Education has contributed to a society-wide awareness of environmental issues, and we are increasingly confronted with the need for new ways to generate energy, save water and reduce pollution. Thus new forms of work are emerging and government, employers and educators need to know what ‘green’ skills South Africa needs and has. This creates a new demand for ‘green skills’ research. We propose that this new knowledge field – like some other educational fields – requires a transformative approach to research methodology. In conducting reviews of existing research, we found that a transformative approach requires a reframing of key concepts commonly used in researching work and learning; multi-layered, mixed method studies; researching within and across diverse knowledge fields including non-traditional fields; and both newly configured national platforms and new conceptual frameworks to help us integrate coherently across these. Critical realism is presented as a helpful underpinning for such conceptual frameworks, and implications for how universities prepare educational researchers are flagged.

A falta de acesso à energia elétrica e a todos os benefícios que ela pode trazer levou à elaboração desta pesquisa, tendo como foco principal o atendimento às necessidades básicas de saúde. Para a presente pesquisa estudou-se: o acesso à saúde no Brasil; a seleção de um município como piloto, em um estado brasileiro com baixo IDH (índice de Desenvolvimento Humano), precário atendimento básico à saúde e sem eletrificação rural; oss sistemas de geração de energia elétrica no Brasil, com destaque para os sistemas de geração distribuída; as tecnologias disponíveis no Brasil, para geração de energia elétrica distribuída e limpa; a definição de uma UBS (Unidade Básica de Saúde), quanto a compartimentos, equipamentos, consumo energético, baixa manutenção e facilidade na construção. Foi dimensionada uma Unidade Básica de Saúde, que atendesse a este município, resultando em um projeto de UBS e de um sistema de geração de energia para atender às suas demandas. Desenvolveu-se então um sistema de geração de energia elétrica distribuída e limpa, para a UBS, através da integração de painéis fotovoltaicos com célula a combustível que utiliza hidrogênio, e para a produção do hidrogênio, um eletrolisador para a eletrólise da água. O sistema proposto permite o funcionamento continuo desta UBS, com baixa manutenção, de forma sustentável, em qualquer região isolada, necessitando apenas da incidência da luz solar e de água, permitindo promover a saúde das populações carentes, residentes nos locais mais longínquos, fixando-as em seus locais de origem, sem causar impactos ambientais. / The lack of access to electric energy and all the benefits that it can bring led to the elaboration of this research, having as main focus the attendance to the basic necessities of health. For the present research it was studied: the access to health in Brazil; the election of a city as pilot, in a Brazilian state with low IDH (index of Human Development), precarious basic health attendance and without agricultural electrification; the electric energy generation systems in Brazil, with prominence for the distributed systems generation; the available technologies in Brazil, for distributed electric and clean energy generation; the definition of a BHU (Basic Health Unit), about compartments, equipment, energy consumption, low maintenance and easy construction. The BHU's size was calculated, for this city, resulting in a project of BHU and a generation energy system for its demands. A distributed electric and clean energy generation system was developed, for the BHU, through the integration of photovoltaic panels with fuel cells that use hydrogen, and for the hydrogen production, an electrolyser for electrolysis of water. The considered system allows the continuous functioning of this BHU, with low maintenance, in sustainable form, in any isolated region, needing only the solar light incidence and water, allowing to promote the health of the poor populations living 9in places most distant, fixing them in their places of origin, without environmental impacts.

A falta de acesso à energia elétrica e a todos os benefícios que ela pode trazer levou à elaboração desta pesquisa, tendo como foco principal o atendimento às necessidades básicas de saúde. Para a presente pesquisa estudou-se: o acesso à saúde no Brasil; a seleção de um município como piloto, em um estado brasileiro com baixo IDH (índice de Desenvolvimento Humano), precário atendimento básico à saúde e sem eletrificação rural; oss sistemas de geração de energia elétrica no Brasil, com destaque para os sistemas de geração distribuída; as tecnologias disponíveis no Brasil, para geração de energia elétrica distribuída e limpa; a definição de uma UBS (Unidade Básica de Saúde), quanto a compartimentos, equipamentos, consumo energético, baixa manutenção e facilidade na construção. Foi dimensionada uma Unidade Básica de Saúde, que atendesse a este município, resultando em um projeto de UBS e de um sistema de geração de energia para atender às suas demandas. Desenvolveu-se então um sistema de geração de energia elétrica distribuída e limpa, para a UBS, através da integração de painéis fotovoltaicos com célula a combustível que utiliza hidrogênio, e para a produção do hidrogênio, um eletrolisador para a eletrólise da água. O sistema proposto permite o funcionamento continuo desta UBS, com baixa manutenção, de forma sustentável, em qualquer região isolada, necessitando apenas da incidência da luz solar e de água, permitindo promover a saúde das populações carentes, residentes nos locais mais longínquos, fixando-as em seus locais de origem, sem causar impactos ambientais. / The lack of access to electric energy and all the benefits that it can bring led to the elaboration of this research, having as main focus the attendance to the basic necessities of health. For the present research it was studied: the access to health in Brazil; the election of a city as pilot, in a Brazilian state with low IDH (index of Human Development), precarious basic health attendance and without agricultural electrification; the electric energy generation systems in Brazil, with prominence for the distributed systems generation; the available technologies in Brazil, for distributed electric and clean energy generation; the definition of a BHU (Basic Health Unit), about compartments, equipment, energy consumption, low maintenance and easy construction. The BHU's size was calculated, for this city, resulting in a project of BHU and a generation energy system for its demands. A distributed electric and clean energy generation system was developed, for the BHU, through the integration of photovoltaic panels with fuel cells that use hydrogen, and for the hydrogen production, an electrolyser for electrolysis of water. The considered system allows the continuous functioning of this BHU, with low maintenance, in sustainable form, in any isolated region, needing only the solar light incidence and water, allowing to promote the health of the poor populations living 9in places most distant, fixing them in their places of origin, without environmental impacts.

This paper explores the factors that drive purchases of green power by private and public organizations. Using a cross-sectional analysis of participants in EPA’s Green Power Partnership, I explore whether state energy policies have motivated increased consumption of green power among these participating organizations. Additionally, I analyze economic and political variables by state to determine if certain factors contribute to an organization’s green power purchases. I find that state mandates on renewable energy production and lower premiums for green power lead to increased purchases of green power for members of the Green Power Partnership.

As global economic competition has intensified, many countries have begun focusing on the competitiveness of larger regions of city networks called megaregions. Consisting of two or more cities with specific linkages and connections, megaregions are becoming a new unit that researchers are using to analyze the global economy. The world’s 40 largest megaregions produce two thirds of the global economic output and more than eighty percent of the world’s innovations (Florida et al., 2007). Therefore, understanding the economic characteristics of megaregions can help isolate various challenges and opportunities associated with building on inter-relationships that enhance competitiveness. The Texas Triangle is one of 10 major megaregions in the U.S., and it functions as the primary economic engine of the Texas economy. This study analyzes how the economic characteristics of the major metropolitan areas in the Texas Triangle have changed over time by studying the basic dynamics of these metropolitan areas over the last decade. Results from this study show that each metropolitan area contains specialized export industries and that competition among them seems to be encouraging the economic growth of Texas. The basic industrial structure of the Texas Triangle has not been affected significantly by economic changes over the last decade. Finally, this report presents policy implications related to strengthening traditional economic bases and promoting sustainable economic development such as clean energy in the Texas Triangle. / text

Preliminary NMR data indicate that a new platinum compound, assigned (TpyO)PtMe (TpyO = 2,6-bis-(2’pyridyl)-4-pyridonate), can be synthesized by the addition of impure trans-(DMSO)2PtMeCl to impure 2,6-bis(2’-pyridyl)-4-hydroxypyridine (TpyOH) in the presence of NEt3 in about 10% yield. It is likely that the yield could be increased by using purified TpyOH and (DMSO)2PtMeCl. The metalation step of the synthesis was also attempted using (COD)PtMeCl but was unsuccessful with either Na2CO3 or NEt3 as bases, most likely due to the chelate effect of the bidentate COD. Future work with (TpyO)PtMe will include the addition of H+/D+ to generate the platinum (IV) complex, [(TpyO)Pt(Me)(H)]+, and/or the σ-complex [(TpyO)Pt(Me-H)]+ in order to examine the kinetic, isotope, and thermodynamic effects of the resulting reductive elimination reaction.

The competitive federalist system facilitated state leadership and the diffusion of innovative policies that addressed climate change and energy issues in the absence of comprehensive federal action at the start of the twenty-first century. In a competitive federalist system state governments and their politicians challenge one another horizontally and the federal government vertically for legislative credit and functional authority on relevant policy issues. What drove state-level climate and clean energy leadership from 2001 to 2012? This dissertation develops three competitive federalism-based hypotheses for analysis: (H1) A national, bipartisan network of ambitious, entrepreneurial governors drove climate and clean energy policy innovation from 2001 to 2012; (H2) the State Energy Program Recovery Act resources reduced the policy adoption gap between early enactors and laggards in clean energy financing and regulation; (H3) and justification for climate and clean energy activities in the states shifted from environmental to economic rationales from 2001 to 2012 (Figure ES1). While competitive federalism theory has centered on both fiscal and ideological considerations driving innovation in the policy environment, the experience of climate change policymaking and clean energy actions at the state level during the period under consideration reveals a clear partisan divide in policymaking within this domain.

As a novel high temperature fuel cell, the direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC) is drawing ever-increasing attention due to its significant high conversion efficiency, diversified fuel resources and low pollution compared with conventional coal-fired power plants. Despite the advantages of the DCFC technology, there are a number of fundamental and technological challenges which need to be overcome for its further development and commercialization. One of the major hurdles in current study of the DCFC is that the efficacy of carbon fuels is still unclear. Meanwhile, the effects of impurities in the carbon fuels on the performance and lifetime of the DCFC are still up for debate. Furthermore, the molecular-level study on the mechanism of electrochemical oxidation of carbon fuels in the DCFC is limited by the lack of techniques to detect the reaction intermediates at high temperature. Finally, how to scale up the DCFC system with suitable hardware materials and optimum structural designs needs further investigation. Based on successfully developing a DCFC system with a stirring molten carbonate electrolyte, various commercial and self-made carbon fuels including activated carbons, carbon blacks, graphitic carbons, coals and carbon nanofibers (CNFs) are systematically characterized and evaluated in this thesis. It is found that the nature of carbon fuels plays an important role in the anodic performance of the DCFC. A higher surface area and a smaller particle size of carbon fuel can effectively improve its electrochemical reactivity by increasing the interaction between the carbon particles and the molten carbonate electrolyte. On the contrary, a higher graphitic degree of carbon fuel results in a lower electrochemical reactivity in the DCFC due to the less reactive sites such as edges and defects on carbon surface. Furthermore, the order of the electrochemical reactivities for carbon fuels is in good agreement with the concentration of oxygen-containing functional groups on their surface, which is believed to play a key role in the electrochemical oxidation of carbons in the DCFC. In order to better understand the relationship between the surface chemistry of carbons and their electrochemical performance in the DCFC, various pre-treatment techniques including acid washing, air-plasma treatment, air oxidation, pyrolysis and the pre-electrochemical oxidation (in molten alkali carbonate electrolytes) have been conducted on the carbon fuels. It is shown that both the HNO3 washing and pre-electrochemical oxidation are much more effective to improve the electrochemical reactivities of carbon fuels compared to other pre-treatment techniques, which is attributed to the significant changes in the microstructure of carbon fuels and more surface oxygen functional groups produced during the pre-treatments. In contrast, the pyrolysis treatment results in a sharp decrease of electrochemical reactivity of carbon fuels due to the decreases in oxygen-containing surface groups and surface areas, and the increase of their graphitic degrees. For the sake of the optimum operational conditions for the DCFC system, the influences of stirring rates, the carbon fuel loadings and fuel cell temperatures on the anodic performance of the DCFC are investigated. It has been shown that the carbon discharge rates can be significantly boosted by effective stirring and high carbon fuel concentrations due to an improved mass transport. A higher operation temperature can also increase the current density and open circuit voltage of the DCFC. However, the complete electrochemical oxidation of carbon into CO2 can be only achieved at the low operation temperature of 600-700 ºC, while the partially electrochemical oxidation of carbon into CO occurs at 800 ºC, which will significantly decrease the carbon efficiency to less than 10% at 800 ºC. In the study of self-made CNFs as fuels for the DCFC, both microstructure and electrochemical reactivity of CNFs are highly dependent on their synthesis conditions. Compared with Ni-Al2O3 catalyst, the coprecipitated Ni-Cu-Al2O3 catalyst produced more CNFs with higher electrochemically reactivity. Over the same catalyst, the CNFs synthesized at lower temperature typically have higher surface areas, more surface oxygen functional groups and lower graphitic degrees, thereby leading to a higher electrochemical reactivity in the DCFC tests. In an effort to study the catalytic effects of mineral impurities on the electrochemical performance of the DCFC, Al2O3 and SiO2 present passivation effects in the anodic reaction. In contrast, the CaO, MgO and Fe2O3 show catalytic effects in the carbon electrochemical oxidation, which is demonstrated by the increases of current densities at low over-potentials in the polarization curves.

Submitted by Johnny Rodrigues (johnnyrodrigues@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-03-21T16:54:52Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DÉBORA JAMILA NÓBREGA DE MELO - DISSERTAÇÃO PPGEQ 2015..pdf: 1660411 bytes, checksum: 435dc571b5f61082152afe1a09c340cb (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-21T16:54:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DÉBORA JAMILA NÓBREGA DE MELO - DISSERTAÇÃO PPGEQ 2015..pdf: 1660411 bytes, checksum: 435dc571b5f61082152afe1a09c340cb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-09 / CNPq / Diante da futura escassez dos recursos energéticos originados do petróleo e seus derivados, aliados aos impactos ambientais causados pelo consumo desenfreado de recursos naturais, faz-se necessário a busca por produção de energias alternativas e limpas. Nesse ínterim, surgem as microalgas como potenciais de produção de biocombustíveis, por sua elevada taxa de crescimento e capacidade produtiva de lipídios e carboidratos. Porém, o alto custo de manutenção ainda inviabiliza sua produção. Dessa forma, esse trabalho busca aumentar a produção de microalgas utilizando a vinhaça, um resíduo da indústria sucroalcooleira altamente nutritivo e poluidor, e reutilizando resíduos do próprio cultivo como suplementação nutricional ao meio de cultura. A microalga Chlorella sp. foi cultivada em meio Bold’s Basal Medium (BBM) modificado, suplementado com de 5, 10 e 15% de vinhaça e resíduos de cultivos com diferentes concentrações, reutilizados por até três vezes. O sistema de cultivo adotado foi o mixotrófico. Foram calculadas as velocidades específicas de crescimento máximas e os tempos de geração dos cultivos suplementados com vinhaça e resíduos de cultivos. Calcularam-se as remoções de Demanda Química de oxigênios dos cultivos suplementados com vinhaça. Foram quantificados os teores de açúcares redutores e lipídios das biomassas cultivadas com 10% de vinhaça e sem suplementação. Foi verificado que os cultivos suplementados com 5 e 10% de vinhaça apresentaram maior densidade celular que o cultivo sem suplementação. As taxas de crescimento máximas e os tempos de geração dos cultivos com 5 e 10% de vinhaça foram muito próximas, diferente do cultivo suplementado com 15% de vinhaça que apresentou inibição no crescimento. As remoções de DQO foram elevadas e em média 85%. A utilização dos resíduos de cultivos favoreceu o crescimento das microalgas, apresentando melhores resultados os cultivos suplementados com resíduos de segunda reutilização, em especial os cultivos suplementados com resíduos originados de um cultivo com adição de vinhaça. A biomassa da Chlorella sp. cultivada com suplementação de 10% de vinhaça apresentou 11,50% de lipídios, 0,33% de açúcares redutores. Estudos mais aprofundados devem ser realizados para uma melhor caracterização da biomassa para verificar a influência da suplementação do meio com vinhaça na produção de proteínas e carboidratos totais. / In the face of future scarcity of energy resources derived from oil and its derivatives, coupled with the environmental impacts caused by rampant consumption of natural resources, it is necessary to search for a renewable and clean energy. In the meantime, there are microalgae with potential of biofuel production due to its high growth rate and productivity capacity of lipids and carbohydrates. However, the high cost of maintenance still prevents its manufacture. In this way, the present work aims to increase the production of microalgae using vinasse which is a residue of highly nutritious sugarcane industry and a polluter, and reusing waste from the own cultivation as a nutritional supplement to the culture medium. The microalgae Chlorella sp. was grown in a modified Bold's Basal Medium (BBM), supplemented with 5, 10 and 15% of vinasse and residues of cultivations with different concentrations in what they were reused at maximum of three times. The adopted cultivation system was the mixotrophic. Calculations were made to obtain the specific maximum speed of growth and the generation times of cultivations supplemented with vinasse and cultivation waste. Also, it was calculated the removals of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) of cultivations supplemented with vinasse. For the next step, it was quantified the reducing sugars and lipids of biomass cultivated with 10% of vinasse and without supplementation. It was verified that the cultivation supplemented with 5 and 10% of vinasse showed higher cell density than the unsupplemented cultivation. The maximum growth rates and generation times of cultivations with 5 and 10% of vinasse were very close whereas cultivation supplemented with 15% of vinasse showed growth inhibition. The removals of COD were high and averaged at 85%. The use of cultivation residue has favored the microalgae growth, presenting best results for the cultures supplemented with second reuse waste, in particular cultures supplemented with residues derived from a culture with addition of vinasse. The biomass of cultivated Chlorella sp. with supplementation of 10% of vinasse showed 11.50% lipids, 0.33% of reducing sugars. Further studies should be performed to better characterize the biomass to check the influence of the medium supplementation with vinasse in the production of proteins and total carbohydrates.

Indigenous peoples are increasingly using renewable energy technologies to meet a variety of objectives. In so-called Canada, there has been a dramatic rise in Indigenous renewable energy projects due to economic, environmental, and legal trends. Nowhere are these trends more evident than in the province of British Columbia (BC). In the early 2000s, the colonial government privatized the electricity system, sparking a rapid expansion of run of river hydro projects on Indigenous lands. Over time, and with much effort, First Nations in BC began to participate in and ultimately benefit from the shift to independent power production. However, just as they increased their involvement in the renewable energy sector, the government withdrew its commitment to purchase private power for the foreseeable future. One way to understand the implications of this policy reversal is to examine it through the lens of energy justice. Using a justice framework, this research explores how First Nations are involved in renewable energy developments in BC as well as the significance of this involvement for Indigenous self-determination. Drawing from two case studies and survey data from First Nations across the province, this thesis argues that the decline in power procurement programs is not simply a barrier but an injustice. I first illustrate how provincial energy policies have shaped and been shaped by Indigenous renewable energy ambitions. While First Nations were not the intended beneficiaries of these policies, they nonetheless seized the opportunity to sell electricity to the grid. I also compare the approaches of two Indigenous power producers, Kanaka Bar Indian Band and Sts’ailes First Nation, arguing that they have generated important economic benefits by strategically navigating the private power industry. Lastly, I document how members of Kanaka Bar have leveraged the Kwoiek Creek hydro project to address the adverse impacts of colonization and further their aims of self-determination. Based on these findings, I conclude that Indigenous renewable energy projects are themselves forms of energy justice and as such, must be supported through a variety of means. / Graduate