Remote Island Communities Research Articles

What drives attitudes towards marine renewable energy development in island communities in the UK?

Island communities represent key potential arenas for marine renewable energy (MRE) because of their tidal, wave and off-shore wind resources. However, although MRE developments could offer remote island communities significant economic benefits, limited research exists on community attitudes towards MRE or, crucially, the main factors shaping responses. Research in the Shetlands, Orkneys and Scillies (UK) revealed generally positive attitudes towards MRE but also that attitudes were strongly shaped by place-related values, not just the direct socio-economic and environmental credentials of proposed locations. Developments that complemented established place values were more likely to gain acceptance whereas conflicts with these values was often a major reason for concerns about MRE. The results are used to argue for greater attention to place-related values in decision-making and community engagement on MRE developments.

Japan's Pivot to Resilience: How Two Microgrids Fared After the 2011 Earthquake

Japan was an early leader in microgrid research, with the four demonstrations funded by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) between 2003 and 2008 being particularly influential. In addition, there have been several notable private sector projects, as well as some remote island, dc power, and sustainable community demonstrations. Objectives for the four NEDO projects were primarily to demonstrate the high penetration of local small-scale renewables,local control of diverse resources, islanding, reliability, and heterogeneous power quality (HeQ).

Decentralized oceans: Sail‐solar shipping for sustainable development in SIDS

AbstractConventional shipping is increasingly unable to address the social and economic needs of remote and underprivileged coastal and island communities. Barriers include rising fuel costs affecting the viability of on‐water activities, which are compounded by the challenges presented by a lack of deepwater ports and related infrastructure that prevent docking by larger more fuel‐efficient vessels. The environmental externalities of shipping‐related fossil‐fuel consumption, which harbour both local pollution and anthropogenic climate change impacts, adversely affect these communities. Amid limited research on strategies to address the challenges presented by conventional shipping methods to small island developing States (SIDS), this paper proposes the adoption of policy initiatives for the adoption of small, modern non‐fuel vessels that could assist these important yet underserved niches. One of several initiatives developing renewable‐energy based shipping solutions is the Greenheart Project, an international non‐profit organization in the process of developing an open‐source hybrid solar‐sail cargo vessel conforming to the conditions faced in coastal and island communities. This paper discusses the socio‐economic and environmental challenges presented by conventional shipping with reference to SIDS and the potential of non‐fuel shipping. Policy proposals to facilitate the beneficial adoption of such vessels in developing communities will also be offered.

Disaster management and climate change adaptation: a remote island perspective

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to provide a perspective on disaster management and climate change adaptation often left out of the literature – that of a remote outer island in Fiji.Design/methodology/approach– Qualitative fieldwork was conducted on a small, remote island in the north of Fiji, during 2012. Interviews with community members on this island looked at their experiences and perceptions of disaster response and aid, and their expectations for the future. The perspectives of government and aid organisations involved in disaster response were compared with the remote community views.Findings– There is a prevalent view in Fiji of communities as having very high expectations of disaster relief aid, and being dependent on it. However, on a remote island where the community counts the wait for help in weeks rather than days, such expectations and dependence must be viewed in a different light. There is much to be learned from the resilience and self-help these communities have no choice but to exhibit.Originality/value– This paper helps to fill a gap in the disaster and climate change adaptation literature, by providing some insight into the experiences and perceptions of a remote outer island community, within the remote small island developing state of Fiji.

Sustainable energy systems for a remote island community

This paper evaluates the potential of integrating renewable energy technological resources for tri-generation applications in an island. The integrated tri-generation system has to be self-sustaining in delivering cooling, heating and power. Several CCHP (combined cooling heating and power) systems at different penetration levels were proposed. The CCHP systems comprising key prime movers include microturbines, photovoltaic, solar Stirling dish, fuel cell system, biomass power generator and an absorption cooling technology. The systems are judiciously designed to provide the island’s tri-generation needs. Three different operational schemes of varying renewable energy penetration were considered – peak shaving, 20% and 40% renewable energy penetration. Key results have suggested that reductions of approximately 20% in primary energy savings are realizable for all three cases. Additionally, a renewable energy penetration level of 40% yielded the largest reduction in terms of carbon dioxide emission. In terms of cost benefits for the proposed system combinations, peak shaving and 20% renewable energy penetration can realize savings of up to USD $150,000 per annum.

Community Sustainability Plans to enable change towards sustainable practice – a Scottish case study

There is a need for a global shift towards a low-carbon society and this requires action at the local level. The aim of the study into sustainable community development is to clarify the role of a community as a whole rather than the role of individuals within that community. Mixed methods of literature review and empirical study have been used to translate the knowledge and experience with urban sustainable development into empirical knowledge of a rural, market town setting. The exemplary case study is the Scottish market town Huntly. The main findings of the study show the need for three ingredients for a Community Sustainability Plan for a town such as Huntly. Community involvement is crucial in developing such plans in a rural setting. Further research in more remote settings, e.g. coastal and island communities, is needed to allow broader conclusions on rural sustainable development.

Valuing the quality of strategic ferry services to remote communities

Ferry service quality is important to the economic and social prosperity of remote island and coastal communities. This paper shows how users value the quality attributes of ferry routes serving long distance traffic. It therefore adds to the thin evidence base on willingness to pay values for changes in ferry frequency and operating hours of strategic routes with low frequencies and limited hours of operation. An important finding, from a ferry management perspective, is that the quality of the ferry service matters to users. The value of increasing the operating day and reducing headways for ferry services of a strategic nature is positive. Ensuring the operating day is of a similar length to the working day is more important to users than extending the service into the evening or night. Users also do not seem to value headways below 3h. Given an environment of fiscal constraints and falling subsidy levels, ferry operators in remote regions should in the first instance maintain the operating day and reduce frequencies — should headways already be lower than 3h. If there is a need to reduce the operating day ideally it should not be reduced below that of the working day.

The Value of the Air Bridge to the Islands

The viability of Scotland's remote island communities remains threatened by long-term out-migration and associated demographic imbalances. This problem persists because the socio-economic position of some communities does not necessarily offer the opportunities and hence quality of life people seek. EU, public sector and community action remains focussed onaddressing these issues. Integral to that effort is the contribution of air transport to the accessibility of opportunities. However, some nominally ‘lifeline’ air services rely on public subsidy and therefore, with pressure to cut public sector expenditure, a question for debate remains: should the air bridge to the islands continue, if so why and in what form? This paper contributes to the debate, using findings from an exploratory case study of lifeline air services for Barra and Vatersay in Scotland's Outer Hebrides. Employing data from both a self-completion postal questionnaire and interviews with members of the islands' communities the study found the air service to be integral to the islands' identity, perceived as important to the quality of island lifebut subject to political, operational and economic challenges and threats. The paper proposes research exploring the holistic value of the service and the feasibility of innovations to mitigate those challenges and threats.

Feasibility study of a solar water pumping system

Solar photovoltaic (SPV) water pumping systems have the potential to provide clean drinking water to millions of unserved people around the world. The abundant solar energy resource and groundwater availability in the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) can be combined to make much needed potable water available to remote island communities in these countries. This paper looks at the feasibility of using a SPV pumping system in one of the villages in the Fiji Islands.

Marine gold and atoll livelihoods: The rise and fall of the bêche-de-mer trade on Ontong Java, Solomon Islands

The rise and fall of the bêche-de-mer trade in Solomon Islands is an example of how small, remote island communities are influenced by drivers of change on both the national and international scales. This susceptibility leads to local economic collapses and changed livelihoods. This article focuses on small-island livelihoods, socio-economic responses to fluctuating markets and the instability caused by internal and external forces of change. Quantitative surveys, qualitative interviews and participant observation have been used to explore the development trajectories of Ontong Java, a Polynesian outlier in Solomon Islands, in the context of the bêche-de-mer trade over the past forty years. The main findings can be captured in four distinct periods that demonstrate the transformation of this atoll community from subsistence-oriented strategies to specialization in marine resource extraction to economic collapse and return to subsistence. It is concluded that this atoll population has shown a remarkable ability to adjust and cope with processes of globalization.

A novel FACTS dynamic stabilisation scheme for stand-alone tidal energy conversion systems

Renewable abundant ocean kinetic energy has become increasingly popular as a consequence of strong ecological viable concerns and economical energy solutions in remote island communities. However, the integration of dispersed renewable tidal energy will pose a greater challenge to the power quality of distribution networks in remote areas due to fluctuation of the tidal stream velocity. The paper presents the dynamic simulation of novel stabilisation scheme with coordinated hybrid controller developed by the second author. The tidal energy converter system comprises four key parts. The tidal turbine drives an induction generator and stabilised using the novel modulated power filter MPFC and SVC compensator. The standalone renewable energy scheme feeds a hybrid electric load. The proposed integrated tidal green energy conversion scheme with all subsystems has been digitally simulated using the Matlab/Simulink/Sim-Power software environment. The novel filter compensator scheme with the dynamic error driven hybrid controller developed by the second author was fully validated.

Invisible institutions in emergencies: Evacuating the remote Indigenous community of Warruwi, Northern Territory Australia, from Cyclone Monica

Tropical Cyclone Monica is one of the most intense Australian cyclones in recorded history, and threatened several Indigenous communities in April 2006. It prompted the evacuation of the remote island community of Warruwi, and caused considerable damage to the mainland township of Maningrida. The evacuation of Warruwi went smoothly as emergency services personnel, the community and the airline cooperated to airlift some 350 people to designated safe areas on the mainland. We show that local institutions culturally embedded in Indigenous ways of understanding and responding to the world were important in providing essential but ‘unofficial’ services during the emergency. Recognizing and respecting the resilience of the local process involved in everyday Indigenous life is revealed as central to ensuring local cooperation and effective involvement of state and national institutions in delivering effective measures during emergencies. Ensuring that local, state and national authorities offer recognition and understanding of these Indigenous institutions, and develop strong relationships with them, should be a priority in developing approaches that limit conflict and trauma where emergency services risk overriding local protocol.

Integration of a wave energy converter into the electricity supply of a remote Alaskan island

The electrical power integration of a heaving point absorber wave energy converter to a remote island community of population 100 is investigated. A wave resource assessment, taking into account the local geography, is completed. The operational concept and specifications of the wave energy converter are presented. A detailed description of the frequency domain modelling and control approach used to estimate in situ performance of the wave energy converter is given. Time series comparisons are made between wave power capture and community electrical demand. Analyses of electrical grid penetration ratios suggest that a deployment of a single offshore wave energy converter of 100 kW capacity could be a feasible renewable electricity source for the island.

Satisfaction with access to healthcare: qualitative study of rural patients and practitioners

Aim To gain insight into factors affecting patient and practitioner satisfaction with access to healthcare in a remote rural island community. Background General practice based primary care is the focus of health service delivery in rural areas of the UK. Individuals from rural populations have reported inequalities in access to healthcare. User satisfaction with service performance is recognised as an important outcome of healthcare. Further investigation into factors underpinning patient and practitioner satisfaction with access to rural healthcare is required. Design of Study Qualitative interviews with patients and primary healthcare practitioners. Setting Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, UK. Methods A topic guide was developed following review of the literature. In-depth, semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 23 participants were conducted with individuals from all inhabited islands. Detailed field notes were kept, and interview content was partially transcribed and analysed thematically. Findings Principal themes identified were common to patient and practitioner participants. These were: concerns expressed regarding the equitable provision of services; obstacles to using health services; and the outlook of patients and professionals, including expectations, choice, patient–practitioner relationships and community cohesiveness. Emerging themes gave insight into a range of factors affecting satisfaction with access to healthcare. Conclusion Despite numerous policy initiatives aimed at reducing inequities in health service provision, problems with access and uptake of health services persist amongst individuals from remote rural populations. If implemented, recent National Health Service proposals may address some of the challenges identified by participants. Service developments need to take account of local priorities, expectations, geography and demography to achieve favourable outcomes.

Health Information Management in Remote Tropical Islands

Providing good quality health services and reporting of health related activities in remote island communities presents unique challenges, some of which are not apparent without personal experience in these regions. This article discusses the author's recent experiences in the Federated States of Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean, as well as in Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands, two offshore Australian Territories situated in the Indian Ocean.

Development of Advanced Wind Turbine Systems for Remote Islands

The Japanese government development of 100 kW wind turbines has been undertaken by NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization) since 1999 and was completed successfully in March 2003. The turbine system is to for remote island communities which have electricity supply from mini-grids with diesel-engine generators. Such islands commonly have weak grid supply and poorly constructed infrastructure. Winds are strong, so wind turbine generation is attractive; however the likelihood of strong typhoons makes most existing wind turbines unsuitable. The purpose of this government development is to establish wind power generation suitable for such isolated and remote islands, and to operate in parallel with constantly running diesel sets. The main task is diesel-fuel saving. Two 100 kW wind turbines were developed and evaluated on a remote island in Okinawa. All the development targets i.e. high strength, easy construction, high penetration into the diesel grid etc have been demonstrated successfully. This updated paper follows the final report of the development.

Health-related quality of life among urban, rural, and island community elderly in Taiwan.

There are published norms of the 36-item short form of the Medical Outcomes Study Questionnaire (SF-36) for many countries, but few such studies have been conducted in Taiwan. The purpose of this study was to provide the norms for the SF-36 health status measure in urban, rural, and remote island community elderly populations, and to explore the relation between demographic or characteristic factors and the SF-36. A structured questionnaire was used for door-to-door data collection in this survey of an urban, a rural, and a remote population (Shihpai, Yuli, and Kinmen, respectively, in Taiwan). Interviewers also collected information on subjects' demographics, medical history, use of health services, and health-related quality of life using the SF-36. A total of 6503 subjects who were at least 65 years of age were invited, and 4424 (73.1%) participated in the survey. The urban norms were significantly higher than the rural norms in seven scales of the SF-36 and significantly higher than the remote island norms in 4 scales, including physical functioning (84.6 vs 77.1), role limitations due to physical problems (77.8 vs 70.2), general health perceptions (70.5 vs 65.5), and role limitations due to emotional problems (90.6 vs 85.2). Remote island norms were significantly higher than urban and rural norms in vitality and mental health scales. In the multivariate analyses, women had significantly poorer scores in all scales of the SF-36 than men (p < 0.05), except for social functioning. Higher education was significantly associated with increased scores in all scales, except for vitality/energy and mental health scales. Scores of all scales were significantly reduced according to the number of chronic diseases a subject had. The need for domestic services and utilization of inpatient and outpatient health services were associated with lower scales (p < 0.05). There were significant differences between urban, rural, and remote island elderly populations in most scales of the SF-36. The urban elderly population had the greatest health-related quality of life on most scales, particularly on the physical health scales. The remote island elderly population had the highest scores on the vitality and mental health scales, whereas the rural elderly population had the poorest health-related quality of life, particularly rural women.

Group A streptococci from a remote community have novel multilocus genotypes but share emm types and housekeeping alleles with isolates from worldwide sources.

Group A streptococci (GAS) cause several human diseases that differentially affect distinct host populations. Genotypes were defined by multilocus sequence typing and emm typing for 137 organisms collected from individuals in a remote aboriginal island community in tropical Australia and compared with >200 isolates obtained from sources elsewhere in the world. The majority of aboriginal-derived isolates shared emm types and housekeeping alleles with GAS isolates recovered from outside Australia, but these emm types and alleles were in novel combinations. There were many examples in which isolates from aboriginal and non-Australian subjects shared the same emm type, but for approximately 50% of emm types, the multilocus genotypes of isolates of the same emm type but from different regions were very different. A single emm type may typically define a single clone within the United States and on the remote island that is the focus of this study, but in many cases, these clones will be different, and this finding has implications for attempts to make global associations between emm types and certain disease manifestations.

System development and testing of wind-powered reverse osmosis desalination for remote Pacific islands

Reverse osmosis (RO) is one of the most feasible methods of desalination to produce a supplemental freshwater supply. Because traditional RO desalination is energy-intensive, it is not a viable solution for remote Pacific islands where electricity is also in short supply. The utilization of wind power holds promise as a solution to this problem, as most of these remote islands are subject to constant trade winds. RO desalination of brackish groundwater, which is available in many of these islands, requires low feed water pressure that can be delivered by wind power at a moderate wind speed. Testing of a prototype wind-powered RO desalination system constructed on Coconut Island, a small island off the windward coast of Oahu, Hawaii, indicated that at an average wind speed of 8.5 m/s, a freshwater flow of over 4000 L/d can be produced. This volume is sufficient to meet the freshwater needs of a typical remote island community.

Human resource development in remote island communities: an evaluation of tour‐guide training in Vanuatu

AbstractAbout 30% of visitors to Vanuatu visit the outer islands, where ecotourism has recently emerged as a small‐scale but significant activity. In the face of increasing competition from comparable Asia–Pacific destinations, there has been pressure on tourism operators and the Vanuatu Government to improve product quality through mechanisms such as the development of high‐quality tours. One way to enhance product quality is through the provision of appropriate professional training for tourism sector employees, including local tour guides. The paper outlines a tour‐guide training programme delivered on the outer islands, which received financial assistance from several foreign aid agencies. The programme is an instructive example of an attempt to implement a human resource strategy in a developing country arising from the recommendations of a national tourism masterplan that sought the active involvement of international funding agencies in the implementation phase. The paper evaluates the effectiveness of the training programme and outlines the challenges of programme delivery. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.