge expanded to exports and energy efficiency. We also investigate the relationship between energy efficiency and exporting and take heterogeneity by firms and industries into account. Firm-level data come from the national representative World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES). Our empirical analysis finds heterogeneous results by firm size and industrial sector both in the relationship between energy efficiency and productivity and between energy efficiency and exporting. These outcomes are robust to different measures of energy efficiency and controlling for heterogeneity among countries and provinces. By providing for the first time an extensive investigation of energy intensity and firm performance for such a large sample of LAC countries, this work contributes to the lively debate on LAC energy efficiency and weak productivity. By adopting a broader productivity and international trade perspective, it opens the ground to a rethinking of the priorities of energy saving policies and their environmental impacts.

Abstract This paper uses the Logistic Curve and the STELLA model to simulate the Hubbert Peak uranium production in China. We used three scenarios to estimate China's Peak uranium. And the results are quite robust. According to Scenario 3, the Hubbert Peak uranium production is expected to be reached in 2065 with 4605 t per year. Before the peak, China's uranium demand will grow at the rate of about 7.69% per year, which is about three times the growth rate of production. China's uranium import dependence is estimated to continue to increase. In order to improve uranium resources security, the Chinese government needs to increase investment in uranium ore exploration, encourage private sector's investment in uranium production to promote competition, and improve cooperation with non-uranium mining enterprises for more efficient use of resources. To enhance the country's uranium security, China should establish development funds, accelerate acquisition of uranium enterprises abroad, increase R&D in the unconventional uranium resources such as phosphate mine, and take advantage of price downturn in uranium market to increase strategic reserves.

We study the impact of global climate change on the prevalence of tropical diseases using a heterogeneous agent dynamic general equilibrium model. In our framework, households can take actions (e.g., purchasing bednets or other goods) that provide partial protection from disease. However, these actions are costly and households face borrowing constraints. Parameterizing the model, we explore the impact of a worldwide temperature increase of 3°C. We find that the impact on disease prevalence and especially output should be modest and can be mitigated by improvements in protection efficacy.

International policy is placing increasing emphasis on adaptation to climate change, including the allocation of new funds to assist adaptation efforts. Climate change adaptation funding may be most effective where it meets integrated goals, but global geographic priorities based on multiple development and ecological criteria are not well characterized. Here we show that human and natural adaptation needs related to maintaining agricultural productivity and ecosystem integrity intersect in ten major areas globally, providing a coherent set of international priorities for adaptation funding. An additional seven regional areas are identified as worthy of additional study. The priority areas are locations where changes in crop suitability affecting impoverished farmers intersect with changes in ranges of restricted-range species. Agreement among multiple climate models and emissions scenarios suggests that these priorities are robust. Adaptation funding directed to these areas could simultaneously address multiple international policy goals, including poverty reduction, protecting agricultural production and safeguarding ecosystem services.