Zero-Emission Truck Powertrains for Regional and Long-Haul Missions

Zero-emission trucks for regional and long-haul missions are an option for fossil-free freight. The viability of such powertrains and system solutions was studied conceptually in project ESCALATE for trucks with GVW of 40 tonnes and beyond through various battery electric and fuel cell prime mover combinations. The study covers battery and fuel cell power sources with different degrees of battery electric as well as H2 and fuel cell operation. As a design basis, two different missions with a single-charge/H2 refill were analysed. The first mission was the VECTO long-haul profile repeated up to 750 km, whereas the second was a real 520 km on-road mission in Finland. Based on the simulated energy consumption on the driving cycle, on-board energy demand was estimated, and the initial single-charge and H2 refill operational scenarios were produced with five different power source topologies and on-board storage capacities. The traction motors of the tractor were dimensioned so that a secondary mission of GVW up to 76 tonnes on a shorter route or a longer route with more frequent battery recharge and/or H2 refill can be operated. Based on the powertrain and vehicle model, various infrastructure options for charging and H2 refuelling strategies as well as various operative scenarios with indicative total cost of ownership (TCO) were analysed

A slightly slummier area? : Negotiations of place-bound identities through social spatializations and unofficial toponyms

In the article, spatializations (discourses of ideal or stereotyped spaces) are conceptualized as powerful discourses of the surrounding society, providing resources for place‐bound identity construction in interaction. We combine a sociolinguistic analysis with Bakhtinian dialogism to understand how such “third” voices in dialogue empower and pluralize self‐ and other‐positionings embedded in the evocations of unofficial place names. Empirically, the focus is on toponyms that divide the socially mixed Vuosaari suburb in Helsinki into “older” and “newer” territories. The results show that when the stereotypes of “good” and “bad” neighbourhoods or other spatializations interpenetrate the uses of “Old” and “New Vuosaari,” they open room for the (re‐)voicing of the meanings of these toponyms for highly differentiated social ends. With the Bakhtinian framework bridging between socio‐spatial theory and sociolinguistics, the article develops a spatially sensitized approach to analyse the entanglements of the micro‐level contexts of interaction with the macro‐level discourses of meaning‐giving.Peer reviewe

Maankäytön vaikutus pesiviin lintuihin : tapaus Vuosaaren satamahanke

Urbanization in general and the spread of industrial construction into natural areas can seriously reduce animal populations. In this thesis, I used breeding birds to investigate the impacts of the construction of Vuosaari harbour, ship channel and road connections on bird populations of nearby area. We monitored bird populations in Natura 2000 area and seabird breeding islets during the construction of the new Vuosaari harbour (Helsinki, Finland) in 2001 2011. The harbour was built less than 300 m from Natura 2000 area. We compared the bird populations before, during and after construction to evaluate whether the changes observed were linked with the construction work in the nearby harbour area. Our results indicate that in the Österängen agricultural area the number of species and territories increased during and after construction, with more territories located closer to the road than before the road was constructed. Thus, road construction resulted in at least a momentary positive impact on bird populations. New grass and bush areas and even large rocky outcrops clearly benefited some species such as the threatened northern wheatear. The bird populations declined slightly several years later, probably the as a result of habitat succession. In the forest areas, the population trends of 23 boreal forest bird species were significantly positively correlated with population changes in wider areas in southern Finland. Although the population trends were slightly weaker in the Natura 2000 sites compared with the general situation of southern Finland, this difference was not statistically significant. In the Natura 2000 wetlands he numbers of species and territories varied between years and subareas, but we found no clear impacts of harbour construction on bird population trends. The bird population changes in nearest bay, Porvarinlahti, were not more negative in comparison with those of the two other bays. We found that the waterfowl reproduction success was very poor, and that the number of small predators may be reason for that. The more predators were hunted, the less waterfowl nestlings were observed at the same year. The archipelago seabird study revealed that the population trends of most species showed no substantial differences between the monitored islets near the construction area and the reference islets. In conclusion, the numbers of species and territories varied between years and subareas, but we found no clear impacts of harbour construction on bird population trends. Although the population trends were slightly lower in the Natura 2000 sites compared with the general situation of southern Finland, this difference was not statistically significant. Our results indicate that despite the construction work demolished bird populations at the construction site, the impact of the harbour construction work had only limited impact on population trends of birds in the Natura 2000 site. Perhaps other more general factors such as climate and changes in the non-breeding grounds were likely a more important driver of local bird dynamics. This monitoring project has shown how difficult it is to estimate possible negative impacts caused by a single construction project. Before the project started, biologists said that severe negative impacts are possible, and according to the so called precautionary principle construction of Vuosaari harbour should not be allowed. Monitoring lasted ten years, and we couldn t see any clear significant negative impacts caused by construction.Kaupungistuminen ja rakentamisen leviäminen luonnontilaisille alueille voi vakavasti vähentää eläinpopulaatioita. Tässä työssä tutkittiin Vuosaaren sataman ja laivaväylän mahdollisia vaikutuksia pesimälinnustoon sataman lähellä. Satama rakennettiin alle 300 metrin päähän Natura 2000 alueesta. Linnustoa seurattiin vuosina 2001-2011 tekemällä laskentoja metsä- ja peltoalueilla, merenlahdilla sekä saaristossa. Vertasimme lintukantojen muutoksia eri alueilla, ja arvioimme mikä vaikutus sataman rakentamisella oli mahdollisiin muutoksiin. Tuloksemme osoittavat, että Österängenin peltoalueella lintulajien lukumäärä ja parimäärät kasvoivat erityisesti pellon halki rakennetun tien läheisyydessä. Tien reunoille syntyi uudenlaista elinympäristöä joka ainakin hetkellisesti hyödytti joitakin lajeja. Harvalukuisista lajeista kivitasku hyötyi tien reuna-alueiden kivikasoista. Metsäalueilla vertasimme 23 lajin kannankehitystä niiden vastaavan ajan kannankehitykseen Etelä-Suomen alueella. Pääosin muutokset olivat samansuuntaisia, mikä viittaa siihen että muut tekijät kuin sataman rakentaminen olisivat merkittävämpiä lintukantojen muutoksissa. Kosteikkoalueilla satamaa lähinnä olevan lahden, Porvarinlahden; lintukannat eivät heikentyneet verrattuna kauempana olleisiin lahtiin. Sataman rakentamisella ei ollut selkeää vaikutusta kosteikkolintujen kannanvaihteluihin. Huomasimme, että vesilintujen poikastuotto oli huono, ja että pienpetojen määrä korreloi negatiivisesti poikasmääriin: mitä enemmän pienpetoja oli alueella, sitä vähemmän vesilintujen poikasia havaittiin samana vuonna. Pienpetojen määrää kuvasi samana vuonna alueelta metsästettyjen pienpetojen määrä. Saaristolintukantojen seuranta osoitti, että eri lajien kannankehitykset olivat pääosin samanlaiset seurantaluodoilla ja kauempana sijaitsevilla vertailuluodoilla, eikä sataman rakentamisen voitu osoittaa olevan merkittävä tekijä saaristolintukantojen muutoksissa. Vaikka lintukannat olivat sataman viereisellä Natura 2000 alueella keskimäärin hieman alemmalla tasolla verrattuna koko Etelä-Suomen aineistoon, ero ei ollut tilastollisesti merkitsevä. Tuloksemme osoittavat, että vaikka sataman rakennustyöt muuttivat paikallisesti ympäristöä ja rakentamisen alta tuhoutui lintujen pesimäpaikkoja, rakentamisella oli vain vähäinen vaikutus viereiselle Natura 2000 alueelle. Lintukantojen muutoksiin vaikuttivat ehkä monet muut tekijät, kuten ilmaston lämpeneminen, pienpedot tai ympäristön muutokset lintujen muuttomatkan varrella. Vuosaaren sataman rakentamisen seurantaprojekti on osoittanut, kuinka vaikeaa on arvioida yksittäisen rakennushankkeen mahdolliset negatiiviset vaikutukset lintupopulaatioihin. Ennen projektin aloittamista arvioitiin, että vakavat kielteiset vaikutukset olisivat mahdollisia, ja varovaisuusperiaatteen mukaisesti satamaa ei pitäisi rakentaa. Seuranta kesti kymmenen vuotta ja emme voineet havaita selkeästi sataman rakentamisesta aiheutuneita merkittäviä kielteisiä vaikutuksia lintupopulaatioissa. On kuitenkin muistettava, että erityisesti harvalukuisista lajeista aineisto on niin pieni, että se ei monen lajin osalta riitä tilastolliseen tarkasteluun. Toisaalta pelkkä lintupopulaation muutoksen seuranta ei kerro esimerkiksi siitä, kuinka hyvin populaatio lisääntyy alueella, ja mikä merkitys on muualta tulevilla yksilöillä. Jos alueen oma poikastuotanto on heikko, mutta muualta tulee jatkuvasti uusia yksilöitä alueelle, populaatiossa ei havaita muutosta ja rakentamisen vaikutus jää huomaamatta

First records of spiders (Araneae) Baryphyma gowerense (Locket, 1965) (Linyphiidae), Entelecara flavipes (Blackwall, 1834) (Linyphiidae) and Rugathodes instabilis (O. P.-Cambridge, 1871) (Theridiidae) in Finland

Baryphyma gowerense (Locket, 1965), Entelecara flavipes (Blackwall, 1834) and Rugathodes instabilis (O. P.-Cambridge, 1871) are reported for the first time in Finland. The first species was found by pitfall trapping on a wide aapa mire in Lapland and the two others by sweep netting on hemiboreal meadows on the Finnish south coast. The spider assemblages of the sites are described

Case studies: results and synthesis projet 7FP CLOSER (Connecting LOng and Short-distance networks for Efficient Transport) Rapport de recherche Deliverable 5.2 project européen CLOSER.

The CLOSER project has been set to analyse the interfaces and interconnectionsbetween long distance transport networks and local/regional transport networks of allmodes. The project is funded within the Seventh Framework Programme of theEuropean Commission, under the topic TPT-2008.0.0.13 “New mobility/organisationalschemes: interconnection between short and long-distance transport networks”.The objective of WP5 of CLOSER is to accomplish in-depth case studies to deepenand validate the understanding of results obtained in Work packages 2, 3 and 4. Thiswill be achieved by:- Developing a joint assessment and evaluation framework for the case studies,incorporating knowledge that has been obtained in WP 2, WP 3 and WP 4- Carrying out the case studies- Synthesising the results of the case studies in order to give inputs for thedevelopment of recommendations in WP 6.The deliverable at hand summarises the seven case studies that have been conductedin the CLOSER project: Leipzig-Halle airport (Germany) Armentiéres station (France) Oslo bus terminal Vaterland (Norway) Port of Helsinki (Finland) Thessaloniki port (Greece) Constantza port (Romania) Vilnius Airport (Lithuania

Predicting Port Tugboat Operations for Arriving and Departing Vessels Using Machine Learning

Today, predicting the number of tugs required to assist in a towing operation many days in advance is difficult. Towing operations, being a complicated process, are prone to human errors and conflicts, which can have severe financial consequences for all parties involved. In this thesis, a method for extracting port tugboat operations for incoming and outgoing vessels is proposed. Using the obtained tugboat operations dataset, a machine learning model is built in order to predict the number of tugs required to assist in a towing operation. The data used is a year of historical Baltic Sea AIS data and weather data from nearby weather stations near the two analysis ports. The recommended ideas and their implementation were a success from a performance standpoint. The proposed method for extracting towing operations detected the vast majority of towing operations within the analysis area. The obtained tugboat operations dataset was then used during the model construction phase. The obtained models are port-specific. One of the models achieved an overall accuracy of 87.0\%, while the other achieved an accuracy of 91.5\%. The results demonstrated that it is possible to develop a viable predictive tool for tugboat operations. When deployed, the proposed method will enable port and tugboat operators to make faster and more efficient decisions, resulting in increased operational efficiency in the port area

Soil care: Symphony rehearsal

In the age of ecological challenges, soil is crucial to address many of the crises that we face today. Current discussions around soil care have spread across disciplines in order to generate new ways of understanding the growing concern in soil. This thesis explores the topic of soil care through the lens of craft and design. The research conducts a collaborative craft practice to reclaim the attention back to the soil. When focused on soil care, craft making can be considered a dialogical practice for establishing conversations between humans (makers), soils (materials) and the human–soil interaction that exists within the local environment. In doing so, this research emphasises the collaborative effort of human and soil as an important narrative agency in the process of craft making. By utilising the practice-led approach, this research is driven by inquiring into whether collaborative craft practices would provide a different way to re-think and re-evaluate our relationship with soil. This thesis is a collaboration with five soil-related practitioners from diverse backgrounds: a construction worker, a farmer, an archaeologist, a ceramic artist and a soil scientist. The soil was gathered in three locations in Finnish landscape: a construction site, a farm and an archaeological excavation site. These three sites were considered representative of the societal, ecological and cultural aspects of human–soil relationality. The gathered soils were processed to make material to conduct a series of five sensory workshops. Each workshop was designed as a one-to-one interview with one of the five soil-related contributors during which research data were collected and created. Based on the empirical data collected throughout the research process, the research findings draw attention to the agentic power in which humans and soils both hold creative expression in the process of craft making. The results of the study are presented through five different human– soil storytelling associated with several crafted artefacts. Each artefact is profoundly connected to its maker, material and the local environment. The study shows the generative power that craft can offer as an effective platform for collaboration with other disciplines and for the development of new forms of understanding for issues related to soil care. This collaborative practice is facilitated by and articulated through its creative process, especially the critical reflections that arise during the process of making and material engagement