Growing Awareness
Possibilities for Advancing Energy Transition in Latin America on Regional Scale(s)
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session German Prieto
While most Latin American (LA) countries are currently undertaking efforts to meet energy transition goals, existing regional cooperation schemes are being scarcely employed by countries in order to work collectively. This paper discusses the possibilities that regional cooperation and integration schemes offer to LA countries to jointly face material challenges like financial barriers and costs, investment articulation, building interconnection networks and infrastructure, managing price distortion and taxation, and increasing skilled workforce and access to technology. Regarding political obstacles, the paper also assesses the suitability of existing regionalist projects for agreeing inclusive definitions of energy transition and sustainable energies, fostering energy security and providing legal frameworks for producing and trading sustainable energies such as solar and wind power.
Impact of Climate Change on the Production of Maize in the Hill Agro Ecological Zone of Nepal
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Tulsi Ram Bhusal
Nepal is one of the most vulnerable countries in terms of climate change in the world, and it comes fourth most vulnerable nation among the south Asian countries. The effect of climate variability on maize crop yield in the local context have not been explored yet. Therefore, a thorough grasp of the local context's climate change variability may help with the development of locally appropriate adaptation strategies for present and future climate hazards. This study examines the impacts of climate variables (annual rainfall and annual average temperature) on the yield of maize crop in the hill agro ecological zone of Nepal. The historical climate data starting from 1990–2021 were collected from the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, and the production data of maize crop were collected from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Nepal. Collected data were analyzed (Multiple Regression and Correlation Analysis). The trend analysis showed the increasing trends of both climatic variables. The result revealed that the annual average temperature was a significant positive impact with the p-value 0.007 whereas, the annual average rainfall and maize production showed the negative correlation results with the p-value 0.944. Therefore, the results of this study imply that the changes in climatic variables considerably positive impacts on maize production in current situation however the rising trend of temperature show the threaten for future, and emphasizing how urgent it is to implement farmer-initiated and locally driven adaptation strategies for resilient agricultural systems and food security.
Healthy Indoor Environment in Areas Prone to High levels of Indoor Radon
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Osama E. Mansour
The indoor environment impacts the health, well-being, and productivity of building occupants. Building new healthy homes and developing affordable renovation strategies are critical solutions to mitigate ambient environmental hazards. In this research, the author explores some factors related to healthy building maintenance in areas prone to high indoor radon levels in Kentucky. The current conventional mitigation guidelines set by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) encourage homeowners to mitigate their houses if the indoor radon average is higher than 4 pCi/L. The available mitigation systems are not affordable nor non-invasive for a considerable portion of the population in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. This presentation shows the author’s attempts to explore the behavior of radon in residential buildings in Bowling Green, Kentucky, an area classified as Zone 1 by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Over the past five years, various exploratory studies were conducted on mitigated and non-mitigated buildings. The purpose was to explore alternative mitigation guidelines aligned with building operation and maintenance practices, especially, for homeowners or occupants who can’t afford the current radon mitigation systems. The paper shares the overall results of two empirical studies that explored the impact of occupant behavior and regular maintenance practices on indoor radon. The results show a novel insight into potential radon mitigation through environmental education and public awareness.
