Why Catalonia will see its energy metabolism increase in the near future: an application of MuSIASEM

This paper applies the so-called Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) to the economy of the Spanish region of Catalonia. By applying Georgescu-Roegen's fund-flow model, it arrives at the conclusion that within a context of the end of cheap oil, the current development model based on the growth of low productivity sectors such as services and construction must change. The change is needed not only because of the increasing scarcity of affordable energy carriers, or because of the increasing environmental impact that the present development represents, but also because of an ageing population that demands labour productivity gains. This will imply industry requiring more energy consumption per worker in order to increase its productivity, and therefore its competitiveness. Thus, we conclude that energy intensity, and exosomatic energy metabolism of Catalonia will increase dramatically in the near future unless major conservation efforts are implemented in both the household and transport sectors.

Development of advanced silicon radiation detectors for high energy physics and medical imaging

The 1st chapter of this work presents the different experiments and collaborations in which I am involved during my PhD studies of Physics. Following those descriptions, the 2nd chapter is dedicated to how the radiation affects the silicon sensors, as well as some experimental measurements carried out at CERN (Geneve, Schwitzerland) and IFIC (Valencia, Spain) laboratories. Besides the previous investigation results, this chapter includes the most recent scientific papers appeared in the latest RD50 (Research & Development #50) Status Report, published in January 2007, as well as some others published this year. The 3rd and 4th are dedicated to the simulation of the electrical behavior of solid state detectors. In chapter 3 are reported the results obtained for the illumination of edgeless detectors irradiated at different fluences, in the framework of the TOSTER Collaboration. The 4th chapter reports about simulation design, simulation and fabrication of a novel 3D detector developed at CNM for ions detection in the future ITER fusion reactor. This chapter will be extended with irradiation simulations and experimental measurements in my PhD Thesis.