scholarly journals The Success and Failure of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands: Revisiting Stewart Russell’s Perspective on Technology Choices in Society

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 15-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Matthias Weber

Stewart Russell’s research work on combined heat and power / district heating (CHP/DH) in the UK was among the first empirical contributions to demonstrate that technological change is not just determined by seemingly objective technical and economic performance characteristics, but rather the result of social choices. His rich conceptual thinking is reconstructed in a coherent framework, and its explanatory power explored by analysing the innovation diff usion paradox of CHP/DH: in spite of very similar technical and economic characteristics, the patterns of innovation and diff usion diff er signifi cantly across countries. To this end, the evolution of CHP/DH in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands is compared. Russell’s ideas can be regarded as a predecessor of recent multi-level approaches to the analysis of socio-technical change. He put much emphasis on studying power relations for explaining the (non-) occurrence of socio-technical change; an issue that is still debated today.

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-294
Author(s):  
Ian P. McManus ◽  
Johannes Eijmberts

Within Europe, there has been the emergence of an EU-wide nanotechnology regulatory regime with regional authorities gaining greater decision-making power over a wide range of policy areas. However, despite the development of more comprehensive European nanotechnology policies, considerable variation remains in how member states implement these rules and regulations. In this article, we utilize a multi-level governance approach, to explore this seeming paradox in order to explain cross-national policy variation within a common European regulatory framework. This broader analytical approach allows us to account for the wide range of actors involved in European nanotechnology governance including, national governments, international organizations, research institutes, firms, and advocacy groups. Case study analysis of Germany, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands emphasizes how differences in domestic policy styles explain variation in the implementation of nanotechnology regulations across states. At the same time, the engagement of national governments with European and international regulatory efforts highlights the important role that states play in contributing to the development of a common nanotechnology regime in Europe.


Author(s):  
F. Caresana ◽  
G. Comodi ◽  
L. Pelagalli ◽  
D. Salvi

We describe the running plan of a 5.5-MWe-STIG-plant. Located in a medium-sized town in the centre of Italy, the plant both produces electric power and partially satisfies the thermal load of a nearby city district. An account of the Italian energy market is provided and the impact of recent legislation on plant operation is analysed. The liberalization of the Italian energy market in 1999 has significantly affected the technical and economic scenario for both existing and future power plants. As an example, we analyse the effects of liberalization on the overall performances of the plant described herein as well as the main changes in its running-strategies. A better economic result is shown to be possible in the new scenario mainly thanks to plant flexibility when operating as CHP (Combined Heat and Power) unit. The pursuit of optimum economic performance however prevents the plant from working at its best energetic efficiency.


2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-101
Author(s):  
Brian Moore ◽  
Joris van Wijk

Case studies in the Netherlands and the UK of asylum applicants excluded or under consideration of exclusion pursuant to Article 1Fa of the Refugee Convention reveal that some applicants falsely implicated themselves in serious crimes or behaviours in order to enhance their refugee claim. This may have serious consequences for the excluded persons themselves, as well as for national governments dealing with them. For this reason we suggest immigration authorities could consider forewarning asylum applicants i.e. before their interview, about the existence, purpose and possible consequences of exclusion on the basis of Article 1F.


1990 ◽  
Vol 22 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 291-298
Author(s):  
Frits A. Fastenau ◽  
Jaap H. J. M. van der Graaf ◽  
Gerard Martijnse

More than 95 % of the total housing stock in the Netherlands is connected to central sewerage systems and in most cases the wastewater is treated biologically. As connection to central sewerage systems has reached its economic limits, interest in on-site treatment of the domestic wastewater of the remaining premises is increasing. A large scale research programme into on-site wastewater treatment up to population equivalents of 200 persons has therefore been initiated by the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment. Intensive field-research work did establish that the technological features of most on-site biological treatment systems were satisfactory. A large scale implementation of these systems is however obstructed in different extents by problems of an organisational, financial and/or juridical nature and management difficulties. At present research is carried out to identify these bottlenecks and to analyse possible solutions. Some preliminary results are given which involve the following ‘bottlenecks':-legislation: absence of co-ordination and absence of a definition of ‘surface water';-absence of subsidies;-ownership: divisions in task-setting of Municipalities and Waterboards; divisions involved with cost-sharing;-inspection; operational control and maintenance; organisation of management;-discharge permits;-pollution levy;-sludge disposal. Final decisions and practical elaboration of policies towards on-site treatment will have to be formulated in a broad discussion with all the authorities and interest groups involved.


Author(s):  
Nico van Eijk

The point of departure for this chapter is the decision of the European Court of Justice in the Digital Rights Ireland case, which annulled the European Data Retention Directive, in part because the use of retained data was not made subject to independent oversight. Next, it examines judgments from the national courts of the Netherlands and the UK, also focusing on the independent oversight issue, declaring invalid the data retention laws of those two countries. From the Digital Rights Ireland case and others, seven standards for oversight of intelligence services can be drawn: the oversight should be complete; it should encompass all stages of the intelligence cycle; it should be independent; it should take place prior to the imposition of a measure; it should be able to declare a measure unlawful and to provide redress; it should incorporate the adversary principle; and it should have sufficient resources.


Author(s):  
Simeon J. Yates ◽  
Jordana Blejmar

Two workshops were part of the final steps in the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) commissioned Ways of Being in a Digital Age project that is the basis for this Handbook. The ESRC project team coordinated one with the UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (ESRC-DSTL) Workshop, “The automation of future roles”; and one with the US National Science Foundation (ESRC-NSF) Workshop, “Changing work, changing lives in the new technological world.” Both workshops sought to explore the key future social science research questions arising for ever greater levels of automation, use of artificial intelligence, and the augmentation of human activity. Participants represented a wide range of disciplinary, professional, government, and nonprofit expertise. This chapter summarizes the separate and then integrated results. First, it summarizes the central social and economic context, the method and project context, and some basic definitional issues. It then identifies 11 priority areas needing further research work that emerged from the intense interactions, discussions, debates, clustering analyses, and integration activities during and after the two workshops. Throughout, it summarizes how subcategories of issues within each cluster relate to central issues (e.g., from users to global to methods) and levels of impacts (from wider social to community and organizational to individual experiences and understandings). Subsections briefly describe each of these 11 areas and their cross-cutting issues and levels. Finally, it provides a detailed Appendix of all the areas, subareas, and their specific questions.


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