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Background Renewable energies are key to reduce CO 2 emissions and other environmental impacts of fossil-fueled electricity generation. However, renewable energy systems can also cause negative environmental effects. In this paper, we analyze the potential environmental trade-offs associated with different spatio-technical (de)centralization options for a renewable electricity system. For this purpose, we first review the potential environmental life cycle impacts of key technologies for renewable electricity systems. Subsequently, we develop a framework identifying which factors determine actual environmental effects of renewable electricity systems. We apply the framework to four basic spatio-technical (de)centralization options for the future Germany electricity system. Results Our analysis shows that all (de)centralization options are associated with potential environmental trade-offs. We find that the (de)centralization of the system is a relevant factor determining these trade-offs. For instance, the two more centralized options considered have lower environmental impacts related to PV, whereas the two more decentralized options have lower environmental impacts related to grid infrastructure. However, we also find that the trade-offs depend on the specific way (de)centralization is pursued. For instance, only in one of the two considered more decentralized development options, there is a potential environmental trade-off between higher impacts related to battery storage and lower impacts related to offshore wind power. Conclusions Our analysis reveals that the spatio-technical (de)centralization of a renewable electricity system plays a role for its environmental trade-offs while further factors like the institutional and stakeholder management in place also shape the environmental trade-offs. Policy makers should acknowledge the identified potential environmental trade-offs and their influencing factors when making policies favoring certain spatio-technical (de)centralization options. Highlights Review of potential environmental impacts of key renewable technologies Framework on determinants of actual environmental effects of electricity systems Review of electricity system (de)centralization scenarios for Germany Application of framework to four spatio-technical (de)centralization options Environmental trade-off analysis for the four (de)centralization options

Initially conceived as a security technology, blockchain technology has since gained global interest by spawning decentralized, participatory and trusted network systems. However, despite the great advantages it offers, which have attracted many entrepreneurs and investors, there is growing concern about the intertwined relationship between technology and human governance within a blockchain-related system. This paper aims to discuss the various organizational and technological elements of governance of 10 selected cryptocurrency blockchain systems, focusing on whether their operation and adaptation are (de)centralized. Our analysis shows that the selected cryptocurrency systems are mostly decentralized on the technological aspects. The algorithms or protocols, based on which the systems function, utilize adjacent data or information available in its proximity, located within a single block, and there is no pre-programmed intervention protocol (as a centralized control) to manage conflicts and unexpected situations. In the consensus process, however, some algorithms utilize information distributed throughout the entire network, giving the system a centralized nature. On the other hand, the organizational aspects of their governance are largely centralized. The right or authority to make important decisions (e.g., modification of rules or algorithms) often lies in the hands of a small number of individuals (such as founders). Participation in managerial decision-making is not afforded to every participant of the blockchain system as well. When unforeseen problems occur, problem-solving coordination is usually based on centralized, top-down control and monitoring. We complete our analysis with a discussion on the origins and implications of the dual nature of the governance of cryptocurrency blockchain systems.

Originally published in 1970. During the times of planned population movements and new towns, with a growing interest in specifically regional policies by government, this book considers the problems of development within regions. It presents research on the facts and trends of employment generated by the regional economy and its relationship with the size and socio-economic character of local workforce, using the example of the West Midlands as testing ground for policy. The authors come from the viewpoint of needing to develop understanding of population, housing, employment and communications – the way our regional economy and society worked, before organised de-centralisation could be planned appropriately. Within the field of economic planning they ask what analysis of the information available tell us about development possibilities within a region. The book looks at trends in employment growth, the character and distribution of manufacturing industries and service industries and the locational consequences, to build a picture of the regional economic system. It then considers supply and demand and measures the ways towns vary in detailed case studies. Foreword 1. Perspective on Regional Planning in Britain 2. Regional Trends in Employment Growth 3. The Regional Manufacturing Structure 4. Service Industries in Towns 5. Employment and the Socio-Economic Character of Towns 6. The Demand and Supply of Labour 7. Employment Location and Planning Policy

This paper revisits the rise of industrial unionism in Korea in the wake of the 1997 financial crisis at the turn of the twenty-first century. By closely investigating the reorganization of labour unionism in the context of neoliberalization, it challenges the alleged converging impact of neoliberal rhetoric or hegemony on industrial relations. To this end, this paper raises following substantive questions: How far did Korea’s industrial unionism advance under the new economic circumstances and how stable was it? More importantly, what were the fundamental factors behind such re-formation of labour unions? This paper finds that the transformation of labour unions in Korea is a mixture of the rise of industrial unionism and the persistence of enterprise unionism, that is to say a precarious progress of industrial unionism. It argues that behind the unstable development of industrial unionism in Korea were state-fostered legacy of power imbalance within labour in favour of enterprise unions, especially at chaebols, and continuing state intervention in the re-formation of labour unions in the neoliberal era. Finally, it argues that the seemingly sweeping neoliberal rhetoric or hegemony does not override the long-standing political-economic institutions of industrial relations and the leverage of the state, but it is filtered and reified by them.

The paper analyses the autonomy of Slovenian municipalities toward the central government. Slovenia is one of the very few countries in the European Union with a one-tier local government system, and while levels of local democracy have been on the rise for the last two decades, relations between the state on the one side and local units (municipalities) on the other has slowly deteriorated, especially over questions of municipal competencies, central oversight and the local financing of local communities. While Slovenia ratified the European Charter on Local Government in 1996, the charter was never fully implemented, as the subsidiarity principle was never fully implemented by the state. The paper will analyse the issue of local autonomy with special emphasis on the three mentioned topics, using primary and secondary sources as well as empirical data from several opinion polls conducted among stakeholders from national and local authorities.

Microalgal bioremediation is currently being venerated for its potential in municipal liquid waste (MLW) treatment. Algae-based water treatment with retention time competitive to the conventional water treatment processes is a challenge. The present study investigated the role of algal biomass concentration to improve treatment efficiency to reduce the time required for water treatment. Eighty percent removal of pollutants (in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia, phosphate and fecal coliforms) was obtained in 12 hours at a biomass concentration of 1 gL−1. Further, continuous treatment of MLW using membrane-assisted photobioreactor was established. The treatment led to >95% removal of ammonia, >75% removal of COD and 100% removal of fecal coliforms within 12 hours. Physiological assessment of the algal culture showed that the cells did not manifest symptoms of stress throughout the reactor cycle, a consequence of continuous availability of the nutrients, maintaining the culture in continuous growth state.

This paper provides a political economy analysis of (de)centralization when local public goods—with spillovers effects—can be substitutes or complements. Depending on the degree of complementarity between local public goods, median voters strategically delegate policy to either 'conservative' or to 'liberal' representatives under decentralized decision-making. In the first case, it accentuates the free-rider problem in public good provision, while it mitigates it in the second case. Under centralized decision-making, the process of strategic delegation results in either too low or too much public spending, with the outcome crucially depending on the sharing of the costs of local public spending relative to the size of the spillover effects. Hence, with a common financing rule, centralization is welfare improving if and only if both public good externalities and the degree of complementarity between local public goods are both relatively large.