This book aims to make the best use of fine-grained smart meter data to process and translate them into actual information and incorporated into consumer behavior modeling and distribution system operations. It begins with an overview of recent developments in smart meter data analytics. Since data management is the basis of further smart meter data analytics and its applications, three issues on data management, i.e., data compression, anomaly detection, and data generation, are subsequently studied. The following works try to model complex consumer behavior. Specific works include load profiling, pattern recognition, personalized price design, socio-demographic information identification, and household behavior coding. On this basis, the book extends consumer behavior in spatial and temporal scale. Works such as consumer aggregation, individual load forecasting, and aggregated load forecasting are introduced. We hope this book can inspire readers to define new problems, apply novel methods, and obtain interesting results with massive smart meter data or even other monitoring data in the power systems.

Social participation in water management and governance recently became a reality in many economies and societies. Yet the dimensions in which power regulation, social equity and democracy-building are connected with participation have been only tangentially analyzed for the water sector. Understanding the growing interest in social participation involves appreciating the specificity of the contemporary period within its historic and geographic contexts as well as uncovering larger political, economic and cultural trends of recent decades which frame participatory actions. Within a wide variety of cases presented from around the world, the reader will find critical analyses of participation and an array of political ecological processes that influence water governance. Sixteen chapters from a diverse group of scholars and practitioners examine water rights definition, hydropower dam construction, urban river renewal, irrigation organizations, water development NGOs, river basin management, water policy implementation and judicial decision-making in water conflicts. Yet there are commonalities in participatory experiences across this spectrum of water issues. The book's five sections highlight key dimensions of contemporary water management that influence, and in turn are influenced by, social participation. These sections are: participation and indigenous water governance; participation and the dynamics of gender in water management; participation and river basin governance; participation and implementation of water management and participation and the politics of water governance.

The 1973 'Oil Shock' is considered a turning point in the history of the twentieth century. At the time it seemed to mark a definitive shift from the era of low priced oil to the era of expensive oil. For most Western industrialized countries, it became the symbolic marker of the end of an era. For many oil producers, it translated into an unprecedented control over their energy resources, and completed the process of decolonization, leading to a profound redefinition of international relations.This book provides an analysis of the crisis and its global political and economic impact. It features contributions from a range of perspectives and approaches, including political, economic, environmental, international and social history. The authors examine the origins of what was defined as an 'oil revolution' by the oil-producing countries, as well as the far-reaching effects of the 'shock' on the Cold War and decolonization, on international energy markets and the global economy. In doing so, they help place the event in its historical context as a key moment in the transformation of the international economy and of North-South relations.

Published in 1992, this book concentrates on recent developments, applications and aspects relating to numerical hydraulic models for predicting flow and water quality parameters in coastal, estuarine and river waters and river systems. The various chapters cover a range of different types of models and discuss the role of such numerical models for environmental impact assessment studies. The book is based on papers presented by leading experts in the field at a symposium held on 13 November 1991, organized by the Tyne and Humber Branch of the Institution of Water and Environmental Management. It covers the latest developments in modelling techniques and approaches and also the concepts of water quality modelling as required and seen from the viewpoints of regulatory agencies such as the NRA, consulting engineers and specialist modelling laboratories such as HR Wallingford and WRc. As well as an up-to-date review, it provides an understanding of the problems relating to water quality modelling, and the scope and requirements for using water quality models in the water industry. Readership includes practising engineers and scientists in the water industry, including consulting engineers, water companies and the NRA and other government departments, university and polytechnic libraries, staff and students and all other members of the water engineering profession.

The coal industry has been and continues to be of critical importance for China's economic modernization. With its huge labour force, country-wide infrastructure, and vital strategic importance for the economy, the industry presents special problems for reformers, and epitomises the problems of reform in the state industrial sector as a whole. This book examines the changes in the structure and operation of the Chinese coal industry from the mid-19th century to the present, concentrating on the years of reform. Although the focus is on the economics of the industry, the book also provides many insights into China's socio-political development.

Originally published in 1987. The Chernobyl disaster intensified the whole debate on the nuclear power industry. There was great public concern about the industry regulation, about the siting of nuclear facilities, including the dumping of nuclear waste, and about the alleged secretiveness of the industry. This book examines these and many other important aspects of the industry worldwide and provides much important original research. It focuses in particular on the political processes which control the industry, on waste disposal and on the social impact.

This book provides a balanced critique of a range of international sustainability certification schemes across nine agricultural and natural resource industries. Certification schemes set standards through intramarket private and multi-stakeholder mechanisms, and while third-party verification is often compulsory, certification schemes are regulated voluntarily rather than legislatively. This volume examines the intricacies of certification schemes and the issues they seek to address and provides the context within which each scheme operates. While a distinction between sustainability certifications and extra-markets or intrabusiness codes of conducts is made, the book also demonstrates how both are often working towards similar sustainability objectives. Each chapter highlights a different sector, including animal welfare, biodiversity, biofuels, coffee, fisheries, flowers, forest management and mining, with the contributions offering interdisciplinary perspectives and utilising a wide range of methodologies. The realities, achievements and challenges faced by varying certification schemes are discussed, identifying common outcomes and findings and concluding with recommendations for future practice and research. The book is aimed at advanced students, researchers and professionals in agribusiness, natural resource economics, sustainability assessment and corporate social responsibility.

This book analyzes energy security dynamics in Europe through the prism of security logics. Drawing on the literature on securitization, security logics and security contexts, it scrutinizes energy security debates and policy developments in Germany, Poland and Ukraine, focusing on the pipeline politics, nuclear energy and renewables sector. The contextualized analysis accounts for the wider historical, socio-economic and cultural background from which energy policies emerge and gives a voice to the different stakeholders-from policymakers to the local NGO sector. The book sheds light on the root causes of different energy policy decisions and illustrates that European energy security is currently driven by four security logics-war, subsistence, risk and emancipation. The logic of emancipation is a newly emergent phenomenon embraced by many bottom-up citizens' initiatives and manifested in their drive to self-reliance, the rhetoric of liberation and local practices of energy production. The conceptualization and analysis of the emancipatory logic vis-a-vis other energy security logics help to explain European energy context most effectively-with its background conditions, emerging trends and often controversial national policy approaches. This book will be of much interest to students of critical security studies, energy policy and European politics in general.

An invaluable reference for graduate students and academic researchers, this book introduces the basic terminology, methods and theory of the physics of flow in porous media. Geometric concepts, such as percolation and fractals, are explained and simple simulations are created, providing readers with both the knowledge and the analytical tools to deal with real experiments. It covers the basic hydrodynamics of porous media and how complexity emerges from it, as well as establishing key connections between hydrodynamics and statistical physics. Covering current concepts and their uses, this book is of interest to applied physicists and computational/theoretical Earth scientists and engineers seeking a rigorous theoretical treatment of this topic. Physics of Flow in Porous Media fills a gap in the literature by providing a physics-based approach to a field that is mostly dominated by engineering approaches.

Analytics can support numerous aspects of water industry planning, management, and operations. Given this wide range of touchpoints and applications, it is becoming increasingly imperative that the championship and capability of broad-based analytics needs to be developed and practically integrated to address the current and transitional challenges facing the drinking water industry. Analytics will contribute substantially to future efforts to provide innovative solutions that make the water industry more sustainable and resilient. The purpose of this book is to introduce analytics to practicing water engineers so they can deploy the covered subjects, approaches, and detailed techniques in their daily operations, management, and decision-making processes. Also, undergraduate students as well as early graduate students who are in the water concentrations will be exposed to established analytical techniques, along with many methods that are currently considered to be new or emerging/maturing. This book covers a broad spectrum of water industry analytics topics in an easy-to-follow manner. The overall background and contexts are motivated by (and directly drawn from) actual water utility projects that the authors have worked on numerous recent years. The authors strongly believe that the water industry should embrace and integrate data-driven fundamentals and methods into their daily operations and decision-making process(es) to replace established "rule-of-thumb" and weak heuristic approaches - and an analytics viewpoint, approach, and culture is key to this industry transformation.

This book, first published in 1984, examines the economics and political issues raised by foreign investment in mineral development. It is an attempt to identify, as far as possible, what occurs in and between countries when foreign investments are made in mineral development, concentrating on two main themes: on the nature of the transactions which constitute the process of foreign investment on the physical level - money and instruments of credit, objects, information and people as they cross national boundaries - and on the nature of the relationships which are created between foreign investors and governments in the countries where the investments are made. The author argues that the nature of physical transactions plays a crucial role in determining the character of host country-foreign investor relations, and the policies and attitudes adopted by host country authorities exercise an important influence, in turn, on the physical effects of foreign investments. As such, the book constitutes a comprehensive overview of the economic and political factors involved in mining and its development.

Originally published in 1983. Extensive research into the archives of the lead industry has culminated in this comprehensive and fascinating account of the industry from the earliest times to the 1980's. It traces the origins of the various types of lead manufacturing and the nineteenth-century expansion of the industry. The technological changes within the industry are traced in detail, and an appraisal of modern industry and its future prospects concluded this definitive and very readable history of the lead industry.

Filling a long-standing need for a desk reference that synthesizes current research, Land Use Effects on Streamflow and Water Quality in the Northeastern United States reviews and discusses the impact of forest management, agriculture, and urbanization. The book provides a gateway to the diverse scientific literature that is urgently needed to understand and solve ubiquitous watershed management problems. The authors use an in-depth approach that focuses on the science behind sound management principles and practices. The book begins with a summary of the scientific principles and processes that define and govern the interactions between activities on land and conditions in streams, lakes, and estuaries. Building on these principles, later chapters progress from basic science to small-scale, controlled field experiments to landscape-scale studies and their watershed management implications. This nested format parallels the development of watershed management projects and solutions. The deliberate integration of land use history, ecology, hydrology, chemistry, and resource management avoids the artificial separation of inter-related watershed characteristics and tracks causes and effects over realistic time scales. The authors present the hydrologic and water quality principles on which to construct management plans for water supply watersheds across a wide range of sizes, configurations, and time scales. Rigorously reviewed by a distinguished panel of scientists and watershed managers, the book benefits from their collective experience across the full range of watershed science and management. It provides a diverse audience with the opportunity to update and expand their knowledge in critical areas of watershed science and management.

Published in 1971: At first glance it might seem that the three subjects dealt with in the essays written over the last twenty years and now collected in this volume could hardly be more diverse, beginning with the growth of the firm and moving from the international petroleum industry to the Middle East generally. Oddly enough, however, these subjects are connected by the same type of historical logic that characterizes the diversification of an industrial firm: the logic in the simple principle that one thing leads to another.

This timely volume examines the work of the National Estuary Program, the prominent federally-funded initiative dealing with pollution and other anthropogenic impacts on estuarine ecosystems and the management plans necessary to ensure that these invaluable natural treasures remain healthy and productive for future generations. Estuary Restoration and Maintenance sets into clear perspective the state of America's estuarine waters, the effects of human development in watersheds, and the impacts of pollution and anthropogenic activities on living resources and habitats in these critically important coastal systems. Effective management and protection of estuarine environments Edited by a leading estuarine scientist, the book focuses on the technical and management issues involved in National Estuary Program sites across the United States-Long Island Sound, Delaware Bay, Galveston Bay, and San Francisco Bay. Each case study explains and assesses the following critical issues: -a historical description of the priority problems -status and trends of water quality, habitat conditions, natural resources and the uses of the estuary -human impacts on water quality and habitats, natural resources and the uses of the estuary -the links between pollutant loadings and watershed development, natural resources and the uses of the estuary -the identification of priority problems and their cause and effect, -management plans to ensure ecological integrity of the estuary Estuary Restoration and Maintenance covers the gamut of issues, from the technical assessment of problems to management action plans for the improvement of the environmental quality of estuaries. Features

This book provides a novel and holistic perspective on the deployment of prepaid electricity meter technology among energy impoverished (vulnerable) households based in developing or under-developed communities of Sub-Saharan Africa. It explores and reviews the nexus between the technology and socio-economic development, technology acceptance and rejection in low-income households, and ultimately proposes a contextual model to avert or assuage energy poverty in the region using the technology. Science is applied as a convenient, valid, and reliable model to generate bespoke, contextual, and relevant knowledge for policy makers on the development of prepaid meter market in the region. The knowledge shared contributes to extant discourse and debates around the effectiveness of the technology within indigent household settings. The book is intended for energy/electricity utilities, prepaid electricity businesses, policy developers, and other interested parties whose work is related to prepaid electricity meters.

Originally published in 1980. More so than any other energy resource, nuclear power has the capacity to provide much of our energy needs but is highly controversial. This book discusses the major British decisions in the civil nuclear field, and the way they were made, between 1953 and 1978. It spans the period between the decision to construct Calder Hall - claimed as the world's first nuclear power station - and the Windscale Inquiry - claimed as the world's most thorough study of a nuclear project. For the period up to 1974 this involves a study of the internal processes of British central government. The private issues include the technical selection of nuclear reactors, the economic arguments about nuclear power and the political clashes between institutions and individuals. The public issues concern nuclear safety and the environment and the rights and opportunities for individuals and groups to protest about nuclear development. The book demonstrates that British civil nuclear power decision making had many shortcomings and concludes that it was hampered by outdated political and administrative attitudes and machinery and that some of the central issues in the nuclear power debate were misunderstood by the decision makers themselves.

Originally published in 1984. This annotated bibliography will serve as a starting point for information on the issue of nuclear power. Arranged for easy use into three sections - Pro-Nuclear, Anti-Nuclear, and Neutral - the book cites over a hundred of the most important books on the subject, offering for each full bibliographic data and a lengthy annotation that is balanced and informative. This work, which features author, title and subject indexes, is simultaneously a collection-building tool, a guide for non-specialist library patrons and an invaluable aid for research.

Originally published in 1986. Nuclear power is now regarded as essential to survival in the twenty-first century. But the safety of nuclear power stations is a highly controversial topic, and where they will be sited is a most vital question. In this independent critique, based on four years of research, Stan Openshaw argues that reactor siting provides a simple means of offering additional, design-independent margins of safety. Reactor siting policies in the UK and USA are examined and it is suggested that UK siting practices need to be updated. The large number of potential alternative sites should be used to devise new planning strategies - strategies which will minimise both the residual health risks from accidents and the danger that a future change in public opinion might lead to calls for the closure of many existing sites on safety grounds.

Originally published in 1980. A clear understanding of how radioactivity moves through the environment is essential to discussions on nuclear power. This book describes, in didactic rather than polemic style, the nature of radioactivity, how it arises in the day-to-day running of nuclear reactors, how and why a small fraction is introduced into the environment in a controlled manner, and on what basis judgements on these processes should be made.

Originally published in 1988. This book considers why some public policies succeed and others do not. It looks at the entrepreneurial process that creates public policies and examines whether they prosper or falter because of their political consequences. The programs and personnel of the Atomic Energy Commission are the empirical foundation for these arguments. The data generated by that agency's annual budget-making cycles, collected over time and organised by program, are used as evidence to test some propositions about policy formation within the executive branch of government. The author's concern is with questions of where and how priorities are established in a complex institutional environment. To answer the more fundamental causal question of why some programs prosper while others wither or die, use is made of more historical analysis and comparison of the fortunes of several of AEC's efforts to develop applied nuclear technology.

Originally published in 1983. The Indian nuclear power programme, both the earliest in the Third World and also one of the most comprehensive, is an important and instructive subject for a wide-ranging and detailed study. This book examines the origins and rationale of the Indian programme in the context of energy resources and consumption. It traces the progress of its historical development and leads up to an evaluation of its performance, in both technical and economic terms of both individual reactors and the programme as a whole. In addition, the book discusses India's nuclear explosion of 1974 and the possibilities for novel developments in nuclear power and other energy sources, such as coal, biogas, hydro and solar power. The author then sets the Indian programme into the world picture by comparing developments in India with those of the Third World (including developments in China and South Africa) and discusses the overall prospects for the Third World. This extremely informative account will appeal to readers with interest in energy, science, technology and Third World developments.

Northeast India, apart from being the rainiest in India, is drained by two large river systems of the world - the Brahmaputra and the Barak (Meghna) - both transnational rivers cutting across bordering countries. The region, known for its rich water resources, has been witnessing an increasing number of conflicts related to water in recent years. This volume documents the multifaceted conflicts and contestations around water in Northeast India, analyses their causes and consequences, and includes expert recommendations. It fills a major gap in the subject by examining wide-ranging issues such as cultural and anthropological dimensions of damming rivers in the Northeast and Eastern Himalayas; seismic surveys, oil extractions, and water conflicts; discontent over water quality and drinking water; floods, river bank erosion, embankments; water policy; transboundary water conflicts; and hydropower development. It also discusses the alleged Chinese efforts to divert the Brahmaputra River. With its analytical and comprehensive coverage, 18 case studies, and suggested approaches for conflict resolution, this book will be indispensable for scholars and researchers of development studies, governance and public policy, politics and international relations, water resources, environment, geography, climate change, area studies, economics, and sociology. It will also be an important resource for policymakers, bureaucrats, development practitioners, civil society groups, the judiciary, and media.

A fascinating insight into the global battle for our energy future

The global competition for scarce natural resources that pits the West against the super-hot economies of China and India, plus a clutch of other contenders including Russia, Brazil, and Indonesia, has become one of the biggest issues facing the world today. Whether it is the rare metal lithium found in salt pans in the Andes, gas from the Caspian Sea, oil off the coast of Brazil, coal from Africa's Zambezi River, or uranium from Kazakhstan, China and India are desperate to ensure the security of their future energy supplies. The same goes for food and water, as contamination and over-use take their toll, the need to provide continued access for the next generation and beyond has increased exponentially. In "Earth Wars: The Battle for Global Resources," international business journalist Geoff Hiscock explores the problems, potential solutions, and inevitable tensions in this ongoing scramble for finite natural resources.

Going beyond "big power" politics to explore resource ownership and the use of innovative technology to get the most out of them, the book takes a forward-looking approach to this pressing issue. Written in clear, jargon-free language, it tells the global resources story in a fresh and engaging way that anyone can understand.Includes insightful, up-to-the-minute coverage of the most pressing debates over resource allocationsDiscusses the major Chinese and Indian businesses that are just becoming known to those in the West (Sinopec, CNOOC, CNPC, Indian Oil, ONGC, Reliance, Coal India, SAIL, and many others)Presents resource- and region-specific chapters to help readers view the pertinent issues from multiple angles

As the economies of China and India grow to challenge those of the West, the battle over natural resources will continue to heat up. "Earth Wars" looks at this very real problem in-depth, presenting a definitive look at one of the greatest challenges of our time.

Scholarly interest in water ethics is increasing, motivated by the urgency of climate change, water scarcity, privatization and conflicts over water resources. Water ethics can provide both conceptual perspectives and practical methodologies for identifying outcomes which are environmentally sustainable and socially just. This book assesses the implications of ongoing research in framing a new discipline of water ethics in practice. Contributions consider the difficult ethical and epistemological questions of water ethics in a global context, as well as offering local, empirical perspectives. Case study chapters focus on a range of countries including Canada, China, Germany, India, South Africa and the USA. The respective insights are brought together in the final section concerning the practical project of a universal water ethics charter, alongside theoretical questions about the legitimacy of a global water ethics. Overall the book provides a stimulating examination of water ethics in theory and practice, relevant to academics and professionals in the fields of water resource management and governance, environmental ethics, geography, law and political science.