Bayesian networks in environmental and resource management

This overview article for the special series “Bayesian Networks in Environmental and Resource Management” reviews 7 case study articles with the aim to compare Bayesian network (BN) applications to different environmental and resource management problems from around the world. The article discusses advances in the last decade in the use of BNs as applied to environmental and resource management. We highlight progress in computational methods, best-practices for model design and model communication. We review several research challenges to the use of BNs in environmental and resource management that we think may find a solution in the near future with further research attention.

How technological change affects power relations in global markets : remote developers in the console and mobile games industry

This paper focuses on Australian development firms in the console and mobile games industry in order to understand how small firms in a geographically remote and marginal position in the global industry are able to relate to global firms and capture revenue share. This paper shows that, while technological change in the games industry has resulted in the emergence of new industry segments based on transactional rather than relational forms of economic coordination, in which we might therefore expect less asymmetrical power relations, lead firms retain a position of power in the global games entertainment industry relative to remote developers. This has been possible because lead firms in the emerging mobile devices market have developed and sustained bottlenecks in their segment of the industry through platform competition and the development of an intensely competitive ecosystem of developers. Our research shows the critical role of platform competition and bottlenecks in influencing power asymmetries within global markets.

Coordinated control of grid connected photovoltaic reactive power and battery energy storage systems to improve the voltage profile of a residential distribution feeder

Increasing penetration of photovoltaic (PV) as well as increasing peak load demand has resulted in poor voltage profile for some residential distribution networks. This paper proposes coordinated use of PV and Battery Energy Storage (BES) to address voltage rise and/or dip problems. The reactive capability of PV inverter combined with droop based BES system is evaluated for rural and urban scenarios (having different R/X ratios). Results show that reactive compensation from PV inverters alone is sufficient to maintain acceptable voltage profile in an urban scenario (low resistance feeder), whereas, coordinated PV and BES support is required for the rural scenario (high resistance feeder). Constant as well as variable droop based BES schemes are analyzed. The required BES sizing and associated cost to maintain the acceptable voltage profile under both schemes is presented. Uncertainties in PV generation and load are considered, with probabilistic estimation of PV generation and randomness in load modeled to characterize the effective utilization of BES. Actual PV generation data and distribution system network data is used to verify the efficacy of the proposed method.

Impacts of different wind power generators on power system small signal and transient stability

With the ever-increasing penetration level of wind power, the impacts of wind power on the power system are becoming more and more significant. Hence, it is necessary to systematically examine its impacts on the small signal stability and transient stability in order to find out countermeasures. As such, a comprehensive study is carried out to compare the dynamic performances of power system respectively with three widely-used power generators. First, the dynamic models are described for three types of wind power generators, i. e. the squirrel cage induction generator (SCIG), doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) and permanent magnet generator (PMG). Then, the impacts of these wind power generators on the small signal stability and transient stability are compared with that of a substituted synchronous generator (SG) in the WSCC three-machine nine-bus system by the eigenvalue analysis and dynamic time-domain simulations. Simulation results show that the impacts of different wind power generators are different under small and large disturbances.

Pathway to sustainability : the Lady Elliot Island hybrid solar power station

The Lady Elliot Island eco-resort, on the Great Barrier Reef, operates with a strong sustainability ethic, and has broken away from its reliance on diesel generators, an initiative which has ongoing and substantial economic benefit. The first step was an energy audit that led to a 35% reduction in energy usage, to an average of 575 kWh per day. The eco-resort then commissioned a hybrid solar power station, in 2008, with energy storage in battery banks. Solar power is currently (2013) providing about 160 kWh of energy per day, and the eco-resort’s diesel fuel usage has decreased from 550 to 100 litres per day, enabling the power station to pay for itself in 3 years. The eco-resort plans to complete its transition to renewable energy by 2015, by installing additional solar panels, and a 10-15 kW wind turbine. This paper starts by discussing why the eco-resort chose a hybrid solar power station to transition to renewable energy, and the barriers to change. It then describes the power station, upgrades through to 2013, the power control system, the problems that were solved to realise the potential of a facility operating in a harsh and remote environment, and its performance. The paper concludes by outlining other eco-resort sustainability practices, including education and knowledge-sharing initiatives, and monitoring the island’s environmental and ecological condition.

The power of percent

Which statistic would you use if you were writing the newspaper headline for the following media release: "Tassie’s death rate of deaths arising from transport-related injuries was 13 per 100,000 people, or 50% higher than the national average”? (Martain, 2007). The rate “13 per 100,000” sounds very small whereas “50% higher” sounds quite large. Most people are aware of the tendency to choose between reporting data as actual numbers or using percents in order to gain attention. Looking at examples like this one can help students develop a critical quantitative literacy viewpoint when dealing with “authentic contexts” (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2013a, p. 37, 67). The importance of the distinction between reporting information in raw numbers or percents is not explicitly mentioned in the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics (ACARA, 2013b, p. 42). Although the document specifically mentions making “connections between equivalent fractions, decimals and percentages” [ACMNA131] in Year 6, there is no mention of the fundamental relationship between percent and the raw numbers represented in a part-whole fashion. Such understanding, however, is fundamental to the problem solving that is the focus of the curriculum in Years 6 to 9. The purpose of this article is to raise awareness of the opportunities to distinguish between the use of raw numbers and percents when comparisons are being made in contexts other than the media. It begins with the authors’ experiences in the classroom, which motivated a search in the literature, followed by a suggestion for a follow-up activity.

Dispensing doctor : an underutilise resource?

Introduction Multidisciplinary models of organising and providing care have been proposed to decrease the health services gap between urban and rural populations but health workforce shortages exist across most professions and are further exacerbated by maldistribution. Flexibility and expansion of the range of tasks that a health professional can undertake were proposed. Dispensing doctors (DDs) are such an example. As part of DDs’ routine medical practice, DDs are able to both prescribe and dispense medicines to their patients. The granting of a dispensing licence to a doctor is intended to improve rural community access to medicines where there is no pharmacy within a reasonable distance. Method An iterative, qualitative descriptive methodology was used to identify factors which influenced DDs’ practice. Qualitative data were collected by in-depth face-to-face and telephone interviews with DDs. A combination of processes: qualitative content analysis and constant comparison were used to analyse the interview transcripts thematically. Member checking and separate coding were utilised to ensure rigour. Result Thirty-one interviews were conducted. The respondents universally acknowledged that the main reason for dispensing were for the convenience and benefits of their patients and to ensure continuity of care. DDs’ communities were generally more isolated and smaller when compared to their non-dispensing counterparts. DD-respondents viewed their dispensary as a service to the community. Peer pressure on prescribing was a key factors in self-regulating prescribing and dispensing. Conclusion DDs fulfill an important area of unmet needs by providing continuity of pharmaceutical care but the practice is hindered by significant barriers

Panem et circenses : law, law and power in The Hunger Games

Like many cautionary tales, The Hunger Games takes as its major premise an observation about contemporary society, measuring its ballistic arc in order to present graphically its logical conclusions. The Hunger Games gazes back to the panem et circenses of Ancient Rome, staring equally cynically forward, following the trajectory of reality television to its unbearably barbaric end point – a sadistic voyeurism for an effete elite of consumers. At each end of the historical spectrum (and in the present), the prevailing social form is Arendt’s animal laborans. Consumer or consumed, Panem’s population is (with the exception of the inner circle) either deprived of the possibility of, or distracted from, political action. Within the confines of the Games themselves, Law is abandoned or de‐realised: Law – an elided Other in the pseudo‐Hobbesian nightmare that is the Arena. The Games are played out, as were gladiatorial combats and other diversions of the Roman Empire, against a background resonant of Juvenal’s concern for his contemporaries’ attachment to short term gratification at the expense the civic virtues of justice and caring which are (or would be) constitutive of a contemporary form of Arendt’s homo politicus. While the Games are, on their face, ‘reality’ they are (like the realities presented in contemporary reality television) a simulated reality, de‐realised in a Foucauldian set design constructed as a distraction for Capitol, and for the residents of the Districts, a constant reminder of their subservience to Capitol. Yet contemporary Western culture, for which manipulative reality TV is but a symptom of an underlying malaise, is inscribed at least as an incipient Panem, Its public/political space is diminished by the effective slavery of the poor, the pre‐occupation with and distractions of materiality and modern media, and the increasing concentration of power/wealth into a smaller proportion of the population.

An extensible framework for analysing resource behaviour using event logs

Business processes depend on human resources and managers must regularly evaluate the performance of their employees based on a number of measures, some of which are subjective in nature. As modern organisations use information systems to automate their business processes and record information about processes’ executions in event logs, it now becomes possible to get objective information about resource behaviours by analysing data recorded in event logs. We present an extensible framework for extracting knowledge from event logs about the behaviour of a human resource and for analysing the dynamics of this behaviour over time. The framework is fully automated and implements a predefined set of behavioural indicators for human resources. It also provides a means for organisations to define their own behavioural indicators, using the conventional Structured Query Language, and a means to analyse the dynamics of these indicators. The framework's applicability is demonstrated using an event log from a German bank.

The environmental enigma : why do producers professing stewardship continue to practice poor natural resource management?

Despite a wide acceptance that primary producers in Australia subscribe to a stewardship ethic, land and water degradation remains an ongoing problem. Recent calculations suggest that the economic cost of Australia's environmental degradation is amounting to more than $A3.5 billion a year with an estimated cost of managing (not overcoming) problems of salinity, acidification, soil erosion totalling $A60 billion over the next decade. This paper argues that stewardship itself is an unsatisfactory concept when looking to landholders to respond to environmental problems, for rarely does the attitude of stewardship translate into behaviours of improving natural resource management practices on private land. Whilst there is some acceptance of the environmental problem among primary producers, a number of external constraints may also impede the uptake of conservation-orientated practices. In light of the prevailing accounts of poor adoption of sustainable practices a number of policy options are reviewed in this paper, including formal regional partnerships, regulatory frameworks and market-based measures. It is concluded that the contentious nature of some of these new opportunities for change will mean that any moves aimed at reversing environmental degradation in Australia will be slow.

A toothless chihuahua? : the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, neoliberalism and supermarket power in Australia

During the Senate Inquiry into 'milk price wars' in 2011, Senator Nick Xenophon accused the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) of being 'less effective than a toothless Chihuahua'. This follows the ACCC's lack of action regarding the reported abuse of market power of Australia's supermarket duopoly, where an extensive inquiry into the competitiveness of retail prices in 2008 found grocery retailing to be 'workably competitive' despite numerous claims to the contrary. How can farmers' submissions to the inquiry that cite market abuse be reconciled with the ACCC's finding that all is well in the food supply chain? Following an in-depth examination of 53 farmer submissions to the inquiry, we conclude that the findings of the ACCC are commensurate with the neoliberal economisation of the political sphere, where commercial entities 'legitimately' govern beyond their corporate boundaries, often using disciplinary measures that were once exclusive to governments. We argue that such clear structural inequalities between farmers and major corporations is reason to re-regulate markets and reinsert a stronger role for government to 'level the playing field'.

Genuine community engagement in remote dryland regions : natural resource management in Lake Eyre Basin

Remote dryland regions are characterised by sparse populations and socially marginalised voices which pose particular challenges to natural resource management. This paper considers the issue of how to achieve community engagement in regions with these characteristics. In doing so, the paper contributes to an expanding international research agenda focusing on the distinct characteristics of arid and semi-arid regions under the heading of 'dryland syndrome'. The paper draws on government liaison officer and local community perspectives of successful engagement in the case-study region of Lake Eyre Basin, Australia. The results demonstrate that widely recognised characteristics of successful engagement are required but insufficient for genuine engagement in remote dryland regions. In addition to building trust through community ownership, being inclusive, effective communication, and adequate resources, genuine community engagement in drylands also requires respecting the extreme conditions and extraordinary variability of these areas. Residents of dryland regions seek genuine engagement yet engage opportunistically when seasons are conducive and when tangible outcomes are visible. © 2011 The Authors. Geographical Research © 2011 Institute of Australian Geographers.

Power sharing control with frequency droop in a hybrid microgrid

A microgrid may contain a large number of distributed generators (DGs). These DGs can be either inertial or non-inertial, either dispatchable or non-dispatchable. Moreover, the DGs may operate in plug and play fashion. The combination of these various types of operation makes the microgrid control a challenging task, especially when the microgrid operates in an autonomous mode. In this paper, a new control algorithm for converter interfaced (dispatchable) DG is proposed which facilitates smooth operation in a hybrid microgrid containing inertial and non-inertial DGs. The control algorithm works satisfactorily even when some of the DGs operate in plug and play mode. The proposed strategy is validated through PSCAD simulation studies.

A distributed control based coordination scheme of household PV systems for overvoltage prevention

This paper presents a distributed communication based active power curtailment (APC) control scheme for grid connected photovoltaic (PV) systems to address voltage rise. A simple distribution feeder model is presented and simulated using MATLAB. The resource sharing based control scheme proposed is shown to be effective at reducing voltage rise during times of peak generation and low load. Simulations also show the even distribution of APC using simple communications. Simulations demonstrate the versatility of the proposed control method under major communication failure conditions. Further research may lead to possible applications in coordinated electric vehicle (EV) charging.

Investigation of the effects of various types of wind turbine generators on power-system stability

It has become more and more demanding to investigate the impacts of wind farms on power system operation as ever-increasing penetration levels of wind power have the potential to bring about a series of dynamic stability problems for power systems. This paper undertakes such an investigation through investigating the small signal and transient stabilities of power systems that are separately integrated with three types of wind turbine generators (WTGs), namely the squirrel cage induction generator (SCIG), the doubly fed induction generator (DFIG), and the permanent magnet generator (PMG). To examine the effects of these WTGs on a power system with regard to its stability under different operating conditions, a selected synchronous generator (SG) of the well-known Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC three-unit nine-bus system and an eight-unit 24-bus system is replaced in turn by each type of WTG with the same capacity. The performances of the power system in response to the disturbances are then systematically compared. Specifically, the following comparisons are undertaken: (1) performances of the power system before and after the integration of the WTGs; and (2) performances of the power system and the associated consequences when the SCIG, DFIG, or PMG are separately connected to the system. These stability case studies utilize both eigenvalue analysis and dynamic time-domain simulation methods.