The Potential Evolution of the European Energy System to 2020 and 2050. CEPS Working Document No. 392, 26 March 2014

This paper assesses the impact of decarbonisation of the energy sector on employment in Europe. Setting the stage for such an assessment, the paper provides an analysis of possible pathways to decarbonise Europe’s energy system, taking into account EU greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets for 2020 and 2050. It pays particular attention to various low-carbon technologies that could be deployed in different regions of the EU. It concludes that efficiency and renewables play a major role in any decarbonisation scenario and that the power sector is the main enabler for the transition to a low-carbon economy in Europe, despite rising electricity demand. The extent of the decline in the share of fossil fuels will largely depend on the existence of carbon capture and storage (CCS), which remains a major source of uncertainty.

Consensus, contradiction, and conciliation of interests: the geo-economics of the Energy Union. EPC Policy Brief, 8 July 2015

European Union energy policy calls for nothing less than a profound transformation of the EU's energy system: by 2050 decarbonised electricity generation with 80-95% fewer greenhouse gas emissions, increased use of renewables, more energy efficiency, a functioning energy market and increased security of supply are to be achieved. Different EU policies (e.g., EU climate and energy package for 2020) are intended to create the political and regulatory framework for this transformation. The sectorial dynamics resulting from these EU policies already affect the systems of electricity generation, transportation and storage in Europe, and the more effective the implementation of new measures the more the structure of Europe's power system will change in the years to come. Recent initiatives such as the 2030 climate/energy package and the Energy Union are supposed to keep this dynamic up. Setting new EU targets, however, is not necessarily the same as meeting them. The impact of EU energy policy is likely to have considerable geo-economic implications for individual member states: with increasing market integration come new competitors; coal and gas power plants face new renewable challengers domestically and abroad; and diversification towards new suppliers will result in new trade routes, entry points and infrastructure. Where these implications are at odds with powerful national interests, any member state may point to Article 194, 2 of the Lisbon Treaty and argue that the EU's energy policy agenda interferes with its given right to determine the conditions for exploiting its energy resources, the choice between different energy sources and the general structure of its energy supply. The implementation of new policy initiatives therefore involves intense negotiations to conciliate contradicting interests, something that traditionally has been far from easy to achieve. In areas where this process runs into difficulties, the transfer of sovereignty to the European level is usually to be found amongst the suggested solutions. Pooling sovereignty on a new level, however, does not automatically result in a consensus, i.e., conciliate contradicting interests. Rather than focussing on the right level of decision making, European policy makers need to face the (inconvenient truth of) geo-economical frictions within the Union that make it difficult to come to an arrangement. The reminder of this text explains these latter, more structural and sector-related challenges for European energy policy in more detail, and develops some concrete steps towards a political and regulatory framework necessary to overcome them.

Patenting Systems, Patentable Subject Matter, and Prior Art

The International School of Solid State Physics presented the 56th Course"Materials for Renewable Energy” in Erice (Italy), from July 18th to 28th 2012. This course was sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Scientific Research, the Materials Research Society and the European Materials Research Society. The event was hosted at the "Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture”. The school reviewed critical materials issues for the production and storage of renewable and sustainable energy. The aim of the School was to present the state-of-the-art and future perspectives in this critical area. It was to bring together the international community of students, young scientists, and experts in a unique atmosphere for reciprocal benefits in terms of enthusiasm, knowledge and new ideas.

The lipids; their chemistry and biochemistry.

Bibliographical footnotes.

Essays on Environmental and Health Economics

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

A refined solution to Earth's hidden niobium: implications for evolution of continental crust and mode of core formation

New high-precision niobium (Nb) and tantalum (Ta) concentration data are presented for early Archaean metabasalts, metabasaltic komatiites and their erosion products (mafic metapelites) from SW Greenland and the Acasta gneiss complex, Canada. Individual datasets consistently show sub-chondritic Nb/Ta ratios averaging 15.1+/-11.6. This finding is discussed with regard to two competing models for the solution of the Nb-deficit that characterises the accessible Earth. Firstly, we test whether Nb could have sequestered into the core due to its slightly siderophile (or chalcophile) character under very reducing conditions, as recently proposed from experimental evidence. We demonstrate that troilite inclusions of the Canyon Diablo iron meteorite have Nb and V concentrations in excess of typical chondrites but that the metal phase of the Grant, Toluca and Canyon Diablo iron meteorites do not have significant concentrations of these lithophile elements. We find that if the entire accessible Earth Nb-deficit were explained by Nb in the core, only ca. 17% of the mantle could be depleted and that by 3.7 Ga, continental crust would have already achieved ca. 50% of its present mass. Nb/Ta systematics of late Archaean metabasalts compiled from the literature would further require that by 2.5 Ga, 90% of the present mass of continental crust was already in existence. As an alternative to this explanation, we propose that the average Nb/Ta ratio (15.1+/-11.6) of Earth's oldest mafic rocks is a valid approximation for bulk silicate Earth. This would require that ca. 13% of the terrestrial Nb resided in the Ta-free core. Since the partitioning of Nb between silicate and metal melts depends largely on oxygen fugacity and pressure, this finding could mean that metal/silicate segregation did not occur at the base of a deep magma ocean or that the early mantle was slightly less reducing than generally assumed. A bulk silicate Earth Nb/Ta ratio of 15.1 allows for depletion of up to 40% of the total mantle. This could indicate that in addition to the upper mantle, a portion of the lower mantle is depleted also, or if only the upper mantle were depleted, an additional hidden high Nb/Ta reservoir must exist. Comparison of Nb/Ta systematics between early and late Archaean metabasalts supports the latter idea and indicates deeply subducted high Nb/Ta eclogite slabs could reside in the mantle transition zone or the lower mantle. Accumulation of such slabs appears to have commenced between 2.5 and 2.0 Ga. Regardless of these complexities of terrestrial Nb/Ta systematics, it is shown that the depleted mantle Nb/Th ratio is a very robust proxy for the amount of extracted continental crust, because the temporal evolution of this ratio is dominated by Th-loss to the continents and not Nb-retention in the mantle. We present a new parameterisation of the continental crust volume versus age curve that specifically explores the possibility of lithophile element loss to the core and storage of eclogite slabs in the transition zone. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Skeletal muscle and nuclear hormone receptors: Implications for cardiovascular and metabolic disease

Skeletal muscle is a major mass peripheral tissue that accounts for similar to 40% of the total body mass and a major player in energy balance. It accounts for > 30% of energy expenditure, is the primary tissue of insulin stimulated glucose uptake, disposal, and storage. Furthermore, it influences metabolism via modulation of circulating and stored lipid (and cholesterol) flux. Lipid catabolism supplies up to 70% of the energy requirements for resting muscle. However, initial aerobic exercise utilizes stored muscle glycogen but as exercise continues, glucose and stored muscle triglycerides become important energy substrates. Endurance exercise increasingly depends on fatty acid oxidation (and lipid mobilization from other tissues). This underscores the importance of lipid and glucose utilization as an energy source in muscle. Consequently skeletal muscle has a significant role in insulin sensitivity, the blood lipid profile, and obesity. Moreover, caloric excess, obesity and physical inactivity lead to skeletal muscle insulin resistance, a risk factor for the development of type II diabetes. In this context skeletal muscle is an important therapeutic target in the battle against cardiovascular disease, the worlds most serious public health threat. Major risk factors for cardiovascular disease include dyslipidemia, hypertension, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, and diabetes. These risk factors are directly influenced by diet, metabolism and physical activity. Metabolism is largely regulated by nuclear hormone receptors which function as hormone regulated transcription factors that bind DNA and mediate the pathophysiological regulation of gene expression. Metabolism and activity, which directly influence cardiovascular disease risk factors, are primarily driven by skeletal muscle. Recently, many nuclear receptors expressed in skeletal muscle have been shown to improve glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, and dyslipidernia. Skeletal muscle and nuclear receptors are rapidly emerging as critical targets in the battle against cardiovascular disease risk factors. Understanding the function of nuclear receptors in skeletal muscle has enormous pharmacological utility for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. This review focuses on the molecular regulation of metabolism by nuclear receptors in skeletal muscle in the context of dyslipidemia and cardiovascular disease. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Matching commercial clips from TV streams using a unique, robust and compact signature

One of critical challenges in automatic recognition of TV commercials is to generate a unique, robust and compact signature. Uniqueness indicates the ability to identify the similarity among the commercial video clips which may have slight content variation. Robustness means the ability to match commercial video clips containing the same content but probably with different digitalization/encoding, some noise data, and/or transmission and recording distortion. Efficiency is about the capability of effectively matching commercial video sequences with a low computation cost and storage overhead. In this paper, we present a binary signature based method, which meets all the three criteria above, by combining the techniques of ordinal and color measurements. Experimental results on a real large commercial video database show that our novel approach delivers a significantly better performance comparing to the existing methods.

Design and development of agent-based procurement system to enhance business intelligence

The purpose of this research is to propose a procurement system across other disciplines and retrieved information with relevant parties so as to have a better co-ordination between supply and demand sides. This paper demonstrates how to analyze the data with an agent-based procurement system (APS) to re-engineer and improve the existing procurement process. The intelligence agents take the responsibility of searching the potential suppliers, negotiation with the short-listed suppliers and evaluating the performance of suppliers based on the selection criteria with mathematical model. Manufacturing firms and trading companies spend more than half of their sales dollar in the purchase of raw material and components. Efficient data collection with high accuracy is one of the key success factors to generate quality procurement which is to purchasing right material at right quality from right suppliers. In general, the enterprises spend a significant amount of resources on data collection and storage, but too little on facilitating data analysis and sharing. To validate the feasibility of the approach, a case study on a manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) has been conducted. APS supports the data and information analyzing technique to facilitate the decision making such that the agent can enhance the negotiation and suppler evaluation efficiency by saving time and cost.

Rural road accident investigation and prevention in Iran

The objectives are to examine rural road accident data in order to develop a method by which high accident rate locations and accident causes can be identified, and also to develop proposals for improvements at such locations and to identify measures which will improve road safety throughout the country. The problem of road safety in Iran is an important issue, because of the tragic and unnecessary loss of life, and the enormous cost of accidents in the country. The resources available to deal with the problems are limited and must be allocated on priority basis. This study represents an initial effort to identify the extent of the problem in order to take remedial measures. A study was made of all the available road accident data collected by agencies related to road safety in Iran, and the major organisations responsible for road safety development were visited. The Vice Minister of Roads and Transportation selected for this study a 280 Km rural road in South West Iran. Mainly because of the lack of suitable maps and plans of the roads, it was not possible to accurately identify the location of accidents. Accident scene data was subsequently collected by the highway police and personally by the author. The data for the study road was then analysed to identify 'high accident rate' locations, and also to determine, as far as was possible, the reasons for the accidents. The study suggests specific improvements for each of the high accident rate locations examined (eg. the building of dual carriageways with central guard rails to reduce the risk of collision with oncoming vehicles, pedestrian facilities to allow pedestrians to cross dangerous roadsl]. In addition recommendations are made to guide and assist the major organisations responsible for road safety in Iran. These recommendations are: (al for improving accident data collection and storage (bl for subsequent analysis for taking remedial measures with a view to accident prevention

Task-based annotation and retrieval for image information management

Continuing advances in digital image capture and storage are resulting in a proliferation of imagery and associated problems of information overload in image domains. In this work we present a framework that supports image management using an interactive approach that captures and reuses task-based contextual information. Our framework models the relationship between images and domain tasks they support by monitoring the interactive manipulation and annotation of task-relevant imagery. During image analysis, interactions are captured and a task context is dynamically constructed so that human expertise, proficiency and knowledge can be leveraged to support other users in carrying out similar domain tasks using case-based reasoning techniques. In this article we present our framework for capturing task context and describe how we have implemented the framework as two image retrieval applications in the geo-spatial and medical domains. We present an evaluation that tests the efficiency of our algorithms for retrieving image context information and the effectiveness of the framework for carrying out goal-directed image tasks. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Thermochemical characterisation of various biomass feedstock and bio-oil generated by fast pyrolysis

The projected decline in fossil fuel availability, environmental concerns, and security of supply attract increased interest in renewable energy derived from biomass. Fast pyrolysis is a possible thermochemical conversion route for the production of bio-oil, with promising advantages. The purpose of the experiments reported in this thesis was to extend our understanding of the fast pyrolysis process for straw, perennial grasses and hardwoods, and the implications of selective pyrolysis, crop harvest and storage on the thermal decomposition products. To this end, characterisation and laboratory-scale fast pyrolysis were conducted on the available feedstocks, and their products were compared. The variation in light and medium volatile decomposition products was investigated at different pyrolysis temperatures and heating rates, and a comparison of fast and slow pyrolysis products was conducted. Feedstocks from different harvests, storage durations and locations were characterised and compared in terms of their fuel and chemical properties. A range of analytical (e.g. Py-GC-MS and TGA) and processing equipment (0.3 kg/h and 1.0 kg/h fast pyrolysis reactors and 0.15 kg slow pyrolysis reactor) was used. Findings show that the high bio-oil and char heating value, and low water content of willow short rotation coppice (SRC) make this crop attractive for fast pyrolysis processing compared to the other investigated feedstocks in this project. From the analytical sequential investigation of willow SRC, it was found that the volatile product distribution can be tailored to achieve a better final product, by a variation of the heating rate and temperature. Time of harvest was most influential on the fuel properties of miscanthus; overall the late harvest produced the best fuel properties (high HHV, low moisture content, high volatile content, low ash content), and storage of the feedstock reduced the moisture and acid content.