Search

Abstract: Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per person from urban waste management activities are greater in sub-Saharan African countries than in other developing countries, and are increasing as the population becomes more urbanised. Waste from urban areas across Africa is essentially dumped on the ground and there is little control over the resulting gas emissions. The clean development mechanism (CDM), from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol has been the vehicle to initiate projects to control GHG emissions in Africa. However, very few of these projects have been implemented and properly registered. A much more efficient and cost effective way to control GHG emissions from waste is to stabilise the waste via composting and to use the composted material as a soil improver/organic fertiliser or as a component of growing media. Compost can be produced by open windrow or in-vessel composting plants. This paper shows that passively aerated open windrows constitute an appropriate low-cost option for African countries. However, to provide an usable compost material it is recommended that waste is processed through a materials recovery facility (MRF) before being composted. The paper demonstrates that material and biological treatment (MBT) are viable in Africa where they are funded, e.g. CDM. However, they are unlikely to be instigated unless there is a replacement to the Kyoto Protocol, which ceases for Registration in December 2012. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) included aviation activity in 2012, with free emissions allowances being allocated to each airline. The EU ETS is a market-based measure, which the European Union has introduced for aiming at reducing emissions and meeting the targets specified under the Kyoto Protocol. One of the largest issues is equity. The first multinational emission trading scheme resulted in many regulatory issues and objections by a number of countries and airlines concerning its legality under the Chicago Convention. In addition, under the Kyoto Protocol, ratified countries have different responsibilities and roles based on whether they are Annex I or non-Annex I countries. Hence, this paper attempted to investigate the equity issues by measuring the impact of the EU ETS on an African airline compared to airlines in an Annex I country. The results of case study indicate that there are some differences in terms of equity between Annex I and non-Annex I carriers and their passengers. The instrument is proven to be cost-effective; however, the economic rationality arguments seem to be weak with respect to the volatility in individual behaviour and the vulnerability of non-Annex I carriers which is caused by competition with Annex-I carriers. A transparent distribution of revenue from the EU ETS could be one way of moderating the equity gap between carriers and passengers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In recent years, the quest for renewable and sustainable energy has been extensive while solar energy has been on the vanguard of sustainable alternative and renewable energy sources due to its clean nature and cost effectiveness for most human activities such as water pumping and electric power generation, amongst others. The off beam installation of Photovoltaic (PV) modules has posed a severe challenge to the optimal functioning of these PV cells despite the abundance of solar irradiation receivable in most African cities. This paper presents the Optimal Inclination Angles (OIA) for mounting PV modules in the absences of a mechanized or automated solar tracking device, for optimum yield in solar electricity generation for some selected African cities using the Photovoltaic Geographic Information Systems (PVGIS) dataset. The OIA of the selected African cities has been identified for optimal solar irradiation exploitation and if the modules are mounted on a horizontal plane, it is expected that considerable amount of solar irradiation would not be harnessed as it has been estimated using the difference from the Irradiation on OIA (Hopt) and the Irradiation on horizontal plane (Hh), whose difference shows that the northern African cities, Algiers, Rabat and Tripoli, are seen to have high levels in unutilized solar irradiation of 780 Wh/m2, 760 Wh/m2 and 680 Wh/m2 respectively while Harare, Lusaka, Maiduguri, Khartoum, Maputo and Luanda would have considerably high levels in untapped solar irradiation of 360Wh/m2, 330 Wh/m2, 180 Wh/m2, 260 Wh/m2, 570 Wh/m2 and 80 Wh/m2 respectively if PV modules are mounted on horizontal plane. However cities such as Bangui, Abidjan and Mogadishu have quite low levels in unexploited solar irradiation of 40 Wh/m2, 70 Wh/m2 and 10 Wh/m2 respectively when PV modules are mounted on horizontal plane. These differences show the amount of solar irradiation which if adequately harnessed, adds to the solar energy potentials of the region. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Many rural African communities are characterised by low population densities and are remotely situated, making centralised energy generation and transmission prohibitively costly and inefficient due to greater transmission and distribution losses. Beyond certain breakeven distances from the grid, implementation of decentralised energy generation, e.g. from biogas could be more cost effective. Biogas plant serves the dual purposes of reducing environmental pollution and generating energy. This paper investigates the significance of scale economies with increasing plant capacity and the effect of location on the capital investment cost of African biogas plants. Whilst the conventional financial wisdom in the process industry is that larger installations have advantages resulting from economies of scale, the regression analysis of the investigated 38 biogas installations from twelve African countries indicates that such economies of scale do not exist in the small to institutional scale biogas sector, as the cost capacity factor obtained exceeds unity (n =1.20), and is significantly different from the conventionally used “six-tenths” rule. The estimated value of scale exponent in community—large-scale biogas systems were less than unity (n =0.80) but t-tests could not reject the hypothesis of constant returns to scale at the 95% confidence level. Inferential statistics, F- and t-tests statistical analysis carried out on the coastal and landlocked biogas plants further conclude that the cost of biogas technology is largely independent of geographical location of the plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Biofortification is increasingly seen as an additional tool to combat micronutrient malnutrition. This paper estimates the costs and potential benefits of biofortification of globally important staple food crops with provitamin A, iron, and zinc for twelve countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Using a modification of the Disability-Adjusted Life Years framework we conclude that overall, the intervention can make a significant impact on the burden of micronutrient deficiencies in the developing world in a highly cost-effective manner. Results differ by crop, micronutrient, and country; and major reasons underlying these differences are identified to inform policy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper assesses the effectiveness of Liu (2006) metrics in measuring illiquidity within a multifactor CAPM pricing model. Costs of equity are estimated using this model for the major sectors within Africa''s larger equity markets: Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia, Botswana and South Africa. In all countries, the cost of equity is found to be highest in the financial sector and lowest in the blue chip stocks of Tunisia, Morocco, Namibia and South Africa. At an aggregate level, Nigeria and Zambia have the highest cost of capital. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Transformation in the smallholder agricultural sector towards more sustainable and cleaner production systems is needed in Southern Africa. Climate-smart agriculture could be an opportunity in this respect. The paper presents a cost-benefit analysis of the public investment program to promote climate-smart agriculture in Lesotho. Economic profitability of investing in such program in nationwide crop, livestock and aquaculture smallholders' production is assessed, considering costs and benefits at private level and those that accrue to society. Given uncertainty about the future, a development pathway commercially oriented is compared with a pathway aimed at increasing households' capacity to adapt their farming systems to the changing climate. Investment returns are above the opportunity cost of capital, under both pathways, indicating the convenience for farmers and the whole society in investing in climate-smart agriculture. The program also leads to a decrease in the greenhouse gas emissions' intensity, positively contributing to climate change mitigation. The economic evaluation of the carbon-balance increases societal profitability of the investment program. • Climate-smart farming increases smallholder households' income in Southern Africa. • Investing in climate-smart production generates profitable returns to the society. • Benefit-cost analysis can orient climate-smart agriculture policy planning. • Including economic evaluation of Carbon-benefits increases societal convenience. • Farmers actualize agriculture sector's sustainable transformation and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]