Matching Items (3)
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- All Subjects: Renewable energy sources
- All Subjects: Radicalization
- Creators: Parmentier, Mary Jane
Evaluation of sustainability in development projects utilizing renewable energy products in Zimbabwe
Description
The problem concerning the access to energy has become an increasingly acute matter of concern in low-income areas. Currently an estimated 1.2 billion people don't have access to energy (IEA, 2014). Following the declaration of 2012 as "The International Year of Sustainable Energy for All" by the United Nations General Assembly (UNDP, 2014), this alarming situation of energy poverty has resulted in the creation of new partnerships between governments, NGOs (Non-Governmental Organization), and large multi-national corporations.
This study is focused on the evaluation of sustainability of a development project in Gutu, Zimbabwe that is initiated by Schneider Electric Corporation's BipBop Program. This program aims to provide access to energy via photo-voltaic cells and battery kits for daily use. It is expected that this project will have a high impact on sustainable development, and creation of value, which in turn is expected to allow participation in global supply chains.
The results gathered from the analysis show that the development project to be piloted in Gutu, Zimbabwe is likely to have a "high impact on sustainability". The project is therefore considered an effective sustainable development project that aims to promote, and develop local Zimbabwean markets through increased transactions and the creation of sustainable supply chains that are expected to recruit Zimbabwe into the global value chains.
This study is focused on the evaluation of sustainability of a development project in Gutu, Zimbabwe that is initiated by Schneider Electric Corporation's BipBop Program. This program aims to provide access to energy via photo-voltaic cells and battery kits for daily use. It is expected that this project will have a high impact on sustainable development, and creation of value, which in turn is expected to allow participation in global supply chains.
The results gathered from the analysis show that the development project to be piloted in Gutu, Zimbabwe is likely to have a "high impact on sustainability". The project is therefore considered an effective sustainable development project that aims to promote, and develop local Zimbabwean markets through increased transactions and the creation of sustainable supply chains that are expected to recruit Zimbabwe into the global value chains.
ContributorsDemirciler, Barlas (Author) / Parmentier, Mary Jane (Thesis advisor) / Grossman, Gary (Committee member) / Maltz, Arnold (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
This dissertation examines the nexus of three trends in electricity systems transformations underway worldwide—the scale-up of renewable energy, regionalization, and liberalization. Interdependent electricity systems are being envisioned that require partnership and integration across power disparities. This research explores how actors in the Mediterranean region envisioned a massive scale-up of renewable energy within a single electricity system and market across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. It asks: How are regional sociotechnical systems envisioned? What are the anticipated consequences of a system for a region with broad disparities and deep sociopolitical differences? What can be learned about energy justice by examining this vision at multiple scales? A sociotechnical systems framework is used to analyze energy transformations, interweaving the technical aspects with politics, societal effects, and political development issues. This research utilized mixed qualitative methods to analyze Mediterranean electricity transformations at multiple scales, including fieldwork in Morocco and Germany, document analysis, and event ethnography. Each scale—from a global history of concentrating solar power technologies to a small village in Morocco—provides a different lens on the sociotechnical system and its implications for justice. This study updates Thomas Hughes’ Networks of Power, the canonical history of the sociotechnical development of electricity systems, by adding new aspects to sociotechnical electricity systems theory. First, a visioning process now plays a crucial role in guiding innovation and has a lasting influence on the justice outcomes. Second, rather than simply providing people with heat and light, electrical power systems in the 21st century are called upon to address complex integrated solutions. Furthermore, building a sustainable energy system is now a retrofitting agenda, as system builders must graft new infrastructure on top of old systems. Third, the spatial and temporal aspects of sociotechnical energy systems should be amended to account for constructed geography and temporal complexity. Fourth, transnational electricity systems pose new challenges for politics and political development. Finally, this dissertation presents a normative framework for conceptualizing and evaluating energy justice. Multi-scalar, systems-level justice requires collating diverse ideas about energy justice, expanding upon them based on the empirical material, and evaluating them with this framework.
ContributorsMoore, Sharlissa (Author) / Hackett, Ed J. (Thesis advisor) / Minteer, Ben (Committee member) / Parmentier, Mary Jane (Committee member) / Wetmore, Jameson (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This thesis examines why young Western Muslim women from the UK are drawn to join and support ISIS in its established territories in Syria and Iraq and identifies their role within these territories. The critical role of technology, specifically social media, in facilitating the recruitment, radicalization, and mobilization of young Muslim women online to join ISIS is also explored. Females emigrating from the UK appear equally drawn to ISIS's ideology and state-building mission as Muslim men. Claims from the media suggest women serve as 'fighters,' however this research finds that women are not permitted by ISIS to participate in fighting. Using Britain as a case study, this study analyzes the social media content of eight young British Muslim women, known as female migrants, for themes motivating them to mobilize. Themes, culled from the literature, include Muslim attitudes and perceptions in the UK regarding Islamophobia or religious discrimination, the erosion of multiculturalism, identity and belonging, and finding purpose in the ummah, and measures whether these variables influence women to mobilize. Excerpts from blog posts and original tweets from their Tumblr, Twitter, and ask.fm accounts provide the actual voices of British female migrants choosing to live within ISIS territory and offers insight on their role as female migrants. Research suggests that, for British Muslim women in the UK, Muslim identity and belonging, both individually and within the ummah, along with attitudes and perceptions of religious discrimination (Islamophobia) and the failing of multiculturalism are influencing them to join ISIS. Additional motives for migration found within the study are based on the following beliefs: that the ummah is under attack, a strong desire to help build a new society, their religious duty as a Muslim, and the opportunity to belong and find purpose in the new "caliphate sisterhood." The role of female migrants residing in ISIS territory is domestic in nature, where they primarily function as wives and mothers of jihadists, as well as serve in online roles as propagandists, proselytizers, and recruiters for ISIS. The strong online presence of women demands an effective counter narrative to deter prospective female migrants from emigrating.
ContributorsPooley, Elizabeth Garcia (Author) / Parmentier, Mary Jane (Thesis advisor) / Robinson, Rebecca (Committee member) / Byrd, Denise (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015