Policies to reduce energy use and carbon emissions in the UK

The UK differs from may other industrialized nations in that its carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from energy use have declined in recent years despite relatively rapid economic growth. In all sectors but transport, substantial reductions have already occurred in the level of carbon emissions per unit of GDP output. At the same time, a number of official and unofficial studies have pointed out that the UK has one of the largest remaining potentials amongst comparable industrialized countries for achieving further CO₂ reductions through the implementation of cost-effective energy efficiency and fuel switching measures. This paper discusses past and present patterns of energy use and carbons emissions in the UK. The analysis then examines historical trends in UK energy policy and presents policy options for further reducing the UK's energy-use and carbon emissions in the future.     

Potential energy planning conflicts in the UK

During the latter half of the 19ar 1970s there was great concern about potential conflicts over energy development proposals in the UK, most of which were expected to emerge within the framework of land use planning procedures and the associated opportunities for public participation. While there has been widespread dissatisfaction with the way in which the planning system handles energy developments, there is little consensus about the nature of the problem or about possible solutions to it. Greatly reduced energy forecasts allow a pause for reflection, but it is argued that there is no room for complacency about conflict over energy developments in future.     

Evidence for a Negative Correlation between Human Reactive Enamine-Imine Intermediate Deaminase A (RIDA) Activity and Cell Proliferation Rate: Role of Lysine Succinylation of RIDA

Reactive intermediate deaminase (Rid) proteins are enzymes conserved in all domains of life. UK114, a mammalian member of RidA subfamily, has been firstly identified as a component of liver perchloric acid-soluble proteins (L-PSP). Although still poorly defined, several functions have been attributed to the mammalian protein UK114/RIDA, including the reactive intermediate deamination activity. The expression of UK114/RIDA has been observed in some tumors, arousing interest in this protein as an evaluable tumor marker. However, other studies reported a negative correlation between UK114/RIDA expression, tumor differentiation degree and cell proliferation. This work addressed the question of UK114/RIDA expression in human non-tumor HEK293 cell lines and in some human tumor cell lines. Here we reported that human RIDA (hRIDA) was expressed in all the analyzed cell line and subjected to lysine (K-)succinylation. In HEK293, hRIDA K-succinylation was negatively correlated to the cell proliferation rate and was under the control of SIRT5. Moreover, K-succinylation clearly altered hRIDA quantification by immunoblotting, explaining, at least in part, some discrepancies about RIDA expression reported in previous studies. We found that hRIDA was able to deaminate reactive enamine-imine intermediates and that K-succinylation drastically reduced deaminase activity. As predicted by in silico analysis, the observed reduction of deaminase activity has been related to the drastic alterations of hRIDA structure inferred by K-succinylation. The role of hRIDA and the importance of its K-succinylation in cell metabolism, especially in cancer biology, have been discussed.     

A Scottish freedom of information regime for a denationalised environment: rhetorical or authentically practical?

This paper provides an evaluation of the Scottish freedom of information regime in the modern denationalised environment. The authors conducted a pragmatic investigation by means of a real-world compliance inquiry which involved, among other things, the electronic submission of standardised requests for information to those local authority arm's-length external organisations which find themselves now subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. A compliance matrix, with several response measures, recorded the progression and outcome of the requests sent to each named ‘public authority’. The article is also furnished with a contextual overview of the interaction between the home nation FOI regimes and private enterprise with a nod to contemporaneous events. In turn, the paper reveals several quagmires for the operational practicality of FOI in the privatised arena: a pronounced reminder of the difficulties associated with maintaining a functioning and practical FOI regime in light of a myriad of public service delivery models in the denationalised epoch.     

《英国赛博安全战略：回顾与展望》评析

文章评估了英国赛博空间面临的机遇和威胁,对英国政府在赛博安全领域的投资进行了分析,揭示英国政府在赛博安全领域的最新进展和未来计划,针对英国政府可能面临的挑战提出了应对措施。     

Entrepreneurial acquisitions,open innovation and UK high growth SMEs

This paper examines the dynamics of entrepreneurial acquisitions undertaken by UK high growth small and medium enterprises (SMEs). While entrepreneurial acquisitions are increasingly deployed by SMEs, little is known about their antecedents, motivational drivers and organisational outcomes. Drawing on detailed case study evidence from Scotland, the key factor found to be driving these acquisitions was the desire to augment and exploit technological complementarities between the acquiring and acquired firms. Acquisition can therefore be conceptualised as an advanced stage of the outside-in ‘open innovation’ strategies proactively used within these innovative SMEs. Firms executing this strategy typically have an acute propensity for risk, a desire for close customer engagement, effective business models and strong external orientation. The work suggests that greater attention should be paid within M&A theory to the dynamics of these types of smaller scale entrepreneurial acquisitions.     

Obliging Institutions and Industry Evolution: A Comparative Study of the German and UK Wind Energy Industries

This paper firstly examines the relationship between state coordination and wind energy growth by comparing the differences between UK and German institutional configurations and state involvements in the 1990s. While the EU was calling for a unified regulatory framework for its member states, the UK and Germany adopted very different renewable energy policies. The evidence of the early 1990s shows that the British government employed “deregulation” with so limited state involvement that wind energy project developers faced thorny development problems, while the German government tried to require the electricity supply industry to purchase expensive wind power by “regulation” but encountered formidable resistance. Nevertheless, both the British and German administrations later could resolve these problems through new forms of state power. This suggests that, firstly, neither “deregulation” nor “regulation” is an effective means to develop wind power with increasing electricity liberalization and regionalization. Secondly, “obliging” regulations and state powers are vital to the policy outcome by harnessing the state's institutional capacity to smooth out technology innovation and diffusion.     

The management of the project-based organization: A personal reflection

In this paper I make a personal reflection on my research and writings in the field of Project Management over the past 30 years. My research has primarily been about the management of the project-based organization. Within that I have researched governance, organizational behaviour, contingency, marketing, success and shareholder value.     

CO2 capture using mesocellular siliceous foam (MCF)-supported CaO

CaO is a promising material as an alternative CO₂ capture material which can be used at high temperature. However, CaO sinters to form large particles under long-term high temperature conditions, resulting in a rapid decrease of its surface area and the capacity of CO₂ capture. Incorporating CaO into inert materials is a promising strategy to enhance the performance of CO₂ capture. This work investigated a novel composite material called mesocellular siliceous foam (MCF)-supported CaO to enhance the stability and capacity of CaO-based materials for CO₂ capture. The crystal structure, surface morphology and porosity property of the developed composite materials were investigated. Thermogravimetric measurements were carried out to study the cyclic CO₂ capture performance of the MCF-supported CaO composites. The results showed that a part of CaO reacted with the silica wall, and the formation of Ca₂SiO₄ within the MCF framework limited the presence of CaO in the mesopores, thus inhibited the sintering of CaO. The sample of MCF-3CaO exhibited a better performance of CO₂ capture and long-term stability, compared with the materials prepared with lower CaO loading. This work contributes to the development of high temperature CO₂ capture adsorbents, which can be applied for decarbonizing major industrials e.g. power plant.