Caracterização da qualidade da água para rega nas captações do sistema Alqueva-Pedrogão

O Empreendimento de Fins Múltiplos de Alqueva (EFMA) é um projecto estruturante centrado na barragem do Alqueva, que pretende garantir o recurso Água na região e com isso viabilizar uma série de infra-estruturas que contribuirão para o desenvolvimento, em termos económicos e sociais, de uma das regiões mais desfavorecidas da Europa. O EFMA é constituído pelo "Reservatório Mãe" e por um conjunto de outras albufeiras de menor dimensão, interligados por uma rede com cerca de dois mil quilómetros de canais e condutas e mais de meia centena de estações de bombagem, contemplando os seguintes usos da água: - Abastecimento público. - Fornecimento de água para o desenvolvimento de actividades agrícolas e agro-industriais; - Produção de energia; Este trabalho tem por objectivo avaliar a adequabilidade da qualidade da água para o uso rega na origem e produzir informação adequada de suporte à decisão. Os resultados obtidos permitem afirmar que de um modo geral a qualidade da água captada no sistema Alqueva- Pedrógão é adequada para o uso rega, apesar de se verificar uma persistente contaminação de coliformes fecais. ABSTRACT; The Multipurpose Alqueva Project (EFMA- Empreendimento de Fins Múltiplos de Alqueva) is a groundwork project centred in Alqueva dam and its reservoir, which intends to guarantee a strategic water reserve in the region, and therefore making possible a series of associated infrastructures, contributing for the potential development of the region, in economic and social terms, in one of the most poorest regions of Europe. The EFMA includes a "Main Reservoir" and set of other dams with lesser dimension, connected by a several canals and pipelines about two thousand kilometers long (including Primary and Secondary Network), and about 50 pumping stations, with the goal of attaining the following main objectives: - Water supply for the development of agricultural and agro-industrial activities; - Production of energy; - Public Water Supply. This study intends to evaluate the suitability of water quality in the origin for irrigation use and to achieve adequate information for support decision. The results have revealed that the quality of water abstracted in the Alqueva - Pedrógão System is suitable for irrigation, although the persistent contamination of fecal coliforms.

Tecnologia GNSS de baixo custo na monitorização de ovinos em pastoreio

Extensive livestock production is supported by natural and biodiverse pastures, characterized by marked seasonal variation of biomass, plant species and growth stage. The use of the food resources and the occupation of grazing space can be very heterogeneous in such conditions due to ruminants grazing behaviour. Successful grazing and pasture management requires an understanding of the adjustment mechanisms behind the grazing behaviour that enables adaptation to grazing conditions. Use of GNSS technology allows a quick and effective grazing data collection which is, however expensive, limiting its application to research purposes. This paper reviews the principles for the application of GNSS technology and evaluates the use of inexpensive commercial GNSS receivers (commercial of the shelf - COTS: CatTrackTM”). Six receivers were used for six data collection period over two months of continuous grazing on a natural pasture. The measured static and dynamic accuracy of the receivers is 14m and 40m, respectively. The precision was 3m and the reliability 80%. The tested equipment allows the differentiation between animal activities (grazing, resting and transit). It also determines sheep locations, allowing the characterization of patterns, pathways and preferred areas. It is concluded that the COTS equipment has a high quality / price ratio, so it can become an important support decision tool essential to a more precise pasture management.

The Selection Process of Applications to the Portuguese Innovation Incentive System: Who Gets Financial Support?

Public policies to support entrepreneurship and innovation play a vital role when firms have difficulties in accessing external finance. However, some authors have found evidence of long-term inefficiency in subsidized firms (Bernini and Pelligrini, 2011; Cerqua and Pelligrini, 2014) and ineffectiveness of public funds (Jorge and Suárez, 2011). The aim of the paper is to assess the effectiveness in the selection process of applications to public financial support for stimulating innovation. Using a binary choice model, we investigate which factors influence the probability of obtaining public support for an innovative investment. The explanatory variables are connected to firm profile, the characteristics of the project and the macroeconomic environment. The analysis is based on the case study of the Portuguese Innovation.Incentive System (PIIS) and on the applications managed by the Alentejo Regional Operational Program in the period 2007 – 2013. The results show that the selection process is more focused on the expected impact of the project than on the firm’s past performance. Factors that influence the credit risk and the decision to grant a bank loan do not seem to influence the government evaluator regarding the funding of some projects. Past activities in R&D do not significantly affect the probability of having an application approved under the PIIS, whereas an increase in the number of patents and the number of skilled jobs are both relevant factors. Nevertheless, some evidence of firms’ short-term inefficiency was found, in that receiving public financial support is linked to a smaller increase in productivity compared to non-approved firm applications. At the macroeconomic level, periods with a higher cost of capital in financial markets are linked to a greater probability of getting an application for public support approved, which could be associated with the effectiveness of public support in correcting market failings.

Bidding Decision of Wind-Thermal GenCo in Day-Ahead Market

This paper deals with the self-scheduling problem of a price-taker having wind and thermal power production and assisted by a cyber-physical system for supporting management decisions in a day-ahead electric energy market. The self-scheduling is regarded as a stochastic mixed-integer linear programming problem. Uncertainties on electricity price and wind power are considered through a set of scenarios. Thermal units are modelled by start-up and variable costs, furthermore constraints are considered, such as: ramp up/down and minimum up/down time limits. The stochastic mixed-integer linear programming problem allows a decision support for strategies advantaging from an effective wind and thermal mixed bidding. A case study is presented using data from the Iberian electricity market.

“Productivity and Employment in Firm’s Acess to Public Funding to Support Innovation”

Innovation is at the heart of the Europe 2020 Strategy, in order to promote higher levels of employment and productivity. Special attention is given to increasing the effectiveness of innovation policy instruments, mainly as some authors found evidence that productivity could be negatively affected by subsidies. The aim of the study is to assess how the expected impact on firm productivity and employment is taken into account, when firms apply for public funding for innovation. The analysis is based on the case study of the Portuguese Innovation Incentive System in the Alentejo region. In order to understand which factors influence the public decision to financially support private investment, we estimated a logit model based on firms’ and applications’ characteristics, controlling for the macroeconomic environment. The results indicate that government preferences for promoting exports, exploiting firms R&D results and stimulating the level of qualified employment are shown to be more relevant than the impact on firm productivity. Furthermore, the cost to the government of new jobs created, measured at least by exemption of interest and financial charges on the loan, is almost twice as much for non-SMEs as for SMEs.