No abstract

The study uses multinomial logit model to investigate the factors that determine household cooking fuel choice between firewood, charcoal, and kerosene in Kisumu, Kenya. Empirical results indicate that level of education of wife, the level of education of husband, type of food mostly cooked, whether or not the household owns the dwelling unit, and whether or not the dwelling unit is traditional or modern type are important factors that determine household cooking fuel choice. Implications for regional and national fuel policies are discussed. The study uses multinomial logit model to investigate the factors that determine household cooking fuel choice between firewood, charcoal, and kerosene in Kisumu, Kenya. Empirical results indicate that level of education of wife, the level of education of husband, type of food mostly cooked, whether or not the household owns the dwelling unit, and whether or not the dwelling unit is traditional or modern type are important factors that determine household cooking fuel choice. Implications for regional and national fuel policies are discussed.

capping ligands from one particle to the next. Using liquid-cell transmission electron microscopy, Kim et al. reconstructed the structure of individual nanocrystals synthesized in one batch while they were still in solution. A comparison of multiple particles showed structural heterogeneity and differences between the interior and the outer shell of the individual nanoparticles, as well as nanoparticles containing extended defects and thus differences in internal strain, all of which can affect the physical and chemical properties of each particle. -MSL Science, this issue p.

One method to inform decisions with respect to sustainable, efficient and equitable water allocation and use is water footprint assessment (WFA). This paper presents a preliminary WFA of South Africa (SA) based on data for the period 1996-2005. Crop production was found to contribute about 75% of the total water footprint of national production. The total water footprint of crop production is mainly composed of five crops: maize, fodder crops, sugarcane, wheat and sunflower seed, which account for 83% of the crop water footprint. The average water footprint of a South African consumer is 1 255 m 3 /yr, below the world average of 1 385 m 3 /yr, and is dominated by the consumption of meat (32%) and cereals (29%). About one fifth of this water footprint of consumption is external to SA. While SA is a net virtual water importer, the virtual water trade analysis revealed that a large share of blue water consumption is related to export. Sustainability concerns are that the major river basins face severe blue-water scarcity for extended periods of the year, and that water pollution levels related to nitrogen and phosphorus were found to be unsustainable in all river basins in SA. Efficient allocation and use of water is investigated by means of comparing the consumptive water footprint to global benchmark values, as well as the economic green-and blue-water productivity and the economic land productivity of the crops cultivated in SA. Furthermore, crops with specific potential for biofuel production are assessed. Lastly, recommendations to address the identified issues are given.

A proposal for addressing rhinoceros poaching is to legalise the trade in rhino horn and adopt a regulated market approach (RMA), overturning the current trade ban. This orthodox economic prescription aims to reduce incentives to poach endangered wildlife by driving down the market price of their products via auctioned stockpile releases. Biologists are clear, however, that securing a stockpile for some species needs biological success in captive breeding programmes (CBPs) which varies markedly across species and habitats. Rhinoceros herds in a CBP would need spatially extensive terrain and costly permanent security measures, and this only appears feasible for the less aggressive "white" rhino. We argue that market price would actually need to be sustained at a high level to cover protection costs over the longer reproduction cycles in CBPs and that, without extensive monitoring and the correct institutional structures being in place, legalising trade may encourage, rather than prevent, poaching. Supplementary policy measures that differentiate among consumer groups would also likely prove necessary.