Connected Car: technologies, issues, future trends

The connected car -a vehicle capable of accessing to the Internet, of communicating with smart devices as well as other cars and road infrastructures, and of collecting real-time data from multiple sources- is likely to play a fundamental role in the foreseeable Internet Of Things. In a context ruled by very strong competitive forces, a significant amount of car manufacturers and software and hardware developers have already embraced the challenge of providing innovative solutions for new generation vehicles. Today’s cars are asked to relieve drivers from the most stressful operations needed for driving, providing them with interesting and updated entertainment functions. In the meantime, they have to comply to the increasingly stringent standards about safety and reliability. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the possibilities offered by connected functionalities on cars and the associated technological issues and problems, as well as to enumerate the currently available hardware and software solutions and their main features

An analysis of possible socio-economic effects of a Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility (CCAM) in Europe

A Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility (CCAM) is likely to have significant impacts on our economy and society. It is expected that CCAM unveils new and unprecedented mobility opportunities that hold the potential to unlock a range of safety, environmental and efficiency benefits. At the same time, it is anticipated that it will bring deep changes in the labour market, progressively making some occupations and skills less relevant, while at the same time opening up new opportunities for different businesses and requiring new and more advanced skills. With Europe accounting for 23% of global motor vehicle production (Acea Statistics, 2016) and almost 72% of inland freight transported by road in Europe (European Commission, 2017a), the full deployment of Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) technologies is expected to have a substantial impact on the European economy. The economic impacts of CAVs will go far beyond the automotive industry, into sectors like insurance, maintenance and repair or health, among others. While it is clear that CAVs could offer unique opportunities for value creation, it is also essential to acknowledge that they might imply a substantial transformation of our industries and our social and living systems. The study is aimed at analysing the value at stake for both industry and society as a result of a transition towards a CCAM mobility in Europe. It aims at identifying the economic sectors that are most likely to be affected by CCAM as well as the influencing factors driving future changes in each sector. The ultimate goal is to estimate ranges of potential effects for the main affected sectors, with the support of a set of scenarios. The study also aims at analysing the potential effects of CCAM on the workforce and pursues the identification of skills that need to be addressed in the mobility transition. The focus of the study is exclusively paid on road transport and covers both passenger and freight transport.JRC.C.4-Sustainable Transpor

Social networks in east Cleveland: a study of powerlessness and non-participation

This thesis is based on material gathered as part of a larger, multi-methodological study of public participation in Structure Planning in Cleveland County in the North East of England. The variations in local responses to planning policies were investigated through the use of the social networks approach, in which the interaction between individuals and sets of individuals was the main focus of the analysis. The case-study in this thesis covers an area in which there was little, if any, response to the Structure Plans. It is, therefore, primarily an explanation of non-participation. The former "ironstone mining settlements of the Skelton and Brotton area of East Cleveland are marked by declining employment opportunities, poor roads and facilities, and much old and obsolete housing. The image of dereliction, fragmentation and deprivation is reinforced by the planners' treatment of the area, both in the plans and in the way that public participation in the area was managed. Analysis of interaction in networks shows some inter- penetration of group membership, but no coherent, enduring involvement by participators from more than one village together, raising questions of cohesion and conflict. Within the context of fragmentation and competition between villages, the impact of major demolition and renovation schemes is assessed. The explanation of non-participation in a situation of clear inequality and disadvantage necessitates the use of power theory of a more radical type than that which has usually been applied to the inherently political process of planning. A theoretical frame work adequate to deal with the powerlessness of a population whose interests are adversely affected by those in power, is a modified version of Lukes' three-dimensional approach. Ideological factors such as deference can thus be related to the acquiescence found

Green Jobs: Towards Sustainable Work in a Low-Carbon World

[Excerpt] The latest assessment report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the widely noted Stern report on The Economics of Climate Change have lent new urgency to countering the challenge of global warming—a calamitous development in its own right and a phenomenon that further aggravates existing environmental challenges. There is now a virtual avalanche of reports by international agencies, governments, business, labor unions, environmental groups, and consultancies on the technical and economic implications of climate change as well as the consequences of mitigation and adaptation strategies. Many declaim a future of green jobs—but few present specifics. This is no accident. There are still huge gaps in our knowledge and available data, especially as they pertain to the developing world. The present report assembles evidence—quantitative and conceptual—for currently existing green jobs in sectors such as renewable energy, energy efficiency in buildings and vehicles, sustainable transportation, and organic agriculture, and presents various estimates for future green employment. (A future version will provide expanded coverage in additional parts of the economy.

Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World

Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World is the first comprehensive report on the emergence of a “green economy” and its impact on the world of work in the 21st Century

Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World

[Excerpt] Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World assembles evidence—quantitative, anecdotal, and conceptual—for currently existing green jobs in key economic sectors (renewable energy, buildings and construction, transportation, basic industry, agriculture, and forestry) and presents estimates for future green employment. The pace of green job creation is likely to accelerate in the years ahead. A global transition to a low-carbon and sustainable economy can create large numbers of green jobs across many sectors of the economy, and indeed can become an engine of development. Current green job creation is taking place in both the rich countries and in some of the major developing economies

Development and application of a portable volatile organic compound analyser

The subject of this PhD is the development and testing of a portable membrane inlet mass spectrometer (MIMS), for the in-situ measurement of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in air. There are several types of VOC monitor available, but few are able to monitor in-situ with near real-time measurements at concentrations around or lower than ppm levels. This PhD focuses on the development of the MS-200 and demonstrates its performance in laboratory and field conditions to analysis a range of VOCs. The first chapters of this thesis describe the design considerations that led to the development of the MS-200. It also discusses the working principles of the instrument and the laboratory based performance tests that compare the performance of the MS-200 with the industry standard VOC monitor. As the MS-200 has sensitivity and detection limits down to ppb levels, it overcame the limitations of many other instruments, and enabled its use for many new applications. For example, aromatic and chlorinated hydrocarbons report detection limits of between 600ppt to 20ppb, other VOCs investigated, reported detection limits between 20 to 300ppb, low molecular weight alcohols report detection limits of 0.4 to 6ppm. However, some applications require even lower detection limits, so an alternative inlet system was developed to increase the sensitivity but at the expense of the near real-time measurement capability. Typically the alternative inlet system reduces detection limits by two orders of magnitudes compared with the standard MS-200. Subsequent sections of this thesis describe and discuss a range of real world applications for the MS-200. Most of these investigations were successful, although a number would need some further work before the MS-200 would be capable to perform such applications routinely in a commercial environment. The applications discussed include: Investigations into arson where the instrument can be used to detect remnants of accelerants used without needing to return samples to the lab, giving the potential to save both time and money; Monitoring personal exposure to benzene when refuelling a petrol car, where the MS-200 demonstrated the advantage of portable real-time monitoring. It was found that during refuelling the operator could be exposed to benzene concentrations of a few hundred ppb to 4ppm for a duration of about 3 minutes; Measuring VOC markers in human breath as a diagnostic tool for cancer and other illnesses; The use of the MS-200 as an "artificial nose" in the food quality and flavour analysis. The thesis discusses the advantages and limitations of this technology as well as providing a series of recommendations for its future development

Twenty-first Century Narratives of the Plantationocene from the U.S. Gulf Coast

This thesis intervenes in emergent discussions of the Plantationocene by demonstrating how current conceptualisations of the epoch belie the patterns of aqueously mediated, racialized violence that underpin it. While Donna Haraway and Anna Tsing offer an ontological definition of the Plantationocene, focusing almost exclusively on the exploitation of natural resources, this thesis turns to first-hand community responses to ecological, racialized violence in and surrounding the Gulf Coast of the U.S. South. In doing so, it explores how literary, visual, and sonic modes of vernacular storytelling offer alternative epistemologies of the Plantationocene and expose the ways in which plantation structures of the past and present are indebted to water. The imbrications between water and anti-black violence have long histories that stretch back to the Middle Passage and are manifest in recent crises, from hurricanes to water scarcity. In the wake of ongoing disasters, narratives of the Plantationocene – including the literature, photography and rap music drawn on throughout this thesis – help us to apprehend racialized capitalism and its ecological extension over time. As such, this thesis grapples with the ways in which these varying forms disclose the mnemonic capacities of water, bringing submerged memories to light and prompting us to consider how bodies of water – both human and more-than-human – materially evidence the plantation and its afterlives