Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A continuing bibliography, supplement 191

A bibliographical list of 182 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in February 1979 is presented

List of NML Technical reports

List of R&D projects during 1987-199

Sustainability and ecological efficiency of low-carbon power system: A concentrating solar power plant in China

Low-carbon power generation has been proposed as the key to address climate change. However, the sustainability and ecological efficiency of the generating plants have not been fully understood. This study applies emergy analysis and systems accounting to a pilot solar power tower plant in China for the first time to elaborate its sustainable and ecological performances. Emergy analysis covers virtually all aspects of sustainability and ecological efficiency by considering different forms of materials inputs, environmental support and human labor on the same unit of "solar joule". The input-output analysis based systems accounting is applied to trace the complete emergy embodied in the supply chain for all product materials of the given plant against the back ground of complex economic network, which improved the accuracy of accounting. This analysis illustrated unexpectedly low sustainability and ecological efficiency of this particular plant compared with the emergy analysis based on the primary materials (steel, iron, cement, etc.). Purchased emergy responses more than 95% of the total and emergy input in the construction phase is more than twice as much as that in the operation phase. Comparisons with other kinds of clean energy technologies indicate previous studies may have overestimated the sustainability and ecological benefits of low-carbon power plants. Thus, it is necessary to establish this kind of unified accounting framework. In addition, sensitivity analysis suggests that strictly controlling monetary costs of purchased inputs, extending service lifetime and improving power generation efficiency can promote higher sustainability and ecological efficiency for solar power tower plants. This study provides a more comprehensive framework for quantitative emergy-based evaluation of the sustainability and ecological efficiency for low-carbon power systems

A Modelling Framework for Addressing the Synergies between Global Conventions through Land Use Changes: Carbon Sequestration, Biodiversity Conservation, Prevention of Land Degradation and Food Security in Agricultural and Forested Lands in Developing Countries

This paper proposed a methodological framework for the assessment of carbon stocks and the development and identification of land use, land use change and land management scenarios, whereby enhancing carbon sequestration synergistically increases biodiversity, the prevention of land degradation and food security through the increases in crop yields. The framework integrates satellite image interpretation, computer modelling tools (i.e. software customization of off-the-shelf soil organic matter turnover simulation models) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS). The framework addresses directly and indirectly the cross-cutting ecological concerns foci of major global conventions: climate change, biodiversity, the combat of desertification and food security. Their synergies are targeted by providing procedures for assessing and identifying simultaneously carbon sinks, potential increases in plant diversity, measures to prevent land degradation and enhancements in food security through crop yields, implicit in each land use change and land management scenario. The scenarios aim at providing “win-win” options to decision makers through the framework’s decision support tools. Issues concerning complex model parameterization and spatial representation were tackled through tight coupling soil carbon models to GIS via software customization. Results of applying the framework in the field in two developing countries indicate that reasonably accurate estimates of carbon sequestration can be obtained through modeling; and that alternative best soil organic matter management practices that arrest shifting “slash-and-burn” cultivation and prevent burning and emissions, can be identified. Such options also result in increased crop yields and food security for an average family size in the area, while enhancing biodiversity and preventing land degradation. These options demonstrate that the judicious management of organic matter is central to greenhouse gas mitigation and the attainment of synergistic ecological benefits, which is the concern of global conventions. The framework is to be further developed through successive approximations and refinement in future, extending its applicability to other landscapes.Climate Change, Greenhouse Gas Mitigation, Carbon Sequestration, Soil Organic Matter, Modeling, Land-Use Change, Land Management, Ecological Synergies, Agriculture

Technology for large space systems: A special bibliography with indexes (supplement 03)

A bibliography containing 217 abstracts addressing the technology for large space systems is presented. State of the art and advanced concepts concerning interactive analysis and design, structural concepts, control systems, electronics, advanced materials, assembly concepts, propulsion, solar power satellite systems, and flight experiments are represented

Ocean Energy in Belgium - 2019

B

Baseline Review of the Upper Tana, Kenya

http://greenwatercredits.net/sites/default/files/documents/isric_gwc_report8.pd

The Economics and Governance of Multipurpose Hydropower Reservoirs

Hydropower reservoirs can provide a range of energy and water services. Proponents of multipurpose reservoirs as a climate change and water security 'solution' often neglect an important detail: the technical capacity for infrastructure to provide water services and social benefits is a necessary but not sufficient condition for their actual provision. Multipurpose operations constrain electricity generation and hydropower companies' revenues. The opportunity costs of providing non-energy services are changing under the global transition to renewable energy systems. The value of water services shifts as water demand and supply change under short-term shocks, such as extreme weather events, and long-term trends, such as climate change and population growth. Under dynamic risks and trade-offs, profit-motivated hydropower companies do not have the discretion nor information to efficiently and equitably provide water services. The potential social benefits of multipurpose hydropower operations are not automatic; they need to be secured through flexible regulation and economic incentives. This thesis considers the governance of multipurpose hydropower reservoirs and the dynamic trade-offs between the profits of hydropower companies and the welfare of water users. First, I review existing hydropower governance instruments to propose three reforms: (1) period relicensing of reservoir operations, (2) pricing water services to reflect the value of foregone hydroelectricity generation, and (3) climate/green performance bonds with a conditional interest rate. Second, I consider how economic and institutional analyses could be incorporated into the governance of water systems under complex risks. Insights are drawn from a participatory risk assessment process in Vietnam where local government officials are piloting irrigation water pricing reforms. Third, I use hydro-economic modelling of a multipurpose reservoir in Tasmania, Australia to examine the conditions under which irrigation water pricing could be an appropriate reform in other locations. Finally, I consider a major practical barrier to pricing water services from hydropower reservoirs: the transmission of price spikes in electricity markets to water prices. I estimate the cost of price stability controls by modelling an alternative water tariff which incorporates the intertemporal opportunity costs of irrigation water extractions. I conclude by outlining future research on regulating hydropower reservoirs to support the resilience of social-ecological systems to water insecurity

11,000 h of chemical-looping combustion operation—Where are we and where do we want to go?

A key for chemical-looping combustion (CLC) is the oxygen carrier. The ultimate test is obviously the actual operation, which reveals if it turns to dust, agglomerates or loses its reactivity or oxygen carrier capacity. The CLC process has been operated in 46 smaller chemical-looping combustors, for a total of more than 11,000 h. The operation involves both manufactured oxygen carriers, with 70% of the total time of operation, and less costly materials, i.e. natural ores or waste materials. Among manufactured materials, the most popular materials are based on NiO with 29% of the operational time, Fe2O3 with 16% and CuO with 13%. Among the monometallic oxides there are also Mn3O4 with 1%, and CoO with 2%. The manufactured materials also include a number of combined oxides with 11% of operation, mostly calcium manganites and other combined manganese oxides. Finally, the natural ores and waste materials include ilmenite, FeTiO3 with 13%, iron ore/waste with 9% and manganese ore with 6%. In the last years a shift towards more focus on CuO, combined oxides and natural ores has been seen. The operational experience shows a large variation in performance depending on pilot design, operational conditions, solids inventory, oxygen carrier and fuel. However, there is at present no experience of the process at commercial or semi-commercial scale, although oxygen-carrier materials have been successfully used in commercial fluidized-bed boilers for Oxygen-Carrier Aided Combustion (OCAC) during more than 12,000 h of operation. The paper discusses strategies for upscaling as well as the use of biomass for negative emissions. A key question is how scaling-up will affect the performance, which again will determine the costs for purification of CO2 through e.g. oxy-polishing. Unfortunately, the conditions in the small-scale pilots do not allow for any safe conclusions with respect to performance in full scale. Nevertheless, the experiences from pilot operation shows that the process works and can be expected to work in the large scale and gives important information, for instance on the usefulness of various oxygen-carriers. Because further research is not likely to improve our understanding of the performance that can be achieved in full scale, there is little sense in waiting with the scale-up. A major difficulty with the scaling-up of a novel process is in the risk. First-of-its-kind large-scale projects include risks of technical mistakes and unforeseen obstacles, leading to added costs or, in the worst case, failure. One way of addressing these risks is to focus on the heart of the process and build it with maximum flexibility for future use. A concept for maximum flexibility is the Multipurpose Dual Fluidized Bed (MDFB). Another is to find a suitable existing plant, e.g. a dual fluidized-bed thermal gasifier. With present emissions the global CO2 budget associated with a maximum temperature of 2 \ub0C may be spent in around 20–25 years, whereas the CO2 budget for 1.5 \ub0C is may be exhausted in 10 years. Thus, the need for both CO2 neutral fuels and negative emissions will become increasingly urgent as we are nearing or transgressing the maximum amount of CO2 that can be emitted without compromising the global climate agreement in Paris saying we must keep “well below” 2 \ub0C and aim for a maximum of 1.5 \ub0C. Thus, biomass may turn out to be a key fuel for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), because CO2-free power does not necessarily need CCS, but negative emissions will definitely need Bio-CCS