Renewable energy communities in the European energy policy: an evidence of clean energy for all Europeans, not by all. Egmont Paper 111 28 January 2021.

In 2016, the European Commission recognized the role of renewable energy communities (RECs) in the Clean Energy Package (CEP). This package has been accompanied by a narrative of citizen empowerment while the EU energy and climate governance since the Paris Agreement has become more polycentric, seeking to further include non-state actors in the fight against climate change. This policy paper takes the opportunity of these evolutions to present RECs and the concepts of polycentric governance and empowerment based on existing scientific literature. It combines these two concepts to analyse the evolution of the renewable energy governance of the EU through the CEP. The analysis is conducted in a reflexive manner that sheds light on the analytical inputs and limits of these concepts. More particularly, it pinpoints the limits of the EU interpretation of empowerment and polycentricity, namely by exploring the place given to RECs and their struggle with energy incumbents. In a nutshell, this paper considers both the outcome of the CEP and what it tells about the renewable energy governance of the EU itself. Ultimately, it provides with recommendations for a future revision of the renewable energy policy of the European Union as well as for the coming transposition of the measures that were delivered by the CEP

Reducing the environmental footprint of interior wood doors in non-residential buildings - part 2 : ecodesign

Ecodesign is a concept that emerged few decades ago as a response to the larger concept of sustainable development. Multiple tools exist to address ecodesign. Life Cycle Assessment, a comprehensive, robust and recognized evaluation tool, enables to identify the product environmental profile. Based on previous LCA results on interior wood doors, this paper aims at proposing an ecodesign strategy based on the generation and evaluation of alternative scenarios. The three selected targets for environmental improvement are particleboard components, transportation and end-of-life. For the particleboard manufacturing, the use of adhesives based on bio-sourced resources was not very conclusive, except for the use of pine tannins in panel manufacture that showed promising results. Concerning transportation issues, switching from road to rail transportation, as well as having a local supplier, decreased the overall environmental impact of the door. The most notable alternative was the end-of-life recycling scenario. The reutilization of the door core in the door manufacturing process proved a great benefit due to the avoidance of new raw materials production. Developing services around door recovery and remanufacturing seems promising in reducing doors environmental impacts. This scenario would be readily viable and realistic

The environmental footprint of interior wood doors in non-residential buildings. part 1, Life cycle assessment

Integrating environmental aspects into industrial practices has become a necessity. In fact, climate change and resource depletion have been established scientifically and can no more be neglected. Life Cycle Assessment is acknowledged to be an efficient tool to establish a product environmental profile and can be useful to businesses wishing to analyze their environmental record. Decreasing a building environmental footprint implies, among other considerations, a proper choice of building materials, both structural and architectural. A good avenue would be to select low environmental impact materials from cradle-to-grave. Architectural wooden doors are often specified in non-residential buildings in North America. However, only one Life Cycle Assessment has been carried out on wooden doors. This study explores the cradle-to-grave environmental profile of an interior wood door in a North American context. According to the results, the main contributor to the product impacts is the production of raw materials, especially the particleboard component, and their transportation to the manufacturing plant. The urea formaldehyde production is the main reason for particleboard impacts among the three damage categories, human health, climate change and resources, of IMPACT 2002þ. The other life cycle stages that have a noticeable influence on the door environmental impacts are shipping and end-of-life. Transportation as a whole affected the system total environmental score. The current results could serve as a basis for ecodesign implementation

Déontologie : La méthode participative comme facteur d’acceptation et d’adhésion au code !

L’association belge de la communication interne (ABCI) a décidé en 2016, de réécrire son code de déontologie. Concevoir un document est une chose mais le faire accepter par ses utilisateurs en est une autre. Pour relever ce défi, l’ABCI a misé sur l’approche participative. Sur base de dix principes définis par le conseil d’administration, un groupe de réflexion, composé de cinq membres volontaires de l’association, s’attela à la rédaction d’un projet de charte. Ce dernier fut soumis à l’analyse critique de l’ensemble des membres de l’ABCI ainsi que d’un groupe d’étudiants en communication interne de l’université de Louvain. L’objectif poursuivi au travers de cette démarche visait non seulement à impliquer les professionnels de la communication dans l’élaboration du code mais aussi à répondre à leurs attentes. Les objections formulées permirent d’affiner le texte qui fut approuvé à l’unanimité en février 2017. Le code s’articule en deux parties : la mission et les six valeurs nécessaires à son exécution : intégrité, esprit de service, respect, orientation résultats, responsabilité et innovation. Mots clés : déontologie, mission, participation, adhésion, implication, outil de gestion.   The Belgian Association for internal communication (ABCI) decided in 2016 to rewrite its code of ethics. Designing a document is one thing but getting it accepted by its users is another. To meet this challenge, the ABCI relied on the participatory approach. Based on 10 principles defined by the Board, a reflection group, consisting of five volunteer members of the association, started in the drafting of a charter. Subsequently, the latter was submitted to the critical analysis of all the members of the ABCI as well as a group of students in internal communication from the University of Louvain. The goal pursued through this approach was not only to involve communication professionals in the drafting of the code but to meet their expectations. The objections raised allowed to refine the text which was approved unanimously in February 2017. The code is divided into 2 parts: the mission and the six values for its execution, in this case: Integrity, service spirit, respect, results orientation, responsibility and innovation policy. Key Words : ethics, mission, involvement, adhesion, commitment, management too

The role of carbon grains in the deuteration of H2

Aims: The production of molecular hydrogen and its deuterated forms onto carbonaceous dust grains is investigated in detail. The goal of this study is to estimate the importance of the chemistry occuring on grain surfaces for the deuteration of H2. Furthermore, we aim to find a robust and general surface chemical model which can be used in different astrophysical environments. Methods: Surface processes are described for the cases of graphitic and amorphous--carbon grains, where laboratory work is available. Langmuir--Hinshelwood as well as Eley--Rideal surface chemistries are included in the model and their relative contributions are highlighted. Analytic expressions are derived for H2, HD, and D2 formation efficiencies for both type of grains. Rate equations are tested against stochastic methods. Results: As expected, rate equations and stochastic methods diverge for grain sizes lower than a critical value acrit. For grain sizes below this critical value, D2 formation decreases to favour HD formation. The formation efficiencies of H2 and D2 can be calculated by adding a correction factor to the rate equations methods. We found that because of the presence of chemisorbed sites, which can store atoms to form molecules up to high grain temperatures, the formation efficiency of HD and D2 is very high compared to models where only physisorption sites are taken into account. When considering a realistic distribution of dust grains, we found that the formation rate of H2 and HD is enhanced by an order of magnitude if small grains are taken into account. The processes described in this paper, that allow a strong enhancement of the deuterated forms of molecular hydrogen, could explain the high degree of deuterium fractionation observed in protostellar environments.Comment: 17 pages 25 figure

Continuous odour measurement from fattening pig units

peer reviewedA study in experimental slatted-system fattening pig units was conducted with the aim of estimating the odour emission factor (in ou/s.pig), which can subsequently be used in dispersion models to assess the odour annoyance zone. Dynamic olfactometry measurements carried out at different development stages of pigs showed a logical trend of the mean predicted odour emission factor with the pig weight. However, the variation within the same weight class was much larger than variation between classes. Possible causes of such variation were identified as the evolution of ventilation rate during the day and the circadian rhythm of pig. To be able to monitor continuously the daily variation of the odour, an electronic nose was used with suitable regression model calibrated against olfactometric measurements. After appropriate validation check, the electronic nose proved to be convenient, as a complementary tool to dynamic olfactometry, to record the daily variation of the odour emission factor in the pig barn. It was demonstrated that, in the controlled conditions of the experimental pens, the daily variation of the odour emission rate could be mainly attributed to the sole influence of the circadian rhythm of pig. As a consequence, determining a representative odour emission factor in a real case cannot be based on a snapshot odour sampling

Water formation on bare grains: When the chemistry on dust impacts interstellar gas

Context. Water together with O2 are important gas phase ingredients to cool dense gas in order to form stars. On dust grains, H2 O is an important constituent of the icy mantle in which a complex chemistry is taking place, as revealed by hot core observations. The formation of water can occur on dust grain surfaces, and can impact gas phase composition. Aims. The formation of molecules such as OH, H2 O, HO2, H2 O2, as well as their deuterated forms and O2 and O3 is studied in order to assess how the chemistry varies in different astrophysical environments, and how the gas phase is affected by grain surface chemistry. Methods. We use Monte Carlo simulations to follow the formation of molecules on bare grains as well as the fraction of molecules released into the gas phase. We consider a surface reaction network, based on gas phase reactions, as well as UV photo-dissociation of the chemical species. Results. We show that grain surface chemistry has a strong impact on gas phase chemistry, and that this chemistry is very different for different dust grain temperatures. Low temperatures favor hydrogenation, while higher temperatures favor oxygenation. Also, UV photons dissociate the molecules on the surface, that can reform subsequently. The formation-destruction cycle increases the amount of species released into the gas phase. We also determine the time scales to form ices in diffuse and dense clouds, and show that ices are formed only in shielded environments, as supported by observations.Comment: Accepted in A&