In Chapter 12, we describe labor markets in great detail, including the implications of labor as a “derived demand”; outcomes under competition, monopsony, and unions; the distinction between shirking and lax works demands as a fringe benefit; personal and statistical discrimination (with application to decision-making in business); and payment structures (with piece-rate pay and/or commissions).

Communities living far from a grid network are increasingly being supplied by off-grid renewable energy systems. However, a consensus of the best approach to their design has yet to emerge. A number of options are being trialled and these are described. Small dc photovoltaic systems with batteries are well established but can only supply limited amounts of power. An example of the supply of power to a remote health facility is shown. Microgrids combine a number of energy sources connected using either ac or dc. These connection architectures are demonstrated. An example of an operating ac microgrid is shown, together with the initial design calculations of the scheme. The concept of community energy is explained with a demonstration of the potential benefits of peer-to-peer energy trading. The chapter is supported by 4 examples, 7 questions with answers and full solutions in the accompanying online material. Further reading and online resources are identified.

In Chapter 10, we discuss monopoly, degrees of monopoly power, and the “price searching” behavior of firms who have discretion over price. We detail various (natural and artificial) barriers to entry (and exit). We provide a conventional description of the inefficiencies of monopoly power, but also note how the possibility of (at least short-term) monopoly profits provides a useful (if not necessary) incentive for entrepreneurs to innovate and create new markets.

Consular work is perhaps the best example of diplomacy with a human touch, because consular officers touch people’s lives around the world every day, often in moments of great need, trauma or desperation. They serve on the front lines of diplomacy, guarding against threats far away from the home country’s physical borders. They protect those borders through the entry visas they decide to grant or deny, and assist home-country citizens in harm’s way. They provide what are known as cradle-to-grave services, including everything from issuing reports of birth abroad to visiting detained or imprisoned compatriots to issuing death certificates. Consular matters affect every bilateral relationship, and their impact is felt globally. Consular work will test you as an individual, including your ability to empathize while fairly applying laws and procedures.

Union citizenship was created to provide a closer bond between the European Union and the nationals of the Member States. It provides a frame for rights to move and reside throughout the EU, and to work and live in conditions of equality and non-discrimination within a host Member State. Union citizens also have the right to be accompanied by their families when they move, even if the family members are not Union citizens themselves. The very power and scope of these rights can make them controversial. The question of whether and when Union citizens should have access to benefits, whether their same-sex family arrangements should be recognised in Member States that do not allow same-sex marriage themselves, and the extent to which Member State nationality law is constrained by the fact that each Member States national is also a Union Citizen, have all been the subject of much discussed case law.

Diplomats work in large and complex bureaucracies, in which structures, duties, responsibilities and authorities should be clearly defined–the alternative is a recipe for chaos at best and disaster at worst. A good officer should be able to work in any bureaucratic situation and be effective. To achieve that, one must have solid knowledge and understanding of policy structures, as well as the parallel, informal policymaking culture that each administration develops. That should be the backdrop against which diplomats inform and influence decision-making and implementation. The U.S. government uses the term “interagency” to describe both a structure and a mechanism through which policies are supposed to be developed, debated and presented to relevant Cabinet members, who head executive departments, and ultimately to the president for decision.

The development and appraisal of renewable energy schemes is described. The phases of project development are explained, as well as the importance of careful assessment of the renewable energy resource. The use of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the development of projects is discussed and the agreements and contracts that are required for a scheme are listed. Simple discounted cash flow calculations are used for the economic appraisal of a renewable energy scheme. The importance of the Environmental Impact Assessment and the production of an Environmental Statement are emphasized. The chapter is supported by 1 example, 7 questions with answers and full solutions in the accompanying online material. Further reading is identified.

Radiation from the sun ultimately drives most of the forms of renewable energy discussed in this book, and this chapter describes the solar energy resource and how it is quantified. Direct and diffuse radiation are described with examples of irradiance and insolation (irradiation). The motion of the earth around the sun is described and the position of the sun as seen from the earth is illustrated. The geocentric or earth-centred representation of earth–sun geometry is used to explain the optimal orientation of a solar energy collector. Equations are provided to determine the location of the sun from a point on the earth. The solar spectrum is described and the air mass concept explained. This short chapter is supported by 4 examples, 10 questions with answers and full solutions in the accompanying online material. Further reading and online resources are identified.

The Euler–Lagrange (EL) approach is also often referred to as the point-particle approach, since the particles are taken to be point masses, as far as their interactions with the surrounding continuous phase are concerned. In the particle-resolved approach, the presence of the particles was fed back to the surrounding continuous phase through the no-slip, no-penetration, isothermal or adiabatic, and other boundary conditions. These boundary conditions, without additional closure assumptions, directly controlled the mass, momentum, and energy exchanges between the particles and the surrounding fluid. Furthermore, these exchanges, which are in the form of tractional force, heat, and mass transfer, are properly distributed around the surfaces of the particles, and they accurately account for the presence of boundary layers, wakes, and other microscale features around the particles.