This report focuses on the policies of electricity provision for irrigation and the cost of groundwater-based irrigation. The empirical findings indicate that electricity regulation is unlikely to fulfil the expectations of an allocation-efficient tariff structure in the given political situation, leading to regulatory capture. The report's chronological approach reveals development paths that are also present in the current action situations. The findings suggest that the involved properties of transactions inherent in the choices available to each actor are constitutive for understanding the unfolding of each potential and the realised development path. The economic conditions of dry-land agriculture and the costs of food provision render a shift towards a cost-based tariff setting unlikely. The analysis at the level of electricity distribution and agricultural production systems indicates that although marginal costs of electricity supply are inexistent, the costs for the consequences of poor infrastructure incur heavy burdens on agricultural enterprises. The costs of electricity would exceed those for each of the other input factors of production. The absence of marginal costs has led to highly inefficient groundwater irrigation. Fortunately, incentives in agriculture for higher power quality are given, resulting from the high costs of pump set burnouts through voltage fluctuations. This incentive can be combined with energy efficiency measures. Effective measures are most feasible at the level of the electricity sub-station, isolating an agricultural electricity feeder and the connected distribution transformers.

Currently 23 cities exceed the 10 million inhabitants' threshold. The number of world's megacities is expected to grow to 39 in 2025 with 32 of these in emerging economies. While today cities cater for over half of the world's population, they are facing ever increasing environmental problems. Whether or not an emerging megacity will be able to cope with expected climate change impacts and increased scarcity of natural or man-made resources depends on its capacity to change human behaviour in different areas of what a city constitutes. On-going research on various responses to anticipated climate change impacts on the emerging megacities aims to generate knowledge for an effective and feasible transition towards sustainable development. Where different disciplines and approaches seem to overwhelmingly agree is that mitigation and adaptation measures are urgently needed. This implies not only identifying available technological options but also exploring institutions - defined as "sets of rules" and governance structures, i.e. those "modes of organization" that are necessary to put rules into practice. Thus, in order to arrive at feasible mitigation and adaptation measures, technical solutions and social construction need to be combined. This Emerging megacities series presents findings of current inter- and trans- disciplinary research on different topics concerning the sustainable growth of these rapidly expanding cities.

This SpringerBrief reviews currently applied and potential solutions for improving the efficiency and quality of rural electricity supply in India, a major bottleneck for agricultural development. It provides background on the current state of supply and reviews recent and ongoing research and development projects. One selected project, designed and conducted by the authors, is outlined in detail. The research findings, project implementation, and evaluation are intended to provide development practitioners, policy makers, and applied researchers with experience from the field. At the core of this Brief is the integration of technical and social solutions, emphasizing the role of collective action, and the merits and demerits of small-scale, technically simple measures.

The employment impacts of the transition to a post-carbon economy are gaining increasing attention. The post-carbon transition implies fundamental changes in the economy followed by significant changes in the structure of labour demand. Industries with the highest carbon footprint are of utmost importance because of the large expected changes in supply chain structures forced by decarbonisation. The power industry is a crucial component of the transition since its decarbonisation can also help other sectors (such as transportation) switch to cleaner energy fuels. Renewable energy sources are promising technologies that could significantly help foster transition in the energy sector and to provide energy with almost zero greenhouse gas emissions. Restructuring away from fossil fuels will bring about associated job losses in non-renewable energy sectors together with job gains in the renewable energy ones. Building energy infrastructure with a significantly higher share of renewables will also require significant capital investments in new facilities, possibly further fostering employment. Understanding the overall net effects on employment (i.e. job gains vs. job losses) would help inform transition policies in order to design policies guided not only by environment and climate but also by social considerations. To estimate the net effects on employment related to the increasing share of renewable energy, we develop a forward-looking multi-regional input-output model that takes into account the labour demand associated with capital investments in renewable energy infrastructure, separately from operation and maintenance. Modelling capital formation separately allows for a more precise assessment of the changes in labour demand needed to deal with the transition and can better inform related adaptation policies. The modelling consists of gradually replacing the production of electricity from non-renewable energy sources with production from renewables by comparing the effects of two scenarios in five-year intervals until 2050. The model focuses on changes in the European Union (EU) plus the United Kingdom (UK) and shows the net effects on the number of jobs by skill level (low-, medium- and high-skilled) and gender, by industry group and by country.

Abstract: Dieses Papier adressiert die Frage der Vereinbarkeit einer positiven Zinsrate mit einer nicht mehr wachsenden Wirtschaft. Die Analyse erfolgt anhand verschiedener Ansätze, die uns dazu dienen, Perspektiven einer Theorie der Wachstumsnotwendigkeit in der Geldwirtschaft zu entwickeln. Neben einem sehr breit angelegten Review und der systematischen Darstellung von Ansätzen leisten wir drei analytisch wertvolle Beiträge: Erstens bereiten wir die Forschungsfelder zur Goldenen Regel und zum Zins-Wachstums-Differential als Ansätze einer Wachstumsnotwendigkeit auf. Zweitens widerlegen wir die mancherorts zu findende These, dass allein die Kreditgeldschöpfung bereits zu einem Wachstumszwang führen würde, da der Zins eine ständige Ausweitung der Geldschöpfung bedinge. Wir zeigen auf, dass nicht die Geldschöpfung an sich zu problematisieren ist, sondern der Wachstumszwang eine Folge einkommensabhängigen Sparens in Kombination mit einem über den Vermögensmarkt zu bestimmenden Zinssatz ist. Dri

Dieser Beitrag untersucht ökonomische Wachstumsnotwendigkeiten anhand der Funktionsweise der gegenwärtigen Geldwirtschaft im zweistufigen Bankensystem sowie anhand eines bestands- und flussgrößenkonsistenten Modells. Ergebnis des Modells ist, dass die Funktionsweise der Geldwirtschaft wirtschaftliches Wachstum bedingt. Die "Notwendigkeit von Wachstum" ist dabei als These zu verstehen, dass mittelfristig ohne Wachstum kein sozial-ökonomisches Gleichgewicht möglich ist. Diese ökonomische Wachstumsnotwendigkeit ergibt sich dabei nicht aus der Geldwirtschaft an sich - und auch nicht alleine aus einem positiven Zinsniveau für Kredite -, sondern aus der Kombination von einkommensabhängiger Sparquote und Liquiditätspräferenz. Weil ökologische Nachhaltigkeit gesellschaftlich kaum umsetzbar sein wird, wenn durch die Beschränkung Krisen verursacht und Verteilungskonflikte verschärft werden, muss ökologisch motivierte Wachstumskritik beachten, dass ihre Forderungen nur im Rahmen sozial-ökonomischer Nachhaltigkeit sinnhaft und dauerhaft realisierbar werden. Liegt eine monetär bedingte Wachstumsnotwendigkeit zur Aufrechterhaltung sozial-ökonomischer Stabilität vor, erwächst für die Wirtschaftswissenschaft die Aufgabe, in ihren Modellen und Analysen dem besonderen Charakter der Geldwirtschaft stärker Rechnung zu tragen um erklären zu können, warum und wie genau Volkswirtschaften ohne Wachstum in die Krise geraten. Und um darauf aufbauend Wege zu einer nachhaltige Geld- und Finanzarchitektur aufzuzeigen, welche die ökologische Forderung nach weniger, Null- oder Negativ-Wachstum einzulösen erlaubt.