Household electricity demand in Spanish regions. Public policy implications

This paper analyses the determinants of household electricity demand with a panel data, partial adjustment model of Spanish regions in the 1998-2009 period. The results show that electricity demand responds positively and significantly to electricity demand in the previous year, income, temperature range, penetration of electric water heating in households and the number of heating and cooling degree days. It is significantly and negatively related to electricity prices, gas prices, penetration of electric heating in households and whether households have at least one member being 64 years or older. Price elasticities in the preferred model are -0.26 (short-term) and -0.37 (long-term). Income elasticities are 0.31 (short-term) and 0.43 (long-term). Several implications for electricity-efficiency policies are derived from the results of the analysis

Effects of intubation timing in patients with COVID-19 throughout the four waves of the pandemic : a matched analysis

The primary aim of our study was to investigate the association between intubation timing and hospital mortality in critically ill patients with COVID-19-associated respiratory failure. We also analysed both the impact of such timing throughout the first four pandemic waves and the influence of prior non-invasive respiratory support on outcomes. This is a secondary analysis of a multicentre, observational and prospective cohort study that included all consecutive patients undergoing invasive mechanical ventilation due to COVID-19 from across 58 Spanish intensive care units (ICU) participating in the CIBERESUCICOVID project. The study period was between 29 February 2020 and 31 August 2021. Early intubation was defined as that occurring within the first 24 h of intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Propensity score (PS) matching was used to achieve balance across baseline variables between the early intubation cohort and those patients who were intubated after the first 24 h of ICU admission. Differences in outcomes between early and delayed intubation were also assessed. We performed sensitivity analyses to consider a different timepoint (48 h from ICU admission) for early and delayed intubation. Of the 2725 patients who received invasive mechanical ventilation, a total of 614 matched patients were included in the analysis (307 for each group). In the unmatched population, there were no differences in mortality between the early and delayed groups. After PS matching, patients with delayed intubation presented higher hospital mortality (27.3% versus 37.1%, p =0.01), ICU mortality (25.7% versus 36.1%, p=0.007) and 90-day mortality (30.9% versus 40.2%, p=0.02) when compared to the early intubation group. Very similar findings were observed when we used a 48-hour timepoint for early or delayed intubation. The use of early intubation decreased after the first wave of the pandemic (72%, 49%, 46% and 45% in the first, second, third and fourth wave, respectively; first versus second, third and fourth waves p<0.001). In both the main and sensitivity analyses, hospital mortality was lower in patients receiving high-flow nasal cannula (n=294) who were intubated earlier. The subgroup of patients undergoing NIV (n=214) before intubation showed higher mortality when delayed intubation was set as that occurring after 48 h from ICU admission, but not when after 24 h. In patients with COVID-19 requiring invasive mechanical ventilation, delayed intubation was associated with a higher risk of hospital mortality. The use of early intubation significantly decreased throughout the course of the pandemic. Benefits of such an approach occurred more notably in patients who had received high-flow nasal cannul

Prognostic implications of comorbidity patterns in critically ill COVID-19 patients: A multicenter, observational study

Background The clinical heterogeneity of COVID-19 suggests the existence of different phenotypes with prognostic implications. We aimed to analyze comorbidity patterns in critically ill COVID-19 patients and assess their impact on in-hospital outcomes, response to treatment and sequelae. Methods Multicenter prospective/retrospective observational study in intensive care units of 55 Spanish hospitals. 5866 PCR-confirmed COVID-19 patients had comorbidities recorded at hospital admission; clinical and biological parameters, in-hospital procedures and complications throughout the stay; and, clinical complications, persistent symptoms and sequelae at 3 and 6 months. Findings Latent class analysis identified 3 phenotypes using training and test subcohorts: low-morbidity (n=3385; 58%), younger and with few comorbidities; high-morbidity (n=2074; 35%), with high comorbid burden; and renal-morbidity (n=407; 7%), with chronic kidney disease (CKD), high comorbidity burden and the worst oxygenation profile. Renal-morbidity and high-morbidity had more in-hospital complications and higher mortality risk than low-morbidity (adjusted HR (95% CI): 1.57 (1.34-1.84) and 1.16 (1.05-1.28), respectively). Corticosteroids, but not tocilizumab, were associated with lower mortality risk (HR (95% CI) 0.76 (0.63-0.93)), especially in renal-morbidity and high-morbidity. Renal-morbidity and high-morbidity showed the worst lung function throughout the follow-up, with renal-morbidity having the highest risk of infectious complications (6%), emergency visits (29%) or hospital readmissions (14%) at 6 months (p<0.01). Interpretation Comorbidity-based phenotypes were identified and associated with different expression of in-hospital complications, mortality, treatment response, and sequelae, with CKD playing a major role. This could help clinicians in day-to-day decision making including the management of post-discharge COVID-19 sequelae. Copyright (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd

The evolution of the ventilatory ratio is a prognostic factor in mechanically ventilated COVID-19 ARDS patients

Background: Mortality due to COVID-19 is high, especially in patients requiring mechanical ventilation. The purpose of the study is to investigate associations between mortality and variables measured during the first three days of mechanical ventilation in patients with COVID-19 intubated at ICU admission. Methods: Multicenter, observational, cohort study includes consecutive patients with COVID-19 admitted to 44 Spanish ICUs between February 25 and July 31, 2020, who required intubation at ICU admission and mechanical ventilation for more than three days. We collected demographic and clinical data prior to admission; information about clinical evolution at days 1 and 3 of mechanical ventilation; and outcomes. Results: Of the 2,095 patients with COVID-19 admitted to the ICU, 1,118 (53.3%) were intubated at day 1 and remained under mechanical ventilation at day three. From days 1 to 3, PaO2/FiO2 increased from 115.6 [80.0-171.2] to 180.0 [135.4-227.9] mmHg and the ventilatory ratio from 1.73 [1.33-2.25] to 1.96 [1.61-2.40]. In-hospital mortality was 38.7%. A higher increase between ICU admission and day 3 in the ventilatory ratio (OR 1.04 [CI 1.01-1.07], p = 0.030) and creatinine levels (OR 1.05 [CI 1.01-1.09], p = 0.005) and a lower increase in platelet counts (OR 0.96 [CI 0.93-1.00], p = 0.037) were independently associated with a higher risk of death. No association between mortality and the PaO2/FiO2 variation was observed (OR 0.99 [CI 0.95 to 1.02], p = 0.47). Conclusions: Higher ventilatory ratio and its increase at day 3 is associated with mortality in patients with COVID-19 receiving mechanical ventilation at ICU admission. No association was found in the PaO2/FiO2 variation

Assessing the effectiveness of energy efficiency measures in the residential sector gas consumption through dynamic treatment effects: Evidence from England and Wales

International audienc

Glass half full or glass half empty?: the 2021 Glasgow Climate Conference

International audienc

Innovation Effects of Support Schemes for Renewable Electricity

The aim of the current research is twofold: 1) to provide a conceptual framework to analyze and classify the innovation effects of instruments to support electricity from renewable energy sources (RES-E) by considering different analytical perspectives and, 2) based on a thorough review of the empirical literature, to compare the innovation effects of different RES-E support instruments, with respect to the different innovation dimensions resulting from those perspectives (technological diversity; research, development and demonstration (RD&D) investments; learning effects and technological competition). No instrument scores well in all innovation dimensions, although feedin tariffs (FITs) score highly in a majority of them. In particular, FITs are more likely to feed back into previous stages of the innovation process than other deployment support schemes, mostly due to their proven capacity to create markets for renewable energy technologies, which activates all the innovation dimensions. Our results do not support the usual claim of a combination of deployment instruments for technologies with different maturity levels. Indeed, the evidence suggests that we should use FITs for technologies with different maturity levels, combined with public RD&D support for the least mature. The impact of deployment instruments on private RD&D investments calls for a better coordination and integration between public RD&D and deployment support. However, the evidence of the impact of support schemes on some of those dimensions is scarce and, thus, more research is required.We are grateful to the National Research Council of Spain for financial support (Proyecto Intramural: Análisis de las interacciones entre instrumentos de promoción de las renovables y procedimientos de mitigación de las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero). Also to the Beyond 2020 project (Design and impact of a harmonised policy for renewable electricity in Europe). This initiative could be established thanks to the financial and intellectual support offered by the “Intelligent Energy – Europe” (IEE) programme of the European Commission, operated by the Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation. Cristina Peñasco gratefully acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Education and CSIC through the JAE program.Peer Reviewe

An overview of drivers and barriers to concentrated solar power in the European Union

The aim of this article is to identify the most relevant drivers and barriers for the deployment of concentrated solar power (CSP) in the EU in a 2030 horizon, based on a thorough literature review and interviews with key stakeholders in the sector. The results of our interviews show that the higher “value” of CSP compared to other renewable energy sources (RES) is regarded as the most relevant driver, followed by the policy drivers (innovation and deployment support) and the significant cost reductions expected for the technology. The most relevant barrier is the high cost of the technology in comparison with conventional power plants and other renewable energy technologies, closely followed by uncertain and retroactive policies.The authors are grateful to the European Commission for financial support under the European Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) project Towards2030-dialogue (work package 3) www.towards2030.eu. Pere Mir-Artigues gratefully acknowledges support from the Ministry of Economics and Competitiveness, project ECO2015-69107-RPeer reviewe

A market for green patents? Analysis of ownership changes in environmental technologies from Spain

Trabajo presentado en la EU-SPRI 2015 Conference ("Innovation policies for economic and social transitions: Developing strategies for knowledge, practice and institutions"), celebrada en Helsinki del 10 al 12 de junio de 2015.Analyze the current situation of environmental innovation and the market for environmental technologies in Spain.Peer reviewe