Recovering industrial heritage: restoration of the wine cellar cooperative in Falset (Catalonia, Spain)

Awareness regarding conservation of industrial heritage is recent. Several policies have been adopted to start protecting these buildings because of their historic, artistic and scientific values. Wine cellars are an important example of industrial heritage in Catalonia due to the tradition of this product in the territory and the influence of Art Nouveau and Catalan ‘Noucentisme’ in their construction and style. The wine cellar in Falset, built by Cèsar Martinell in 1919, has recently been restored and still maintains its original function. This article analyses its history, its architectonic and construction characteristics, as well as the restoration process carried out in 2009, which consisted of recovering its original appearance and allowed to emphasize the architectural value of the building. This restoration is a prototypical example whose experience can be applied in other cases of restoration of wine cellars both for the characteristics of the building and for its good restoration practices. This restoration enabled the wine cellar to continue carrying out its original industrial function, providing suitable conditions to add a new cultural use as wellPeer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

ENMat international projects: FP7 NMP large collaborative project: 3D-LightTrans

Large scale manufacturing technology for high-performance lightweight 3D multifunctional composites The goal of the 3D-LightTrans project is to provide groundbreaking, highly flexible, efficient and adaptable low-cost technologies for the manufacturing of integral large scale 3D textile reinforced plastic composites, including innovative approaches for the individual processes and its integration in complete manufacturing chains, which will enable to shift them from its current position in cost intensive, small series niche markets, to broadly extended mass product applications, not only in transportation, but also in other key sectors, like health and leisure. To fulfil this goal, the 3DLightTrans manufacturing chains will be based on multimaterial semifinished fabrics, processed to deep draped prefixed multilayered and multifunctional 3D -textile preforms, which will be processed into composites by a thermoforming process. By integrating these new, innovative process steps with full automation in -nowadays mostly manually performed- complex handling operations, it will be possible to obtain a fully automated and highly adaptable manufacturing chain to achieve integral large scale 3D composites. 3D-LightTrans will open the way to a totally new concept for the design, manufacturing and application of composites for low-cost mass products in a wide range of sectors. The Consortium brings together multidisciplinary research teams involving European leading companies, including industrial stakeholders from machine tools and machine automation and several OEM active in the field of processing of flexible materials and composite manufacturing, as well as from the application sector, and extensive expertise from well known research specialists in the area of materials, production research and technical textiles in particular. Start date : 01/04/2011 Project duration : 4 years More information: Dr. Erich Kny Austrian Institute of Technology, [email protected] URL: http://www.3d-lighttrans.com

A literature review of analytical techniques for materials characterisation of painted textiles - Part 2: spectroscopic and chromatographic analytical instrumentation

Part Two of this Literature Review of analytical techniques for materials characterisation of painted textiles focusses on the application of vibrational and x-ray spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques used in the analysis of painted textiles to inform understanding of their materials, methods of making and degradation. The principles of detection methods, technique limitations and advantages, and how they complement each other, are explained and advances in techniques applicable in the study of painted textiles are discussed, such as mapping in Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Raman, surface-enhanced resonance Raman spectroscopy, and secondary ion mass spectrometry. Most informative work relating to painted textiles comes from close collaboration between conservators and scientists in interpreting findings and this literature review provides a useful starting point to further develop the capabilities of analytical techniques to enhance the study and conservation of painted textiles

ENMat international projects: FP7 NMP coordination action: 2BFUNTEX

Boosting collaboration between research centres and industry to enhance rapid industrial uptake of innovative functional textile structures and textile-related materials in a mondial market 2BFUNTEX will exploit the untapped potential in functional textile structures and textile related materials. It will bring together all innovation actors in the field fostering a multidisciplinary approach between universities, research institutes, SMEs and sector associations. The 2BFUNTEX team will identify technological gaps and eliminate barriers resulting in a faster industrial uptake of added value functional materials with new functionalities and improved performance and resulting in creation of new business worldwide. Technological needs will be mapped, new joint international research disciplines will be identified and multidisciplinary lab teams will be created. International cooperation will be favoured to exploit the worldwide market expansion potential. Industry will be involved at all stages of the process. The inventory will enlarge the team of important textile universities and renowned materials research centres and will identify new collaborations. Synergy will be reinforced and created which will enable to identify and develop new functional materials. Training materials regarding functional materials for research and industrial purposes will be developed and implemented to allow a common language regarding functional textile structures and text ile related materials, and will increase the number of well-trained people in this field. Further, the 2BFUNTEX partners will organise and participate in conferences, workshops and brokerage events. Along with a website with an extensive database comprising all information gained throughout the project, collaboration will be boosted and rapid industrial uptake catalysed and enhanced. The project duration will be 4 years and the consortium includes 26 partners from 16 countries. Start date : 01/01/2012 More information: Ir. Els Van der Burght Department of Textiles/Ghent University [email protected] [email protected] URL: http://www.2bfuntex.e

The Environmental and Economic Effects of European Emissions Trading

In 2005, the EU introduced an emissions trading system in order to pursue its Kyoto obligations. This instrument gives emitters the flexibility to undertake reduction measures in the most cost-efficient way and mobilizes market forces for the protection of the earth's climate. In this paper, we analyse the effects of emissions trading in Europe, with some special reference to the case of Germany. We look at the value of the flexibility gained by trading compared to fixed quotas. The analysis will be undertaken with a modified version of the GTAP-E model using the latest GTAP version 6 data base. It is based on the national allocation plans as submitted to and approved by the EU. We find that, if the NAP is combined with a regional emissions trading scheme, then Germany, Great Britain, and Czech Republic are the main sellers of emissions permits, while Belgium, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden are the main buyers. The welfare gains from regional emissions trading - for the trading sectors only - are largest for Belgium, Denmark, and Great Britain; smaller for Finland, Sweden, and smallest for Germany and other regions. When we take into account the economy-wide and terms of trade effects of emissions trading, however, the (negative) terms of trade effects can offset the (positive) allocative efficiency gains for the cases of the Netherland and Italy, while all other regions ended up with positive net welfare gains. All regions, however, experienced positive increases in real GDP as a result of regional emissions trading.

Promoting Sustainable Indian Textiles: final report to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), London, UK

In 2009, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), through the Sustainable Development Dialogue (SDD) fund, backed the Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF) at London College of Fashion and Pearl Academy of Fashion (PAF), New Delhi to run a project to promote Indian sustainable textiles. Improving patterns of sustainable consumption and production (SCP) in India and the UK is one of the agreed areas for collaboration under the UK-India Sustainable Development Dialogue. The project is also part of a body of work taking place under the Defra Sustainable Clothing Roadmap, which aims to improve the sustainability of clothing. Defra has identified that ‘while an economic success story (globally worth over £500 billion) the industry has a significant environmental and social footprint across its supply chain.’ The Roadmap aims to improve the sustainability of clothing by gathering a robust evidence base of impacts and working with a wide range of stakeholders, to build on existing interventions. For more details on the roadmap see: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/business/products/roadmaps/clothing/index.htm This report is only one of the dissemination tools associated with the project. The project film, images and website should be viewed in conjunction with this report

Interim report on Media Analysis

PACHELBEL WP4 “Stimulus Materials” uses findings from WP3 (Policy Assumptions) and from additional sources to prepare stimulus materials for the group-based process to be implemented in WP5. The output, informed by the present report, will be a set of materials to inform and stimulate the group-based process. These will take the form of real or simulated media coverage and/or documentary materials produced by various sources, scenarios, vignettes, and dramatised accounts. Another output, also informed by this report, will be an individual questionnaire for use in the group-based process. The present deliverable is centred on one of the data-gathering and analytic activities set up by WP4 to identify pertinent representational elements that should be included in the future stimulus materials, country by country. “Representational elements” have been defined in WP4 as typical images, anecdotes, examples, and references which are used by policy actors to explain and justify policy choices within the policy domains pertinent to PACHELBEL. Particular attention is given to references made to citizens, their perceptions and behaviours. In Task 4.2, PACHELBEL partners gathered representational elements in their respective contexts. To support this task, a “media analysis” template was developed by WPL SYMLOG for discussion at the second Consortium project meeting (Dorking, Mo. 6). Criteria were agreed for the analysis of a selection of actual publications in a range of media (print periodicals, public information materials disseminated by authorities, etc.). In Summer 2010, partners in each country used the template to analyze and report a sample of several dozen articles in selected policy areas. This interim report (D4.2) recalls methodology (Part 1), presents representational elements country by country (Part 2) and provides a summary overview of similarities and contrasts across country samples (Part 3). Conclusions and next steps are presented in Part 4. Also provided are a simplified media analysis template (Annex 1) and the compiled basic frequency analysis (Annex 2)

Industry-level Total-factor Energy Efficiency in Developed Countries

This study computes and analyzes the total-factor energy efficiency (TFEE) of 11 industries in 14 developed countries during the period of 1995-2005 using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach. There are four inputs: labor, capital stock, intermediate inputs other than energy, and energy. The value added is the only output. The most inefficient industry is the metal industry, which has an average TFEE of 40.6%. Australia is the most inefficient country, with the lowest weighted TFEE in every year except for 1996 and 1998. The most efficient countries are the United States from 1995 to 1998, Denmark from 1999 to 2002, and Netherlands from 2003 to 2005. Given that the number of efficient industries decreases over time, it is clear that most industries have room to improve their energy efficiency as time goes by. Moreover, based on the total-factor framework, this study finds no support for the convergence of energy efficiency levels.Data envelopment analysis (DEA); Total-factor energy efficiency; Industry-level analysis