The thesis examines the process of technical change in industrialized and developing country situations, and extracts lessons from this analysis for the design and implementation of forest energy development programmes. It notes how the role of technology users is of great importance in innovation" whether this process involves "high technology" development in large, competitive firms, or "appropriate technology" development to meet basic needs in poor, rural communiti~s. In reviewing the results of the past ten years of work in renewable energy programmes in developing nations, it finds that a major factor in the poor performance of such work is the lack of provision for user participation in innovation. Forest energy development programmes, which have been an important part of renewable energy development assistance, also have suffered from this insufficient attention to technology users. It is postulated that new approaches to forest energy development that provide for a more interactive relationship between R&D establishments and technology Llsers will have greater. success in bringing about innovations in this sector. The experience of charcoal production, charcoal stove, and forestry development under the Sudan Renewable Energy Project, supported by the Sudan Energy Research Council and the US Agency for International Development, demonstrates the positive results of just this sort of interactive innovation strategy. The SREP, in its ~ priori commitment to user participation, uncovers valuable resources of indigenous technical knowledge and skills, which play an integral part in the design and dissemination of these 3 forest energy technologies. The project's success provides an empirical justification of the importance of technology users to the innovation process, and its example h~s larger implications for renewable energy development, government R&D management, and development assistance policy.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the potential for integrating biomimetic thinking into the design and implementation of photovoltaic energy systems in a way that promotes ecological health, economic feasibility, and equal access to cleaner energy. Photovoltaic energy production is among the most promising renewable energy sources, however, current conventional photovoltaic systems exhibit a number of shortcomings. Steering innovation toward socio-technical systems that are integrated with ecological systems will help support human needs without inhibiting larger ecological function. This investigation began with the construction of a conceptual biomimetic lens from a foundation of literature related to biomimicry in the built environment. Next, the underlying elements, interconnections and functions of both the ecological systems involved in photosynthesis and socio-technical systems related to photovoltaic energy production were defined and examined. The biomimetic lens was then applied to each system to envision biomimetic approaches to address shortcomings of current conventional photovoltaic systems. The suggested approaches aim to address shortcomings in the design, manufacture, and implementation of photovoltaic systems in ways that mimic key principles found in biology and ecology. Since the success of ecological systems is embedded in the nesting of interrelated systems, the biomimetic lens was applied at multiple scales: the chloroplast/solar cell, the leaf/solar panel, the plant/solar array, and the ecosystem/community scale. The results of this study both suggest the direction of further research in the development of biomimetic solar energy systems and provide insight into the effectiveness of biomimetic thinking as a strategy for designing equitable, economical, and ecologically sound systems. / text

This thesis focuses on the relationship between food expenditures and the economy. In analogous fashion to Maxwell 2013 which calculated energy expenditures as a percentage of national and global gross domestic product (GDP), this thesis examined three available food expenditure datasets to study the relationship between food expenditures as a percentage of GDP and economic growth. The analysis calculated two metrics, Primary Consumption Expenditures and Final Consumption Expenditures which were used to compare the available datasets and create a more robust hybrid dataset containing data for 178 countries with an average time span of 40 years that was used to study the relationship between global economic growth and food expenditures. Historical evidence does not suggest that food has imposed a limit on economic growth; however, recent trends over the past decade associated with biofuel production suggest the global economy has entered a new era with rapidly rising food prices and expenditures. As food resources continue to be used as industrial energy inputs, it is critical to include food expenditures in further analysis of potential impacts energy expenditures may have on economic growth. / text

<p> In this thesis, the author describes various evaluation criteria, in particular the C-rate (charge/discharge-rate), of energy storage (ES) systems to explain the efficiency and technical benefits of battery-ultracapacitor hybrid energy storage (HES), and the technical characteristics of subsequently derived short-duration and long-duration type ES. In addition, for effective use of energy storage, a straightforward state of charge (SOC) correction method for energy neutral operation is proposed, and through a simple comparative example of ES operation, the effectiveness of HES in relation to simple ES is explained. A case is considered in which a hybrid ES controls the wind power ramp rate to comply with the regional system operator&rsquo;s smoothing requirement, and an operation method is suggested through simulation. The simulation is carried out using a frequency spectrum analysis of wind power output profile and the C-rate of the hybrid storage system, and an energy neutral operation method for ES is proposed based on the simulated charging/discharging power sharing profile and SOC variations of the Li-battery and the ultracapacitor. </p>

In the face of future transport energy supply constraints it is imperative that planners understand transport energy adaptability within cities. This thesis presents for the first time an analysis methodology for mapping the spatial distribution of limits to energy adaptability. Termed the Minimum Energy Transport Adaptability (META) method, it characterises urban areas, synthesising a situation in which households have enacted all viable transport energy adaptations. The output is an estimation of the minimum possible transport energy required by households in meeting their day-to-day activity requirements. The META method combines elements of energy engineering, accessibility modelling and transport activity modelling. The analysis makes use of national household travel surveys to define the frequency of activity access and ability to use modes at the national level, and study area Geographical Information Systems (GIS) data for origins, facilities and transport networks. Two case studies have been investigated in New Zealand, the cities of Christchurch and Hamilton, and have shown that most residential areas in these cities do not limit the adaptive options available to residents. However, outlying areas, satellite towns and lifestyle properties consistently require large amounts of transport energy consumption and thus limit the ability of residents to adapt to future energy constraints. The META model enables, for the first time, the effects of future transport energy constraints to be mapped, visualised, quantified, and consequently considered in the planning process.

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