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As political will gathers behind the ideal of rapid decarbonization, the future looks increasingly dim for oil & gas exporters. CCS offers a pathway for continued operation in the longer-term as the world decarbonizes, but this is not a straightforward solution. Many oil & gas importers are opposed to CCS and are instead looking to replace oil & gas imports with greener alternatives. The alternative solution of converting cheap locally produced hydrocarbons to hydrogen and electricity with CCS substantially increases the cost and complexity of energy exports. This study explores an alternative solution: local utilization of clean hydrogen from natural gas to produce energy intensive industrial products like steel. Such products are much easier to export than hydrogen or electricity. The system-scale modelling assessment presented in this study shows that the energy costs of clean steel using blue hydrogen in Norway is 174 €/ton cheaper than when it is produced using green hydrogen in Germany. This difference amounts to about a third of total steel production costs, giving oil & gas exporters like Norway a large competitive advantage. ; publishedVersion

Community-based care is receiving increasing global attention as a way to support children who are orphaned or vulnerable due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Using both qualitative and quantitative methodology, this study assesses community-based responses to the well-being of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and compares these responses with the actual mental health of OVC in order to evaluate the South African government's approach of funding community-based organisations (CBOs) that support and care for OVC. The study results show that the activities of CBOs mainly extend government services and address poverty. Although this should not be seen as insignificant, the paper argues that CBOs give very little attention to the mental health of OVC.