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The limited supply of fossil fuels, constant rise in the demand of energy and the importance of reducing greenhouse emissions have brought the adoption of renewable energy sources for generation of electrical power. One of these sources that has the potential to supply the world’s energy needs is the ocean. Currently, ocean in West African region is mostly utilized for the extraction of oil and gas from the continental shelf. However, this resource is depleting, and the adaptation of ocean energy could be of major importance. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the possibilities of ocean-based renewable energy (OBRE) and analyze the economic impact of adapting an ocean energy using a thermal gradient (OTEC) approach for energy generation.

The analysis is conducted from the perspective of cost, energy security and environmental protection.

This study shows that adapting ocean energy in the West Africa region can significantly produce the energy needed to match the rising energy demands for sustainable development of Nigeria. Although the transition toward using OBRE will incur high capital cost at the initial stage, eventually, it will lead to a cost-effective generation, transmission, environmental improvement and stable energy supply to match demand when compared with the conventional mode of generation in West Africa.

This study will be helpful in determining the feasibility, performance, issues and environmental effects related to the generation and transmission of OBRE in the West Africa region.

The study will contribute toward analysis of the opportunities for adopting renewable energy sources and increasing energy sustainability for the West Africa coast regions.

The Pacific Island countries are culturally diverse, politically challenging, extremely vulnerable to climate change and natural disaster impacts, and financially heavily dependent on aid flows. This chapter examines barriers and opportunities for Green growth (GG) to flourish in a country with a practically non-existent real economy and which is currently under the threat of disappearance under water. It draws on a visiting experience and lessons from the literature and tries to investigate the role of innovation and entrepreneurship as poles of re-birth and local creativity. More particularly, I here discuss why a least developed country such as Kiribati might be the perfect location for dynamics of GG to get born and how, Kiribati, a country under threat and fear, can be transformed into a lighthouse of entrepreneurship which can give boost to the implementation of one of the most advanced energy technologies in the world. I also discuss how, ultimately, a “least developed economy” can secure scientific lessons, which are highly significant for the international knowledge society.

In order to evaluate the suitability of aluminium alloys for engineering applications in Arabian Gulf Water a joint corrosion research program between the University of Petroleum & Minerals (UPM), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia and OFZS, Austria, was initiated in 1978. Considerable interest in aluminium and its alloys, particularly 5000 series, for marine applications has been shown in recent years. Aluminium alloys having low copper and zinc contents and alloys containing Mg have shown good application potentials in marine environments. Recent attempts to improve the corrosion resistance of AI‐Mg alloys by alloy modifications and optimising the corrosion resistance and mechanical properties have met with some success. Several records obtained from OTEC heat exchangers and Aluminium Association desalination plants show promising application potentials of aluminium and certain aluminium alloys. In view of the rapid growth of desalination technology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a great demand has been placed on the understanding of the corrosion behaviour of important engineering materials in local environments, and the need for development of alternate materials. A field test rig was therefore built in co‐operation with CFZS, Austria and installed at the UPM (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia) beach in 1978 for long term corrosion testing. This paper describes the results of a joint test program on the corrosion of aluminium and selected aluminium alloys in Arabian Gulf Water obtained from test rig, and laboratory studies.

The purpose of this paper is to explore if Jamaican authorities can improve revenue earnings from cruise tourism in the post Covid-19 period by improving the standards of current attractions, adding new ones and allowing more citizens to participate.

A literature review was undertaken, supported by discussions with other authors who have written and published previous work on cruise tourism, and conversations with prominent tourism industry representatives.

All cruise lines operating in the Caribbean have islands to exclusively entertain their guests and yet, Caribbean islands need more integration. Each island currently negotiates separately with cruise lines to determine the “head tax” payable. Cruise lines could give guests a more authentic experience by employing more workers from the region and tourism workers could improve their earnings by working more closely with cruise lines. Caribbean governments can expand access to more attractions by improving their road network across the islands.

Further investigation could include: ways to integrate more Caribbean islands, negotiations between cruise lines and the Caribbean islands as a group, making Caribbean workers more attractive to the cruise industry and, the cruise lines' appetite for more diversified attractions within the Caribbean region.

This study should raise the consciousness of the Jamaican government and tourism administrators about the fact that Jamaica has far more attractions than that of those present in the market. More Jamaicans could receive training to provide direct or indirect service within the cruise industry. Increased engagement of Jamaican workers would lead to improved economic wellbeing for them and their families and the country as a whole.

Jamaicans might take better care of their environment if they stood a chance of benefiting more from cruise tourism. They might see clearly how cruise tourism impacts their communities. Further, citizens might take better care of their environment and keep it healthier and attractive. They might be even more self-disciplined in their behaviour and reduce crime and violence to acceptable levels.

This paper provided a simple perspective on how disconnected Caribbean islands are reflected in the wide variance in head tax charged by each island. Caribbean Governments should examine the various ways in which lack of integration has affected the region as a whole and agree on a framework for wider cooperation. If the Caribbean islands negotiate with cruise lines as one group, they may enhance their negotiating power. Each government within the region can conduct a comprehensive audit of attractions and include them in their development plan. Governments could involve their citizens more as providers of service to the cruise tourism business. Cruise operators could also see that there is wisdom and economic benefit arising from engaging more workers from the Caribbean.

To measure total factor productivity (TFP) growth in industrial manufacturing for 15 major Indian states for the period 1982‐1983 to 2000‐2001.

Uses non‐parametric linear programming methods; TFP growth is decomposed into efficiency and technological changes and also measures for the bias in technical change. The resulting information is used to examine whether the post‐reform period shows any improvement in productivity and efficiency in comparison with the pre‐reform period.

Findings of the present exercise indicate the improvement in TFP. The recent change in TFP is governed by the technical progress in contrast with similar gain caused by the improvement in technical efficiency in the pre‐reform regime. The technological progress in state manufacturing exhibited a capital‐using bias during the study period. Regional differences in TFP persist, although the magnitude of variation has declined in the post‐reform period. Moreover, it is also found that there is a tendency for convergence in terms of TFP growth rate among Indian states during the post‐reform years and only the states that were technically efficient at the beginning of the reforms remain innovative.

Decomposing state level data on manufacturing into technical change and efficiency change helps in identifying the directions biases in favour of labour or capital. Also, this analysis demonstrates the richness of linear programming technique that allows for an investigation of important research questions on the underlying processes that influence TFP growth.

The objective of the present study was to assess which teachers hired to teach secondary school dropouts are most likely to adapt their practices to match their students' characteristics. Chile recently initiated a system “second chance” schools for dropouts. Most of the teaching staff were recruited from the secondary schools from which the students had withdrawn. There was little variation in instructional practices or schedules. The second chance schools provide intensive instruction, small classes and flexibility in schedules and sequence of courses. The study sought to identify the teachers most likely to adapt old practices or learn new ones in order to provide students a different educational experience than that offered in conventional secondary schools.

The sampling design for this study was developed by the Statistics Department of the Ministry of Education. Taking enrollment into account, they randomly selected second chance schools from 13 of Chile's 16 regions. Then, they randomly selected 617 teachers from 38 of the selected schools. The teachers were invited to respond to a self-administered survey questionnaire that covered beliefs about and attitudes toward dropouts, and frequency of use of different teaching methods. The analytical procedures used include nonparametric correlations and logit regression.

Teaching methods in the second chance schools are influenced mostly by type of in-service training and not by student characteristics. Most teachers expect most students to graduate; teachers with more years of teaching are the least optimistic.

Relatively little research on second chance schools has been published in Latin America. The Second Opportunity Schools are the first effort in Chile to provide public secondary school to dropouts. The study provides detailed information about background and training linked to current teachers' instructional practices. The findings suggest actions that can be taken to improve the new schools.

Renewable energy sources are likely to play a major role in meeting the future energy requirement of a developing country like India. Among the various renewable energy sources, the bio‐energy plays a key role for the power generation. In this paper, an attempt is made to develop a fuzzy based linear programming optimal electricity allocation model (OEAM) that minimizes the cost and determines the optimum allocation of different energy sources for the centralized and decentralized power generation in India with special emphasis to bio‐energy.

The OEAM model optimizes and selects the appropriate energy options for the power generation on the factors such as cost, potential, demand, efficiency, emission and carbon tax. The objective function of the model is minimizing the cost of power generation. The other factors are used as constraints in the model. The fuzzy linear programming optimization approach is used in the model.

The extents of energy sources distribution for the power generation in the year 2020 would be 15,800 GWh (4 per cent) from the coal based plants, 85,400 GWh (20 per cent) from the nuclear plants, 191,100 GWh (44 per cent) from the hydro plants, 22,400 GWh (5 per cent) from the wind mills, 45,520 GWh (11 per cent) from the biomass gasifier plants, 14,112 GWh (3 per cent) from the biogas plants, 8,400 GWh (2 per cent) from the solid waste, 33,600 GWh (8 per cent) from the cogeneration plants and 11,970 GWh (3 per cent) from the mini hydel plants, respectively.

The OEAM has been developed for the electricity demand allocation for the year 2020. An extensive literature survey revealed that carbon tax and emission constraints were never used in the previous models and they are considered in the present model.

The purpose of this paper is to present recommendations for future growth and continued success of wine and culinary tourism in the Niagara region.

Through industry interviews with practitioners, researchers and stakeholders the recommendations of this paper were formed. Secondary research examined the issues and advances made in other area of the globe specific to wine and culinary tourism. The research is intended to cover the issues associated with advancing an industry sub‐sector that is still growing but will reach maturity in not‐so‐distant future.

In Niagara's wine and culinary tourism sector, there is a renewed call for industry specific research. Furthermore, linkages across the border are recommended to increase tourism revenue both in the USA and Canada. There is need to create more domestic awareness of the changes. Additionally, in order to attract one‐time visitors back to the region, it is important to enhance service through increased service training. There also exists a need for cooperation and coordination within the industry at all levels. The final recommendation is to advocate for signage and specific information to varied segments of the wine and culinary target market sub‐sets to deal with the differences in consumer motivations and preferences.

The relevant conclusions and recommendations listed will assist practitioners to continue the forward momentum of wine and culinary sectors in Niagara and around the world.

The blue and green firms are notable contributors to sustainable development. Similar to other businesses in circular economies, blue and green firms also face financing constraints. This paper aims to assess whether blue and green lending help in optimizing the interest rate spreads and the likelihood of default.

This analysis is based on an unbalanced panel of banks from 20 eurozone countries for eleven years between 2012 and 2022. The key indicators of banking include interest rate spread and a market-based probability of default. The paper assesses how these indicators are influenced by exposure to green and blue firms after controlling for several exogenous factors.

The results show a positive relationship between green and blue lending and spread, while there is a negative link with the probability of default. This confirms that the blue and green exposure positively supports the credit portfolio both in terms of profitability and risk management.

The banking system is among the key contributors to corporate finance and to enable continuous access to sustainable finance, the banking firms must be incentivized. While many studies analyze the impact of green lending, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the very few that extend this analysis to blue economy firms.

Climate change adaptations are today pursed globally to address the threats associated with climate change. The IPCC Third Assessment Report and the Fourth Assessment Report have outlined the most accurate changes to be expected by 2100 with the only uncertainty relating to the timing and magnitude of these changes, not their occurrence (IPCC, 2007). In Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the changes are already manifested through coastal flooding, erosion, salt water intrusion, damaged water sources, and increased storm damages. SIDS are also under threat from their rapidly increasing population that needs settlements, services, and facilities, their limited size that severely confines their options, and their poor resources both in terms of weak financial position and restricted human capacity. This is the reason why SIDS, which will be the first and worst victims, must devote more concerted effort to adapt to these eventualities.