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Networks of climate obstruction: Discourses of denial and delay in US fossil energy, plastic, and agrichemical industries
No full textThe use of fossil-derived hydrocarbons in fossil energy, plastic production, and agriculture makes these three sectors mutually reinforcing and reliant on sustained fossil fuel extraction. In this paper, we examine the ways the fossil fuel energy, plastics, and agrichemicals industries interact on social media using Twitter (renamed X as of 2023) data analysis, and we explore the implications of these interactions for policy. Content analysis of the text of tweets from the two largest US corporations and a major trade association for each sector (three discrete social media accounts for each sector) reveals coordinated messaging and identifies synergistic themes among these three sectors. Network analysis shows substantial engagement among the three sectors and identifies common external entities frequently mentioned in each sector. To understand the discursive strategies of the twitter networks of these three petrochemical derivative and fuel sectors, we propose the discourses of climate obstruction framework, adapted from and expanding on Lamb et al.’s (2020) discourses of climate delay framework. Our framework integrates both discourses of delay and discourses of denial because an integration of both were found in our analysis suggesting coordinated efforts to obstruct climate action. Our analysis suggests that discourses to deny and delay climate policy are aligned and coordinated across the three sectors to reinforce existing infrastructure and inhibit change. Exceptions in this alignment emerge for a few distinct sector-specific goals, including contrasting messages about biofuel. Despite some disparate views and different policy priorities among these three sectors, similar efforts to reinforce existing extractive petrochemical hegemony and undermine climate policy are clearly evident in each sector. These findings suggest that more research is needed to understand collaborative efforts among fossil energy, plastic, and agrichemical producers to influence climate and energy policy
A Sensitivity Analysis of Wave Energy Converter Model Predictive Control Systems With Wave Excitation Force Estimation and Prediction
No full textUnderstanding the sensitivity of energy-maximizing
control for wave energy converters (WECs), to various model
errors, is crucial for application. Many advanced WEC
controllers, especially model predictive control (MPC)-like controllers, require estimation and prediction of wave excitation
force (WEF). However, previous studies only focus on the
controller in isolation, without considering the error coupling
effects when a complete estimation–prediction loop is involved.
In this study, it is revealed through numerical analysis that
the complete MPC system has sensitivity behavior completely
different from the isolated MPC; under certain model errors,
the system can become particularly unpredictable, exhibiting
potential instability and self-locking phenomena, which cannot
be observed from the examination of control sensitivity alone.
Meanwhile, different tuning options for the WEF estimator and
predictor are examined, where the accuracy–robustness tradeoff
is shown to be critical for performance amelioration under errors.
Based on the analysis, this study challenges the widely assumed
“separation principle” of WEF estimation/prediction and WEC
control, highlights the importance of incorporating a complete
estimation–prediction loop in sensitivity examination, and draws
practical guidelines for WEC control application
BioBeo Primary Education Programme
No full textThe BioBeo Primary Education Programme consisted of six interactive sessions designed to introduce primary school children to the concept of the circular bioeconomy. Through hands-on activities and real-world examples, students explored the interconnectedness of biological systems and sustainable practices. The programme aimed to foster an understanding of how natural resources can be used efficiently and responsibly, with a focus on sustainability. Emphasizing active learning and collaboration, BioBeo encouraged children to think critically about environmental challenges and solutions. By integrating the principles of the circular bioeconomy, the programme promoted environmental stewardship and community engagement
The Maynooth Codex of Tabletop Adventures
No full textWriting for Role-Playing Games: Narratives, Adventures, and Worldbuilding was a post-graduate class offered
in the summer of 2024 by Maynooth University. Students immersed themselves in theory, design, and, most
importantly, writing. The diversity of games that students were interested in speaks to the strength of the genre.
Indeed, the existence of the class itself is a recognition of the importance and, dare we say, legitimacy of
tabletop RPGs as a creative industry. As the works presented here demonstrate, tabletop RPGs offer a unique
site to explore fundamental questions about society and human experience
Leveraging EU non-discrimination law to make the cultural and creative sectors more inclusive of professionals with disabilities: socio-legal perspectives
No full textWorking in the cultural and creative sectors is often seen as an atypical exercise, which differs from mainstream practices in the labour market and operates outside the standard regulatory framework. In this context, the situation of cultural and creative professionals with disabilities and the applicable EU legislation can be overlooked, both in research and in practice. Following a socio-legal approach, this article associates desk-based legal research and empirical research, and considers how the participation of cultural and creative professionals with disabilities could be fostered within the current EU regulatory framework. It identifies gaps and potential in EU cultural policy, disability law and labour law, and, supported by the findings from a qualitative study with EU cultural stakeholders, it discusses the challenges that cultural and creative professionals experience, including those with disabilities. Contributing valuable insights into the participation of persons with disabilities in cultural life, the article argues that the Employment Equality Directive, a pillar of EU labour law and non-discrimination law, can play a key role in making those sectors more inclusive
Climate change risks illustrated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) “burning embers”
No full textThe completion of the Sixth Assessment Cycle of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provides a unique opportunity to understand where the world stands on climate-change-related risks to natural and human systems at the global level, as well as for specific regions and sectors. Since its Third Assessment Report (AR3), released 2 decades ago, the IPCC has developed a synthetic representation of how risks increase with global warming, with risk levels reflected by the colours used, including shades of yellow and red, which led to the nickname “burning embers”. While initially designed to illustrate five overarching Reasons for Concern, these diagrams have been progressively applied to risks in specific systems and regions over the last 10 years. However, the information gathered through expert elicitation and the resulting quantitative risk assessments have hitherto remained scattered within and across reports and specific data files. This paper overcomes this limitation by developing a database containing all embers from AR3 to AR6 and an associated online “Climate Risks Embers Explorer” (CREE) to facilitate the exploration of the assessed risks. The data are also available in an archive file in a widely accessible format (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12626976, Marbaix et al., 2024). Important aspects of data homogenization are discussed, and an approach to structuring information on assessed risk increases is presented. Potential uses of the data are explored through aggregated analyses of risks and adaptation benefits, which show that, excluding high-adaptation cases, half of the assessed risk levels increase from a moderate risk to a high risk between 1.5 and 2 to 2.3 °C of global warming, a result which is consistent with the separate assessment of the Reasons for Concern by the IPCC. The database lays the groundwork for future risk assessments and the development of burning embers by providing a standardized baseline of risk data. It also highlights important areas for improvement in the forthcoming Seventh Assessment Cycle of the IPCC, particularly towards the systematic, homogeneous, and structured collection of information on illustrated risk increases; comprehensive coverage of impacted regions; a systematic consideration of adaptation and/or vulnerability levels; and, possibly, the coverage of risks from response measures. In the context of an ever-growing body of literature and knowledge, the facility described herein has the potential to help in synthesizing and illustrating risks across scales and systems in a more consistent and comprehensive way
Computationally-efficient nonlinear model predictive control of wave energy converters with imperfect wave excitation previews
No full textEnergy maximising (EM) control of wave energy converters (WECs) is a noncausal problem, where wave
prediction information can be used to increase the energy conversion rate significantly. However, current
approaches do not consider the prediction error evolution in the control formulation process, leading to
potential unpredictable performance degradation. Moreover, most existing real-time WEC control approaches
assume linear dynamics, motivated by their simplicity and mild computational cost and, thus, are not effective
for real-time control for WECs with nonlinear dynamics. Targeting imperfect wave prediction and nonlinear
WEC dynamics, this paper proposes a computationally-efficient nonlinear MPC (NMPC) scheme for WECs with
(typically) imperfect wave excitation preview. This is achieved by introducing an input move blocking scheme
when formulating and solving the online optimisation problem, i.e., defining finer discretisation grids for the
control input and wave prediction at the early stages of the prediction horizon, where the wave prediction is
more accurate, and coarser grids at the latter stages of the horizon, to reflect less inaccurate wave prediction
information. Numerical simulation results are presented, based on a conceptual nonlinear point-absorber WEC,
to verify the efficacy of the proposed NMPC method, in terms of produced energy, computational complexity,
and robustness against wave prediction inaccuracy
Dimensions of recognition through relational labour in erotic content creation in Brazil
No full textRelational labour has become a critical concept for understanding the consequences of the ongoing relationship between creators and their audiences on social media. This article draws on this discussion to address Brazilian erotic content creators’ perceptions of the impact of relational labour on their sense of self and subjective identity. Combining the concept with the idea of recognition as conceived in the Psychodynamics of Work, the article explores the subjective investment and identity development involved in the continual creator–audience intersubjective relationships. Based on 31 in-depth interviews with Brazilian erotic creators, the article reveals a deep subjective investment in performing relational labour and its impact on creators’ self-esteem and self-relationship, with the potential to strengthen their subjective identity and social value. Nevertheless, the symbolic rewards of relational labour are an effort rather than a guarantee, especially in highly stigmatised work where the distribution of in intersubjective relationships is uneven