Browsing by Subject "Energy Studies"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Open Access
    The elephant in the room: The rise and role of India in the climate change negotiations
    (2016) Coetzee, Kim; Winkler, Harald; Smith, Karen
    The climate change negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have been ongoing since the first conference of the parties in 1995. Twenty years on there has been little progress reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the climate regime is in a state of flux and the role of developing countries therein is changing. During this period the majority of the work on climate change from within the International Relations discipline has been framed in a neoliberal institutionalist or neorealist frame. Studies in the climate policy canon have been predominantly similarly located, albeit implicitly. In its focus on India this dissertation provides a bridge between the climate policy literature and the theoretically framed climate change policy studies in the International Relations literature. This dissertation employs the Critical International Relations theoretical framework of Robert Cox. His theory outlines a 'framework for action' that enables and constrains how states act, and how they conceive of their agency. This framework, or historical structure, is created by a particular configuration of the forces exerted by ideas, institutions, and material capabilities, which when aligned, create a hegemonic historical structure. In the climate negotiations, India has been a vocal proponent of the ideas of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities from the earliest days of the Convention. India's changing material circumstances and geo-political status in the past decade raised the question of its role in the regime in relation to its long-supported ideas. This is a qualitative case study using documentary evidence triangulated with interview data from a range of key Indian stakeholders. I found that in the transition from abstract principle to operational precept the intersubjective idea of addressing climate change did not transmute into an intersubjectively shared idea of differentiation. Furthermore, once the idea of differentiation was to be operationalised in the negotiations, its primacy, indeed its very "intersubjectiveness", was contested by the idea of symmetry of obligations and responsibility. The ongoing regime flux is the outcome of this contestation between ideas held collectively by groups, as no stabilising hegemonic historical structure has been created. India's emergence has been insufficient to reinstate differentiation as an intersubjectively held idea and it is thus unable to secure a hegemonic historical structure in favour of differentiation.
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    Open Access
    Energy efficiency in the iron and steel industry : cases of Zimbabwe and South Africa
    (2004) Muguti, Elizabeth Zivai; Ogunlade, Davidson
    This study looks at possible improvements of energy efficiency in the iron and steel industry in Zimbabwe and the case of South Africa is studied also for comparison. Data required was obtained through field visits and international databases. The fieldwork findings, analysis and published literature contributed to the conclusions and recommendations. There is a relationship between technology advancement, energy efficiency and energy intensity. The more modern technology a country's steel industry adopts the more energy efficient it becomes and so lowers its energy intensity. Countries such as South Korea, Japan and Germany have adopted modern technologies and they are among the most efficient steel producers and have the lowest energy intensities while India and China have low levels of modern technologies, low efficiencies and high intensities. ZISCO, the iron and steel industry of Zimbabwe has a relatively high energy intensity (closer to China and India) compared to South Africa and other developing country producers. ZISCO has both new and old technology while industry in South Africa, which has retired most old technology and closed all its less efficient plants, is largely using new and even state of the art technology in some of its plants. In Zimbabwe the national economic and industrial policies have had negative impacts on the growth and development of its iron and steel industry. ZISCO needs policies that support the adoption of energy efficient technology, create a level playing field for downstream steel industries since ZISCO has the potential to influence growth of this sector and the sector has prospects for significant foreign currency earnings. The study recommends a restructuring of ZISCO to improve productivity, and energy efficiency through replacement of old technologies in the medium to long term and implementation of some identified less capital-intensive options that are typical in an integrated steel mill.
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    Open Access
    Potential contribution of solar thermal power to electricity supply in Northern Nigeria
    (2012) Ogunmodimu, Olumide Oluwaseun; Marquard, Andrew
    Energy is an essential requirement for a reasonable socio economic development in a country; however, its provision depends on availability of energy sources and the require d investment. Nigeria possesses abundant deposits of energy sources ranging from fossil fuel to renewable energy sources. Over the years, the level of production of energy from these sources has been considerably low. The present level of electricity supply is short of demand and the supply is not reliable. As the country is experiencing rapid growth in population, adequate energy provision is necessary for corresponding level of production and development. The need for sustainable and renewable sources of energy has emerged globally owing to environmental issues associated with the use of conventional fuel. In order to consider the possibility of harnessing the solar energy resource in northern Nigeria, this study explores the potential contribution of the adoption of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology to the energy system in the far northern States of Nigeria. These States are chosen because the region lies within a high sunshine belt and thus having a daily average DNI of 6.2 KWh/m2 / day and an annual average of 2320 KWh/m2/yr. The annual average DNI in the region is a bit higher than that of the Andasol CSP plant in Spain which is 2090 KWh/m2/yr. The thesis seeks to uncover the potential for CSP in Nigeria, and determine when the cost of energy from CSP will become competitive with the cost of energy from conventional power. Using three possible economic growth scenarios (reference (7%), high (10%) and optimistic (13%) economic growth scenarios) to model future energy demand and supply from CSP and conventional gas plant. The results obtained show possible competition from potential CSP plant in Nigeria depending on the international and domestic gas market. However, continuous payment of blanket subsidy on the domestic price of natural gas in Nigeria will adversely affect potential investment in CSP market in Nigeria.
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    A software tool for the preliminary performance modelling of central receivers and associated power cycles
    (2011) Smith, Lee; Bennett, Kevin
    A software tool for assisting in the preliminary performance modelling of central receiver solar thermal plants was developed using MatlabĀ®. Scope was limited to the thermodynamic study of the power cycle and receiver. The receiver model was validated by comparing results to published data. The model was able to simulate billboard, C-cavity and cylindrical receivers within 1% in cases involving single-phase fluids and by at most 3% - 5% for water. Performance studies were conducted to demonstrate the usefulness of the model. Power cycle studies investigated the performance limits on non-reheated cycles as well as the effects of reheat and regenerative feedwater heating. The results showed expected trends of efficiency increasing with turbine inlet temperature and pressures. Also, efficiency was shown to increase asymptotically with number of feedwater heaters and reheat was shown to improve exhaust quality and efficiency. Billboard and cylindrical receivers were studied in detail using a number of heat transfer fluids, namely thermal oil, molten salt, molten sodium and water to compare the relative performance over a range of rated powers. Water and thermal oil were shown to be the best performing fluids for use in billboards and cylindrical receivers, respectively. Water and salt were shown to require the least area for use in billboards and cylindrical receivers, respectively. The effects of power cycle performance on receiver performance and size were investigated from which it was found that receiver efficiency increases marginally with power cycle efficiency but the required area is reduced significantly.