Water provides benefits as a commodity for agriculture, industry, and households, and as a public good such as fisheries habitat, water quality and recreational use. To aid in cost-benefit analysis under conditions where market determined price signals are usually unavailable, economists have developed a range of alternative valuation methods for measuring economic benefits. This volume provides the most comprehensive exposition to-date of the application of economic valuation methods to proposed water resources investments and policies. It provides a conceptual framework for valuation of both commodity and public good uses of water, addressing non-market valuation techniques appropriate to measuring public benefits - including water quality improvement, recreation, and fish habitat enhancement. The book describes the various measurement methods, illustrates how they are applied in practice, and discusses their strengths, limitations, and appropriate roles. In this second edition, all chapters have been thoroughly updated, and in particular the coverage of water markets and valuation of ecosystem services from water has been expanded. Robert Young, author of the 2005 edition, has been joined for this new edition by John Loomis, who brings additional expertise on ecosystem services and the environmental economics of water for recreational and other public good uses of water.

The catchment area of the Mekong River and its tributaries extends from China, through Burma/Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and to Vietnam. The water resources of the Mekong region - from the Irrawaddy and Nu-Salween in the west, across the Chao Phraya to the Lancang-Mekong and Red River in the east- are increasingly contested. Governments, companies, and banks are driving new investments in roads, dams, diversions, irrigation schemes, navigation facilities, power plants and other emblems of conventional 'development'. Their plans and interventions should provide some benefits, but also pose multiple burdens and risks to millions of people dependent on wetlands, floodplains and aquatic resources, in particular, the wild capture fisheries of rivers and lakes. This book examines how large-scale projects are being proposed, justified, and built. How are such projects contested and how do specific governance regimes influence decision making? The book also highlights the emergence of new actors, rights and trade-off debates, and the social and environmental consequences of 'water resources development'. This book shows how diverse, and often antagonistic, ideologies and interests are contesting for legitimacy. It argues that the distribution of decision-making, political, and discursive power influences how the waterscapes of the region will ultimately look and how benefits, costs and risks will be distributed. These issues are crucial for the transformation of waterscapes and the prospects for democratizing water governance in the Mekong region. The book is part of the action-research of the M-POWER (Mekong Program on Water, Environment and Resilience) knowledge network. Published with IFAD, CG|AR Challenge Program on Water & Food, M-POWER, Project ECHEL-EAU and HEINRICH BOLL STIFTUNG

Water Communication aims at setting a first general outlook at what communication on water means, who communicates and on what topics. Through different examples and based on different research and contributions, this book presents an original first overview of "water communication". It sets its academic value as one distinct scientific domain and provides tips and practical tools to professionals. The book contributes to avoid mixing messages, targets and discourses when setting communication related to water issues. The book facilitates coordination within the water sector and its organizations as water is a wide field of applications where inadequate words and language understanding between its stakeholders is one of the main obstacles today. Water Communication provides and describes: a general outlook and retrospective of the history of the water sector in terms of communication the landscape of organizations communicating on water and classification of topics the differences between communication, information, mediation, raising awareness examples of communication campaigns on water Water Communication is a vital resource for communication managers, utility managers, policy makers involved in water management and students in water sciences and environment. Colour figures from the book are available to view on the WaterWiki at: http://www.iwawaterwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Articles/WaterCommunicationAnalysisofStrategiesandCampaignsfromtheWaterSector Editor: Celine Herve-Bazin, Celsa - Sorbonne University, Paris, France

Community Based Water Management and Social Capitalprovides scientific understanding of community based water management and how to secure responsible management to satisfy quality and quantity requirements. It shows how community based water management can be synchronized with public water service, by introducing the most recent field experiments and theoretical studies in economics, social science, engineering, and regional planning which include game theory, microeconomics, econometric, statistics, social network analysis, social choice, and micro finance. Six billion people in Asian countries suffer from water scarcity throughout developing countries in Africa, Pacific Islands, Central and South America and Central and Eastern Europe where they are in short supply of public water service.Community Based Water Management and Social Capital presents field experiments and theoretical studies in economics, social science, engineering, and regional planning to investigate important questions: what motives people involve in voluntary water management what is the effect of participatory approach in water management how does social capital work in the voluntary actions what are key factors for effective governance for water management with diverse actors - local people, enterprise, and government; what is necessary for proper water allocation; vi) how to synchronize public water service with community based water management. The book provides students, researchers, practitioners and governments with a comprehensive account of the current situation and perspectives on voluntary water management. It delivers a new scientific understanding on sustainable water management schemes and appropriate institutional social structures to secure inalienable rights to access to water.

The third background report in the New Energy, New Geopolitics series, this report examines the dramatic increase in the production of shale gas and light tight oil in the United States and suggests possible energy scenarios and strategies could emerge from the unconventional revolution. This report pairs with the original "New Energy, New Geopolitics" report and two other background reports, all available from Rowman & Littlefield: New Energy, New Geopolitics: Balancing Stability and Leverage New Energy, New Geopolitics: Background Report 1: Energy Impacts New Energy, New Geopolitics: Background Report 2: Geopolitical and National Security Impacts

Examining the reform and restructuring of the electricity industry in China, India and Russia, this book explores the way that local conditions and institutions shape the commitment, direction and speed of public utility reform in the three countries. It questions the validity of the argument that one model for electricity reforms will work in all countries, on the grounds that the industry is the same everywhere, by examining the World Bank's involvement in economic reforms in developing and transition economies. The author asks how the template developed by the World Bank has affected the three countries and seeks to explain why changes took place, how effectively they have been proceeding, and what the consequences are for these countries. In so doing, Electricity Reform in China, India and Russia challenges both the assumption behind the new reform paradigm - that market competition is the panacea for all the ills of the electricity industry - and the oft-cited belief that a single template can work in different environments. China, India and Russia have different political and economic systems and at different development stages. Xu Yi-chong uses the experience of the three countries to illustrate the complications created by the use of a single template, a policy encouraged by the World Bank, to direct reform and the need to appreciate the different problems that each had to overcome. Academics and students who are interested in comparative politics, comparative economics, public policy and particularly the reform of public utilities will find this work of great interest, as will practitioners and those who are involved in restructuring the electricity industry worldwide.

This publication examines the critical issues surrounding water security (water shortage, water excess, inadequate water quality, the resilience of freshwater systems), providing a rationale for a risk-based approach and the management of trade-offs between water and other (sectoral and environmental) policies. The report sets out a three-step process to "know", "target" and "manage" water risks: (1) appraising the risks, (2) judging the tolerability and acceptability of risks and weighing risk-risk trade-offs, and (3) calibrating appropriate responses. The publication provides policy analysis and guidance on the use of market-based instruments and the complex links between water security and other policy objectives, such as food security, energy security, climate mitigation and biodiversity protection.

Flooding is one of the most frequently occurring and damaging natural disasters worldwide. Quantitative flood risk management (FRM) in the modern context demands statistically robust approaches (e.g. probabilistic) due to the need to deal with complex uncertainties. However, probabilistic estimates often involve ensemble 2D model runs resulting in large computational costs.Additionally, modern FRM necessitates the involvement of a broad range of stakeholders via co-design sessions. This makes it necessary for the flood models, at least at a simplified level, to be understood by and accessible to non-specialists. This study was undertaken to develop a flood modelling system that can provide rapid and sufficiently accurate estimates of flood risk within a methodology that is accessible to a wider range of stakeholders for a coastal city - Can Tho city, Mekong Delta, Vietnam. A web-based hydraulic tool, Inform, was developed based on a simplified 1D model for the entire Mekong Delta, flood hazard and damage maps, and estimated flood damages for the urban centre of Can Tho city (Ninh Kieu district), containing the must-have features of a co-design tool (e.g. inbuilt input library, flexible options, easy to use, quick results, user-friendly interface). Inform provides rapid flood risk assessments with quantitative information (e.g. flood levels, flood hazard and damage maps, estimated damages) required for co-designing efforts aimed at flood risk reduction for Ninh Kieu district in the future.

The book reveals the changing dynamics of the helium industry on both the supply-side and the demand-side. The helium industry has a long-term future and this important gas will have a role to play for many decades to come. Major new users of helium are expected to enter the market, especially in nuclear energy (both fission and fusion). Prices and volumes supplied and expected to rise and this will prompt greater efforts towards the development of new helium sources and helium conservation and recycling.

A multi-disciplinary analysis of the evolution of water politics and policy by an international team of distinguished experts. Water management in the Middle Ages in Europe, its evolution in the USA, the elaboration of the European Water Framework Directive, the British experience of water management, the over-exploitation of African aquifers, and the evolution of the water situation in Southern Africa are all examined.
This volume underlines the fact that only an integrative and interdisciplinary understanding can lead to genuinely improved water management practices that will not benefit some social groups at the expense of others.

This new volume covers the important issues related to environmental emissions from SI and CI engines as well as their formation and various pollution mitigation techniques. The book addresses aspects of improvements in engine modification, such as design modifications for enhanced performance, both with conventional fuels as well as with new and alternative fuels. It also explores some new combustion concepts that will help to pave the way for complying with new emission concepts. Alternative fuels are addressed in this volume to help mitigate harmful emissions, and alternative power sources for automobiles are also discussed briefly to cover the switch over from fueled engines to electrics, including battery-powered electric vehicles and fuel cells. The authors explain the different technologies available to date to overcome the limitations of conventional prime movers (fueled by both fossil fuels and alternative fuels). Topics examined include: * Engine modifications needed to limit harmful emissions * The use of engine after-treatment devices to contain emissions * The development of new combustion concepts * Adoption of alternative fuels in existing engines * Switching over to electrics-advantages and limitations * Specifications of highly marketed automobiles * Emission measurement methods

When the Nuclear Safety Commission in Japan reviewed safety-design guidelines for nuclear plants in 1990, the regulatory agency explicitly ruled out the need to consider prolonged AC power loss. In other words, nothing like the catastrophe at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station was possible-no tsunami of 45 feet could swamp a nuclear power station and knock out its emergency systems. No blackout could last for days. No triple meltdown could occur. Nothing like this could ever happen. Until it did-over the course of a week in March 2011. In this volume and in gripping detail, the Independent Investigation Commission on the Fukushima Nuclear Accident, a civilian-led group, presents a thorough and powerful account of what happened within hours and days after this nuclear disaster, the second worst in history. It documents the findings of a working group of more than thirty people, including natural scientists and engineers, social scientists and researchers, business people, lawyers, and journalists, who researched this crisis involving multiple simultaneous dangers. They conducted over 300 investigative interviews to collect testimony from relevant individuals. The responsibility of this committee was to act as an external ombudsman, summarizing its conclusions in the form of an original report, published in Japanese in February 2012. This has now been substantially rewritten and revised for this English-language edition. The work reveals the truth behind the tragic saga of the multiple catastrophic accidents at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.It serves as a valuable and essential historical reference, which will help to inform and guide future nuclear safety and policy in both Japan and internationally.

Metals are inorganic substances that occur naturally in geological formations. Naturally occurring metals are dissolved in water when it comes into contact with rock or soil material. Some metals are essential for life and are naturally available in our food and water. Trace amounts of metals are common in water, and these are normally not harmful to your health. In fact, some metals are essential to sustain life. Calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium must be present for normal body functions. Cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, selenium, and zinc are needed. However many of the metals and metalloids that are found in drinking water can have an adverse impact on human health. This book provides a state-of-the-art review of the health implications of metals and metalloids in drinking water and is a key reference in the risk assessment and management of water supplies. The increased urbanization and increased water demand in industrial areas has amplified the metals problem in groundwater sources. In fact the contamination of our water resources by poisonous metals occurs largely due to human activity.These activities include industrial processes, such as electronics industry and mining activity, agricultural activities, and the dumping of wastes in landfills. The International standard references concerning water resources are various and, though they are based on WHO guidelines, they are extremely diversified in relation to local issues and emerging problems. This report pulls the information together to provide an important reference source. This title belongs to Metals and Related Substances in Drinking Water: Research Report Series

The first in the Routledge Television Guidebooks series, Science Fiction TV offers an introduction to the versatile and evolving genre of science fiction television, combining historical overview with textual readings to analyze its development and ever-increasing popularity. J. P. Telotte discusses science fiction's cultural progressiveness and the breadth of its technological and narrative possibilities, exploring SFTV from its roots in the pulp magazines and radio serials of the 1930s all the way up to the present. From formative series like Captain Video to contemporary, cutting-edge shows like Firefly and long-lived popular revivals such as Doctor Who and Star Trek, Telotte insightfully tracks the history and growth of this crucial genre, along with its dedicated fandom and special venues, such as the Syfy Channel. In addition, each chapter features an in-depth exploration of a range of key historical and contemporary series, including: -Captain Video and His Video Rangers -The Twilight Zone -Battlestar Galactica -Farscape -Fringe Incorporating a comprehensive videography, discussion questions, and a detailed bibliography for additional reading, J. P. Telotte has created a concise yet thought-provoking guide to SFTV, a book that will appeal not only to dedicated science fiction fans but to students of popular culture and media as well.

Oil, an integral part of the contemporary global economy, is considered a driving force behind the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Hydrocarbon reserves in Iraq have a significant role to play in global supply, with oil revenue accounting for more than 90% of Iraqi government income. This book provides a comprehensive insight into the key foundations of Iraq's oil industry and assists in the development of a core area of domestic law to promote economic recovery following years of instability. It addresses the development of oil legislation and the formation of contracts since the US and allied occupation of Iraq in 2003. Legislation is assessed against the framework of the constitution along with the different types of oil agreements and their terms. The book looks at three main aspects of oil legislation, beginning with the validity and interpretation of the constitution as any subsequent legislation governing oil policy will be based upon this. The work then discusses whether the draft oil and gas law of 2007 and any subsequent oil legislation, including the law implemented by the Kurdish Regional Government in 2007, is valid. Finally, the book analyses the legitimacy of oil agreements entered into by the central and regional governments and whether these contain terms beneficial to the state and contracting party. Providing an in-depth analysis of the origins and development of the legal framework of the oil industry in Iraq, the book acts as both a reference source and a springboard for future research across a range of legal, economic and policy perspectives. It will appeal to practitioners and academics working in energy law and international investment law, as well as policy-makers, legal advisors and those working in governments and energy companies.

The United States is at risk of finding its nuclear weapons capabilities severely weakened by the absence of an available capability to enrich uranium. International legal obligations prohibit the United States from using, for military purposes, foreign-produced enriched uranium or uranium enriched here in this country by foreign-source technology. Efforts to deploy a next-generation American enrichment technology must succeed so that our nation has the ability to address the forthcoming shortage of this strategic material. This national security requirement could be met with little cost to taxpayers if the federal government implemented policies that ensure a strong U.S. enrichment industry.

This book studies the limits imposed by the depletion of fossil fuels and the requirements of climate stabilization on economic growth with a focus on China. The book intends to examine the potentials of various energy resources, including oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear, wind, solar, and other renewables, as well as energy efficiency. Unlike many other books on the subject, this book intends to argue that, despite the large potentials of renewable energies and energy efficiency, economic growth eventually will have to be brought to an end as China and the world undertake the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energies. China has overtaken the US to become the world's largest energy consumer and greenhouse gas emitter. Their energy consumption is dominated by coal and China now accounts for one quarter of the world's total carbon dioxide emissions. Moreover, China is set to become the world's largest oil importer in the next decade. This book will consider energy development in the broader context of economic and social changes, especially the historical dynamics of the capitalist world system. Historical lessons of capitalism and socialism will be discussed. The book will evaluate the implications of ecological limits to growth on the economic system and argue that the existing capitalist system is fundamentally incompatible with ecological sustainability.

This book details some of the problems experienced in the Soviet petroleum industry and includes a discussion on the downward trend in petroleum production. It reviews a geological assessment of the offshore region and presents a discussion of activities in the Soviet offshore waters.

This book examines the ongoing transformation of public utilities, also known as network-based industries, in Western Europe and the United States. Examples are telecommunications, energy, and water distribution. Most of these network-based industries were until recently natural monopolies. Over the last two decades national governments have embarked upon privatization, deregulation and liberalization of their public utilities. The contributors in this volume examine the many related aspects, including: * key characteristics and regulation of network based industries * the emerging EU regulatory framework * corporate strategies, industry dynamics, and organizational performance * case studies from the telecommunications and water industries * engineering competition versus engineering regulation. This book provides a non-ideological and multidisciplinary overview of recent views and experiences with the liberalization, privatization and regulatory reform of public utilities in Europe and the United States. As such it will be of interest to scholars and researchers of institutional economics, and organizational studies, as well as regulators, policymakers and consultants involved in both studying and governing network-based industries.

This Handbook examines the subject of energy security: its definition, dimensions, ways to measure and index it, and the complicating factors that are often overlooked. The volume identifies varying definitions and dimensions of energy security, including those that prioritize security of supply and affordability alongside those that emphasize availability, energy efficiency, trade, environmental quality, and social and political stewardship. It also explores the various metrics that can be used to give energy security more coherence, and also to enable it to be measured, including recent attempts to measure energy security progress at the national level, with a special emphasis placed on countries within the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), countries within Asia, and industrialized countries worldwide. This Handbook: * Broadens existing discussions of energy security that center on access to fuels, including "oil security" and "coal security." * Focuses not only on the supply side of energy but also the demand, taking a hard look at energy services and politics along with technologies and infrastructure; * Investigates energy security issues such as energy poverty, equity and access, and development; * Analyzes ways to index and measure energy security progress at the national and international level. This book will be of much interest to students of energy security, energy policy, economics, environmental studies, and IR/Security Studies in general.

The challenges in Russia's energy sector are changing. On the demand side, Europe is seeking to limit its dependence on Russian oil and gas, with the result that China and other Asian countries are likely to eventually become growing export markets for Russian energy. On the supply side, oil and gas fields in West Siberia are diminishing and in future Russia's energy will have to come more from East Siberia and the Arctic, which will necessitate new infrastructure development and the employment of advanced technologies, which may increase Russia's dependence on commercial partners from outside Russia. This book explores the challenges facing Russia's energy sector and the resulting security implications. It includes a discussion of how far the Russian state is likely to continue to monopolise the energy sector, and how far competition from private and foreign companies might be allowed.

The main objective of the research is the analysis of corruption in infrastructure delivery. This includes a review of accountability initiatives in infrastructure delivery and the nature of the impact of greater accountability.

Public sector funding and resources are often inadequate to meet increasing demands for investment and effective management, and a growing case history shows increasing involvement by the private sector in provision of infrastructure and services through PPP arrangements. The objective of this book is to determine, and make recommendations on, means of optimizing the use of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in development of infrastructure whilst ensuring the sustainable long term provision of water and waste water services. The focus is on providing detailed recommendations on contractual issues and contract structures to achieve this objective. Public Private Partnerships in the Water Sector - Innovation and Financial Sustainability: Identifies what is needed to establish effective and sustainable water and wastewater service reform when using a PPP arrangement, and importantly how those issues can be addressed contractually. Provides specific recommendations of a comprehensive and detailed approach to contract drafting to ensure effective, sustainable and long term provision of water and wastewater services, including an approach for adaptation of public procurement procedures for PPP arrangements. Recommends a proposed approach to dealing with the influence of imperfect or unavailable data on the long term effectiveness or sustainability. This is a practical and pragmatic book in which the authors share their considerable experience on devising and implementing PPPs in the water sector. It is aimed primarily at practitioners working with developing countries but its recommendations will also be suitable for application in developed countries. It is also a useful reference for postgraduates and academics studying infrastructure development. See also: Public and Private Participation in the Water and Wastewater Sector - Developing Sustainable Legal Mechanisms, Cledan Mandri-Perrott, 2009 Private Sector Participation in Water Infrastructure, Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), 2009.

Renewable energy is a fast expanding field, welcomed by many as part of the answer to climate change and energy security concerns. But can renewables deliver? This book reviews the basic technological options and what is happening around the world, so as to convey the sense of excitement that abounds in this new area of technological development. But it also looks at the problems, including local environmental impacts and the need to deal with the variability of some renewable energy sources.

Britain was the first country to exploit atomic energy on a large scale, and at its peak in the mid-1960s, it had generated more electricity from nuclear power than the rest of the world combined. The civil atomic energy programme grew out of the military programme which produced plutonium for atomic weapons. In 1956, Calder Hall power station was opened by the Queen. The very next year, one of the early Windscale reactors caught fire and the world's first major nuclear accident occurred. The civil programme ran into further difficulty in the mid-1960s and as a consequence of procrastination in the decision-making process, the programme lost momentum and effectively died. No nuclear power stations have been built since Sizewell B in the late 1980s. This book presents a study of Government papers that have recently become available in the public domain. For the first time in history, the research reactor programme is presented in detail, along with a study of the decision-making by the Government, the Atomic Energy Authority (AEA), and the Central Electricity Board (CEGB).This book is aimed at both specialists in nuclear power and the interested public as a technical history on the development and ultimate failure of the British atomic energy programme.