In a developing country such as India, 44% of the population does not have access to power and for many others, the power supply is unreliable. A nanogrid, defined as “a single domain for voltage, reliability and administration”, is a possible solution to distribute power to such off-grid areas. Built from the bottom up, nanogrids have the ability to function independently, using locally generated power (such as solar power) as the power source. Such grids enable residents to lead more productive lives, with improved access to power. This thesis designs a new communication protocol for nanogrids to enable matching demand to short-term limited supply. A review of the existing local grid projects in off-grid areas in developing countries is covered – outlining the cost per kWh incurred by the customer, the communications (if any) defined in each local grid and the supply duration of the local grid. A communication protocol for a nanogrid is presented, defining a list of messages required to enable communication and the use of the Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) to implement this list. A simulation evaluation of a nanogrid deployed in an off-grid rural area of a developing country is presented. Keeping three distinct days – a sunny, cloudy and rainy day and three months – summer, monsoon and winter in mind, we demonstrate how communication about the local power price of the nanogrid can be used to modulate demand in connected loads, matching present demand with short-term limited supply. Simulation results show that the nanogrid model with communication enabled results in ~95% reduction in unmet demand for the month of December with an initial battery level of 20% (the worst case scenario). These results indicate that a grid can distribute adequate power to the loads attached to it for a month in different seasons. Such a grid, with communication about power can have a great impact in developing countries, where reduced power supply or a brownout is preferred to no power supply or a blackout.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Agricultural Economics / Jason S. Bergtold / Tian Xia / Brazil is one of the leading producers of ethanol, sugar, and sugarcane. Increasing demand for biofuels aligned with public policies prompted the expansion of sugarcane into the Brazilian Cerrado, particularly, into the states of Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul. The overall purpose of this dissertation, comprised of three essays, is to understand the impacts from the sugarcane expansion on farmers, processors, and the market. At the market level, the first essay, estimates the impacts of public policies and market factors on ethanol and sugar, supply and demand, in Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul, using three-stage least squares. Results show that ethanol supply is sensitive to public policies whereas the sugar supply is sensitive to market prices. Sugar and ethanol were found to be complementary outputs. For ethanol expansion to be sustainable the ethanol market must be developed to the extent that it relies on market factors and is no longer dependent on public policies. At the farmer level, the second essay, examines farmers' willingness to sign a sugarcane contract with a mill in the Brazilian Cerrado. A hypothetical stated choice experiment was conducted with farmers in Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul. Respondents choose between three contracts (land rental, agricultural partnership and supply) and two optout options ("keep current contract" or "not grow sugarcane"). A single and a two opt-out random parameters models were estimated. The two opt-out model allowed for a better interpretation of the status quo. Willingness to pay, direct and cross-elasticity measures for contract attributes were calculated. Results showed that farmers prefer contracts with higher returns, shorter duration and a lower probability of late payments. Farmers seemed to prefer to renting out their land to the mill than to produce sugarcane themselves, which could lead to consequences for rural development and the sustainability of sugarcane expansion. At the processor level, the third essay investigates the impact of vertical coordination on input-oriented technical efficiency using data envelopment analysis (first stage) and a Tobit censored model (second stage). 204 Brazilian mills were considered. The second stage controlled for vertical integration as well as other characteristics of the mill. Vertical integration was measured as the percentage of total sugarcane used, supplied by mills. A negative, though minimal, relationship between vertical integration and technical efficiency was found. Hence, technical efficiency is not the major driver of vertical integration. Other vertical coordination strategies may bring more benefits in terms of technical efficiency (e.g. contracts). Drivers of vertical integration seem to vary according to the characteristics of the location of the mill.

This study is situated within the context of the emerging South African Biodiversity Sector and focuses on the supply of and demand for scarce skilled biodiversity professionals. It does so through investigating the transition a young biodiversity professional makes from a higher education institution to the workplace by drawing attention to the factors encountered or perceived to be encountered during this development. The study forms part of a research programme established between Rhodes University, GreenMatter and the Culture Arts Tourism Hospitality Sport Education and Training Authority (CATHSSETA), which seeks to contribute to the body of knowledge pertaining to "green" skills development and retention within the South African biodiversity sector. It is a qualitative study, comprising nested case studies within two larger case studies of scarce skills – those of wildlife veterinarians and freshwater ecologists – as identified by the biodiversity priority scarce skills list (SANBI & Lewis Foundation, 2012). The study is supported by Bronfenbrenner's (1979) Ecological Systems theory and underpinned by the principles of basic critical realism and emergence (Archer, Bhaskar, Collier, Lawson, & Norrie, 1998). Data was generated through a range of data collection methods, including semi-structured interviews, participant observation and document analysis. The aim of these methods was to enable a greater understanding of the factors influencing transitioning and the unique transitions of selected individuals. Findings revealed that the transitions of the participants, although unique to each of them, included the following commonalities: exposure to biodiversity at an early stage in an individual's life paved the way for the development and nurturing of an interest or passion in biodiversity; experience gained prior to entry into the workplace is a powerful enabling factor; the presence or absence of a mentor can be pivotal in the transition of an individual; the gap in knowledge pertaining to demand side or workplace information is a large constraining factor; workplace dynamics affect the demand for, and eventual supply of, biodiversity professionals; the presence of human capital development strategies and structures is beneficial to the individual's transition, and the overall ecosystemic development of an individual has an effect on the supply of specific scarce-skilled individuals to the workforce. This study demonstrates that through the employment of nested case studies, similar research focussing on other scarce skills within the biodiversity sector, as per the GreenMatter Priority Skills List of 2012, can be produced, which would help to address the knowledge gaps pertaining to scarce skills, as indicated by the Biodiversity Human Capital Development Strategy (2010).

Introduction: In recent years there has been a marked upsurge in the output of literature dealing with the demand for money, but with the exception of the North American Continent, empirical research has lagged distressingly far behind the voluminous output of theory. This dearth of empirical results has had a restrictive influence. Since any of the controversial points which are being disputed by theoreticians can only be resolved by recourse to empirical methods. The restriction of empirical research to the North American Continent has further meant that the various points under dispute have had only a limited qualification and consequently monetary theorists have had no indication as to the universalizability of their conclusions. There is thus a great need for empirical studies in other countries so that the validity of the rival theories can be tested under different conditions. It was with these thoughts in mind that the present study was undertaken. Its objectives are strictly national and no pretense of strict international comparability is made. Further, great care has been taken to avoid the pitfall so beloved of econometricians, the fallacy of reduction wherein strictly limited results are uncritically universalized. Thus no attempt has been made to draw conclusions which will have universal validity. The theoretically vital points which are going to be examined in the light of South African experience are: 1. The feasibility of distinguishing idle from active balances, and if this proves possible, the determination of the wealth and interest elasticities of these balances; 2. Dropping the explicit distinction between idle and active balances to (a) determine the role of interest rates, (b) determine the appropriate constraint on the demand function, (c) determine what effect different definitions of money have on (a) and (b); 3. To examine the stability of the demand function over time. Truth is, of course, many-sided and any uniform presentation can only aspire to present a one-sided picture, just like a photograph cannot hope to do justice to the full grandeur of nature, merely presenting a one-dimensional representation of a many dimensioned object. In spite of this restriction which is inherent in all econometrical studies, this one-sided picture seems to be justified in view of the lack of any unified and coherent treatment of the demand for money in South Africa.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Industrial and Systems Engineering / unrestricted

This dissertation presents the design, analysis, and validation of a hierarchical transactive control system that engages demand response resources to enhance the integration of renewable electricity generation resources. This control system joins energy, capacity and regulation markets together in a unified homeostatic and economically efficient electricity operation that increases total surplus while improving reliability and decreasing carbon emissions from fossil-based generation resources. The work encompasses: (1) the derivation of a short-term demand response model suitable for transactive control systems and its validation with field demonstration data; (2) an aggregate load model that enables effective control of large populations of thermal loads using a new type of thermostat (discrete time with zero deadband); (3) a methodology for optimally controlling response to frequency deviations while tracking schedule area exports in areas that have high penetration of both intermittent renewable resources and fast-acting demand response; and (4) the development of a system-wide (continental interconnection) scale strategy for optimal power trajectory and resource dispatch based on a shift from primarily energy cost-based approach to a primarily ramping cost-based one. The results show that multi-layer transactive control systems can be constructed, will enhance renewable resource utilization, and will operate in a coordinated manner with bulk power systems that include both regions with and without organized power markets. Estimates of Western Electric Coordinating Council (WECC) system cost savings under target renewable energy generation levels resulting from the proposed system exceed US$150B annually by the year 2024, when compared to the existing control system. / Graduate

Distance based vehicle insurance (sometimes know as “Pay as you drive,” “Pay by the mile” or “Pay per-km” insurance) has long been advocated by transportation planners as a transportation demand management (TDM) strategy. In addition to reducing congestion and greenhouse gas emissions, it also has the potential to meet a number of planning goals, such as health and equity improvements. Despite the wide interest in and predicted benefits of distance based insurance, there is little consensus on the detailed design of a system that could be implemented. Five main distance based pricing schemes have been proposed: a flat per-km rate, temporal or “time of day” pricing, road-type pricing, demographic pricing and “differential” pricing, which prices low mileages at a higher per-km rate. Each of these systems treats risk differently and thus results in different cross-subsidies between drivers. The proposal’s design thus has implications for an insurance system’s fairness and equity. This report examines the distribution of crash risk across time, across space, and across the different demographic groups. It then compares the current annual insurance system’s treatment of risk with that of various proposals for distance based insurance. It evaluates each proposal, considering its treatment of risk and its potential for increasing fairness and equity of costs and of mobility. It also examines each proposal’s other impacts, such as effectiveness in maintaining privacy and in reducing health impacts, greenhouse gas emissions and congestion. The recommended model is a flat per-km rate. Each driver would pay the same rate for every kilometer driven, regardless of time or place. However, individual drivers’ per-km rates would vary, depending on current insurance rating factors, such as residential location, type of car and driving record. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

The climate change is driving a change in technology and promotes intermittent electricity; solar and wind, and also promotes new technology such as electrical vehicles. The increased share of intermittent  power and changed patterns of using power causes large strain on the powergrids during critical hours of the year. The system The Eergimarknadsinspektionen as well as the European transmission system operators are therefore requesting that electricity users adapt their power consumption to when power is generated. This is rather opposite to the present situation where the TSO’s respond to the customers demand by increasing their power generation. This new change of customers adapting to the current power available is called Demand response (DR). The thesis investigates drivers, barriers and potential for demand response within the engineering industry. It is based on interviews with representatives from enginering industries, system operators as well as a case study on Volvo Group Trucks Operations Powertrain Production in Köping. The potential is also determined through a simulation carried out in collaboration with Johan Norberg, a masterstudent at the Royal Technical Highschool. The conclusion states that it is possible for Volvo Pwertrain to participate in DR events, however the economical compensation identified in this thesis is not enough.

The main aim is to analyze and describe the situation of the demand for badminton in Czech Republic and to verify if this demand is increasing or decreasing. Furthermore to think about which instruments would help to develop the demand for badminton. Some perspective for the future is the development of marketing activities. The opportunities for sports marketing I will try to present at a practical example of the SPORT INVEST Marketing company stands for the currently best Czech badminton player.

One aim of this thesis is to provide an overview of technological, economic and legal aspects of the distribution of audiovisual content over internet and other IP networks. This thesis will provide introduction to most widely used compression methods of digital audio and video, transmission methods and protocols. Another aim is to create a case study that deals with selecting the best solution for a commercial project of Video On Demand server. This objective is achieved by applying methods of multi-criteria evaluation of options based on theoretical analysis of distribution solutions. The secondary aim is to determine the total cost of ownership of the different options by using the methodology of TCO (Total Cost of ownership). This thesis also provides a comparison with the solution based on purely non-commercial focus.