Access to electricity for all and the role of decentralized solar power in sub-Saharan Africa     

Kirsten Ulsrud 《Norsk geografisk tidsskrift. Norwegian journal of geography》2020,74(1):54-63

ABSTRACT

Several hundred million people in sub-Saharan Africa are at risk of being without access to electricity by 2030 despite the ongoing work aimed at achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 7—sustainable energy for all. Based on qualitative interviews, quantitative surveys, observation, and participation in Kenya and Senegal between 2010 and 2018, the author aims to explain why the rate of progress is slower than intended. The findings highlight three strong hindrances: lack of affordability due to extreme poverty, mismatch between the village-level outreach of grid-based electricity systems and the geography of settlements, and lack of consideration given to gender inequality. The findings also provide new insights into the ways that decentralized small-scale solar power increasingly meets some of the shortcomings of centralized grids in addressing these three issues, even in rural areas where grids are already present. The author concludes that the ways in which village communities have combined the use of solar-powered energy with grid-supplied energy indicates the importance of the former and the need to intensify efforts to improve solar power delivery models and integrate them fully in energy sector strategies.  相似文献   

Terrestrial discharge influences microbioerosion and microbioeroder community structure in coral reefs     

SA Mwachireya  M Carreiro-Silva  BE Hartwick  TR McClanahan 《African Journal of Marine Science》2018,40(1):25-42

Microbioerosion rates and microbioeroder community structure were studied in four Kenyan protected coral-reef lagoons using shell fragments of Tridacna giant clams to determine their response to the influence of terrestrial run-off. Fourteen different microbioeroder traces from seven cyanobacteria, three green algae and four fungi species were identified. The river discharge-impacted reef and ‘pristine’ reef showed similar composition but higher microbioeroder abundance and total cyanobacteria- and chlorophyte-bioeroded areas when compared with the other study reefs. Cyanobacteria dominated during the north-east monsoon (NEM) relative to the south-east monsoon (SEM) season, with algae and cyanobacteria being major microbioeroders in the river-impacted and pristine reefs. The rate of microbioerosion varied between 4.3 g CaCO3 m^?2 y^?1 (SEM) and 134.7 g CaCO₃ m^?2 y^?1 (NEM), and was highest in the river-impacted reef (127.6 g CaCO₃ m^?2 y^?1), which was almost double that in the pristine reef (69.5 g CaCO₃ m^?2 y^?1) and the mangrove-fringed reef (56.2 g CaCO₃ m^?2 y^?1). The microbioerosion rates measured in this study may not be high enough to cause concern with regard to the health and net carbonate production of Kenya’s coral reefs. Nevertheless, predicted increases in the frequency and severity of stresses related to global climate change (e.g. increased sea surface temperature, acidification), as well as interactions with local disturbances and their influence on bioerosion, may be increasingly important in the future.  相似文献   

Adaptive capacity within tropical marine protected areas – Differences between men- and women-headed households     

《Global Environmental Change》2022

Households within tropical coastal communities face a multitude of stressors related to environmental, social and economic change. To minimise negative impacts on households, a priority is to understand and if possible build adaptive capacity to enable adjustment to both extant, and anticipated stressors. Adaptive capacity may not be equally distributed across households due to social differences and inequalities, including gender. In this study we sought to understand whether the factors underlying adaptive capacity differ between men- and women-headed households across three marine protected areas (MPAs) in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Adaptive capacity was significantly higher in men-headed households compared to women-headed households between different MPAs as a whole, however significant differences were not found for men and women-headed households within the MPAs. The factors underlying adaptive capacity were investigated through boosted regression trees, a relatively novel approach within the field, and found to be similar between men and women counterparts. These factors were agency, material conditions, low ecosystem dependence, education, occupational multiplicity and needs satisfaction (i.e. a poverty indicator) which was singularly important in women-headed households. While the factors themselves were similar in men and women–headed households, gendered differences were found regarding differing levels in the identified factors. Accordingly, the processes that underly the differences found should be addressed within initiatives seeking to understand and build adaptive capacity.  相似文献   

Conservation science and policy should care about violent extremism     

《Global Environmental Change》2022

Protected areas are increasingly prone to violent extremism spillover, with dramatic consequences for both local people and wildlife populations. Due to the influence of violent extremist groups, science and policy generally fade away. We outline the case of the W-Arly-Pendjari complex of protected areas in West Africa (Burkina Faso, Benin, and Niger), 62% of which is currently under the control of violent extremist groups. The last large population of West African elephants may soon disappear if no action is taken. We discuss the roles of conservation science and policy in protected areas under violent extremism spillover, namely (i) maintaining and reinforcing international support, (ii) authentically engaging local communities in conservation and management strategies, and (iii) planning long-term conservation and security strategies.  相似文献   

Spatial and temporal geochemical variability in lacustrine sedimentation in the East African Rift System: Evidence from the Kenya Rift and regional analyses     

《Sedimentology》2018,65(5):1697-1730

Many previous studies on lacustrine basins in the East African Rift System have directed their attention to climatic controls on contemporary sedimentation or climate change as part of palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. In contrast, this research focuses on the impact of tectonism and volcanism on rift deposition and develops models that help to explain their roles and relative importance. The study focuses on the spatial and temporal variability in bulk sediment geochemistry from a diverse range of modern and ancient rift sediments through an analysis of 519 samples and 50 major and trace elements. The basins examined variously include, or have contained, wetlands and/or shallow to deep, fresh to hypersaline lakes. Substantial spatial variability is documented for Holocene to modern deposits in lakes Turkana, Baringo, Bogoria, Magadi and Malawi. Mio‐Pleistocene sediments in the Central Kenya Rift and Quaternary deposits of the southern Kenya Rift illustrate temporal variability. Tectonic and volcanic controls on geochemical variability are explained in terms of: (i) primary controlling factors (faulting, subsidence, uplift, volcanism, magma evolution and antecedent lithologies and landscapes); (ii) secondary controls (bedrock types, rift shoulder and axis elevations, accommodation space, meteoric and hydrothermal fluids and mantle CO ₂); and (iii) response factors (catchment area size, orographic rains, rain shadows, vegetation densities, erosion and weathering rates, and spring/runoff ratios). The models developed have, in turn, important implications for palaeoenvironmental interpretation in other depositional basins.  相似文献   

A new record and a new ichnospecies of Arachnostega from the Middle Miocene of Egypt     

Olev Vinn  Ahmed M. El-Sabbagh  Magdy M. El-Hedeny  Mohamed A. Rashwan  Saleh A. Al Farraj 《Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. Geologists' Association》2018,129(6):790-796

The ichnogenus Arachnostega Bertling, 1992 is recorded for the first time from a bioeroded, coral-rich, Middle Miocene limestone bed in the middle Siwa Escarpment Member (Marmarica Formation) at Siwa Oasis, northern Western Desert of Egypt. These burrowing traces are preserved on the surface of a few internal moulds of bivalves and gastropods. Until now, the ichnogenus Arachnostega included a single ichnospecies, A. gastrochaenae Bertling, 1992. In the material studied herein, two ichnospecies are identified, described, illustrated and compared with other, similar traces. One of these is a new ichnospecies of Arachnostega; this is here named A. siwaensis ichnosp. nov. It is distinguished from A. gastrochaenae in the possession of tunnels that usually branch in a V-pattern; intervals of ramification are longest in the main branch and decrease in second- and third-order branches. Arachnostega traces were produced in a warm, low-energy, shallow-marine (<10?m water depth) environment. Polychaetes are the most likely producers of marine Arachnostega, which are commonly occurred in the same studied bed. This new occurrence is significant in extending the known stratigraphical and geographical ranges of Arachnostega into the Middle Miocene of Egypt.  相似文献   

Environmental stress and agricultural landownership in Africa     

《Global Environmental Change》2021

We examine how weather variability affects agricultural landownership rates in Africa, where at least half of the population depends on agriculture to earn a livelihood. In the absence of effective adaptation strategies, households that experience difficulties farming due to environmental stress might leave their land. With implications for demography – through migration – and political instability – when affected populations express grievances – changing landownership patterns could make existing development challenges on the continent even more difficult. We test our hypothesis that drier than average growing seasons will reduce landownership rates using Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). Our DHS dataset includes interviews with 850,961 households in 35 African countries between 2005 and 2017. Compared to regions experiencing weather near the historical average, those with five consecutive dry growing seasons before the DHS experienced a 6.93% decline in the landownership rate. For every additional dry growing season during the five years before each survey, the landownership rate fell by 1.38%. A host of robustness checks support our general conclusion that drying conditions are associated with lower landownership rates.  相似文献   

南部非洲花岗岩型与伟晶岩型钽矿床地质特征     

孙宏伟  王杰  任军平  唐文龙  古阿雷  左立波  贺福清 《地质论评》2021,67(1):265-277

钽作为一种重要的稀有金属矿产,广泛应用于各种工业领域。世界上的钽矿床成因主要为内生成矿,尤以花岗岩型和伟晶型最为重要,碰撞造山过程导致的多期次岩浆活动是有利的钽矿成矿环境。南部非洲钽矿资源丰富且品位高,主要为花岗岩型和伟晶岩型钽矿床,空间上主要分布在卡普瓦尔克拉通、刚果克拉通、津巴布韦克拉通以及基巴拉、泛非、达马拉等碰撞环境下形成的同造山—后造山构造带内,时间上主要集中在太古宙(2.85~2.58 Ga)、古元古代(2.48~2.0 Ga)、晚中元古代—早新元古代(1026~880 Ma)以及泛非活动期(500~440 Ma),且不同钽矿带内含钽矿物稀有及稀土元素分布特征差异较大。南部非洲发育大量与钽矿形成密切相关的花岗岩及伟晶岩岩体,资源潜力巨大,未来有望成为世界上主要的钽资源接续基地。  相似文献   

非洲锰矿床成矿规律、开发利用与勘查建议   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

栾卓然 《地质与勘探》2021,57(6):1216-1228

锰矿是我国重要的战略矿产资源,需求量不断增长,长期依赖国外资源保障供需关系。本文总结分析了非洲锰矿资源的特点、矿床类型与成矿规律等地质特征与勘查开发利用及贸易现状。分析表明：非洲是全球探明锰矿储量和资源量最多的地区,具有分布集中,规模大、品位高、杂质少的特点;锰矿床类型主要有条带状含铁建造（BIF）型、海相沉积型、海相火山-沉积型、陆相（湖相三角洲）沉积型、岩浆热液型等五大类,普遍遭受表生风化淋滤（溶蚀）作用改造;主要分布在卡普瓦尔克拉通、刚果克拉通西北部的加蓬地块和西非克拉通南缘的马恩-莱奥地盾中;成矿时代主要集中于前寒武纪,尤其是2.2~2.0Ga;非洲锰矿资源的勘查开发程度较高,其中南非是非洲锰矿勘查程度最高的国家,中非、北非国家的勘查开发程度较低;南非是全球最大的锰矿石生产国和锰矿产品出口国,目前占全球出口量的68.19%以上,我国是非洲锰矿产的最大出口地,占其出口总量的70.19%。建议：我国在非洲的勘查应重点关注非洲中部的条带状含铁建造（BIF）型锰矿和海相火山-沉积型锰矿;在非洲已有的中企基础上,组建大型的集团公司,建立多元的锰矿资源供应体系。  相似文献   

厄立特里亚Augaro金矿床碳氢氧硫同位素特征及其成因意义     

向文帅  赵凯  张紫程 《地质学报》2021,95(4):1284-1291

厄立特里亚Augaro金矿床产于努比亚地盾新元古代变质火山岩中,矿体主要赋存于片理化安山岩内,受北北东向断裂与近东西向次级断裂控制.对矿床主要含金石英脉型矿石与蚀变岩型矿石进行碳氢氧硫同位素研究显示,成矿流体的δDw-H2O范围为-68.7‰～-49.4‰,δ18 Ow-H2O范围为-1.9‰～4.9‰,δ13 CV-PBD范围为-15.9‰～-10.9‰,石英脉型金矿石硫同位素组成以较小的正值为特征,变化范围为0.18‰～0.63‰,而蚀变岩型金矿石硫同位素组成偏低,以较大负值为特征,变化范围为-7.07‰～-6.86‰,表明Augaro金矿床成矿流体主要来源于变质热液,伴有岩浆水与大气降水的混合,矿区地层与岩浆物质为金矿床的形成提供大量成矿物质.  相似文献