How to finance energy renovation of residential buildings: Review of current and emerging financing instruments in the EU

The Paris Agreement goals require net-zero CO2 emissions by mid-century. The European Commission in its recent proposal for climate and energy strategy for 2050 indicated the need for more intensified actions to substantially improve the energy performances of buildings. With the rate of new construction in Europe, the challenge is to increase both the pace and depth of building energy renovations. Several barriers inhibit the wide uptake of comprehensive energy renovations, including the inability or inertia to finance upfront costs of energy renovations. Despite various policies implemented to address some of these barriers, current investments in buildings remain at suboptimal levels. The paper reviews current financing practices for energy renovations and investigates some innovative instruments with a special focus on their applicability to residential buildings. In addition to “traditional” financial schemes such as subsidies, tax incentives, and loans, the paper assesses innovative financing schemes: On property tax and on-bill financing, energy efficiency mortgages, and energy efficiency feed-in tariffs. The paper also investigates the concept of one-stop shops for building renovations and crowdfunding. The paper offers an assessment of the characteristics, benefits, and challenges of each analyzed financing instrument and provides policy recommendations for their successful implementation. In general, as financing instruments involve different stakeholders and due to complex nature of the sector, there is no single solution to accelerate energy renovation investment in buildings. The emerging financial models offer the potential to address the long-standing barriers to investment in energy efficiency. This article is categorized under: Energy Efficiency > Economics and Policy Energy Efficiency > Climate and Environment Energy and Climate > Economics and Policy

Palladium extraction following metal-catalysed reactions : recent advances and applications in the pharmaceutical industry

Palladium-catalysed cross-coupling reactions are used extensively in the pharmaceutical industry. Therefore, the potential contamination of products with elemental impurities is an issue that any process chemist must consider in the design of a plant process. This is not only to meet regulatory limits, which is unequivocally the primary reason for metal scavenging, but also due to the high cost and limited supply of palladium, driving the need for recovery to recycle. This review addresses the current technologies for palladium removal from organic solutions, with selected examples of their successful application in industrial-scale processes for pharmaceutical production. Palladium scavengers have been categorised based on their mode of action: adsorption, extraction/precipitation and crystallisation, to provide a summary of the current state-of-the-art in metal removal. Practical considerations when choosing metal removal methods are briefly discussed, illustrating their intrinsic advantages and drawbacks

The role of one-stop shops in energy renovation - A comparative analysis of OSSs cases in Europe

With energy transition setting the ground for innovation and new ways of conducting business, one-stop shops (OSSs) have recently gained momentum in the renovation market. By transforming a complex set of multiple-actor decisions into a single entry and customer-centric service, OSSs have the potential of establishing a bridge between the fragmented demand and supply sides of the traditional renovation value chain. To assess the viability of the OSSs model as a vehicle of accelerating decarbonisation efforts in the European building stock, this paper collects and analyses 63 case studies of OSSs across Europe. The study offers insights into the dynamics of their business model, key benefits and ways forward, by explicitly exploring OSSs’ role in incentivising homeowners to decide to renovate. Our findings show that OSSs can be instrumental in addressing the multitude of barriers that prevent homeowners to renovate. With around 100,000 OSSs projects per year, their activity is expected to substantially contribute to the European renovation targets to rise, subject to favourable policy framework, availability of affordable financing solutions and experience sharing within and across countries. With some OSSs already supporting vulnerable households to renovate, OSSs might be well-placed in the future to contribute to tackle energy poverty by assisting in accessing financing and engaging property owners to renovate

One-stop shops for residential building energy renovation in the EU

This report is the second part of a Europe-wide survey and assessment of one-stop shops (OSS) for energy renovation of buildings. Based on the case studies of 63 OSS in the EU, we find that the approach has a potential to cover 5-6 of the renovation volume of 35 million buildings in 2030 set out by the Renovation Wave Strategy , at low social costs, integrating private investments with client-friendly methods. The current level of activity of the European OSS market is estimated to be around 100 000 projects per year. The OSS can bridge the gap between a fragmented residential building sector, with a large heterogeneous set of households, and the construction supply side. They can help increase the actual renovation rate by supporting potential clients through the various steps of the decision-making process. Their success lies in part with their locally embedded focus, engagement with interested but not yet committed energy users/asset owners and ability to form strong relationships with clients. They can support the renovation journey from start to finish and can facilitate access to financing, occasionally offering better rates. While our analysis identifies several structural, legislative, financial, and information measures with a positive impact on OSS-enabled renovation projects, it is possible to enhance their contribution by reviewing specific policies that support or hinder their success. Although not typical of OSS in general, but with proper incentives, they can improve the average renovation depth in terms of energy performance level by adopting a holistic approach and, at the same time, they can reach out to vulnerable populations, such as tenants of social houses, thus contributing to the alleviation of energy poverty. Finally, OSS can contribute to the enhancement of communities and neighbourhoods. They help current tenants to improve their living conditions and thus stay in the area

Genetic Deletion of the Nociceptin/Orphanin FQ Receptor in the Rat Confers Resilience to the Development of Drug Addiction

The nociceptin (NOP) receptor is a G-protein-coupled receptor whose natural ligand is the nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) peptide. Evidence from pharmacological studies suggests that the N/OFQ system is implicated in the regulation of several addiction-related phenomena, such as drug intake, withdrawal and relapse. Here, to further explore the role of NOP system in addiction, we used NOP (-/-) rats to study the motivation for cocaine, heroin and alcohol self-administration in the absence of N/OFQ function. Conditioned place preference (CPP) and saccharin (0.2% w/v) self-administration were also investigated. Results showed that NOP (-/-) rats self-administer less cocaine (0.25, 0.125 or 0.5 mg/infusion) both under a Fixed Ratio 1 and a Progressive Ratio schedule of reinforcement compared to wild type (Wt) controls. Consistently, cocaine (10 mg/kg, i.p.) was able to induce CPP in Wt but not in NOP (-/-). When NOP (-/-) rats were tested for heroin (20 μg/infusion) and ethanol (10% v/v) self-administration, they showeda significantly lower drug intake compared to Wt. Conversely, saccharin self-administration was not affected by NOP deletion, excluding the possibility of nonspecific learning deficits or generalized disruption of reward mechanisms in NOP (-/-) rats. These findings were confirmed with pharmacological experiments using two selective NOP antagonists, SB-612111 and LY2817412. Both drugs attenuated alcohol self-administration in Wt rats but not in NOP (-/-) rats. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that genetic deletion of NOP receptors confers resilience to drug abuse and support a role for NOP receptor antagonism as a potential treatment option for drug addiction.Neuropsychopharmacology accepted article preview online, 26 August 2016. doi:10.1038/npp.2016.171

Thyroid function, autoimmunity and nodules in hematological malignancies

Objective Hematological malignancies encompass a large spectrum of disease entities whose treatment by chemo/radiotherapy could lead to thyroid complications. To the best of our knowledge, no study has simultaneously addressed thyroid function, autoimmunity and nodularity. Therefore, we decided to conduct one.Materials and methods We evaluated 82 Caucasian patients (36 women and 46 men), who were treated at our Oncology division for hematological malignancies (multiple myeloma, chronic myeloid leukemia, chronic lymphatic leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and polycythemia vera) and compared them with a control group of 104 patients. Patients who had received or were receiving external head/neck radiotherapy were excluded. All oncological patients and control individuals underwent thyroid ultrasonography and thyroid function and autoimmunity tests.Results A lower prevalence of enlarged thyroid and nodules were found in patients with respect to controls. The rate of thyroid nodules was the highest in multiple myeloma and polycythemia vera, and the lowest in chronic lymphatic leukemia. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients had the smallest thyroid nodules while men with multiple myeloma the biggest ones. No patient had hypothyroidism, while 5.6% of patients had subclinical hyperthyroidism. In contrast, within the control group the rates of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism, overt and subclinical, were 3.8%, 20.2%, 0% and 0% respectively. Moreover, the overall rate of thyroid autoantibody positiveness in patients was significantly lower than controls.Conclusion In our experience, we found a significantly lower prevalence of thyroid abnormalities in hematologic patients who underwent chemotherapy, but not radiotherapy, with respect to controls. Arch Endocrinol Metab. 2015;59(3):236-4

The Novel μ-Opioid Receptor Antagonist GSK1521498 Decreases Both Alcohol Seeking and Drinking: Evidence from a New Preclinical Model of Alcohol Seeking.

Distinct environmental and conditioned stimuli influencing ethanol-associated appetitive and consummatory behaviors may jointly contribute to alcohol addiction. To develop an effective translational animal model that illuminates this interaction, daily seeking responses, maintained by alcohol-associated conditioned stimuli (CSs), need to be dissociated from alcohol drinking behavior. For this, we established a procedure whereby alcohol seeking maintained by alcohol-associated CSs is followed by a period during which rats have the opportunity to drink alcohol. This cue-controlled alcohol-seeking procedure was used to compare the effects of naltrexone and GSK1521498, a novel selective μ-opioid receptor antagonist, on both voluntary alcohol-intake and alcohol-seeking behaviors. Rederived alcohol-preferring, alcohol-nonpreferring, and high-alcohol-drinking replicate 1 line of rats (Indiana University) first received 18 sessions of 24 h home cage access to 10% alcohol and water under a 2-bottle choice procedure. They were trained subsequently to respond instrumentally for access to 15% alcohol under a second-order schedule of reinforcement, in which a prolonged period of alcohol-seeking behavior was maintained by contingent presentations of an alcohol-associated CS acting as a conditioned reinforcer. This seeking period was terminated by 20 min of free alcohol drinking access that achieved significant blood alcohol concentrations. The influence of pretreatment with either naltrexone (0.1-1-3 mg/kg) or GSK1521498 (0.1-1-3 mg/kg) before instrumental sessions was measured on both seeking and drinking behaviors, as well as on drinking in the 2-bottle choice procedure. Naltrexone and GSK1521498 dose-dependently reduced both cue-controlled alcohol seeking and alcohol intake in the instrumental context as well as alcohol intake in the choice procedure. However, GSK1521498 showed significantly greater effectiveness than naltrexone, supporting its potential use for promoting abstinence and preventing relapse in alcohol addiction.The present study was funded by Medical Research Council Programme Grant (no. G1002231) and by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), which has a commercial interest in GSK1521498. Charles R. Goodlett was funded by a grant from the IUPUI International Development Fund, which supported his sabbatical leave at the University of Cambridge. Maria Pilar Garcia-Pardo was funded by Val+id para investigadores en formación (Conselleria de educacion, Generalitat Valenciana), which also supported her stay at the University of Cambridge (January-April 2014) as a Visiting Student.This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available from NPG at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npp.2015.15

Stress-Induced Reinstatement of Drug Seeking: 20 Years of Progress

In human addicts, drug relapse and craving are often provoked by stress. Since 1995, this clinical scenario has been studied using a rat model of stress-induced reinstatement of drug seeking. Here, we first discuss the generality of stress-induced reinstatement to different drugs of abuse, different stressors, and different behavioral procedures. We also discuss neuropharmacological mechanisms, and brain areas and circuits controlling stress-induced reinstatement of drug seeking. We conclude by discussing results from translational human laboratory studies and clinical trials that were inspired by results from rat studies on stress-induced reinstatement. Our main conclusions are (1) The phenomenon of stress-induced reinstatement, first shown with an intermittent footshock stressor in rats trained to self-administer heroin, generalizes to other abused drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine, nicotine, and alcohol, and is also observed in the conditioned place preference model in rats and mice. This phenomenon, however, is stressor specific and not all stressors induce reinstatement of drug seeking. (2) Neuropharmacological studies indicate the involvement of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), noradrenaline, dopamine, glutamate, kappa/dynorphin, and several other peptide and neurotransmitter systems in stress-induced reinstatement. Neuropharmacology and circuitry studies indicate the involvement of CRF and noradrenaline transmission in bed nucleus of stria terminalis and central amygdala, and dopamine, CRF, kappa/dynorphin, and glutamate transmission in other components of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system (ventral tegmental area, medial prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and nucleus accumbens). (3) Translational human laboratory studies and a recent clinical trial study show the efficacy of alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonists in decreasing stress-induced drug craving and stress-induced initial heroin lapse