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Ireland imports 88% of its energy requirements. Oil makes up 59% of total final energy consumption (TFC). Import dependency, low fuel diversity and volatile prices leave Ireland vulnerable in terms of energy security. The Supply/Demand Index, developed by the energy research centre of the Netherlands (ECN), has been used previously as a metric to assess Irish energy security. The method assesses both supply and demand side quantitative factors by sector, assigns expert opinion weights to these factors to allocate risk, and give a relative picture of energy security when compared to EU benchmarks. The thesis further develops this index in order to address a number of limitations and to develop further insights into energy security. Firstly, the update develops a time series dataset taking into account the most recent Irish Energy balance data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and EUROSTAT, while economic-energy indicators are supplemented from the ODYSSEE database. Secondly, given Irelands reliance on the UK for the primary energy supply for refined oil products and natural gas, an appropriate restructuring of Irish primary energy supply risk is developed to account for the risk in UK chain of primary energy supply. This is deemed necessary given the shift in UK energy balance from net exporter to net importer of energy. Moving from energy index analysis to energy systems analysis, this thesis develops the first energy security scenarios for Ireland to 2050 using long term macroeconomic forecasts to 2050, with oil production and price scenarios from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), soft-linked to the Irish-TIMES energy systems model. The analysis focuses on developing a least cost optimum energy system for Ireland under scenarios of constrained oil supply from 2012 (0.8% annual import growth, and –2% annual import decline) and subsequent sustained long term price shocks to oil and gas imports. The results point to gas becoming the dominant fuel source for Ireland, at 54% total final energy consumption in 2020, supplanting oil from reference projections of 57% to 10.8% TFC. In 2012, the cost of net oil imports stood at €3.6 billion (2.26% GDP). The modelled high oil and gas price scenarios show an additional annual cost in comparison to a reference of between €2.9bn and €7.5bn IX by 2020 (1.9% - 4.9% of GDP) to choose to develop a least cost energy system. Investment and ramifications for Irish energy security are discussed. In a climate constrained future, hybrid energy-economy model coupling gives additional insight into interregional competition, trade, industrial delocalisation and overall macroeconomic consequences of decarbonising the energy system. Decarbonising the energy system is critical in mitigating climate change. This thesis summarises modelling methodologies developed in the International Energy Agency Energy Technology Systems Analysis Programme (IEA-ETSAP) community to assess economic impacts of decarbonising energy systems at global and national levels. The range of economic impacts is regionally dependent upon the stage of economic development, the level of industrialisation, energy intensity of exports, and competition effects due to rates of relative decarbonisation. Decarbonisation targets of developed nations are estimated to result in a manageable GDP loss in the region of 2% by 2050. Energy intensive export driven developing countries, such as China and India, and fossil fuel exporting nations can expect significantly higher GDP loss of up to 5% GDP by 2050. The approaches outlined within have guided the first evidence based decarbonisation legislation and continue to provide additional insights as increased sectoral disaggregation in hybrid modelling approaches is achieved. This thesis develops a general equilibrium feedback in technology rich integrated energy systems modes to equitable burden sharing rules for climate change mitigation at an Irish and Global scale. The IEA-ETSAP hybrid global Integrated Assessment Model TIAM-MACRO is used to investigate the efficient bottom-up energy system required to meet a 2°C limit target with 66% probability while optimising for consumer welfare. Least cost efficient 2°C scenario (2DS) emissions are compared alongside burden sharing rules, including contract and convergence equalisation of emissions per capita, equalisation of regional GDP loss, compensation for energy cost increases in Least Developed Countries (LDCs), full compensation for GDP loss in LDCs and two interpretations of the “Brazil Proposal” of historical cumulative responsibility for temperature forcing. X The results in this thesis for equal future emissions per capita challenge statements that this approach will aid emerging economies, mainly China and India. This thesis shows that China, India and developing Asia suffer increased economic losses using equal per capita burden sharing rules in comparison to the efficient least cost scenario. China fares best when the burden sharing rules focus on equalisation for economic losses, while India, Other Developing Asia, and Africa have greater economic benefits when rules focus on equitable cumulative emissions per capita. Finally this approach can quantify the levels of capital transfer the Green Climate Fund should manage going forward, indicates which regions should pay, which regions should receive, and quantify the amount of capital transfers.

The SmartBay NIAP fund was made available in 2012 through Dublin City University over a two year period to enable researchers to access the SmartBay Ireland National Test and Demonstration Facility in Galway Bay. Research proposals were invited for funding under a number of activity types that are in line with the objectives of the SmartBay PRTLI Cycle 5 programme. This fund provided small awards (typically €2-25K) to research teams through a national competitive process, which was open to all higher education institutions on the island of Ireland. There were both open and biannual calls. The SmartBay NIAP fund was established to enable researchers in academia and industry to access the SmartBay Ireland national test and demonstration infrastructure. Proposals to access the infrastructure were brief and required information on the researcher(s), a description of the proposed research and its potential impact to the research team arising from the access to SmartBay Ireland. Marine Institute

Nigeria’s poor electric power supply has grossly affected the economy, slowing down countrywide development. The ever-increasing demand for power supply coupled with its limited availability has been an impediment to her socioeconomic development. The failure to generate and distribute sufficient power has been well documented alongside the inability to realise a lasting solution that wholly addresses the problem. This thesis approached realising a solution by firstly presenting an overview of Nigeria’s energy sector in order to identify the barriers to renewable energy uptake. Some of which were high capital costs, lack of access to finance, technical ineptitude, technology paucity, limited public awareness and the lack of government policies or poor policy framework. Thereafter, the analyses of data from the multi-sectors (commercial, industrial, residential and education) realised through interviews and surveys, elicited energy cost savings, energy security and autonomy, improved quality of life, and environmental concern as the motivation for encouraging renewable energy and particularly solar-photovoltaic (PV) uptake. Building on these insights, this body of research presented a case for multi-sectoral adoption of solar-PV as an electricity supply option considering grid power supply unreliability. The technical, economic, environmental and social viability of implementing solar-PV technology were studied by working with country-specific data obtained from surveying the commercial, industrial and residential sectors in Nigeria. These sectors were surveyed to determine the extent of the countrywide power supply unreliability as well as understand the level of public awareness and the societal acceptance of solar-PV as a power generating technology. Cases studied, evidenced the socioeconomic impact of unreliable power supply in Nigeria and a solution to the power supply shortfall is also presented. Numerical simulation and quantitative analysis methods were employed in analysing data and assessing the results. Retrofits to existing petrol/diesel generator systems for the commercial and industrial sectors (C&I) delivered benefits of lower CO2 emissions, improved systems reliability and reduced grid power dependence at lower lifetime costs than existing power systems. The results from the data analyses suggest that partial to total grid defection solutions that integrate solar-PV technology could be implemented across sectors countrywide, towards improved electrification. Results present a basis for a shift from the power sector electrifying all other sectors to the multi-sectors contributing to the power sector’s effort in extending, increasing and improving countrywide electrification. This can be achieved by incentivising the uptake of hybrid photovoltaic-centric power systems (solutions deployed directly where they are needed) as well as taking advantage of the excess power generation from such systems. These solutions would need to be supported by policy and an implementable regulatory framework. This would bring about a measurable improvement in the socioeconomic status of the citizenry and the broader nation.

Secondary level education in Ireland is going through a major transition with the introduction of the new Junior Cycle programme. For the first time sustainability is being embedded into every subject and teachers have been given the opportunity, and flexibility to create their own curriculum. Addressing this, 8 teachers at Castletroy College worked collaboratively on the “E-Mining@School” project to incorporate sustainability into their subjects’ curriculum using an ambitious multidisciplinary approach. This approach attempted to connect sustainability to the student’s everyday lives through the product that teenagers covet the most; their smartphones.The project developed a collaborative cross- curriculum pilot that explored the common theme of ‘urban mining of e-waste for Critical Raw Materials (CRMs)’ and the teachers integrated this common theme into the curriculum of 5 subjects that included Science, Geography, Business, Technology, and Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE) that would be delivered concurrently. The pilot ran for 4 weeks, beginning at the end of January 2019. A cohort of 220 2nd year students attended 60 lessons over all 5 subjects. 24 teachers delivered these lessons and each student received, on average, over 38 hours of lessons. The project culminated in a public WEEE collection event that recovered over 11 tonnes of WEEE that was sent for recycling. The second running took place in the Spring of 2020 and it is planned to continue it as an annual endeavour. The pilot demonstrated to students the value of the resources used in their electronic products and the challenges of finite resource scarcity. It showed them not only where their stuff came from but also where it goes when they thought it thrown it away. Through the project students became familiar with and champions of the Circular Economy which was very evident in the WEEE collection event. The project was also the first occasion for the teachers to collaborate on a cross-curricular approach to secondary education and the paper includes findings on this topic.

The ever-increasing human population and industrial growth have posed a considerable burden on existing resources and have led to an increase in environmental pollution and climate change. The Engineering Clinics offered at the Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering at Rowan University is the hallmark of our program that enables our undergraduate students to actively participate in solving real-world problems through collaborative activities. Our graduate students get an opportunity to engage in stakeholder (i.e., industries, federal and regional funding agencies) interactions and student mentoring in conjunction with developing their research ability. Thus, through these synergistic undergraduate-graduate-faculty- stakeholder collaborations this work envisions to develop awareness about sustainable design and environmental impact in the community. The clinic problems include; (i) solvent recovery in process industries, and (ii) systematic synthesis of wastewater treatment (WWT) networks. These problems are important because imprudent use of industrial solvents and water resources have exacerbated the challenges relating to availability, quality as well as safe disposal of harmful solvents and wastewater. Through these challenging and relevant problems, we can teach our students multiple skills such as information collection, selective extraction of valuable content, economic and sustainability evaluation of multiple pathways through mathematical modeling, computer programming, technical writing, and presentation. The overall impact of these efforts is evident in the peer-reviewed conference and journal publications, oral and poster presentations at regional and national conferences, as well as our students choosing careers which value sustainability.

Malaria is largely neglected in the South-East Asia Region (SEAR), although it has the highest number of people susceptible to the disease. Malaria in the SEAR exhibits special epidemiological characteristics such as "forest malaria" and malaria due to migration across international borders. The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) has been a focal-point for the emergence of drug resistant malaria. With the recent emergence of artemisinin resistance, coupled with the limited availability of insecticides, malaria control efforts in the SEAR face a steep challenge. Indirect man-made factors such as climate change, as well as direct man-made factors such as the circulation of counterfeit drugs have added to the problem. Increased monitoring, surveillance, pharmacovigilance as well as cross-border collaboration are required to address these problems. Regional networking and data-sharing will keep all stakeholders updated about the status of various malaria control programmes in the SEAR. Cutting-edge technologies such as GIS/GPS (geographical information system/global positioning system) systems and mobile phones can provide information in "real-time". A holistic and sustained approach to malaria control by integrated vector management (IVM) is suggested, in which all the stakeholder countries work collaboratively as a consortium. This approach will address the malaria problem in a collective manner so that malaria control can be sustained over time.

We investigate the question whether the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) could be used to replace or complement those of multifunctionality and sustainability in the agri-food sector. It shows that the double role of citizens as tax payers and customers requests and allows us to directly link the problems of governance and stakeholder society in an intertemporal framework of total value maximisation and sustainable development. Thus, the concept of CSR provides a link between the views on agriculture’s multifunctionality and sustainability. Moreover, the fact that some actors in a vertical market, such as the agri-food chain, can exercise market power and absorb tax money and resource rents enforces the need of a broader perspective which involves concern about addresses the social responsibilities and performance of all actors along this value chain.

Cities worldwide are experiencing the effects of extreme climate events. Urban floods have emerged as a direct consequence of climate change in cities. Understanding the vulnerability to flooding would help policy actions to reduce the impacts due to flooding. This paper targets Ahmedabad, one of the major cities in India witnessing rapid urbanization and frequently struggling with floods. The study utilizes flood vulnerability indicators, quantifying and establishing a flood vulnerability index for Ahmedabad. The index links social, environmental, infrastructure, economic, and building-level indicators to define flood vulnerability. The relative importance of the indicators is arrived at by using experts' inputs and merged with the indicator to spatially analyze the patterns of vulnerability in the city comprising the four dimensions. The study finding suggests the city's eastern side is most vulnerable to floods. Twenty-four percent of the Ahmedabad population lives in highly vulnerable areas and seventy-four percent in moderately vulnerable areas, while a mere two percent of Ahmedabad's population resides in low-vulnerable areas. Lambha ward is the most vulnerable for the social dimension, while Dani Limda ward is the most vulnerable for the economic dimension. Kadi ward performs poorly in the environmental and infrastructure dimension. Sarkhej emerges as the most vulnerable ward in building conditions. Combining the dimensions, Shahpur is the most vulnerable ward when considering overall flood vulnerability.

Today’s complex global problems necessitate engineering solutions that not only consider sustainability, but include elements of design and creativity. Unfortunately, many engineering programs do not train students to think in terms of multiple contexts and at various scales. We often constrain students’ creativity to think within the narrow parameters of their specialization. Engineering educators face a difficult task of training students with both technical competencies and sustainability consciousness to tackle 21st century challenges. If we are to positively contribute to society, then we need to fundamentally change the way scientists, social scientists, and engineers are educated (Bielefeldt 2013). Two successful models for implementing sustainability grand challenges into engineering curricula have emerged in practice and in literature: stand-alone courses versus modules that are integrated into many courses. Engineering programs implement the stand-alone course-based model by establishing one to two distinct courses designed to address sustainability grand challenges and design in depth. One example of this is senior design. Conversely, engineering programs implement the modular-based model by integrating sustainability grand challenges and design throughout a host of existing courses and weave student exposure throughout the curriculum. These modules can be via ready-made modules, but more often than not faculty develop their own modules. The goal of this research was to evaluate the two models for implementing sustainability and to provide succinct recommendations and lessons learned for engineering programs tasked with integrating sustainability into their curricula. We review the implementation results of three sustainability courses, fourteen sustainability-themed modules, and senior design. We track progress towards responding to ABET Program Criterion related to sustainability and Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge 2nd edition (BOK2) Outcome 10: Sustainability. Results compare outcomes of students’ senior design project from universities implementing the two different approaches. And finally, we present the results of a formative and summative surveys of hundreds of students who participated in classes implemented throughout the project as well as faculty perceptions and barriers to implementation.