Blockchain Papers

Joan Nyika, Megersa Olumana Dinka

No abstract is available for this record.

Kenji Otsuka

Abstract The last decade has witnessed several events that had a serious impact on people’s attitudes toward environmental sustainability regionally and globally. This chapter depicts how transboundary cooperative initiatives by states and nonstate actors tackle transboundary air pollution and climate change in East Asia. It also examines the opportunities and challenges we face in the very recent landscape shift toward carbon neutrality and the deepening concerns for climate emergencies. Multilateral cooperative institutions in East Asia have focused on the monitoring of air pollutants and information sharing of related policies and measures among member countries. It should also be noted that there are some transboundary coalitions of independent scholars and research-type NGOs in Northeast Asia who conduct joint research on the decarbonization of energy systems and disseminate up-to-date knowledge and information on decentralized nature-based renewable energy. For further development of transboundary cooperation in East Asia, opportunities exist as an increasing potential for multilateral policy dialogue beyond the borders and broadening partnerships for local and transboundary coalitions with global alliances on the one hand; and challenges in just and safe transition, decarbonization of overseas financing, and seeking energy resilience on the other.

Kankam O. Adu-Kankam, Luís M. Camarinha-Matos

The rapid proliferation of renewable energy communities/ecosystems is an indication of their potential contribution to the ongoing energy transition. A common characteristic of these ecosystems is their complex composition, which often involves the interaction of multiple actors. Currently, the notions of "networking", "collaboration", "coordination", and "cooperation", although having different meanings, are often loosely used to describe these interactions, which creates a sense of ambiguity and confusion. To better characterize the nature of interactions in current and emerging ecosystems, this article uses the systematic literature review method to analyse 34 emerging cases. The objective is threefold (a) to study the interactions and engagements between the involved actors, aiming at identifying elements of collaboration. (b) Identify the adopted technological enablers, and (c) ascertain how the composition and functions of these ecosystems compare to virtual power plants. The outcome revealed that the interactions between the members of these ecosystems can be described as cooperation and not necessarily as collaboration, except in a few cases. Regarding technological enablers, a vast panoply of technologies, such as IoT devices, smart meters, intelligent software agents, peer-to-peer networks, distributed ledger systems/blockchain technology (including smart contracts, blockchain as a platform service, and cryptocurrencies) were found. In comparison with virtual power plants, these ecosystems have similar composition, thus, having multiple actors, comprised of decentralized and heterogeneous technologies, and are formed by aggregating various distributed energy resources. They are also supported by ICT and are characterized by the simultaneous flow of information and energy.

Hannah Abdullah, Karim Elgendy, Hanne Knaepen

Cities in the Middle East and North Africa are already suffering the effects of climate change. Weak urban regulation, ineffective climate policies, limited decentralization and insufficient empowerment of local authorities and civil society further decrease urban resilience. Future climate scenarios and projected urban growth threaten the stability of the region; with potential negative knock-on effects on Europe. This CASCADES Spotlight Study examines climate vulnerabilities in urban areas in countries to the south of the EU and the wider Middle East and North Africa region and advocates for systemic approaches to addressing urban climate resilience by strengthening the water-energy-food nexus, as well as other enabling factors such as decentralization. It concludes with recommendations on how the European Green Deal can help cities in the region adapt to climate impacts, based on a water-energy-food nexus approach. Over the past two decades, the European Commission has stepped up its support for urban climate action and resilience. An increasing number of programmes financed under the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) South have addressed urban climate resilience in response to the region’s rapid urbanization and the high climate vulnerability of cities. The number of urban dwellers in the wider Middle East and North Africa region is estimated to reach 527 million in 2050, an increase of 72% compared to 2020. At the same time, climate impacts – including both slow onset changes and sudden disasters – are putting additional stress on urban infrastructure. This stress is aggravated by weak urban regulations that have created unsustainable development trends which undermine the potential benefits of urbanization and adversely affect urban climate resilience. The prevalence of highly centralized administrative systems and incomplete decentralization reforms hamper local capacity building and decision-making, which are prerequisites for effective adaptation and resilience. At the same time, climate impacts – including both slow onset changes and sudden disasters – are putting additional stress on urban infrastructure. This stress is aggravated by weak urban regulations that have created unsustainable development trends which undermine the potential benefits of urbanization and adversely affect urban climate resilience. The prevalence of highly centralized administrative systems and incomplete decentralization reforms hamper local capacity building and decision-making, which are prerequisites for effective adaptation and resilience. The convergence of the region’s harsh climatic conditions with rapid, unsustainable urbanization and the associated socio-economic burdens can exacerbate existing political instability, conflict-induced migration and poverty. These developments could cascade into the EU, altering security, trade and diplomatic relations with the Southern Neighbourhood. The EU’s evolving approach to working with local authorities on urban infrastructure and climate governance is a first step towards addressing the region’s intertwined urban and climate crises. However, this approach is still in the early stages and there is a need to reflect on lessons learned and how urban spaces, climates and governance are evolving in the region. This study suggests that the EU’s overwhelming focus on supporting cities in the region with energy efficiency and the transition to sustainable energy systems is not enough to strengthen urban climate resilience. In cities of the Southern Neighbourhood, which typically struggle with resource management and scarcity, climate resilience will increasingly depend on local capacities to formulate and implement nexus approaches, especially in the water, energy and food sectors. Based on case studies of three small and intermediary urban areas, the study advocates for a systemic approach to addressing urban climate resilience in Southern Neighbourhood cities. Considering the established effectiveness of applying a water-energy-food nexus approach to improving climate resilience, the paper stresses the need for local governments to explore nexus opportunities between the water, energy and food sectors in order to achieve resilient and sustainable urbanism, while also highlighting other enabling factors such as decentralization. It concludes by exploring how future external action around the European Green Deal and its ambitions for systemic transformation could benefit from stepping up cooperation with cities in the Southern Neighbourhood around the water-energy-food nexus.

Dustin Garrick, Robert W. Hahn

Water security involves multiple interrelated policy challenges that economists often analyze separately. This article examines the issue of water security from an economic perspective, identifying economic causes and consequences of infrastructure financing deficits, water misallocation, and water risks. To help address these challenges, we review trends in defining and measuring water security and present an economic framework for assessing the costs and benefits of policies aimed at enhancing water security. We show that policies aimed at increasing water security to meet basic water needs, ensure more equitable water distribution, or reduce water risks rarely align with conventional measures of economic efficiency. We argue that water security requires strengthening and coordinating institutions to address multiple objectives and that these institutional arrangements are polycentric in nature, balancing decentralized decision-making with coordination across sectors and political borders. The issue of water security underscores why economists need to take institutions more seriously if they are to provide credible analyses of policy responses to water management challenges.

Giulia Cipolletta, E. Gözde Özbayram, Anna Laura Eusebi, Çağrı Akyol · 7 authors

Water supply and reuse through non-conventional water resources can significantly decrease the stress on natural water resources. Decentralized systems can help not only to alleviate issues of water security in arid areas, but also to create a sustainable framework within a circular economy. Although these small-scale innovative technologies are able to achieve ready-to-use, high quality of recovered/treated water on-site, the loop cannot be closed in most cases due to legislative barriers. Similarly, the end-use of sewage sludge after treatment in decentralized systems still lacks specific regulations that limit its valorization. This work analyzes the current policy and legislations related to water supply, wastewater treatment, water reuse and resource valorization within the context of decentralized state-of-the-art technologies applied in rural areas. The drawbacks in the current EU legislation that set barriers to close water-related loops in European countries are highlighted. A regulatory fitness check was applied to each type of loop to identify the key factors to accomplish the legislative compliance, and financing pathways were further evaluated at the EU level. As a possible solution, further development of an innovation deal approach is recommended to address the environmental, regulatory and financial gaps in water management through an integrated framework, providing ad-hoc policies and prescriptions for sustainable reuse of all water resources.

Tristan Partridge

No abstract is available for this record.

Kathy Meney, Ljiljana Pantelic

No abstract is available for this record.

Varun Gaur

The majority of rural Indian households remain dependent on traditional, inefficient and harmful household energy technologies. Rural households make their energy decisions with respect to the Water-Energy-Food security (WEF) Nexus jointly, however, previous research initiatives have analyzed household energy access problem in isolation. Taking this WEF nexus into account, this thesis investigates factors influencing household energy transition and identifies an optimal village energy system (VES) for the rural communities in Uttar Pradesh, India. The thesis also analyzes the distributional impacts of VES on different categories of rural households.<br /> Using detailed household survey data, Logit and Zoib (zero one inflated beta) regression techniques were applied to analyze household's activities and to identify factors influencing household energy transition. The results showed that regular non-agricultural income of household's male member increases the probability of household's modern cooking energy and modern lighting transition by 8.6% and 13.6%, respectively. It was found that household's higher agricultural dependence and resource endowments (more labor and cattle) lead to higher share of traditional bioenergy consumption in the total cooking energy mix. Proximity to markets and high household income were observed to positively influence household modern cooking and lighting transition. Local institutions such as local bio-energy markets and barter trade for labor- bioenergy were observed to have significant influence on household energy choice. Results also showed that government's policy instrument such as household connection to government LPG scheme is associated with 20.5% increased probability of household using modern cooking energy as its primary cooking fuel. Results also indicated that social factors such as higher female education and young age of household head are associated with household's increased modern cooking energy consumption in its total cooking energy mix.<br /> The thesis utilized linear optimization technique to formulate a village energy model in GAMS (General Algebraic Modeling Software). The model identified an optimal Village Energy System (VES) considering all possible energy sources and technologies (energy systems) as well as their linkages with food security. Results confirmed energy systems interdependencies for the rural communities. For instance, results showed that the levelized cost of electricity generation from biomass gasifier power system is 2.54 INR/ MJ as compared to 2.89 INR/ MJ from grid electricity-battery based power system. However, model selected the latter for fulfilling village's night time power needs while it assigned higher shadow price of 0.143 INR / MJ to the former. This happened because possible utilization of gasifier power system was expected to create scarcities of local bio-energy resources, resulting in costlier cooking energy system for the village. It was found that DES (Decentralized Energy System) provides demand side energy management opportunities with different energy prices at different timings of the day. Results also showed that high cost of finance deters possible adoption of renewable power technologies, such as solar power.<br /> Lastly, the thesis constructed an agricultural household model linked with VES to analyze VES's welfare consequences on rich and poor households. Here, household had the opportunity to purchase VES's energy services and sell its bio-energy feedstocks to VES. For the poor household, this interaction with VES led to its increased agricultural production with around 22% increase in its farm area cultivation in summers, as well as led to reduction in its off-farm labor by around 11% which is then utilized in its own agriculture. Overall, this interaction resulted in around 4% increase in poor household's annual income. On the down side, this interaction led to poor household shifting towards dirtier cooking energy technologies, resulting in increased external costs and CO2 emissions by around 27% and 45%, respectively. On the other hand, VES did not impact rich household's food production and only marginally increased its economic gain. However, it led to rich household shifting towards cleaner cooking energy thereby resulting in reduction of its external costs almost by half.

Akhtar Saira, Ahmad Shabbir, Huifang Wu, Shahbaz Aroosa · 7 authors

In the irrigated agricultural areas of Pakistan, the major sources of irrigation are canal water and groundwater. Due to the scarcity of canal water the dependency on groundwater is rapidly increasing in many areas of Pakistan. The groundwater is not only expensive, inadequate, and non-affordable for the small farmers but also of inferior quality. Much of the wastewater which is produced in urban and peri-urban areas is directly or indirectly used for irrigation without any kind of treatment. It appears that suitable technologies for decentralized treatment are avoided but other barriers to the wide adoption of the decentralized approach also exists. These barriers include lack of finance and suitable land, devoid of knowledge and skills and a lack of flexibility in official design standards. This study is an effort to check the status of treatment of the wastewater generated in Faisalabad: The area irrigated with wastewater in and around Faisalabad, quality of wastewater used to grow crops in wastewater irrigated areas, types of crops grown with wastewater, mechanism and composition of wastewater used and supplied to the farmers and farmer’s perception about the social and adverse impacts on human health and constraints in wastewater irrigation. To reduce these barriers several opportunities for improving wastewater management are to be considered via improved policies, institutional dialogues and financial mechanisms, which would reduce the risks in food chain contamination in agriculture practices. Effluent standards combined with incentives or enforcement can motivate improvements in water management by household and industrial sectors discharging wastewater from point sources. Segregation of chemical pollutants from urban wastewater facilitates treatment and reduces risk. Strengthening institutional capacity and establishing links between water delivery and sanitation sectors through inter-institutional coordination leads to more efficient management of wastewater and risk reduction.   Key words: Wastewater irrigation, wastewater implication, constraints, farmer ‘perception, food chain contamination.

Yu‐Pin Lin, Joy R. Petway, Wan-Yu Lien, Josef Settele

Assessments may underestimate the annual global water scarcity, driven by seasonal water availability and consumption distribution heterogeneity[...]

Anna Poberezhna

No abstract is available for this record.

Débora Ley

Decentralized renewable energy (DRE) projects have the potential to contribute to climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, and sustainable development objectives. DRE systems are considered for emissions reduction or poverty alleviation purposes while their role for climate change adaptation has hardly been analysed. In terms of adaptation, DRE provides electricity that can be used both to prepare for and recover from disasters, and to provide additional income and livelihood opportunities, thus reducing dependency on natural resources. For example, DRE can power early warning systems, telecommunication systems, health clinics and potable water systems. Although it might be said that climate change adaptation applications of DRE systems have already been implemented, the vulnerability of these systems towards climate impacts, and the robustness of these systems to climatic impacts are oftentimes not even considered. The assessment of 15 community-owned renewable energy projects in Guatemala and Nicaragua show that, under certain conditions, renewable energy projects can simultaneously meet the triple objective of sustainable development and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Research also points to specific drivers which can facilitate or hinder projects meeting their own stated objectives and, consequently, the triple objective, and their long-term functioning. These drivers include the specific background of the beneficiary community, the financing and implementing entities and the local governance structures in place.

Lan Huong Nguyen

Vietnam is among the most climate change vulnerable and disaster-prone nations, and water is the first sector to be affected by climate change.Being one of the developing countries launching climate policies, the country has recently announced to strive for a low-carbon economy.Nevertheless, there is a mismatch in the development strategy for the power sector and the climate-related policies which might lead to the ambiguous in the further implementation of climate change mitigation strategies.To achieve sustainable development and green growth, the government goal is to increase renewable energy share to 9.4 % and wastewater treatment to 80 % in the year 2030.However, there are no specific guidelines to accomplish the multiple targets.The research goal is to propose the integrated mechanism of renewable energy supply (run-off-river hydropower) and decentralized wastewater treatment system.The proposed mechanism is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emission from power generation and alleviate environment pollution from domestic wastewater.The objective of this study has been three-fold.First, to estimate the potential of small hydropower (in the form of run-off-river hydropower) and its contribution to greenhouse gas emission reductions in the representative river basin of Vietnam.Second, to estimate the potential for greenhouse gas emission reductions by providing adequate domestic wastewater treatment facilities.Third, to demonstrate the co-benefits of the integrated mechanism through scenario analysis, considering social, financial feasibility and carbon crediting scheme.The result of our study highlighted that run-off-river hydropower potential has potential to fulfill the electricity demand for the rural villages in the Vu Gia-Thu Bon River basin, especially remote communities without access to the grid with the total capacity 277 MW with a capacity factor of 40.2 %.Also, off grid hydropower can serve as alternative electricity source to ensure the reliability of the grid by reducing grid load, prevent from blackout and brownout.Besides, renewable electricity generation from ROR hydropower scheme will provide power for decentralized wastewater treatment facilities within the watersheds.This study proposes scenario four is the most applicable for the region with the GHG reduction amount of 0.45 mil.tCO2eq.In this scenario, the Japanese Johkasou system could serve 30 % of the total rural household especially in the mountainous areas in the up and middle stream of the Vu Gia-Thu Bon River basin, where the population density is relatively lower than the downstream.In populated areas downstream, centralized or semi-centralized wastewater treatment system is favored and more efficient.Full implementation of ROR hydropower generation and wastewater treatment system would reduce the total amount of 0.38 million tCO2eq per year (on-grid) and 0.60 million tCO2eq per year (off-grid).Regarding financial aspect of investment in wastewater treatment facilities, the main budget comes from external assistant Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the form of grants, technical assistance and loans; and the priority is to invest in urban wastewater treatment.Therefore, the obstacle for installation of Johkasou and wastewater treatment system in the rural and less developed area remains as one of the biggest challenges.Nevertheless, this treatment scheme, besides environmental conservation, a substantial amount of GHG emissions can be reduced.With existing Carbon trading schemes, this system has potential to attract carbon finance from Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) or Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) projects.Emissions reduction from wastewater treatment can be credited to existing carbon-trading scheme, to minimize the initial cost of system construction including installation of Johkasou.On the other hand, GHG emissions can also be reduced utilizing renewable energy for wastewater treatment eliminates grid emissions.The high uncertainty of emission calculation can be minimized by the accessibility of local data or existing empirical data.The research finding indicates government's GHG emissions reduction target in the waste sector can be set up to 16 %.Moreover, a method to develop emission inventory for wastewater treatment in rural areas of developing countries from the watershed approach is proposed.Also, this study raises the potential of utilizing existing carbon emission trading schemes for an initial investment of the wastewater treatment facilities through carbon credit.Also, the small hydropower system has a lower cost compared with conventional diesel generator based system, and even lower than the retail electricity tariff from the government.The economic advantage can interest private entities to invest in rural electrification even without government subsidies.Therefore, creates advantages for implementing on/off-grid hydropower than other renewable energy such as the wind or solar PV.The negative abatement cost for small hydropower over conventional diesel generator which is -195.51USD/tCO2 (off grid) or -48.18USD/ tCO2 indicates that cost for CO2 mitigation can be saved.Although this result is vary depending on the fuel price projection as well as plant capacity and discounted value of electricity sold, the similar negative value is observed from Blum et al., (2013).Finally, the demonstration of co-benefits was performed by scenario-based analysis.The result shows that under domestic conditions the project return period is 18.39 years, and IRR is 8.5 %.The IRR for base case is smaller than the benchmark IRR, which is 10% indicate that this project would likely not happen.If the project is implemented under the integrated mechanism, the project payback periods are from 7.31 years to 18.17 years and IRRs are from 10.04% to 26.57%.Our study also emphasizes the potential of ROR hydropower development for rural electrification in the context of Vu Gia-Thu Bon River basin.This study employed the holistic approach to providing private entities as well as foreign investors with a comprehensive assessment of demand, supply, and economic values.The results from this study may assist the private sector to make the decision for investment in rural electrification projects.The study provides quantitative evidences for the government of Vietnam, policy makers as well as developers.There is a potential to establish and implement an integrated mechanism for sustainable energy supply and rural development by utilizing existing emission trading schemes such as CDM co-benefits or JCM v

Fjona Zeneli

In Albania there are plenty of natural water resources, a fraction of these reserves cover the need of population for fresh, clean drinking water. But this sector presents several critical problems related with water suppliers. It seems they have not completed the decentralization process; they depend on state subsidies to cover losses from uncollectible bills. Literature shows traditional forms of financing of water supplier in different economies (developed or not). One of the classic financial forms is to increase the rate paid bills. The water should be seen as product that has its own market and an equilibrium price. But do the citizens of Vlora city perceive in adequate way this concept? Should be an economical problem for them if the water tariffs increase or are they using alternative resources of drinking water? The article aims to give a descriptive overview of water industry and suppliers in Albania and especially empirically conclusions about of the situation in Vlora city, focusing on the perceptions of citizens. Are the accumulated financial losses of water supplier correlated with the citizens’ perception about water as a public good? It's been used data through a structured questionnaire (Zeneli F., WP-Questionnaire, 2015) about 160 families, were part of the survey; also data from General Directorate of Water in Albania; elaborated using statistical software IBM SPSS 21, to identify link between determinants of drinking water demand in the sector. The main conclusion is that citizens see the water provider service a public good, while from water suppliers water distributed is their product that provides their market position and their economic sustainability. Let this paper be one of the first in the topic to determine drinking water demand determinants in Vlora city.

Arunabha Ghosh

India’s government has a bold goal for deploying renewable energy: 175 gigawatts of electricity-generating capacity by 2022, including 100 gigawatts of solar power. The country has a history of promoting renewable energy and a rapidly growing portfolio of solar and wind projects, but meeting the solar target alone will require a growth rate equivalent to doubling India’s installed solar capacity every 18 months. It will also require a clear understanding of the three factors that drive energy demand in India (access, security, and efficiency); new federal and state policies and incentives; innovative financing for capital investments estimated at $100 billion or more; and additional funding for manufacturing, training, and job creation. Project developers will have to grapple with the cost and availability of land, grid connections, and backup power. To meet the electricity needs of the poor and encourage rural entrepreneurship, India’s energy policies should aim for a mix of grid-connected and decentralized renewable energy sources.

Seth Parsons

Context & Problem Overview - There is a great necessity for improved sanitation practices in the developing world. Forty percent of the world’s population practice open defecation or lack adequate sanitation facilities. In urban areas throughout the developing world, where household and community toilets are available, 2.1 billion people use toilets connected to septic tanks that are not safely emptied or use other systems that discharge raw sewage into open drains or surface waters resulting in a greater incidence of waterborne diseases, poor drinking water quality, and contaminated water sources. In the Philippines, poor sanitation infrastructure and disease costs the economy $1.94 billion a year. Improved sanitation practices and infrastructure are difficult to implement and sustain. Public services, treatment systems, and sanitation practices in the developing world often require sufficient land, capital, and energy resources that are often scarce. Low cost, sustainable improvements and innovations, as well as local acceptance and ownership, are necessary to develop and implement alternative technologies that can help reuse waste, improve water treatment and improve overall quality of sanitation services. \nResearchers at Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International have developed and tested a secondary waste water treatment filter that can be appended to existing decentralized waste water treatment systems (DEWATS) and collection facilities. Using a cocopeat filter, the discarded dust and coir generated from coconut processing plants, an effective bio-filter unit can be constructed. This simple device can easily be connected to existing septic tanks or other primary treatment components to filter effluent waste water and meet national discharge standards. This filtration technology has the potential to improve health and positively impact sanitation services for urban poor communities. Although successful pilot programs have been launched through grant funding and self-financing, RTI would like to explore alternative implementation models to deliver this technology to a larger audience in the Philippines. \n\nPolicy Question - What implementation models could RTI International consider for scaling up cocopeat bio-filtration systems to improve access to safe water and sanitation in urban poor areas of the Philippines?\n\nData and Methodology - To assess and recommend potential implementation model options the following data and methodology was used: 1) Sanitation Sector Landscape Analysis – I conducted a literature review of the Philippines sanitation sector to assess the most significant institutional factors related to implementing DEWATS projects. 2) Case Study Analysis – I collected and reviewed relevant case studies related to DEWATS projects implemented in urban Philippines locations to determine key lessons learned, potential implementation models, and project financing structures. 3) Integrated Financial and Economic Analysis – From the financial and economic data collected in the case studies, I analyzed cocopeat filter technology system costs with comparable secondary treatment systems. Additionally, I analyzed potential cost distributions of a cocopeat filter system using four different implementation models. \n\nFindings - \t1) Cocopeat filter technology is a proven low cost, sustainable, and effective alternative to other secondary waste water treatment technology options with comparable efficiency. 2) The Community Participation model shows the most potential for mitigating institutional risks and constraints within the sanitation sector. 3) Efficient DEWATS implementation using a cocopeat filter has the potential to improve benefit to cost ratios (BCRs), reduce cost burdens on direct users, and introduce sanitation treatment systems to urban areas where space constraints are a key limiting factor. \n\nRecommendations - RTI could pursue Community Participation models for implementing cocopeat filter DEWATS projects with support from local government units (LGUs) and NGOs. This model shows the most promise for mitigating institutional risks, promoting awareness of sanitation benefits, driving ownership by end users, and enabling technology adoption. Given that technical implementation, social marketing, and sanitation training expertise resides predominantly with NGOs, RTI should also continue to promote the benefits of cocopeat filter technology through these subject matter experts.

Kelly T. Sanders, Carey W. King, Ashlynn S. Stillwell, Michael E. Webber

No abstract is available for this record.

Siddhartha Pailla, Garrick Louis

Over the past 50 years, both financing and socio-economic considerations in South India have shifted heavily towards improving urban infrastructure, causing rural services to be left behind. A recent report released by WHO and UNICEF states that over 884 million people, 84% of whom live in rural areas, use “unimproved water sources” for domestic purposes. This paper considers the case study of Nalgonda, a district to the east of Hyderabad, India. Nalgonda struggles with three main issues concerning domestic water: high fluoride levels in groundwater have caused thousands of cases of dental and skeletal fluorosis; second, over two-thirds of Nalgonda does not meet the WHO-requirement of 40 liters per capita daily of domestic water supply; third, poor management and maintenance have increased the risk of failure of existing water infrastructure. The state has been pursuing these issues in conjunction with a multi-district irrigation project that taps the regional Nagarjuna Sagar Dam. Centralized water supply, treatment, and distribution services are appropriate for high population density areas; however, geographical expanse and sparse populations lead to onerous access to improved water sources and inhibit the success of a similar centralized framework in rural areas. This is compounded by a lack of ownership at the habitation and socio-cultural levels. Further, the current water network and its problems - including inconsistent service, corruption, and general distrust of the treated Sagar water - have emboldened wealthier citizens to build private, unregulated groundwater defluoridation plants and commercialize small-scale water businesses. Inequitable services and uncertainty of shared water resources have caused a “tragedy of the commons,” leading to growing disparity and a severely receding water table. This research proposes the Louis-Ostrom Comprehensive Capacity Assessment (LOCCA) tool - an integration of the quantitative Capacity Factors Analysis risk methodology and the qualitative Ostrom's framework for assessing socio-ecological systems (SESs). The new framework is used to provide a sample assessment of the Vaillapally habitation in Narayanpur Mandal, Nalgonda. Preliminary results indicate that the institutional, technical, and socio-cultural capacity factors must progress to meet the policymakers' current projects technical capacity. Alternatively, decentralized systems, such as rainwater harvesting technology, better serve rural areas with low capacity and demand, while increasing collective investment in village-scale systems.

J. Ray, Walter E. Myers

The authors describe the organization, management, and process for accomplishing applied R&D for BPA (Bonneville Power Adminstration) programs. The BPA is required to be self-financing. As such, the emphasis of BPA's R&D program is to deliver benefits to BPA and its customers, as well as to meet legislative mandates. Coordination with political bodies, BPA customers, other utilities, and other research organizations is required to formulate and accomplish the R&D as an integral part of three programs: Transmission System Development, Energy Resources, and Fish and Wildlife. Each of these programs has different needs, directives from outside BPA, and customer bases. While the R&D management is centralized, the accomplishment is decentralized.>

Werner Gocht, A. Sommerfeld, R. Rautenbach, T. Melin · 10 authors

No abstract is available for this record.