The Oxford Handbook of Spatial Diversity and Business Economics provides academics, researchers, and advanced students in various disciplines - such as business, economics, and geography - with an overview of the role of diversity in modern advanced economies. For a long time, research from different areas has suggested that diversity is a critical factor in creativity, knowledge generation, innovation, and entrepreneurship at the level of organizations, cities, regions, and whole...

The 2021 Congress on Research, Development and Innovation in Renewable Energies (CIDiER 2021) aims to promote international collaboration that fosters ideas and dialogue on developing a solution to climate change through research and development that leads to clean energy innovation via renewable energies. These selected papers cover both theoretical and applied research that will strengthen the implementation of renewable energy projects between universities, research centers, and private...

The authors consider how the Asia-Pacific economies have developed since the financial crises and highlight two inter-related themes: the effect of global forces on the national Asian economies and the different development paths of these economies as they jointly enter this new phase. Questions raised by the book include:* is globalization a threat to development and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific or did globalization rather facilitate and accelerate the pace of industrialization a...

Learn Business Intelligence Markup Language (Biml) for automating much of the repetitive, manual labor involved in data integration. We teach you how to build frameworks and use advanced Biml features to get more out of SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), Transact-SQL (T-SQL), and SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) than you ever thought possible.The first part of the book starts with the basics—getting your development environment configured, Biml syntax, and scripting essenti...

This open access book examines the impact of political leadership on agricultural transformation to understand why cases of successful agricultural transformation are so rare in the developing world. It highlights the importance of leadership and its interaction with the socio-political system as a key factor impacting agricultural transformation. The book takes a first step in systematically exploring commonalities in the role played by the political leadership in successful and less succ...

Concerns about energy resources and the environmental impact of energy use will continue to be important globally. World Scientific's unique series of books on Current Energy Issues is intended, in part, as an expansion and update of the material contained in the World Scientific Handbook of Energy. Each volume will focus on related energy resources or issues and will contain a broader range of topics with more explanatory text.This Solar Energy volume covers a variety of approaches to the...

This open access book shows some of the highlights presented at the XV Ibero-American Congress of Mechanical Engineering. The papers explore the forefront of Mechanical Engineering, containing research into fluid mechanics, energy systems, tribology, materials science, robotics, mechatronics, biomechanics, instrumentation, thermodynamics, and mechanical sustainability.

Nowhere in the world is China's rapid rise to power more evident than in Africa. From multi-billion dollar investments in oil and minerals to the influx of thousands of merchants, labourers and cheap consumer goods, China's economic and political reach is redefining Africa's traditional ties with the international community. This book investigates the emerging relationship between China and Africa to determine whether this engagement will be that of a development partner, economic competit...

A Comprehensive Guide to Solar Energy Systems: With Special Focus on Photovoltaic Systems, the most advanced and research focused text on all aspects of solar energy engineering, is a must have edition on the present state of solar technology, integration and worldwide distribution. In addition, the book provides a high-level assessment of the growth trends in photovoltaics and how investment, planning and economic infrastructure can support those innovations. Each chapter includes a resea...

The Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROI or EROEI) is the amount of energy acquired from a particular energy source divided by the energy expended, or invested, in obtaining that energy. EROI is an essential and seemingly simple measure of the usable energy or “energy profit” from the exploitation of an energy source, but it is not so easy to determine all of the energy expenditures that should be included in the calculation. Because EROI values are generally low for renewable energy sou...

In recent years, China and India have become the most important economic partners of Africa and their footprints are growing by leaps and bounds, transforming Africa's international relations in a dramatic way. Although the overall impact of China and India's engagement in Africa has been positive in the short-term, partly as a result of higher returns from commodity exports fuelled by excessive demands from both countries, little research exists on the actual impact of China and India's g...

Energy Storage discusses the needs of the world's future energy and climate change policies, covering the various types of renewable energy storage in one comprehensive volume that allows readers to conveniently compare the different technologies and find the best process that suits their particularly needs. Each chapter is written by an expert working in the field and includes copious references for those wishing to study the subject further. Various systems are discussed, including mecha...