scholarly journals NIDA’s Funding Policies Contribute to Racial Biases in the Treatment of Drug Use

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priyanka Bushana ◽  
Emma Cook
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Solar Panels ◽  
Power Outages ◽  
Power Sources ◽  
Distributed Structure ◽  
Service Commission

The electric grid plays a crucial role in the functioning of American households, schools, businesses, and health facilities, as well as national security. Action is needed to address the vulnerability of the grid to natural disasters, which are increasing in frequency and intensity due to climate change. States that are particularly under threat include those in the Southeast, such as Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida, where hurricanes and severe storms can be especially destructive. States in this region also typically rely on natural gas as a primary source of energy, which upholds a centralized grid structure that is more susceptible to widespread power outages than a distributed structure. Power outages, which disproportionately impact low-income communities, can be detrimental to health and safety during a natural disaster by severing access to communication and necessary medical equipment. Using Louisiana as a case study, we recommend one policy through which the state can transition to a more distributed structure; the Louisiana Public Service Commission should revise the 2019 legislation that financially disincentivizes customers to install solar panels, and instead expand the benefits for these customers. This change will increase the proliferation of solar energy, which can serve as power sources in a distributed grid. Solar panels, coupled with battery storage, can reduce the likelihood of power outages during extreme weather events. Expanding the use of renewable energy in Louisiana could encourage other states in the region to also make this shift, serving as a model for stronger climate adaptation across the country.

scholarly journals Establishing Modern Grid Resilience in the Southeast United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashna Aggarwal ◽  
Clincy Cheung ◽  
Clincy Ndefru
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Solar Panels ◽  
Power Outages ◽  
Power Sources ◽  
Distributed Structure ◽  
Service Commission

The electric grid plays a crucial role in the functioning of American households, schools, businesses, and health facilities, as well as national security. Action is needed to address the vulnerability of the grid to natural disasters, which are increasing in frequency and intensity due to climate change. States that are particularly under threat include those in the Southeast, such as Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida, where hurricanes and severe storms can be especially destructive. States in this region also typically rely on natural gas as a primary source of energy, which upholds a centralized grid structure that is more susceptible to widespread power outages than a distributed structure. Power outages, which disproportionately impact low-income communities, can be detrimental to health and safety during a natural disaster by severing access to communication and necessary medical equipment. Using Louisiana as a case study, we recommend one policy through which the state can transition to a more distributed structure; the Louisiana Public Service Commission should revise the 2019 legislation that financially disincentivizes customers to install solar panels, and instead expand the benefits for these customers. This change will increase the proliferation of solar energy, which can serve as power sources in a distributed grid. Solar panels, coupled with battery storage, can reduce the likelihood of power outages during extreme weather events. Expanding the use of renewable energy in Louisiana could encourage other states in the region to also make this shift, serving as a model for stronger climate adaptation across the country.

TURNING FARMERS INTO SOCIAL FARMER ENTREPRENEURS FOR DISADVANTAGED PEOPLE

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Remus Runcan
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Physical Work ◽  
Healthy Environment ◽  
Rural And Urban Areas ◽  
Rural Development Programme ◽  
Rural And Urban

According to Romania’s National Rural Development Programme, the socio-economic situation of the rural environment has a large number of weaknesses – among which low access to financial resources for small entrepreneurs and new business initiatives in rural areas and poorly developed entrepreneurial culture, characterized by a lack of basic managerial knowledge – but also a large number of opportunities – among which access of the rural population to lifelong learning and entrepreneurial skills development programmes and entrepreneurs’ access to financial instruments. The population in rural areas depends mainly on agricultural activities which give them subsistence living conditions. The gap between rural and urban areas is due to low income levels and employment rates, hence the need to obtain additional income for the population employed in subsistence and semi-subsistence farming, especially in the context of the depopulation trend. At the same time, the need to stimulate entrepreneurship in rural areas is high and is at a resonance with the need to increase the potential of rural communities from the perspective of landscape, culture, traditional activities and local resources. A solution could be to turn vegetal and / or animal farms into social farms – farms on which people with disabilities (but also adolescents and young people with anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicide, and alexithymia issues) might find a “foster” family, bed and meals in a natural, healthy environment, and share the farm’s activities with the farmer and the farmer’s family: “committing to a regular day / days and times for a mutually agreed period involves complying with any required health and safety practices (including use of protective clothing and equipment), engaging socially with the farm family members and other people working on and around the farm, and taking on tasks which would include working on the land, taking care of animals, or helping out with maintenance and other physical work”

scholarly journals Interrogating Climate Adaptation Financing in Zimbabwe: Proposed Direction

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6517
Author(s):  
Innocent Chirisa ◽  
Trynos Gumbo ◽  
Veronica N. Gundu-Jakarasi ◽  
Washington Zhakata ◽  
Thomas Karakadzai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Coastal Zones ◽  
Resource Base

Reducing vulnerability to climate change and enhancing the long-term coping capacities of rural or urban settlements to negative climate change impacts have become urgent issues in developing countries. Developing countries do not have the means to cope with climate hazards and their economies are highly dependent on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, water, and coastal zones. Like most countries in Southern Africa, Zimbabwe suffers from climate-induced disasters. Therefore, this study maps critical aspects required for setting up a strong financial foundation for sustainable climate adaptation in Zimbabwe. It discusses the frameworks required for sustainable climate adaptation finance and suggests the direction for success in leveraging global climate financing towards building a low-carbon and climate-resilient Zimbabwe. The study involved a document review and analysis and stakeholder consultation methodological approach. The findings revealed that Zimbabwe has been significantly dependent on global finance mechanisms to mitigate the effects of climate change as its domestic finance mechanisms have not been fully explored. Results revealed the importance of partnership models between the state, individuals, civil society organisations, and agencies. Local financing institutions such as the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) have been set up. This operates a Climate Finance Facility (GFF), providing a domestic financial resource base. A climate change bill is also under formulation through government efforts. However, numerous barriers limit the adoption of adaptation practices, services, and technologies at the scale required. The absence of finance increases the vulnerability of local settlements (rural or urban) to extreme weather events leading to loss of life and property and compromised adaptive capacity. Therefore, the study recommends an adaptation financing framework aligned to different sectoral policies that can leverage diverse opportunities such as blended climate financing. The framework must foster synergies for improved impact and implementation of climate change adaptation initiatives for the country.

scholarly journals Public Perceptions of Climate Change in the Peruvian Andes

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2677
Author(s):  
Adrian Brügger ◽  
Robert Tobias ◽  
Fredy S. Monge-Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Peruvian Andes ◽  
Food Shortages ◽  
Education Levels

How people subjectively perceive climate change strongly influences how they respond to its challenges. To date, relatively little is known about such perceptions in the Global South. This research examines public perceptions of climate change in the Peruvian Andes, a semi-arid high-mountain region that is highly exposed and vulnerable to adverse effects of climate change. Based on questionnaire data collected through face-to-face interviews (N = 1316), we found that respondents identify various climate-related issues as the most important challenges for their country. Many of these issues are related to water. Respondents also noticed more subtle changes and expected them to continue (e.g., extreme temperatures, food shortages). Climate impacts were clearly seen as negative, which was also reflected in the presence of emotions. When compared to previous research, more respondents had personally experienced extreme weather events (80%) and they were more certain that the climate is already changing, is caused by human activity, and is affecting distant and close places similarly. A comparison of the perceptions along different socioeconomic characteristics suggests that more vulnerable groups (e.g., rural, low income and education levels) tended to perceive climate change as more consequential, closer, and as a more natural (vs. anthropogenic) phenomenon than those from less vulnerable groups. The salience of water-related problems and personal experiences of climate-related events, as well as differences between various subgroups, could be used to improve measures to adapt to the consequences of climate change by correcting misconceptions of the population and of decisionmakers.

scholarly journals Assessing the Energy Resilience of Office Buildings: Development and Testing of a Simplified Metric for Real Estate Stakeholders

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 96
Author(s):  
Paul Mathew ◽  
Lino Sanchez ◽  
Sang Hoon Lee ◽  
Travis Walter
Keyword(s):  
Regression Models ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Office Buildings ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Power Outage ◽  
Continuity Of Operations ◽  
Quasi Monte Carlo ◽  
Building Characteristics ◽  
The Impact

Increasing concern over higher frequency extreme weather events is driving a push towards a more resilient built environment. In recent years there has been growing interest in understanding how to evaluate, measure, and improve building energy resilience, i.e., the ability of a building to provide energy-related services in the event of a local or regional power outage. In addition to human health and safety, many stakeholders are keenly interested in the ability of a building to allow continuity of operations and minimize business disruption. Office buildings are subject to significant economic losses when building operations are disrupted due to a power outage. We propose “occupant hours lost” (OHL) as a means to measure the business productivity lost as the result of a power outage in office buildings. OHL is determined based on indoor conditions in each space for each hour during a power outage, and then aggregated spatially and temporally to determine the whole building OHL. We used quasi-Monte Carlo parametric energy simulations to demonstrate how the OHL metric varies due to different building characteristics across different climate zones and seasons. The simulation dataset was then used to develop simple regression models for assessing the impact of ten key building characteristics on OHL. The most impactful were window-to-wall ratio and window characteristics. The regression models show promise as a simple means to assess and screen for resilience using basic building characteristics, especially for non-critical facilities where it may not be viable to conduct detailed engineering analysis.

Power Exchanges of Hybrid Fuel Cell-Ultracapacitor Power Sources Feeding Pulse Loads

2006 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 516-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Asprino ◽  
L. Conte ◽  
M. Pagano ◽  
G. Velotto
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Power Quality ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Storage Device ◽  
Transient Performance ◽  
Power Sources ◽  
Hybrid Generator ◽  
Electrical Source

The paper focuses on the experimental results of a series of tests performed on a hybrid electrical source. The hybrid generator is made up of a fuel cell primary source equipped with an ultracapacitor storage device. The paper presents an examination of the steady-state and transient performance of the hybrid fuel cell-ultracapacitor source in terms of power quality. The aim is to investigate on fuel cell-ultracapacitor source’s behavior to feed pulsing loads.

scholarly journals Implementasi Metode Hazard Identification Risk Assessment And Risk Control Guna Peningkatan Keselamatan dan Kesehatan Karyawan di PT ABC

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfina Fitri Damayanti ◽  
Nina Aini Mahbubah
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Low Voltage ◽  
Risk Control ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Hazard Identification ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Risk Levels ◽  
Extreme Risk

Zero accident was considered as the primary occupational health and safety value in manufacturing and service enterprises.  PT. ABC provided  electrical and instrument services, including a low-voltage installation, high-voltage installation and an instrument installation. This company is known to excellent electricity and instrument service providers across the country . Moreover, men’s power is used as a primary source to maintain  these kind  of services. Installation projects depend not only on the high working speed, but also on  high working  accuracy within  certain timeframes . As a result, work  accidents  have occurred with a classification varying from minor to fatal accidents.  The purpose of this research is to identify potential hazards to assess risk levels and  obtain recommendations for  preventing accident. The HIRARC method is employed as a research approach. This research is initiated through Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and Risk Control.  This research identified that two hazards were classified as  extreme risk, three hazards as high- risk, eight hazards as moderate risk , and two hazards have been identified as low risk . Furthermore, a number of action lists have been suggested in order to minimize accident rates and finally the working conditions are designed to maintain zero accidents.

scholarly journals Methodology to Prioritize Climate Adaptation Measures in Urban Areas. Barcelona and Bristol Case Studies

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 4807 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Guerrero-Hidalga ◽  
Eduardo Martínez-Gomariz ◽  
Barry Evans ◽  
James Webber ◽  
Montserrat Termes-Rifé ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Extreme Rainfall ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Urban Resilience ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Welfare Impacts ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Detailed Assessment

In the current context of fast innovation in the field of urban resilience against extreme weather events, it is becoming more challenging for decision-makers to recognize the most beneficial adaptation measures for their cities. Detailed assessment of multiple measures is resource-consuming and requires specific expertise, which is not always available. To tackle these issues, in the context of the H2020 project RESCCUE (RESilience to cope with Climate Change in Urban arEas), a methodology to effectively prioritize adaptation measures against extreme rainfall-related hazards in urban areas has been developed. It follows a multi-phase structure to progressively narrow down the list of potential measures. It begins using less resource-intensive techniques, to finally focus on the in-depth analysis on a narrower selection of measures. It involves evaluation of risks, costs, and welfare impacts, with strong focus on stakeholders’ participation through the entire process. The methodology is adaptable to different contexts and objectives and has been tested in two case studies across Europe, namely Barcelona and Bristol.

Extreme Weather Resulting from Global Warming is an Emerging Threat to Farmworker Health and Safety

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 189-190
Author(s):  
Kent E. Pinkerton ◽  
Emily Felt ◽  
Heather E. Riden
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Extreme Precipitation ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Cold Waves ◽  
Warming Climate ◽  
Weather Events

Abstract. A warming climate has been linked to an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, including heat and cold waves, extreme precipitation, and wildfires. This increase in extreme weather results in increased risks to the health and safety of farmworkers. Keywords: Climate change, Extreme weather, Farmworkers, Global warming, Health and safety.

scholarly journals Power Resilience Enhancement of a Residential Electricity User Using Photovoltaics and a Battery Energy Storage System under Uncertainty Conditions

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 4193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nallapaneni Manoj Kumar ◽  
Aritra Ghosh ◽  
Shauhrat S. Chopra
Keyword(s):  
Energy Storage ◽  
Power Supply ◽  
The Other ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Electric Grid ◽  
Power Outages ◽  
Power Outage ◽  
Battery Energy Storage ◽  
Residential Electricity ◽  
Battery Energy

Even in today’s modern electric grid infrastructure, the uncertainty in the power supply is more often seen and is mainly due to power outages. The reasons for power outages might be any of the following: extreme weather events, asset failure, natural disasters, power surges, acute accidents, and even operational errors by the workforce. Such uncertain situations are permitting us to think of it as a resilience problem. In most cases, the power outages may last from a few minutes to a few weeks, depending on the nature of the resilience issue and the power supply system (PSS) configuration. Therefore, it is imperative to understand and improve the resilience of a PSS. In this paper, a four-component resilience framework is proposed to study and compare the resilience of three different PSS configurations of residential electricity users (REUs) considering the realistic power outage conditions in the humid subtropical ecosystem. The proposed PSS configurations contain electric grid (EG), natural gas power generator (NGPG), battery energy storage (BES), and photovoltaics (PV) as the assets. The three PSS configurations of a REUs are EG + BES, EG + NGPG + BES, and EG + PV + BES, respectively, and in these, one REU is only the consumer and the other two REUs are prosumers. By using the proposed framework, simulations are performed on the three PSS configuration to understand the increasing load resiliency in the event of a power outage. Also, a comparative techno-economic and life cycle based environmental assessment is performed to select the most resilient PSS configuration among the EG + BES, EG + NGPG + BES, and EG + PV + BES for an REU. From the results, it was established that EG + PV + BES configuration would enhance the power resilience of an REU better than the other two PSS configurations. Besides, it is also observed that the identified resilient PSS configuration is cost-effective and environmentally efficient. Overall, the proposed framework will enable the REUs to opt for the PSS configuration that is resilient and affordable.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document