The African National Congress and its Critics: 'Predatory Liberalism', Black Empowerment and Intra-Alliance Tensions in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Post-apartheid South Africa is characterized by centralized, neo-liberal policymaking that perpetuates, and in some cases exaggerates, socio-economic inequalities inherited from the apartheid era. The African National Congress (ANC) leadership’s alignment with powerful international and domestic market actors produces tensions within the Tripartite Alliance and between government and civil society. Consequently, several characteristics of ‘predatory liberalism’ are evident in contemporary South Africa: neo-liberal restructuring of the economy is combined with an increasing willingness by government to assert its authority, to marginalize and delegitimize those critical of its abandonment of inclusive governance. A new form of oligarch power, combining entrenched economic interests with those of a new ‘black bourgeoisie’ promoted by narrowly implemented Black Economic Empowerment policies, diminishes prospects for broad-based socio-economic transformation. Because the new policy environment is failing to resolve tensions between global market demands for increasing market liberalization and domestic popular demands for poverty-alleviation and socio-economic transformation, the ANC leadership is forced increasingly to confront ‘ultra-leftists’ who are challenging its credentials as defender of the National Democratic Revolution which was the cornerstone in the anti-apartheid struggle.

Accessing the Institutions: The Road to the Socialist-Green Alliance in Spain

This article traces the strategic re-orientation of the Spanish Greens (Los Verdes) from a position of hostility toward the Socialists (PSOE) to one of collaboration that allowed them to gain parliamentary representation in the 2004 national and European elections. Drawing upon insights from the party politics literature, it schematizes a model and then proceeds to use it to provide a diachronic account of factionalist conflict within the ranks of the Greens and their close competitors, the structure of political opportunities, exogenous factors and their interrelationship, up to the point of the electoral agreement between the two parties. In concludes by highlighting the role played by the Madrid bombings in bringing the PSOE back into power and offers some projections about the future institutional access of the Greens.

Effect of resonance frequency, power input, and saturation gas type on the oxidation efficiency of an ultrasound horn

The sonochemical oxidation efficiency (eta(ox)) of a commercial titanium alloy ultrasound horn has been measured using potassium iodide as a dosimeter at its main resonance frequency (20 kHz) and two higher resonance frequencies (41 and 62 kHz). Narrow power and frequency ranges have been chosen to minimise secondary effects such as changing bubble stability, and time available for radical diffusion from the bubble to the liquid. The oxidation efficiency, eta(ox), is proportional to the frequency and to the power transmitted to the liquid (275 mL) in the applied power range (1-6 W) under argon. Luminol radical visualisation measurements show that the radical generation rate increases and a redistribution of radical producing zones is achieved at increasing frequency. Argon, helium, air, nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide have been used as saturation gases in potassium iodide oxidation experiments. The highest eta(ox) has been observed at 5 W under air at 62 kHz. The presence of carbon dioxide in air gives enhanced nucleation at 41 and 62 kHz and has a strong influence on eta(ox). This is supported by the luminol images, the measured dependence of eta(ox). on input power, and bubble images recorded under carbon dioxide. The results give insight into the interplay between saturation gas and frequency, nucleation, and their effect on eta(ox). (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

High power laser production of short-lived isotopes for positron emission tomography

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a powerful diagnostic/imaging technique requiring the production of the short-lived positron emitting isotopes C-11, N-13, O-15 and F-18 by proton irradiation of natural/enriched targets using cyclotrons. The development of PET has been hampered due to the size and shielding requirements of nuclear installations. Recent results show that when an intense laser beam interacts with solid targets, megaelectronvolt (MeV) protons capable of producing PET isotopes are generated. This report describes how to generate intense PET sources of C-11 and F-18 using a petawatt laser beam. The work describing the laser production of F-18 through a (p,n) O-18 reaction, and the subsequent synthesis of 2-[F-18] is reported for the first time. The potential for developing compact laser technology for this purpose is discussed.

Electronic stopping power of H and He in Al and LiF from first principles

Non-linearities in the electronic stopping power of light projectiles in bulk Al and LiF are addressed from first principles using time-evolving time-dependent density functional theory. In the case of Al, the agreement of the calculations with experiments for H and He projectiles is fair, but a recently observed transition for He from one value of the electronic friction coefficient to a higher value at v ~ 0.3 a.u. is not reproduced by the calculations. For LiF, better accuracy is obtained as compared with previously published simulations, albeit the threshold remains overestimated. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Impact of nitrogen seeding on confinement and power load control of a high-triangularity JET ELMy H-mode plasma with a metal wall

This paper reports the impact on confinement and power load of the high-shape 2.5 MA ELMy H-mode scenario at JET of a change from all carbon plasma-facing components to an all metal wall. In preparation to this change, systematic studies of power load reduction and impact on confinement as a result of fuelling in combination with nitrogen seeding were carried out in JET-C and are compared with their counterpart in JET with a metallic wall. An unexpected and significant change is reported on the decrease in the pedestal confinement but is partially recovered with the injection of nitrogen.

A long-term analysis of pumped hydro storage to firm wind power

Although pumped hydro storage is seen as a strategic key asset by grid operators, financing it is complicated in new liberalised markets. It could be argued that the optimum generation portfolio is now determined by the economic viability of generators based on a short to medium term return on investment. This has meant that capital intensive projects such as pumped hydro storage are less attractive for wholesale electricity companies because the payback periods are too long. In tandem a significant amount of wind power has entered the generation mix, which has resulted in operating and planning integration issues due to wind's inherent uncertain, varying spatial and temporal nature. These integration issues can be overcome using fast acting gas peaking plant or energy storage. Most analysis of wind power integration using storage to date has used stochastic optimisation for power system balancing or arbitrage modelling to examine techno-economic viability. In this research a deterministic dynamic programming long term generation expansion model is employed to optimise the generation mix, total system costs and total carbon dioxide emissions, and unlike other studies calculates reserve to firm wind power. The key finding of this study is that the incentive to build capital-intensive pumped hydro storage to firm wind power is limited unless exogenous market costs come very strongly into play. Furthermore it was demonstrated that reserve increases with increasing wind power showing the importance of ancillary services in future power systems. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sovereignty, Article 4(2) TEU and the Respect of National Identities: Swinging the Balance of Power in Favour of the Member States?

The question of whether and to what extent sovereignty has been transferred to the European Union (EU) from its Member States remains a central debate within the EU and is interlinked with issues such as Kompetenz-Kompetenz, direct effect and primacy. Central to any claim to sovereignty is the principle of primacy, which requires that Member States uphold EU law over national law where there is a conflict. However, limitations to primacy can traditionally be found in national jurisprudence and the Maastricht Treaty introduced a possible EU limitation with the requirement that the EU respect national identities of Member States. The Lisbon Treaty provided only minimal further support to the principle of primacy whilst simultaneously developing the provision on national identities, now found within Article 4(2) TEU. There are indications from the literature, national constitutional courts and the Court of Justice of the EU that the provision is gathering strength as a legal tool and is likely to have a wider scope than the text might indicate. In its new role, Article 4(2) TEU bolsters the Member States’ claim to sovereignty and the possibility to uphold aspects crucial to them in conflict with EU law and the principle of primacy. Consequently, it is central to the relationship between the constitutional courts of the Member States and the CJEU, and where the final elements of control remain in ‘hard cases’. However, it does so as part of EU law, thereby facilitating the evasion of direct fundamental conflicts and reflecting the concept of constitutional pluralism.

Power, Pedagogy and Participation: ethics and pragmatics in research with young people

This article addresses issues of methodology and ethical reflexivity when attempting to investigate the opinions of young people. Drawing specifically on three studies of young people's understandings of citizenship and their views on topical issues, two from England and one from Lebanon, the authors present ways in which the ethical and practical challenges of such research can be met. While acknowledging the power relationship between researchers and informants, they suggest that what they call ‘pedagogical research approaches’ built on a participative methodology can open up a space where both parties benefit. They argue that, when working in schools, teacher educators can take advantage of this status to present themselves simultaneously as insiders and outsiders. The authors have devised what are intended to be non-exploitative research instruments that permit the gathering of useful qualitative data during a short encounter. They illustrate their approach with examples of classroom activities they have developed to provide simultaneously a valid learning experience and usable data.

Process simulation of co-firing torrefied biomass in a 220 MWe coal-fired power plant

Torrefaction based co-firing in a pulverized coal boiler has been proposed for large percentage of biomass co-firing. A 220 MWe pulverized coal-power plant is simulated using Aspen Plus for full understanding the impacts of an additional torrefaction unit on the efficiency of the whole power plant, the studied process includes biomass drying, biomass torrefaction, mill systems, biomass/coal devolatilization and combustion, heat exchanges and power generation. Palm kernel shells (PKS) were torrefied at same residence time but 4 different temperatures, to prepare 4 torrefied biomasses with different degrees of torrefaction. During biomass torrefaction processes, the mass loss properties and released gaseous components have been studied. In addition, process simulations at varying torrefaction degrees and biomass co-firing ratios have been carried out to understand the properties of CO₂ emission and electricity efficiency in the studied torrefaction based co-firing power plant. According to the experimental results, the mole fractions of CO ₂ and CO account for 69-91% and 4-27% in torrefied gases. The predicted results also showed that the electrical efficiency reduced when increasing either torrefaction temperature or substitution ratio of biomass. A deep torrefaction may not be recommended, because the power saved from biomass grinding is less than the heat consumed by the extra torrefaction process, depending on the heat sources. 

Flexible fault ride through strategy for wind farm clusters in power systems with high wind power penetration

This paper investigates a flexible fault ride through strategy for power systems in China with high wind power penetration. The strategy comprises of adaptive fault ride through requirements and maximum power restrictions of the wind farms with weak fault ride through capabilities. The slight faults and moderate faults with high probability are the main defending objective of the strategy. The adaptive fault ride through requirement in the strategy consists of two sub fault ride through requirements, a temporary slight voltage ride through requirement corresponding to a slight fault incident, with a moderate voltage ride through requirement corresponding to a moderate fault. The temporary overloading capability of the wind farm is reflected in both requirements to enhance the capability to defend slight faults and to avoid tripping when the crowbar is disconnected after moderate faults are cleared. For those wind farms that cannot meet the adaptive fault ride through requirement, restrictions are put on the maximum power output. Simulation results show that the flexible fault ride through strategy increases the fault ride through capability of the wind farm clusters and reduces the wind power curtailment during faults.

Managing Future offshore wind power variability in a European Supergrid

The future European power system will have a hierarchical structure created by layers of system control from a Supergrid via regional high-voltage transmission through to medium and low-voltage distribution. Each level will have generation sources such as large-scale offshore wind, wave, solar thermal, nuclear directly connected to this Supergrid and high levels of embedded generation, connected to the medium-voltage distribution system. It is expected that the fuel portfolio will be dominated by offshore wind in Northern Europe and PV in Southern Europe. The strategies required to manage the coordination of supply-side variability with demand-side variability will include large scale interconnection, demand side management, load aggregation and storage in the context of the Supergrid combined with the Smart Grid. The design challenge associated with this will not only include control topology, data acquisition, analysis and communications technologies, but also the selection of fuel portfolio at a macro level. This paper quantifies the amount of demand side management, storage and so-called 'back-up generation' needed to support an 80% renewable energy portfolio in Europe by 2050. © 2013 IEEE.

Managing the variability of supply in the European power system with high wind energy penetration

The power system of the future will have a hierarchical structure created by layers of system control from via regional high-voltage transmission through to medium and low-voltage distribution. Each level will have generation sources such as large-scale offshore wind, wave, solar thermal, nuclear directly connected to this Supergrid and high levels of embedded generation, connected to the medium-voltage distribution system. It is expected that the fuel portfolio will be dominated by offshore wind in Northern Europe and PV in Southern Europe. The strategies required to manage the coordination of supply-side variability with demand-side variability will include large scale interconnection, demand side management, load aggregation and storage in the concept of the Supergrid combined with the Smart Grid. The design challenge associated with this will not only include control topology, data acquisition, analysis and communications technologies, but also the selection of fuel portfolio at a macro level. This paper quantifies the amount of demand side management, storage and so-called ‘back-up generation’ needed to support an 80% renewable energy portfolio in Europe by 2050.