The work described in this thesis develops a strategy for planning domestic energy supply systems for small, rural communities. Two methods, for system optimisation are proposed: economic optimisation and thermodynamic optimisation. Both methods are applied to the small Scottish island of Eigg, as an example of a small community. It is shown that, for the range of energy equipment studied, the two methods are generally complementary. Economic theory and choice of parameters are discussed, as is the theoretical background to thermodynamic modelling. The net present value method is used to determine unit energy costs, which are used in the economic model as the parameter by which different energy sources are chosen. For thermodynamic assessment three parameters are used: exergy, second law efficiency and energy quality. Energy quality against quantity diagrams (on which areas represent exergy) are shown to be a useful way of visualising thermodynamic system performance. This work also develops methods which can be used to determine model inputs. These include: an energy census of the island of Eigg to determine the current energy system, development of a hydrological prediction model for determining hydro power potential, use of computer models to determine house space heating demands, and development of methods for predicting meteorological parameters from long term data. The application of the economic planning model to Eigg allows a much improved energy supply system for the island to be proposed. This makes energy more available, improves comfort (with regard to energy usage), and gives 30% higher energy usage for a lower unit cost than the islanders currently pay. The thermodynamic optimisation process improves the thermodynamic efficiency of the energy system on Eigg by more than 100% and shows which areas of energy technology should be investigated to harmonise economic and thermodynamic optimisation.

In this thesis the regional effects of immigration onto native wages and employment in the United Kingdom and in Germany were examined. Using the regional survey data of the British QLFS from 1993-2009, the estimation results confirmed that foreign workers and British are imperfect substitutes. Natives and immigrants with middle education are found to have the highest elasticity of substitution. Unsurprisingly, the largest percentage of foreign population has been found to be in England. In the analysed time of 1993 until 2009, only middle educated British experienced negative earnings and employment effects caused by immigration. Taking the wage and employment impacts for natives of all three skill groups in the four British countries and the UK itself into account, it can be seen that the positive wage effects were numerically larger than the negative employment changes. Applying the individual data of the German SOEP from 1984-2007 (from 1994 including data about East Germany), imperfect substitution between regional Germans and foreigners were determined. Examining several regions of West Germany (North- West and Middle-South-West) in the time frame of 1994-2007, it could be seen that natives with low and middle education gained in their wages but lost in their employment to immigrants of similar education. However, highly skilled German P a g e | 2 citizens were confronted with a wage loss but higher employment. The analysis of the effect of immigration on native wages and employment in East Germany led to interesting results. Low, middle and highly educated East German natives experienced either a minimal wage increase or no wage change. Considering the employment in East Germany, low educated natives saw a small rise in their employment. However, no change could be found in the employment of middle and highly skilled workers in East Germany.

This study is based on investigation into the role of the North West Water supply (which changed the name to Botshelo Water Board during the period of study in water service delivery management in municipalities. The case of Mafikeng Central District municipality. The major findings area as follows: In South Africa the role of regional water supply services providers, typically water boards, is changing. Historically they were established with the primary function of supplying large urban canters with bulk water. Their emphasis has thus been on developing and running large, technically complex systems. Most importantly they have generally been selling bulk water to financially strong municipalities. With the new imperative to rapidly increase the provision of water services to all South Africans, these regional services providers are facing new challenges of management integration and provision of 6 kl free basic water to poor of the poorest in our country. The South African White Paper on Water and Sanitation policy proposed that Local Authorities to take over the functions of water provision and sanitation services. There is an urgent need to co-ordinate local development needs and integrate them into optimal development and operation plans . at regional level which will take advantage for involving all parties affected. The Water Service Act of (1997) defines the roles for various parties involved in water service delivery and will have a profound impact on the relationship between the parties. The Act recommended that close working relationship between water boards and local authorities must be maintained. Chapter 3 of the Constitution describes Government in South Africa as consisting of National, Provincial and Municipal Spheres which are not only distinctive but also interdependent and interrelated. It provides that all spheres of Government and all · organs of State must trust and good faith by co-ordinating their actions and legislation with each other. Co-operative governance and integration are not only policy matters they are constitutionally mandated. The recommendation from this study is that, awareness campaign be made in the areas to encourage people to pay for services and take responsibility for meter reading on their own like it is happening in Denmark. In Denmark each household reads its own meters for both water and electricity and. submits the readings to the municipality for billing. As a result the municipality did not employ special meter readers thus saves on salaries. Greater resource allocation is made to cover the shortfalls experienced due to lack of management capacity and other resources that would enable Central District municipality to run the functions on their own. Capacity building and support for professionals be streamline on the current Botshelo Water staff for future absorption by municipality. Promotion of community based development be continued to encourage community ownership on water management functions. This could be done through the formation of water committees associations. While community-based approaches are now accepted as the norm, the necessary capacity to support them in most cases does not generally exist at higher levels (National, district and local) and central needs to look at this. If the municipal cannot handle these functions on its own, then joint venture, synergy, merger and acquisition of all affected institution be considered. / (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2005

Ethiopia is a food insecure country in the Horn of Africa. A wide body of literature in the 1980s and early 1990s justifiably associated food insecurity and famine in Africa and Ethiopia with centralised governance and weaknesses in national early warning systems, which were argued to have had an enduring influence on the outcomes of early warning and famine/food security interventions. Among this wide body of research, however, little attention has been devoted to the socio-spatial dimensions of the problem and the resulting effect on interventions aimed at addressing vulnerability to food insecurity at the household level. In this thesis it is argued that social processes, inherent in the structure of societies and institutions, combine globally, nationally and locally to undermine the treatment of vulnerability to food insecurity as a variable, place-based phenomenon. The arguments are developed with reference to food policy and vulnerability assessments in Ethiopia during the 1990s. Specific references are made to the findings from interviews with national early warning system staffs carried out in 1997 and 1998 and to food security surveys in Delanta Dawint, Ethiopia carried out in 1998.

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(kein Abstract vorhanden) / Series: Schriftenreihe des Instituts für Transportwirtschaft und Logistik - Supply Chain Management

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