Emerging Technical Approaches
Featured Sustainable Development and Foreign Direct Investment Inflows in India: Examining the Role of Sub-national Factors View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Magdalena Viktora Jones, Sumit Kundu, Jennifer Oetzel, Niti Bhasin
This study discusses the relationship between sustainable development and (foreign direct investment) FDI inflows in the context of India. The objective is to explore the impact of environmental performance in attracting FDI on the sub-national level in India by drawing on institutional theory. We chose the context of India, because India is an emerging market that faces the pollution dilemma while attracting 3% of global FDI projects. The country has heterogeneity in its state policies as well other inter-state differences that create complex environment dynamics and distinct institutional pressures legitimizing environmental practices. We propose that states with implemented environmental policies receive more FDI. Furthermore, we propose that the capacity to change and the resistance to change within each state have a bearing on the amount of FDI received by it. This study adds nuance to the international business literature by exploring the importance of sustainable development at the sub-national level and by accounting for the differences in urban governance. Additionally, we create context for policy makers to enable improved targeting of FDI policies. By proposing a sub-national institutional theory which leans heavily on the regulatory pillar, we add theoretical value and contribute to theory on the sub-national level.
Finding the Right Bucket in the Right Place and at the Right Time: A Novel Methodology for Developing Adaptive Flood Mitigation Strategies with Climate Change View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Suphicha Muangsri, Tim Davies, Gillian Lawson, Wendy Mc William
Internationally, many coastal cities will face disastrous flooding with climate change; however, it is difficult to plan for it under high uncertainty. Conventional flood mitigation strategies, such as installing defence structures on the front line are expensive and risky. Green stormwater infrastructures (GSIs) on large, developed parcels of land, located in key locations in a catchment, are capable of providing substantial flood mitigation. Networks of GSI can be designed to act in concert and rolled out when and where needed. However, parcels have different flood mitigation capabilities through time depending on their biophysical characteristics, and an effective methodology for evaluating and comparing them is missing. Here, we present the Hydrology-based Land Capability Assessment and Classification (HLCA+C) methodology. It builds on the strengths of existing methodologies and uses a land unit analysis approach, that assesses interdependent hydrological and geographical variables. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach in a Christchurch, New Zealand catchment. Its application led to the identification of an adaptive GSI flood mitigation network for the next 80 years that can mitigate flooding just shy of that associated with the major climate change scenario. Effective flood mitigation is a matter of finding the right bucket in the right place and at the right time.
Materials for Solid-state Hydrogen Storage: A Dead End or Gateway for Advanced Energy Systems?
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Nikola Biliskov
Systems for efficient energy storage are crucial to nivelate the inherently intermittent delivery of energy from renewable sources. In this regard, the two main general concepts imply systems for mechanical and chemical storage of energy. Chemical systems include batteries and hydrogen storage, and they imply various families of materials. For a long time, they are a focus of very vivid research interest, one of the hot topics of contemporary materials science. Despite all of these research efforts, so far no material has been found that meets all the technological requirements to be considered usable for hydrogen storage in real systems. It is important to emphasize here that exclusively technological parameters are considered as criteria for the applicability of the material. Very rarely these materials are considered in broader context of mitigation of climate change, which is a crucial reason of development of technologies for hydrogen storage. In this context, the title should be reformulated to more specific questions: 1. Are the all steps of production and use of a specific material environmentally sustainable? 2. How successful os the material when compared with other options? 3. Is the use of the specific material limited exclusively to hydrogen storage or it is applicable in some other energy-related technologies? By addressing these questions, the materials for solid-state chemical hydrogen storage are critically reconsidered in broader context of climate change mitigation.
