Is it appropriate protective figure "Plant Micro-Reserves" to protect tree species? The example of Betula pendula subsp. fontqueri in "La Garganta de los Caballeros" (Ávila)

The figure of protection "micro-reserves" was created in the Region of Valencia (ANONYMOUS, 1994) with the aim of protecting endangered plant species. This is one of the areas of greatest floristic richness and uniqueness of the western Mediterranean. In this area rare, endemic or threatened vascular flora has a peculiar distribution: they appear to form small fragments spread over the entire region (LAGUNA, 1994; LAGUNA, 2001) The protection of every these small populations of great scientific value has significant challenges. It doesn´t try to protect every species that set out in Annex IV of the by then existing Law 4 / 1989 (repealed in 2007), or to protect to the most ecological level with the creation of Natural Protected Area but an intermediate level: the plant community of small size. According to the decree: “as Micro-Reserve will be declared the natural parcels of land under 20 hectares that contain a high concentration of rare plants, endemic, threatened or of high scientific interest” (ANONYMOUS, 1994) . Of course, the statement of an area as micro-reserve carries certain prohibitions that are harmful to the vegetal community

Dynamic response of hydro power plants for providing secondary regulation reserves considering elastic water column effects

In this paper, the dynamic response of a hydro power plant for providing secondary regulation reserve is studied in detail. Special emphasis is given to the elastic water column effects both in the penstock and the tailrace tunnel. For this purpose, a nonlinear model based on the analogy between mass and momentum conservation equations of a water conduit and those of wave propagation in transmission lines is used. The influence of the plant configuration and design parameters on the fulfilment of the Spanish Electrical System Operator requirements is analysed

A method to assess annual average renewable groundwater reserves for large regions in Spain

This paper proposes a method for assessing the groundwater renewable reserves of large regions for an average year, based on the integration of the recession curves for their basins springs or the natural base flow of their rivers. In this method, the hydrodynamic volume (or renewable reserves), were estimated from the baseflow equation. It was assumed that the flow was the same as the natural recharge, and that the recession coefficients were derived by the hydrogeological parameters and geometrical characteristics of aquifers, and adjusted to fit the recession curves at gauging stations. The method was applied to all the aquifers of Spain, which have a total groundwater renewable reserve of 86,895 hm3 four times the mean annual recharge. However, the distribution of these reserves is very variable; 18.6% of the country aquifers contain 94.7% of the entire reserve.

Dynamic response of hydro power plants to load variations for providing secondary regulation reserves considering elastic water column effects

In this paper, the dynamic response of a hydro power plant for providing secondary regulation reserve is studied in detail. S pecial emphasis is given to the elastic water column effects both in the penstock and the tailrace tunnel. For this purpose, a nonline ar model based on the analogy between mass and momentum conservation equations of a water conduit and those of wave propagation in transmission lines is used. The influence of the plant configuration and design parameters on the fulfilment of the Spanish Electrical System Operator requirem ents is analysed.

Managing team learning in a Spanish commercial bank

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze how team management affects team-learning activities. Design/methodology/approach – The authors empirically study 68 teams as they operate in the natural business context of a major Spanish bank. Quantitative research utilizing multiple regression analyses is used to test hypotheses. Findings – The leadership behaviour (consideration, initiation of structure) displayed by the team leader plays a key role in facilitating team learning. Team leader behaviour characterised by consideration and in particular by initiation of structure are both positively related to team-learning activities. Cross-training of team members also contributes to team-learning behaviour. Research limitations/implications – A specific setting may limit the generalizability of findings. Further research may accordingly investigate to what extent these results can be generalized to other settings or other aspects of team learning. Practical implications – The leadership style adopted by the team leader, as well as cross-training of members, affect team-learning activities. These results link leadership theory to collective learning in teams and organizations, and suggest ways leaders can contribute to improved learning. Originality/value – The study provides new insight into how management of teams facilitates team-learning activities. While consideration is somewhat related to team learning, initiation of structure as well as cross-training appear as key variables.

Caja Granada Savings Bank, Granada (Spain) 2001

Se trata de una caja de hormigón y piedra que atrapa la luz del sol en su interior para servir a las funciones que se desarrollan dentro de ese "impluvium de luz".

Caja General de Ahorros, Granada = Savings Bank, Granada

Caja General de Ahorros, Granada = Savings Bank, Granada Texto en español e inglés.

A Valuation of SAREB, the Spanish “Bad Bank”, Upside Using the Real Options Methodology

This paper develops a model to analyze the upside potential of profitability of the SAREB (“Asset Management Company for Assets Arising from Bank Restructuring”), the Spanish “Bad Bank”. The model is based in the Real Options methodology, that is especially adequate due to the convergence of two elements, (i) depreciated assets with a high upside potential, and (ii) a highly volatile market as it has shown to be the real estate Spanish market. Our results suggest that the SAREB has a higher than expected profitability potentialthat would be dedicated to increase the return to its shareholders, mainly private banks. Consequently we also show that after the financial crisis are emerging two types of banks in Spain, in one hand the losers who are transferring their real estate assets at a deep discount, and in the other hand the winners, capturing the upside potential of those assets as shareholders of SAREB, and consequently consolidating their strength in the Spanish Real Estate Industry. It is worth to mention that Governments should make an effort in properly redistribute the wealth generated by the real Estate industry.

Caja Granada Savings Bank

Publicación de la obra de Caja Granada

Modeling the Real-Time Use of Reserves in the Joint Energy and Reserve Hourly Scheduling of a Pumped Storage Plant

This paper studies the impact that different approaches of modeling the real-time use of the secondary regulation reserves have in the joint energy and reserve hourly scheduling of a price-taker pumped-storage hydropower plant. The unexpected imbalance costs due to the error between the forecasted real-time use of the reserves and the actual value are also studied and evaluated for the different approaches. The proposed methodology is applied to a daily-cycle and closed-loop pumped-storage hydropower plant. Preliminary results show that the deviations in the water volume at the end of the day are important when the percentage of the real-time use of reserves is unknown in advance, and also that the total income in all approaches after correcting these deviations is significantly lower than the maximum theoretical income.