MAgPIE 4 – a modular open-source framework for modeling global land systems

The open-source modeling framework MAgPIE (Model of Agricultural Production and its Impact on the Environment) combines economic and biophysical approaches to simulate spatially explicit global scenarios of land use within the 21st century and the respective interactions with the environment. Besides various other projects, it was used to simulate marker scenarios of the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) and contributed substantially to multiple IPCC assessments. However, with growing scope and detail, the non-linear model has become increasingly complex, computationally intensive and non-transparent, requiring structured approaches to improve the development and evaluation of the model. Here, we provide an overview on version 4 of MAgPIE and how it addresses these issues of increasing complexity using new technical features: modular structure with exchangeable module implementations, flexible spatial resolution, in-code documentation, automatized code checking, model/output evaluation and open accessibility. Application examples provide insights into model evaluation, modular flexibility and region-specific analysis approaches. While this paper is focused on the general framework as such, the publication is accompanied by a detailed model documentation describing contents and equations, and by model evaluation documents giving insights into model performance for a broad range of variables. With the open-source release of the MAgPIE 4 framework, we hope to contribute to more transparent, reproducible and collaborative research in the field. Due to its modularity and spatial flexibility, it should provide a basis for a broad range of land-related research with economic or biophysical, global or regional focus

Zukünftige maritime Treibstoffe und deren mögliche Importkonzepte

Weltweit werden etwa 90 % des internationalen Güterverkehrs per Schiff abgewickelt. Die meisten Schiffe nutzen dabei Schweröl und sind für ungefähr 3 % des weltweiten Anteils an den CO2-Emissionen verantwortlich. Die Dekarbonisierung des Schiffverkehrs spielt eine wichtige Rolle bei der Verwirklichung einer klimaneutralen Transportwirtschaft. Daher hat sich die International Maritime Organisation (Internationale Seeschifffahrtsorganisation, IMO) das Ziel gesetzt, die Treibhausgasemissionen bis 2050 im Vergleich zu 2008 zu halbieren und gleichzeitig die CO2-Emissionen pro Tonnenmeile bis 2050 um 70 % zu senken. Um diese Ziele zu erfüllen besteht ein Bedarf an erneuerbaren Kraftstoffen, um die Umwelt- und Klimaauswirkungen der Schifffahrt kurz- und langfristig zu verringern. In dieser Kurzstudie werden alternative Kraftstoffe für die Zukunft des maritimen Sektors wie zum Beispiel Wasserstoff, Ammoniak, Methanol und flüssige organische Wasserstoffträger (LOHC) unter Berücksichtigung ihrer Produktion sowie Lagerung und Transports dargestellt. Zu Beginn der vorliegenden Kurzstudie werden Wasserstofftechnologien und Herstellungs-verfahren synthetischer Kraft- und Brennstoffe erläutert, die an Standorten mit viel Potenzial für die Erzeugung erneuerbarer Energien eingesetzt werden. Es wird ein Überblick über die Speicherung, den internationalen Transport, sowie die Binnenverteilung von Kraftstoffen zur Versorgung der Endverbraucher gegeben. Insgesamt werden die Importmöglichkeiten von erneuerbaren Kraftstoffen nach Deutschland und Europa unter technischen, ökonomischen und Sicherheitsaspekten bewertet, und anschließend werden mögliche Kandidaten für die Versorgung mit und die Anwendungsfälle von wasserstoffbasierten Kraftstoffen erläutert

REMIND2.1: transformation and innovation dynamics of the energy-economic system within climate and sustainability limits

This paper presents the new and now open-source version 2.1 of the REgional Model of INvestments and Development (REMIND). REMIND, as an integrated assessment model (IAM), provides an integrated view of the global energy–economy–emissions system and explores self-consistent transformation pathways. It describes a broad range of possible futures and their relation to technical and socio-economic developments as well as policy choices. REMIND is a multiregional model incorporating the economy and a detailed representation of the energy sector implemented in the General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS). It uses non-linear optimization to derive welfare-optimal regional transformation pathways of the energy-economic system subject to climate and sustainability constraints for the time horizon from 2005 to 2100. The resulting solution corresponds to the decentralized market outcome under the assumptions of perfect foresight of agents and internalization of external effects. REMIND enables the analyses of technology options and policy approaches for climate change mitigation with particular strength in representing the scale-up of new technologies, including renewables and their integration in power markets. The REMIND code is organized into modules that gather code relevant for specific topics. Interaction between different modules is made explicit via clearly defined sets of input and output variables. Each module can be represented by different realizations, enabling flexible configuration and extension. The spatial resolution of REMIND is flexible and depends on the resolution of the input data. Thus, the framework can be used for a variety of applications in a customized form, balancing requirements for detail and overall runtime and complexity

Kurzstudie: Zukünftige maritime Treibstoffe und deren mögliche Importkonzepte

Weltweit werden etwa 90 % des internationalen Güterverkehrs per Schiff abgewickelt. Die meisten Schiffe nutzen dabei Schweröl und sind für ungefähr 3 % des weltweiten Anteils an den CO2-Emissionen verantwortlich. Die Dekarbonisierung des Schiffverkehrs spielt eine wichtige Rolle bei der Verwirklichung einer klimaneutralen Transportwirtschaft. Daher hat sich die International Maritime Organisation (Internationale Seeschifffahrtsorganisation, IMO) das Ziel gesetzt, die Treibhausgasemissionen bis 2050 im Vergleich zu 2008 zu halbieren und gleichzeitig die CO2-Emissionen pro Tonnenmeile bis 2050 um 70 % zu senken. Um diese Ziele zu erfüllen besteht ein Bedarf an erneuerbaren Kraftstoffen, um die Umwelt- und Klimaauswirkungen der Schifffahrt kurz- und langfristig zu verringern. In dieser Kurzstudie werden alternative Kraftstoffe für die Zukunft des maritimen Sektors wie zum Beispiel Wasserstoff, Ammoniak, Methanol und flüssige organische Wasserstoffträger (LOHC) unter Berücksichtigung ihrer Produktion sowie Lagerung und Transports dargestellt. Zu Beginn der vorliegenden Kurzstudie werden Wasserstofftechnologien und Herstellungs-verfahren synthetischer Kraft- und Brennstoffe erläutert, die an Standorten mit viel Potenzial für die Erzeugung erneuerbarer Energien eingesetzt werden. Es wird ein Überblick über die Speicherung, den internationalen Transport, sowie die Binnenverteilung von Kraftstoffen zur Versorgung der Endverbraucher gegeben. Insgesamt werden die Importmöglichkeiten von erneuerbaren Kraftstoffen nach Deutschland und Europa unter technischen, ökonomischen und Sicherheitsaspekten bewertet, und anschließend werden mögliche Kandidaten für die Versorgung mit und die Anwendungsfälle von wasserstoffbasierten Kraftstoffen erläutert

Does Every Minute Really Count? Road Time as an Indicator for the Economic Value of Emergency Medical Services

International audienc

<SUP>17</SUP>O NMR spectroscopy: study of intramolecular hydrogen bonding in phenols and salicylaldehydes

Natural abundance <SUP>17</SUP>O NMR data for fifteen 2- and 4-substituted phenols, ten 3-and 5-substituted 2-hydroxybenzaldehydes and eight 3-substituted benzaldehydes, recorded at 75&#176;C in acetonitrile are reported. The chemical shift change due to intramolecular hydrogen bonding for the phenolic oxygen was found to be 10-14 ppm shielding. In acetonitrile, the <SUP>17</SUP>O NMR chemical shift for phenol signals was insensitive to added water up to water concentrations of 0.5 mole fraction. The <SUP>17</SUP>O NMR chemical shifts of the 4-substituted phenols gave an excellent correlation (r = 0.990) with anisole <SUP>17</SUP>O NMR data; the data also correlated moderately well with &#963;<SUP>-</SUP> (r = 0.974). The chemical shifts of the 3-substituted benzaldehydes were correlated with &#963;<SUP>+</SUP> values (r = 0.991). A plot of the carbonyl chemical shift data for the substituted 2-hydroxybenzaldehydes versus the carbonyl data for 3-substituted benzaldehydes gave a slope of 0.87 and with r = 0.960. The plot of the 4-substituted phenol data with that for OH of the corresponding 2-hydroxybenzaldehydes gave a slope of 1.04 with r = 0.996. Proton to oxygen coupling for the phenolic group of several of the intramolecular hydrogen bonded systems was observed directly [J(OH) = 58-92 Hz]. MM2 and MOPAC calculations predict that the hydrogen bond distances and angles for the substituted 2-hydroxybenzaldehydes and the partial atomic charges for the carbonyl groups (AMI) were essentially constant. After corrections for electronic effects the chemical shift changes due to hydrogen bonding for the donor (&#916;&#948;<SUB>HBD</SUB>) and acceptor (&#916;&#948;<SUB>HBA</SUB>) of the carbonyl-phenol intramolecular bonding system were 5-12 and 30 &#177; 2 ppm, respectively. The &#916;&#948;<SUB>HBA</SUB> value was between those for keto and ester acceptors consistent with the relative basicity of the aldehyde group. The &#916;&#948;<SUB>HBD</SUB> value was substantially larger than those for phenolic donors to keto and ester groups

Genotoxicity testing on the international space station: Preparatory work on the SOS-LUX test as part of the space experiment TRIPLE-LUX

Harmful environmental factors – namely ionizing radiation – will continue to influence future manned space missions. The Radiation Biology Unit at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) develops cellular monitoring systems, which include bacterial and mammalian cell systems capable of recognizing DNA damage as a consequence of the presence of genotoxic conditions. Such a bioassay is the SOS-LUX test, which represents the radiobiological part of the German space experiment ‘‘Gene, immune and cellular responses to single and combined space flight conditions (TRIPLE-LUX)’’ which has been selected by the IDI/USRA Peer Review Panel for NASA/ESA to be performed on the International Space Station (ISS). It will supply basic information on the genotoxic response to radiation applied in microgravity. The biological end-point under investigation will depend on the bacterial SOS response brought about by genetically modified bacteria that are transformed with the pSWITCH plasmid (constructed from the plasmids pPLS-1 and pGFPuv). The luminescent/fluorescent bioassay SWITCH (SWITCH: Salmonella Weighting of Induced Toxicity Cyto/GenoTox for Human Health) as successor of the SOS-LUX test for rapid toxicity (genotoxicity and cytotoxicity) testing, makes use of two sensing and reporting systems for the two biological endpoints under investigation: the SOS-LUX test and the LAC-Fluoro test. The SWITCH plasmid carries the promoterless lux operon of Photobacterium leiognathi as reporter element under the control of the DNA-damage-dependent SOS promoter of ColD as sensor element (for genotoxicity testing) and the sequences for a hybrid protein consisting of b-galactosidase and GFPuv of Aequorea victoria as reporter element under the control of the (in Salmonella constitutively active) LAC promoter of Escherichia coli as sensor element (for cytotoxicity testing). The system has worked properly for terrestrial applications during the first experiments. Experiments using X-rays and UV radiation of various qualities (from UVC to UVA) have given insights into cellular mechanisms relevant for estimation of health risks, resulting from exposure of astronauts to the extraordinary radiation environment of space

The impact of climate change mitigation on water demand for energy and food: An integrated analysis based on the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways

Abstract Climate change mitigation, in the context of growing population and ever increasing economic activity, will require a transformation of energy and agricultural systems, posing significant challenges to global water resources. We use an integrated modelling framework of the water-energy-land-climate systems to assess how changes in electricity and land use, induced by climate change mitigation, impact on water demand under alternative socioeconomic (Shared Socioeconomic Pathways) and water policy assumptions (irrigation of bioenergy crops, cooling technologies for electricity generation). The impacts of climate change mitigation on cumulated global water demand across the century are highly uncertain, and depending on socioeconomic and water policy conditions, they range from a reduction of 15,000 km3 to an increase of more than 160,000 km3. The impact of irrigation of bioenergy crops is the most prominent factor, leading to significantly higher water requirements under climate change mitigation if bioenergy crops are irrigated. Differences in socioeconomic drivers and fossil fuel availability result in significant differences in electricity and bioenergy demands, in the associated electricity and primary energy mixes, and consequently in water demand. Economic affluence and abundance of fossil fuels aggravate pressures on water resources due to higher energy demand and greater deployment of water intensive technologies such as bioenergy and nuclear power. The evolution of future cooling systems is also identified as an important determinant of electricity water demand. Climate policy can result in a reduction of water demand if combined with policies on irrigation of bioenergy, and the deployment of non-water-intensive electricity sources and cooling types