Fast track to renewables: Low emission electricity for south west Australia by 2030

Could renewable energy be implemented rapidly and on a large scale to supply the demand of stationary electrical grid systems? This thesis takes a step towards answering this question by simulating 100% renewable energy scenarios for the South-West Interconnected System (SWIS), which supplies electricity to most of the population and industry in the southwest of Western Australia (SWWA). The SWIS is remarkable in that it is both isolated from other grids and currently has little available hydro-power. Solar and wind energy were chosen as the energy sources to be simulated because they are commercially mature technologies, already have a presence in the SWIS, are widely available in many other parts of the world, yet they are geographically and temporally variable. To simulate the operation of rooftop solar PV and large scale solar and wind power plants, heuristic models were built to generate synthetic hourly values of solar and wind energy resources anywhere within the SWWA. An integrated simulation of the SWIS grid was built using simple models of population increase, energy efficiency, distributed battery storage and seasonal power to gas storage. The construction schedules required to build a 100% renewable system for the SWIS by the year 2030 were found to be achievable for scenarios with a mix of solar PV, solar thermal and wind. If solar PV, wind and battery storage capacity could maintain exponential growth, then the required growth rates are less than current global growth rates. Energy efficiency would need to improve at a greater rate, though still moderate, than the current global improvement rate. However, the more that energy efficiency is improved, the lower the total demand, and the easier the task becomes for the other technologies. The findings of this thesis have positive implications for world-wide rapid transformation to low emission electricity generation

TCDD:n vaikutus joidenkin syömistä säätelevien geenien ilmentymiseen hypotalamuksessa ja lähetti-RNA:n mittaaminen RT-qPCR-menetelmää käyttäen

Dioxins are pervasive environmental contaminants, to which people are generally exposed through foods of animal origin. Children, before and after birth, are especially susceptible to their toxicity, while the risks to adults seem quite small at current exposure levels. The dioxins bind to a specialised intracellular AH receptor, directly influencing the expression of a substantial number of genes and resulting to variable toxicity depending on the affected species and the strain, as well as the gender and age of the individual. This is exemplified in the dramatic variability of the acute toxicity of the most potent dioxin (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin [TCDD]) within one species: H/W rats tolerate over 1000-fold larger doses than the L E strain. On the other hand, one of the few unifying features of acute TCDD intoxication in many laboratory species is a dramatic feed intake reduction and weight loss, termed the wasting syndrome. In this research, the pathophysiological challenge of wasting was tackled in two studies by measuring the effect of one dose of TCDD on hypothalamic mRNA levels of AHR-related proteins and feeding regulatory factors in the resistant H/W and sensitive L E rats. In the latter two experiments the perviously-employed quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) methodology was refined: A set of stable reference genes for RT-qPCR was first sought, and then the identified reference genes were employed in a study comparing the robustness of various RT and qPCR enzymes and mapping the RT-qPCR variation sources. The small constitutive and TCDD-induced differences in the hypothalamic mRNA expression of some AHR signalling cascade molecules between L E and H/W rat are most likely not causally related to the wasting syndrome. However, a functional AHR signalling cascade appears to be present in the hypothalamus. The lack of any drastic changes in hypothalamic neuropeptide or receptor mRNA following TCDD treatment speak against a severe cytotoxic effect on, or permanent hyperexcitation of the cells. Notably, the employed hypothalamic block sampling might miss expression changes confined to a localised point and omits the various extra-hypothalamic systems in eating regulation. The future studies should thus be targeted to individual nuclei, but to also have a wider scope of eating regulation both inside and outside CNS. The number of genes displaying an acceptable steadiness of expression in the face of lethal TCDD toxicity is small and besides this the RT stability has a strong influence on the usability of the potential reference genes. Furthermore, RT variance markedly exceeds qPCR variance, stressing the importance of replication at the RT level. Finally, linear hierarchical models and Bayesian inference offer an efficient way to build a coherent statistical model of the whole RT-qPCR experiment maximising the use of the data.Dioksiinit ovat kaikkialle maapallolle levinneitä ympäristömyrkkyjä, joille suomalaiset altistuvat lähinnä eräiden Itämeren kalojen välityksellä. Sikiönkehitys ja lapsuus ovat erityisen alttiita dioksiinien myrkkyvaikutuksille, mutta aikuisille niiden aiheuttama vaara nykyisillä altistustasoilla lienee melko pieni. Elimistössä dioksiinit sitoutuvat solunsisäisen AH-reseptoriin, joka aktivoituessaan muuttaa satojen geenien ilmentymistä. Nämä ilmentymismuutokset, ja lopulta haitalliset vaikutukset elimistössä, näyttävät kuitenkin riippuvan eläinlajista, -kannasta iästä ja kudoksesta jossa aktivaatio tapahtuu. Dioksiinien myrkyllisyyden mekanismit ovatkin huonosti ymmärrettyjä. Esimerkki myrkyllisyyden vaihtelevuudesta on kahden rottakanan herkkyysero myrkyllisimmälle 2,3,7,8-tetraklooridibentso-p-dioksiinille eli TCDD:lle: H/W-kannan rotat kestävät yli 1000 kertaa suurempia myrkkyannoksia kuin L E-kanta. Dioksiinien yksi harvoista monilla koe-eläimillä samanlaista, mutta herkkyyseroiltaan yhtä suurista, vaikutuksista on jo yhden myrkyllisen annoksen aiheuttama voimakas ruokahalun ja painon lasku, niin sanottu näivettymisoireyhtymä. Tutkimuksessani pyrin selvittämään näivettymisoireyhtymän mekanismeja altistamalla H/W- ja L E-rottia yhdelle annokselle TCDD:tä ja mittaamalla geenien ilmentymisen muutoksia hypotalamuksessa kvantitatiivista käänteiskopiointi-PCR (RT-qPCR) -menetelmää käyttäen. Mitatut lähetti-RNA:t tuottavat AH-reseptorin signalointiin liittyviä proteiineja ja syömisen säätelyyn liittyviä neuropeptidejä tai reseptoreita. Väitöskirjan toisessa osassa parannettiin herkän RT-qPCR-menetelmän luottavuutta etsimällä sen tarvitsemia kontrolligeenejä ja kartoittamalla käänteiskopiointi (RT)- ja PCR-reaktioiden virhelähteitä. Hypotalamuksen AH-reseptorin signalointireitti toimii, mutta lähetti-RNA:n perustasot tai niiden vähäiset muutokset TCDD:n annostelun jälkeen eivät näytä selittävän H/W ja L E-kantojen herkkyyseroja. Neuropeptideissä todettiin vain pieniä muutoksia, joten TCDD ei aiheuttane hypotalamuksen syömistä säätelevän järjestelmän solujen merkittäviä toiminnan muutoksia. Mittaukset tehtiin kokonaisista kudospaloista ja tämä voi estää tumaketason vaikutusten havaitsemisen, eikä myöskään huomioi tärkeitä hypotalamuksen ulkopuolisia syömistä ja energiatasapainoa sääteleviä järjestelmiä. TCDD:n aiheuttamiin myrkkyvaikutuksiin reagoimattomia kontrolligeenejä löytyi neljä ja näistä kahden lähetti-RNA:n käänteiskopiointi toimi luotettavasti. RT-qPCR-menetelmän analysointiin käytetty lineaarinen hierarkkinen malli ja beyesiläinen päättely toimivat hyvin RT- ja PCR-reaktioiden virhelähteiden erottelussa. Tämän tutkimuksen tulokset auttavat suuntaamaan tulevia näivettymisoireyhtymätutkimuksia ja parantamaan RT-qPCR-menetelmän luotettavuutta

Radiological Risk Assessment for King County Wastewater Treatment Division

Staff of the King County Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD) have concern about the aftermath of a radiological dispersion event (RDE) leading to the introduction of significant quantities of radioactive material into the combined sanitary and storm sewer system in King County, Washington. Radioactive material could come from the use of a radiological dispersion device (RDD). RDDs include "dirty bombs" that are not nuclear detonations but are explosives designed to spread radioactive material (National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) 2001). Radioactive material also could come from deliberate introduction or dispersion of radioactive material into the environment, including waterways and water supply systems. This document develops plausible and/or likely scenarios, including the identification of likely radioactive materials and quantities of those radioactive materials to be involved. These include 60Co, 90Sr, 137Cs, 192Ir, 226Ra, plutonium, and 241Am. Two broad categories of scenarios are considered. The first category includes events that may be suspected from the outset, such as an explosion of a "dirty bomb" in downtown Seattle. The explosion would most likely be heard, but the type of explosion (e.g., sewer methane gas or RDD) may not be immediately known. Emergency first responders must be able to quickly detect the radioisotopes previously listed, assess the situation, and deploy a response to contain and mitigate (if possible) detrimental effects resulting from the incident. In such scenarios, advance notice of about an hour or two might be available before any contaminated wastewater reaches a treatment plant. The second category includes events that could go initially undetected by emergency personnel. Examples of such a scenario would be the inadvertent or surreptitious introduction of radioactive material into the sewer system. Intact rogue radioactive sources from industrial radiography devices, well-logging apparatus, or moisture density gages may get into wastewater and be carried to a treatment plant. Other scenarios might include a terrorist deliberately putting a dispersible radioactive material into wastewater. Alternatively, a botched terrorism preparation of an RDD may result in radioactive material entering wastewater without anyone's knowledge. Drinking water supplies may also be contaminated, with the result that some or most of the radioactivity ends up in wastewater

Chapter 7 - Energy systems

Stabilizing greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations will require large-scale transformations in human societies, from the way that we produce and consume energy to how we use the land surface. A natural question in this context is what will be the .transformation pathway. towards stabilization; that is, how do we get from here to there? The topic of this chapter is transformation pathways. The chapter is primarily motivated by three questions. First, what are the near-term and future choices that define transformation pathways, including the goal itself, the emissions pathway to the goal, technologies used for and sectors contributing to mitigation, the nature of international coordination, and mitigation policies? Second, what are the key characteristics of different transformation pathways, including the rates of emissions reductions and deployment of low-carbon energy, the magnitude and timing of aggregate economic costs, and the implications for other policy objectives such as those generally associated with sustainable development? Third, how will actions taken today influence the options that might be available in the future? As part of the assessment in this chapter, data from over 1000 new scenarios published since the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) were collected from integrated modelling research groups, many from large-scale model intercomparison studies. In comparison to AR4, new scenarios, both in this AR5 dataset and more broadly in the literature assessed in this chapter, consider more ambitious concentration goals, a wider range of assumptions about technology, and more possibilities for delays in additional global mitigation beyond that of today and fragmented international action

Exploring the determinants of methane emissions from a worldwide perspective using panel data and machine learning analyses

: This article contributes to the scant literature exploring the determinants of methane emissions. A lot is explored considering CO2 emissions, but fewer studies concentrate on the other most long-lived greenhouse gas (GHG), methane which contributes largely to climate change. For the empirical analysis, a large dataset is used considering 192 countries with data ranging from 1960 up to 2022 and considering a wide set of determinants (total central government debt, domestic credit to the private sector, exports of goods and services, GDP per capita, total unemployment, renewable energy consumption, urban population, Gini Index, and Voice and Accountability). Panel Quantile Regression (PQR) estimates show a non-negligible statistical effect of all the selected variables (except for the Gini Index) over the distribution's quantiles. Moreover, the Simple Regression Tree (SRT) model allows us to observe that the losing countries, located in the poorest world regions, abundant in natural resources, are those expected to curb methane emissions. For that, public interventions like digitalization, green education, green financing, ensuring the increase in Voice and Accountability, and green jobs, would lead losers to be positioned in the winner's rankings and would ensure an effective fight against climate change