| 1. |
- Abend, Sven, et al.
(författare)
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Terrestrial very-long-baseline atom interferometry : Workshop summary
- 2024
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Ingår i: AVS Quantum Science. - : American Institute of Physics (AIP). - 2639-0213. ; 6:2
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- This document presents a summary of the 2023 Terrestrial Very-Long-Baseline Atom Interferometry Workshop hosted by CERN. The workshop brought together experts from around the world to discuss the exciting developments in large-scale atom interferometer (AI) prototypes and their potential for detecting ultralight dark matter and gravitational waves. The primary objective of the workshop was to lay the groundwork for an international TVLBAI proto-collaboration. This collaboration aims to unite researchers from different institutions to strategize and secure funding for terrestrial large-scale AI projects. The ultimate goal is to create a roadmap detailing the design and technology choices for one or more kilometer--scale detectors, which will be operational in the mid-2030s. The key sections of this report present the physics case and technical challenges, together with a comprehensive overview of the discussions at the workshop together with the main conclusions.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Alkhalili, Noura, et al.
(författare)
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The enduring coloniality of ecological modernization : Wind energy development in occupied Western Sahara and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights
- 2023
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Ingår i: Political Geography. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-5096 .- 0962-6298. ; 103
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The dominant narratives on how to confront climate change are often presented as neutral proposals concerned with the well-being of the planet and its inhabitants. The main objective of this article is to exemplify how concepts like Ecological Modernization and Sustainable Development are used in the name of energy transitions to prolong illegal military occupations in two territories, namely occupied Western Sahara and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. By combining first-hand and secondary data from our cases, we also expose the enduring coloniality of such concepts that have been critiqued not only for their lack of neutrality but also for their contribution to the denial of basic human rights such as self-determination, sovereignty, and the right to resourcehood. We argue that renewable energy projects, in the two settings studied, are a manifestation of an ecological modernization that ignores aspects of justice and self-determination. Although touted as a solution to mitigating climate change, wind energy development in these two cases violates international law and the principle of self-determination.
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| 4. |
- Clark, Eric, et al.
(författare)
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Rent gaps in the Spanish Crisis
- 2016
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Ingår i: Turismo y crisis, turismo colaborativo y ecoturismo.. - 9788461751150 ; , s. 31-42
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Rent seeking is central to processes of financialisation and crisis formtation, not least in tourism economies. Rent seeking involves the making and taking of rent gaps geared to expand unearned incomes in the form of interest revenues from debt and rental revenues from property. Changes in built environments become increasingly determined by where rent gaps can be created and appropriated, rather than as outcomes of conflict-laden, democratic, use-value oriented decision-making. In this paper we address the role of creating and appropriating rent gaps in the formation of the Spanish crisis. The normative gist of the paper is to ask: How might we go about making rent gap theory not true? The analysis highlights four key dimensions: commodification vs commons; social polarization; financialization vs democracy; and ideology underlying political, legal and institutional change.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- K Gitau, James, et al.
(författare)
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Cleaner cooking while producing biochar: factors affecting adoption of gasifier cookstoves in rural areas
- 2019
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- A majority of households in developing countries use biomass energy for cooking and heating due to its affordability and accessibility. However, unsustainable biomass use leads to deforestation, environmental degradation and climate change. The pollution from open burning of biomass is a major health concern especially for women and children as they spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Biochar-producing gasifier cookstoves offer an opportunity to address many of these problems, while also producing biochar, which can be used as a soil amendment. A study was carried out in order to investigate factors influencing the adoption of these cookstoves in three sites in Kenya (Kwale, Embu and Siaya). After an introductory training, 150 households received cookstoves and were asked to use them to produce biochar for upcoming field experiments. User experiences were collected throughsurveys after 2-3 months and about 2 years, and at workshops. The main benefits of the cookstove identified by the users were fuel saving with significant impacts on household economies, reduced smoke and production of biochar for either cooking or soil amendment. Challenges were related to lighting, a need to refill the fuel canister, fuel preparation and different suitability for different typesof meals and meal sizes. The gasifier use frequency and biochar production rates differed between the sites, which had different climate, socio-economic conditions and fuel accessibility. The results will be of relevance for inclusion of user participation in cookstove designing and performance assessment as well as for stakeholders involved in marketing. They can also give guidance on therelevance of gasifier cookstoves for production of biochar for use on farms.
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| 8. |
- Kinuya Gitau, James, et al.
(författare)
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Understanding users' needs is important for the adoption of cleaner biomass cook stoves
- 2022
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- elwood is the main source of cooking and heating energy for households in rural sub-Saharan Africa. Unfortunately, most of these households use inefficient biomass cook stoves, leading to consumption of more fuel and exposure to indoor air pollutants and associate health problems which disproportionately affect women and children. However, adoption of cleaner biomass cook stoves has remained low which could be associated to low understanding of users' needs and preferences among other factors. This study examined the performance and use of efficient gasifier cook stoves in the mid-lowlands, highlands and coastal regions of Kenya. Gasifier stoves that produce char (charcoal when used fuel or biochar when used for soil amendment) while cooking were issued to 150 households for free and their performance in fuel use and household air pollution in real life assessed among 50% of the households using participatory cooking tests. Further uptake surveys were carried out after 2–3 months about one year after gasifier cook stoves were issued. The gasifier performs better than three-stone open fire as it reduces fuel use by 51% and 28% when char is considered as fuel and biochar for soil amendment respectively. The new stove reduces concentration of PM2.5 and CO by 90% and 73% respectively. The results showed that after 2-3 months, 86%, 96% and 100% (average 94%) of households were using the stove though at varying frequencies of 4, 9 and 7 (average 7) times per week in Embu, Kwale and Siaya respectively. The use of the new stove was alongside their traditional stoves a common practice known as stove stacking. The gasifier was mainly used to cook foods that required a short cooking time and many preferred to use it to cook dinner. After about one year, 38%, 100 % and 88% (average 75%) of households were using it 3, 2 and 5 (average 3) times per week in Embu, Kwale and Siaya respectively while stove stacking. The surveys showed that the users liked the gasifier because it saves fuel, produce char used as charcoal providing fuel for other purposes such as ironing clothes and heating space, cook well and burn longer with less smoke and is easy to harvest and cool the char produced. However, despite the positive characteristics the users found it difficult to light from the top, chop wood into required sizes and reload the stove when fuel charred before the food got ready. To meet their cooking and heating needs, households continued to use the traditional three-stone and added the new stove. Users’ needs and preferences need to be understood and considered in the development of cleaner cooking biomass stoves for enhanced adoption and realization of the associated benefits
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| 9. |
- Mahmoud, Yahia, et al.
(författare)
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At the nexus of problem-solving and critical research
- 2018
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Ingår i: Ecology and Society. - 1708-3087. ; 23:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The analytical distinction between critical and problem-solving research is useful. At the onset of research, the latter takes the world as it is while the former questions it. Yet, in striving to integrate social and natural dimensions of sustainability such a distinction may surface as a methodological obstacle. We illustrate how combining critical with problem-solving approaches can help us imagine, understand, and enable transitions to sustainability. First, we trace the historical divide and potential complementarity between critical and problem-solving approaches in the natural and social sciences and how critical approaches in the social sciences are informed by critical theory. Inspired by Robert Cox, we then analyze a set of PhD theses in an interdisciplinary research program engaging in critical and problem-solving research, on and for sustainability. We do so based on Cox’s terminology, especially the concepts of ideas, institutions, material capabilities, and frameworks for action, and then show how selected research narratives apply them. To conclude, we emphasize that integrated understandings of human-environmental dynamics are facilitated by multiscalar approaches, theoretical and methodological pluralism, and a combination of natural and social science theory, typical of the interdisciplinary research field of sustainability science.
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| 10. |
- Mahmoud, Yahia, et al.
(författare)
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Biochar production and application in small-scale farming in Kenya : Yield increases and local perceptions
- 2019
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Degradation of agricultural soils and forest resources are two pervasive challenges in rural landscapes of sub-Saharan Africa. Biochar-producing biomass gasification technologies attract evermore interest because these can empower small-scale farmers to produce energy and food more sustainably byimproving energy use efficiencies, lowering emissions and strengthening climate resilience. In order to assess the potential impacts and the feasibility of soil biochar amendments we are carrying out on-farm trials with 150 households in three agroecosystems in Kenya. A participatory approach was followed for testing uptake of gasifier cook stoves and effects of biochar use on crop production. The outcomes that will be presented include: (a) the degree of feasibility, (b) the effects on crop yields, (c) the general attitudes towards the idea of using the cookstoves to produce biochar, and (d) patterns of biomass fuel use. Effects of domestically produced biochar, at rates of 1-10 t DW ha-1, on the production of maize (Zea mays) and kale (Brassica oleracea) were compared with normal farming practices. At the site located in Kwale the yield increases of maize showed a strong positive correlation with biochar dose. In the first season, yields increased from 0.9 Mg ha-1 in the control plot to 4.4Mg ha-1 in average in the biochar-amended plots. At another site (Siaya), an average biochar dose of 2.8 Mg ha-1 lead to an increase in maize yields from 2.9 to 3.8 Mg ha-1 in average in the first season and from 1.7 to 2.5 Mg ha-1 in the second season after biochar addition. Findings from this action research indicate that producing and using biochar on small-scale farms offers suitable opportunities to close yield gaps across Kenya and in similar agro-ecological environments.
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| 11. |
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| 12. |
- Mahmoud, Yahia
(författare)
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Chinese Development Assistance and West African Agriculture : A Shifting Approach to Foreign Aid?
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- China's economic rise and its implications for international relations have attracted worldwide attention in recent years. The outcomes of this development are numerous, complex and involve a wide range of issues. In addition to radical consequences for the Chinese society itself they are also affecting the rest of the world. In this context, there is a big uncertainty of what China’s economic development might mean for other developing countries. This study takes its start in this last concern. As a developing country that reached an impressive economic growth in a relatively short period of time, China is becoming a model of economic development for many countries in the South. What is more, China’s successful political networking in the past puts it in a special position to disseminate some ideas and practices of development. Based on its own experience, tainted by pragmatism and focus on basic issues first, China has implemented through the past forty years a wide range of development projects in Africa. The many-sided results of these efforts have been widely ignored and underestimated by western academia. Sub-Saharan Africa’s dependence on food import has grown rapidly since the mid 1980s. Simultaneously, the share of aid directed towards agricultural development has declined significantly. This has left millions of people at the mercy of international production and price fluctuations. Agriculture is still the dorsal spine of the West African economies and in spite of more than fifty years of foreign aid many of the targeted problems still seem to persist. This dissertation evaluates the meaning and consequences of China’s efforts in West Africa through the empirical study of two agricultural projects that have survived for more than thirty years and became imbedded in local economies. The study, which uses a critical realist framework, seeks to understand not only the determinants behind China’s assistance to West Africa but above all its implications for local economies. The study argues that collaboration based on mutual benefit, long-term basis and local needs could represent a sound approach to foreign aid, in general, and agricultural assistance, in particular.
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| 13. |
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| 14. |
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| 15. |
- Mahmoud, Yahia, et al.
(författare)
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Foreign Aid
- 2010
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Ingår i: Encyclopedia of Geography. - 9781412956970
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 16. |
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| 17. |
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| 18. |
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| 19. |
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| 20. |
- Mahmoud, Yahia
(författare)
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Modernism in Africa
- 2016
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Ingår i: Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism.
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 21. |
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| 22. |
- Mahmoud, Yahia, et al.
(författare)
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Soils, sinks, and smallholder farmers: Examining the benefits of biochar energy transitions in Kenya
- 2021
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Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 2214-6326 .- 2214-6296. ; 75
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Besides reducing fuel demands and indoor air pollution, pyrolytic cooking stoves produce a by-product (biochar) that can improve soil fertility and serve as a sink for carbon sequestration. Most smallholder farmers in Africa depend on wood for fuel, suffer from exposure to smoke and soils in their cultivated farms are deteriorating. Biochar (bio-charcoal) production has potentials to reduce energy requirement, diminish exposure to smoke, improve soil health and ease household activities traditionally associated with female labour. However, introducing new technologies and behaviours that tackle existing problems without creating new ones is a complex endeavour. Transitions need to be anticipatory, comprehensive and inclusive. Having this in mind, a trans-disciplinary study was conducted from 2013 to 2019 with 150 households in three agro-ecological zones of Kenya. The socio-economic conditions, the uses of fuels and stoves, the crops grown and fertilizers used, as well as the labour division within households were documented. Selected households were given pyrolitic cooking stoves and trained in applying biochar to the soil. After two years of using the cooking stoves and applying biochar, studies were conducted to assess the feasibility and preliminary impacts based on the households own perceptions and experiences. The results showed that the strategy represented a viable option to deal with fuel use efficiency, exposure to indoor smoke and soil degradation, as well as easing the burden on female labour.
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| 23. |
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| 24. |
- Nardi, Andrea, et al.
(författare)
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La importancia de la escala territorial en los análisis de conservación de la biodiversidad y explotación de los recursos naturales : Una discusión a partir del Parque Nacional Korup (Camerún)
- 2017
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- We discuss in this paper the relevance of the territorial scalar approach in the analysis of biodiversity conservation and natural resource exploitation. We do this by using an empirical case study focused on the use of the forest ecosystems by diverse stakeholders in Korup region, South West Cameroon.Our aim is to contextualize biodiversity conservation in Korup National Park in a larger territorial/environmental context of transformations resulting from natural resource exploitation in the Korup region. We do this by moving between two territorial scales, a local and a regional one. The local scale refers in this study to the Korup park and its buffer zone, while the regional one expands to focus on the Korup region, where the park is located. We claim that any analysis and policy of biodiversity conservation in parks cannot be done without considering the regional context of territorial/environmental transformation. In addition, the analysis shows that, increasingly, the global scale is necessary to consider in order to understand transformations in regional and local environments.
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| 25. |
- Nardi, Maria Andrea, et al.
(författare)
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Nature of Peace: An Interdisciplinary Enquiry into Research at the Intersection of Nature, Peace and Post-Conflict
- 2019
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The nexus between the environment, natural resources and (armed) violence has been researched since the end of the nineties, however major theoretical and empirical gaps still exists in research on the precise role of nature or the natural environment during post-conflict and/or peacebuilding, particularly in relation to those countries that have undergone internal armed conflict.This paper presents a state of the art in research conducted at the intersection of nature, peace and post-conflict. It is based on a systematic research review of more than a hundred articles published in English on conceptual and theoretical questions and case studies from all over the world.The aim here is to contribute to enhance the knowledge we have about the relevance of nature or natural environment in peace and post-conflict studies. We seek to do so by trying to answer the following questions:a. What are the main theoretical and empirical gaps in current research in the intersection of peace, post-conflict and nature?b. Is it necessary to develop alternative notions of nature and / or peace in order to expand the academic research field and the political possibilities of peace?The study presented here is the result of the interdisciplinary research project “The Nature of Peace: exploring links between the natural environment and peace in post-conflict societies”, supported by the Pufendorf Institute for Advanced Studies at Lund University, Sweden, between September 2017 and April 2018.
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| 26. |
- Njenga, Mary, et al.
(författare)
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Innovative Biomass Cooking Approaches for sub-Saharan Africa
- 2019
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Ingår i: African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development. - 1684-5358. ; 19:1, s. 14066-14087
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Eradicating poverty and achieving food and nutrition security in a sustainable environment is difficult to achieve without adequate access to affordable cooking fuel. It is therefore important to understand the common sources of cooking energy used by people in rural areas and the challenges faced in making fuel sources economically viable, socially acceptable and ecologically sustainable. In the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region, more than 90% of the population relies on firewood and charcoal (wood fuel, collectively) as a primary source of domestic energy. Wood fuel sustainability is challenged by unsustainable harvesting and inefficient methods of converting wood into energy. The use of inefficient cook stoves contributes to wood wastage and smoke exposure associated with severe illnesses. Households often abandon traditional nutritious diets that take a long time to cook, reduce the number of meals, and spend income on fuel at the expense of food costs. Innovations exist that have the potential to provide affordable and cleaner tree-based cooking fuel. Pruning trees on the farm as a fuel source brings firewood closer to women, lightens their workload, saves time and reduces income spent on cooking fuel. Using briquettes or gas cook stoves can reduce health risks associated with food preparation and reduce income spent on cooking fuel due to increased fuel efficiency. The development of these innovations indicates the need for a multi-disciplinary approach to increase awareness of the benefits of cooking fuel innovations, encourage further research on product quality enhancement and standardization, to understand cultural and behavioral issues influencing adoption, and integrate innovations into bioenergy policy frameworks.
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| 27. |
- Njenga, Mary, et al.
(författare)
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Quality of charcoal produced using micro gasification and how the new cook stove works in rural Kenya
- 2017
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Letters. - : IOP PUBLISHING LTD. - 1748-9326. ; 12:9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Wood based energy is the main source of cooking and heating fuel in Sub-Saharan Africa. Its use rises as the population increases. Inefficient cook stoves result in fuel wastage and health issues associated with smoke in the kitchen. As users are poor women, they tend not to be consulted on cook stove development, hence the need for participatory development of efficient woodfuel cooking systems. This paper presents the findings of a study carried out in Embu, Kenya to assess energy use efficiency and concentrations of carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter from charcoal produced using gasifier cook stoves, compared to conventional wood charcoal. Charcoal made from Grevillea robusta prunings, Zea mays cob (maize cob) and Cocos nucifera (coconut shells) had calorific values of 26.5 kJ g(-1), 28.7 kJ g-1 and 31.7 kJ g(-1) respectively, which are comparable to conventional wood charcoal with calorific values of 33.1 kJ g(-1). Cooking with firewood in a gasifier cook stove and use of the resultant charcoal as by-product to cook another meal in a conventional charcoal stove saved 41% of the amount of fuel compared to cooking with firewood in the traditional three stone open fire. Cooking with firewood based on G. robusta prunings in the traditional open fire resulted in a concentration of fine particulate matter of 2600 mu g m(-3), which is more than 100 times greater than from cooking with charcoal made from G. robusta prunings in a gasifier. Thirty five percent of households used the gasifier for cooking dinner and lunch, and cooks preferred using it for food that took a short time to prepare. Although the gasifier cook stove is energy and emission efficient there is a need for it to be developed further to better suit local cooking preferences. The energy transition in Africa will have to include cleaner and more sustainable wood based cooking systems.
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| 28. |
- Sundberg, Cecilia, et al.
(författare)
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Biochar from cookstoves reduces greenhouse gas emissions from smallholder farms in Africa
- 2020
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Ingår i: Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change. - : Springer Nature. - 1381-2386 .- 1573-1596. ; 25:6, s. 953-967
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Biochar produced in cookstoves has the potential to contribute to negative carbon emissions through sequestration of biomass carbon while also providing other benefits for sustainable development, including provision of clean renewable energy and increased yields in tropical agriculture. The aim of the reported research was to estimate effects on food production, household energy access and life cycle climate impact from introduction of biochar-producing cookstoves on smallholder farms in Kenya. Participatory research on biochar production and use was undertaken with 150 Kenyan smallholder farming households. Gasifier cookstove functionality, fuel efficiency and emissions were measured, as well as biochar effects on agricultural yields after application to soil. Cookstoves provided benefits through reduced smoke, fuel wood savings and char production, but challenges were found related to labour for fuel preparation, lighting and refilling. On-farm trials with varying rates of biochar inputs, in combination with and without mineral fertilizers, have led to a sustained increase of maize yields following one-time application. The climate impact in a life cycle perspective was considerably lower for the system with cookstove production of biochar and use of biochar in agriculture than for current cooking practices. Climate benefits from biochar production and use are thus possible on smallholder farms in sub-Saharan Africa, through reduced use of biomass in cooking, reduced emissions of products of incomplete combustion and sequestration of stable biochar carbon in soils. Biochar-producing cookstoves can be implemented as a climate change mitigation method in rural sub-Saharan Africa. Successful implementation will require changes in cooking systems including fuel supply, as well as farming systems, which, in turn, requires an understanding of local socio-cultural conditions, including power relations and gender aspects.
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| 29. |
- Woroniecki, Stephen, et al.
(författare)
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Nature unsettled: How knowledge and power shape ‘nature-based’ approaches to societal challenges
- 2020
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Ingår i: Global Environmental Change. - : Elsevier BV. - 0959-3780 .- 1872-9495. ; 65
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nature-based solutions (NbS) are gaining traction in high-level, decision-making arenas as a response to global policy challenges. Claiming to be transformative and pluralistic, NbS aim to resolve societal problems through a focus on nature, which is understood to be a benign ally. This uncritical framing of nature may have unintended and inequitable consequences that undermine the emancipatory potential of NbS. In this paper, we highlight the need to pay attention to epistemic and power dimensions that tend to be hidden in NbS. We assume that nature is neither passive nor external to human society, but is instead expressed in frames (reifying modes of expression) that reflect both knowledge and power in social encounters where NbS are used. Drawing upon five cases, we analyse how particular ways of framing nature express and reinforce the power relations that structure people’s interactions. Each of the five cases relies on a nature-based frame to produce knowledge on climate adaptation, peacebuilding and justice. The analysis reveals how frames of nature are enacted in particular contexts, and how this conditions the potential for societal transformation towards sustainability and pluralistic knowledge. We demonstrate how frames of nature can constrain or enable opportunities for various groups to respond to environmental change. We discuss how the NbS paradigm might better incorporate diverse, situated knowledge and subjectivities, and conclude that this will require a more critical evaluation of NbS practice and research.
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