• Energy Research
• 1. No poverty close

Skilling unquestionably plays the most practical role in creating innovations which will be financially, socially and economically sustainable in developing countries (DCs). And because we now live in an economic age dependent on knowledge and driven by the rapid and global advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), skilling in ICT is even more important. Key to participating in the knowledge-based economy is the ability to creatively and productively apply whatever ICT is within reach to be e-skilled. While ICT has become an important national strategy in all DCs, e-skilling has not. The emphasis has primarily been on education to produce more ICT and science graduates. The irony in DCs is that more ICT graduates do not necessarily result in greater productive participation in the knowledge-based economy. The result is often unemployed ICT graduates or the increased brain-drain of ICT and science graduates to developed countries. E-skilling is clearly a new strategic problem in DCs. The productivity paradox points to the unique need for DCs to re-think e-skilling so as to create financially, socially and economically sustainable local innovations driven by ICT. While many articles appear on how DCs may participate in the knowledge-based economy, very few offer practical suggestions that are locally relevant in DC contexts. Developing a DC e-skills agenda is clearly of interest. In this chapter, we draw on early efforts being undertaken in South Africa to present progressive perspectives on e-skilling in DCs based on four important provisions; a national budget for e-skills development, an environment that fosters creativity and innovation, a collaborative platform that recognizes the collectivist nature of DCs, and a national support structure that in inclined to e-skills brain-circulation.

Based on contingency and agency insights, this study examines the influence of ownership characteristics on performance measurement systems (PMSs) and outcome-based compensation systems driven by differences in organizational goals and objectives between state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs) in Vietnam. The influence of ownership characteristics on the design of PMSs received little attention from researchers so far. Moreover, the few studies that are available so far only examined the relationship between firm ownership characteristics and the presence and use of economic performance indicators and economic outcome-based compensation in firms. In this study, the scope of PMSs is broader, and sustainability indicators focusing on community programs, ethical behavior, and government regulation are included in addition to economic based indicators. Analyzing survey data with the use of partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling (SEM), we find that the higher the share of the government in an organization’s capital is, the significantly more governmental duty indicators and significantly fewer ethical indicators and economic indicators are included in the PMS and outcome-based compensation systems. The inclusion of community indicators is not associated with firm ownership characteristics. Meanwhile, non-SOEs include significantly more economic value indicators, but no societal measures, like ethical, community-oriented, and governmental duty indicators.

Purpose The demand for energy infrastructure projects has increased steadily over the last few decades and has come at a high cost. Disruptive technologies (DTs) have the inherent capability to affect the performance of energy infrastructure projects. Therefore, this research aims to explore the implications of DTs on the performance of energy infrastructure projects. Design/methodology/approach This research adopts a positivist philosophical position. A quantitative strategy and deductive approach (based on a survey design) guided this study. Sixty-six respondents participated in the study. The study’s population comprised of experts in energy infrastructure projects who possessed a high level of industrial experience including top- and middle-level management of power generation companies. Cochran’s formula was used to select a sufficient sample for the study. Linear regression, one sample test and Cronbach’s alpha were the analytical tools adopted. Findings This study established that there is an 18.4% increase in the performance of energy infrastructure projects in Ghana when DTs are applied. In order of importance, DTs improve speed of operations in energy projects; reduce operating cost and enhance efficiency of energy projects; drive sustainable economic development; enhance security in energy projects; and improve environmental sustainability of projects. The study also revealed that e-commerce technologies, renewable energy technologies, three-dimensional printing, bar code technology, photogrammetry, global positioning systems, geographic information systems and nanotechnologies were the topmost ranked DTs with the most impact on the performance of energy infrastructure projects. Originality/value This is a novel investigation on the implications of DTs on the performance of Ghanaian energy infrastructure projects. This study’s practical implication is evident in both policy and practice. Energy sector policymakers should endeavour to adopt DTs in their operations to enhance sustainability and performance.

Emission reduction has become more crucial for environmental sustainability in light of the growing concerns about climate change. Many studies have identified that structural change and clean energy technologies improve environmental quality. However, there is an absence of empirics that focus on the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) context, which shifted the structure of their economies from the agriculture sector towards sophisticated manufacturing activities that affect the environment. Hence, this study aims to investigate the impacts of economic complexity and renewable energy consumption on carbon emissions in 41 SSA countries between 1999 and 2018. The study adopts contemporary heterogeneous panel approaches to overcome heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence issues that usually arise in panel data estimates. The empirical findings of the pooled mean group (PMG) cointegration analysis indicate that renewable energy consumption alleviates environmental pollution in the long run and short run. In contrast, economic complexity improves environmental quality in the long run but not in the short run. On the other hand, economic growth contributes adversely to environmental degradation in the long run and short run. The study indicates that urbanization worsens environmental pollution in the long run. In addition, the outcomes of the Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality test indicate a unidirectional causal path from carbon emissions to renewable energy consumption. The causality results also suggest that carbon emission has bidirectional causation with economic complexity, economic growth, and urbanization. Therefore, the study recommends that SSA countries change their economic structure towards knowledge-intensive production and adopt policies that encourage investment in renewable energy infrastructures by subsidizing the initiatives to achieve clean energy technologies.

The study was conducted in Orathanadu block of Thanjavur district in Tamil Nadu. Proportionate random sampling was employed to select the sample. It was observed that the variables viz., educational status and fatalism showed positive significant correlation at one per cent level of probability whereas awareness on climate change showed negative correlation. Variables like annual income, extension agency contact and awareness on crop insurance showed negative correlation at five per cent level of probability

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.

The rapid growth of agriculture has led to a significant increase in energy utilization and CO2 emissions. Agriculture performs a pivotal role in improving every country’s economy. The current study has the main objective to analyses the long-run impact of agricultural CO2 discharge on economic growth, energy consumption (electricity utilization in the agriculture sector), financial development, foreign direct investment (FDI), and population for India. For the period 1978–2018, we applied ADF, PP, ERS, and KPSS unit root and Z&A and CMR structural interval tests to evaluate the stability and breaks in the data set. We check the cointegration of study variables through ARDL, Engle–Granger, and Johansen’s cointegration approaches. The findings of the long-run analysis showed a cointegration among the variables, which reveals that an escalation in economic growth and financial development refine the natural environment, while the upsurge in FDI and population further deteriorate the climate in India. However, agricultural sector electricity use shows an insignificant association with CO2 emissions for both periods. On the basis of results, we recommend that legislators should offer an environment that provides opportunities for financial development and economic growth.

In urban areas, climate change effects are often associated with increasing risks of flood, heat waves, and sagging. Increasing climate risks exacerbate existing urban inequalities, poverty levels, and environmental degradation. Global urban policy is reacting to these urban issues by calling for making cities more inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. In this paper, social impact assessment is used in combination with spatial analysis in a framework to support the operationalisation of urban polices. The framework is employed to investigate how climate change effects are distributed across the city and to identify which social groups are more vulnerable to climate risks. Spatial Planning and Strategy Policy Analysis