Land and water requirements for the supply of renewable heating and transport energy using anaerobic digestion and water electrolysis. A case study for the UK

Between 2007 and 2011, Wootton Bassett, a small Wiltshire town in the UK, became the focus of national attention as its residents responded to the regular repatriations of dead soldiers through its High Street. The town’s response came to symbolize the way that broader attitudes developed and changed over that period. As such, it is a fascinating case study in civil–military relations in the twenty-first century. Success may be the same as victory, but victory, at least as it has been traditionally understood, is not a realistic goal in many types of contemporary conflict. Discretionary wars—conflicts in which national survival is not an issue and even vital national interests may not be at stake—pose particular challenges for any government which does not explain why the cost being paid in blood and treasure is ‘worth it’.

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The political economy of and practical policies for inclusive growth—a case study of Scotland

Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society ◽

10.1093/cjres/rsaa039 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Donald Houston ◽

Georgiana Varna ◽

Iain Docherty

Keyword(s):

Political Economy ◽

Policy Development ◽

Regional Governance ◽

Community Empowerment ◽

Inclusive Growth ◽

Key Policy ◽

Inclusive Governance ◽

The Uk ◽

Civic Institutions

Abstract The concept of ‘inclusive growth’ (IG) is discussed in a political economy framework. The article reports comparative analysis of economic and planning policy documents from Scotland, England and the UK and findings from expert workshops held in Scotland, which identify four key policy areas for ‘inclusive growth’: skills, transport and housing for young people; city-regional governance; childcare; and place-making. These policies share with the ‘Foundational Economy’ an emphasis on everyday infrastructure and services, but add an emphasis on inter-generational justice and stress the importance of community empowerment as much as re-municipalisation. Factors enabling IG policy development include: the necessary political powers; a unifying political discourse and civic institutions; and inclusive governance and participatory democracy.

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Rain Erosion Maps for Wind Turbines Based on Geographical Locations: A Case Study in Ireland and Britain

Journal of Bio- and Tribo-Corrosion ◽

10.1007/s40735-021-00472-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Author(s):

K. Pugh ◽

M. M. Stack

Keyword(s):

Wind Turbine ◽

Western Europe ◽

Meteorological Data ◽

Turbine Blades ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Annual Rainfall ◽

Wind Turbine Blades ◽

Weather Patterns ◽

The Uk

AbstractErosion rates of wind turbine blades are not constant, and they depend on many external factors including meteorological differences relating to global weather patterns. In order to track the degradation of the turbine blades, it is important to analyse the distribution and change in weather conditions across the country. This case study addresses rainfall in Western Europe using the UK and Ireland data to create a relationship between the erosion rate of wind turbine blades and rainfall for both countries. In order to match the appropriate erosion data to the meteorological data, 2 months of the annual rainfall were chosen, and the differences were analysed. The month of highest rain, January and month of least rain, May were selected for the study. The two variables were then combined with other data including hailstorm events and locations of wind turbine farms to create a general overview of erosion with relation to wind turbine blades.

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Co-Management of Sewage Sludge and Other Organic Wastes: A Scandinavian Case Study

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14123411 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (12) ◽

pp. 3411

Author(s):

Clara Fernando-Foncillas ◽

Maria M. Estevez ◽

Hinrich Uellendahl ◽

Cristiano Varrone

Keyword(s):

Anaerobic Digestion ◽

Sewage Sludge ◽

Resource Recovery ◽

Organic Wastes ◽

Industrial Wastes ◽

Wastewater Management ◽

Sewage Sludge Management ◽

The Common ◽

Green Chemicals

Wastewater and sewage sludge contain organic matter that can be valorized through conversion into energy and/or green chemicals. Moreover, resource recovery from these wastes has become the new focus of wastewater management, to develop more sustainable processes in a circular economy approach. The aim of this review was to analyze current sewage sludge management systems in Scandinavia with respect to resource recovery, in combination with other organic wastes. As anaerobic digestion (AD) was found to be the common sludge treatment approach in Scandinavia, different available organic municipal and industrial wastes were identified and compared, to evaluate the potential for expanding the resource recovery by anaerobic co-digestion. Additionally, a full-scale case study of co-digestion, as strategy for optimization of the anaerobic digestion treatment, was presented for each country, together with advanced biorefinery approaches to wastewater treatment and resource recovery.

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Rapid, remote and responsive research during COVID-19

Methodological Innovations ◽

10.1177/20597991211008581 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 205979912110085

Author(s):

Jane Richardson ◽

Barry Godfrey ◽

Sandra Walklate

Keyword(s):

Criminal Justice ◽

Social Science ◽

Health Research ◽

Applied Research ◽

Data Gathering ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Research And Innovation ◽

The Uk ◽

Practical Recommendations

In March 2020, the UK Research and Innovation announced an emergency call for research to inform policy and practice responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. This call implicitly and explicitly required researchers to work rapidly, remotely and responsively. In this article, we briefly review how rapid response methods developed in health research can be used in other social science fields. After outlining the literature in this area, we use the early stages of our applied research into criminal justice responses to domestic abuse during COVID-19 as a case study to illustrate some of the practical challenges we faced in responding to this rapid funding call. We review our use of and experience with remote research methods and describe how we used and adapted these methods in our research, from data gathering through to transcription and analysis. We reflect on our experiences to date of what it means to be responsive in fast-changing research situations. Finally, we make some practical recommendations for conducting applied research in a ‘nimble’ way to meet the demands of working rapidly, remotely, responsively and, most importantly, responsibly.

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A Case Study of a Negotiated Tender within a Small-to-Medium Construction Contractor: Modelling Project Cost Variance

Buildings ◽

10.3390/buildings11060260 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 260

Author(s):

James Ellis ◽

David John Edwards ◽

Wellington Didibhuku Thwala ◽

Obuks Ejohwomu ◽

Ernest Effah Ameyaw ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Construction Industry ◽

Study Data ◽

Review Literature ◽

Third Party ◽

Open Book ◽

Competitive Tendering ◽

Construction Contractor ◽

The Uk ◽

Insight Into

This research explores the failure of competitively tendered projects in the UK construction industry to procure the most suited contractor(s) to conduct the works. Such work may have equal relevance for other developed nations globally. This research seeks to teach clients and their representatives that “lowest price” does not mean “best value”, by presenting a case study of a successfully negotiated tender undertaken by a small-to-medium enterprise (SME) contractor; SME studies are relatively scant in academic literature. By applying the “lessons learnt” principle, this study seeks to improve future practice through the development of a novel alternative procurement option (i.e., negotiation). A mixed philosophical stance combining interpretivism and pragmatism was used—interpretivism to critically review literature in order to form the basis of inductive research to discuss negotiation as a viable procurement route, and pragmatism to analyse perceptions of tendering and procurement. The methods used follow a three-stage waterfall process including: (1) literature review and pilot study; (2) quantitative analysis of case study data; and (3) qualitative data collection via a focus group. Our research underscores the need to advise clients and their representatives of the importance of understanding the scope of works allowed within a tender submission before discounting it based solely on price. In addition, we highlight the failings of competitive tendering, which results in increased costs and project duration once the works commence on site. These findings provide new contemporary insight into procurement and tendering in the construction industry, with emphasis on SME contractors, existing relationships, and open-book negotiation. This research illustrates the adverse effects of early cost estimates produced without first securing a true understanding of project buildability and programming. Our work concludes with a novel insight into an alternative procurement option that involves early SME contractor involvement in an open-book environment, without the need for a third-party cost control.

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