Grünlandenergie: Praxishinweise für die Entwicklung von Gras und Schilf basierten Nutzungskonzepten zur Energiegewinnung

Eine der großen Herausforderungen, die es in diesem Jahrhundert zu meistern gilt, ist die gezielte Bereitstellung von nachhaltig erzeugter Energie. Die Bundesregierung verfolgt das Ziel, bis zum Jahr 2020 den Anteil erneuerbarer Energieträger an der Wärmeerzeugung auf 14 % und an der Stromerzeugung auf 35 % zu steigern. Dabei soll die Energieerzeugung auf ökonomische, soziale, und ökologische Weise nachhaltig erfolgen. Dieses gilt in besonderem Maße für die Bioenergienutzung. Vor diesem Hintergrund hat das Bundesumweltministerium das Programm über die „Förderung von Forschung und Entwicklung zur klimaeffizienten Optimierung der energetischen Biomassenutzung“ aufgelegt, durch das die Entwicklung innovativer Bioenergiekonzepte unterstützt wird. In diesem Programm wurde das Forschungsprojekt „Grünlandenergie Havelland“ (FKZ: 03KB035) gefördert. Untersucht wurde die Eignung von Gras und anderem Halmgut aus der Landschaftspflege zur Wärme- und Stromerzeugung. Die Stärken der Biomassenutzung zeigen sich in diesem Projekt besonders klar: Die Energieerzeugung ist in einen regionalen Kontext eingebettet. Strom und Wärme können bedarfsgerecht bereitgestellt werden. Durch die Verwertung von Landschaftspflegematerial wird die Nutzungskonkurrenz zur Nahrungsmittelerzeugung vermieden. Mit der Nutzung der hier untersuchten Reststoffe sehe ich eine vielversprechende Möglichkeit unter gegebenen Nachhaltigkeitsanforderungen zu einer alternativen Energieerzeugung beizutragen. Sie basiert auf heimischen, nachwachsenden Ressourcen und erzeugt darüber hinaus Synergien zwischen Klimaschutz- und Naturschutzzielen

Left Ventricular Hypertrabeculation Is Not Associated With Cardiovascular Morbity or Mortality: Insights From the Eurocmr Registry

Aim: Left ventricular non-compaction (LVNC) is perceived as a rare high-risk cardiomyopathy characterized by excess left ventricular (LV) trabeculation. However, there is increasing evidence contesting the clinical significance of LV hyper-trabeculation and the existence of LVNC as a distinct cardiomyopathy. The aim of this study is to assess the association of LV trabeculation extent with cardiovascular morbidity and all-cause mortality in patients undergoing clinical cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) scans across 57 European centers from the EuroCMR registry. Methods and Results: We studied 822 randomly selected cases from the EuroCMR registry. Image acquisition was according to international guidelines. We manually segmented images for LV chamber quantification and measurement of LV trabeculation (as per Petersen criteria). We report the association between LV trabeculation extent and important cardiovascular morbidities (stroke, atrial fibrillation, heart failure) and all-cause mortality prospectively recorded over 404 ± 82 days of follow-up. Maximal non-compaction to compaction ratio (NC/C) was mean (standard deviation) 1.81 ± 0.67, from these, 17% were above the threshold for hyper-trabeculation (NC/C > 2.3). LV trabeculation extent was not associated with increased risk of the defined outcomes (morbidities, mortality, LV CMR indices) in the whole cohort, or in sub-analyses of individuals without ischaemic heart disease, or those with NC/C > 2.3. Conclusion: Among 882 patients undergoing clinical CMR, excess LV trabeculation was not associated with a range of important cardiovascular morbidities or all-cause mortality over ~12 months of prospective follow-up. These findings suggest that LV hyper-trabeculation alone is not an indicator for worse cardiovascular prognosis

Modified bibenzimidazole ligands as spectator ligands in photoactive molecular functional Ru-polypyridine units? Implications from spectroscopy

The photophysical properties of Ruthenium-bipyridine complexes bearing a bibenzimidazole ligand were investigated. The nitrogens on the bibenzimidazole-ligand were protected, by adding either a phenylene group or a 1,2-ethandiyl group, to remove the photophysical dependence of the complex on the protonation state of the bibenzimidazole ligand. This protection results in the bibenzimidazole ligand contributing to the MLCT transition, which is experimentally evidenced by (resonance) Raman scattering in concert with DFT calculations for a detailed mode assignment in the (resonance) Raman spectra

Carbene based photochemical molecular assemblies for solar driven hydrogen generation

Novel photocatalysts based on ruthenium complexes with NHC (N-heterocyclic carbene)-type bridging ligands have been prepared and structurally and photophysically characterised. The identity of the NHC-unit of the bridging ligand was established unambiguously by means of X-ray structural analysis of a heterodinuclear ruthenium–silver complex. The photophysical data indicate ultrafast intersystem crossing into an emissive and a non-emissive triplet excited state after excitation of the ruthenium centre. Exceptionally high luminescence quantum yields of up to 39% and long lifetimes of up to 2 μs are some of the triplet excited state characteristics. Preliminary studies into the visible light driven photocatalytic hydrogen formation show no induction phase and constant turnover frequencies that are independent on the concentration of the photocatalyst. In conclusion this supports the notion of a stable assembly under photocatalytic conditions

Grünlandenergie Havelland

Im Rahmen des Projekts „Grünlandenergie Havelland“ untersuchte das Deutsche Biomasseforschungszentrum in Kooperation mit dem Leibniz-Institut für Agrartechnik Potsdam-Bornim e. V. und der Bosch & Partner GmbH am Beispiel der Modellregion Havelland (Landkreis Havelland und umliegende Gebiete) mögliche Konversionspfade zur Energiegewinnung von halmgutartigem Grüngut. Im Fokus stand die Verwertung von überschüssigem Gras von extensiv bewirtschafteten Grünlandflächen sowie von halmgutartiger Biomasse aus der Gewässerunterhaltung und Biotoppflege. Als Reststoffe lässt die energetische Nutzung dieser Substrate eine besonders gute Treibhausgasbilanz erwarten. Aufgrund der stofflichen Eigenschaften sowie der dezentralen und häufig sehr heterogenen Aufkommen ist die energetische Nutzung dieser Substrate jedoch mit besonderen technischen und logistischen Herausforderungen verbunden. Ziel des Projekts war die Entwicklung von übertragbaren Konzepten zur Nutzung der betrachteten Grüngutsortimente für die Wärme- und Stromerzeugung. Ausgehend von der Analyse der entsprechenden Biomassepotenziale sowie geeigneter Standorte und Technologien wurden vollständige Bereistellungsketten verschiedener Nutzungskonzepte untersucht. Die abschließende Bewertung der Nutzungskonzepte erfolgt anhand der Parameter: Wirtschaftlichkeit, Treibhausgasemissionsminderungspotenzial und Umsetzbarkeit. Im Ergebnis werden für die regionalen Akteure anwendungsreife Analysemethoden bereitgestellt, Empfehlungen für einzelne Nutzungskonzepte ausgesprochen und weitergehender Forschungsbedarf benannt. [... aus der Zusammenfassung

Cardiovascular imaging 2011 in the International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging

Cardiovascular Aspects of Radiolog

Measuring universal health coverage based on an index of effective coverage of health services in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019 : A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Achieving universal health coverage (UHC) involves all people receiving the health services they need, of high quality, without experiencing financial hardship. Making progress towards UHC is a policy priority for both countries and global institutions, as highlighted by the agenda of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and WHO's Thirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW13). Measuring effective coverage at the health-system level is important for understanding whether health services are aligned with countries' health profiles and are of sufficient quality to produce health gains for populations of all ages. Methods Based on the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019, we assessed UHC effective coverage for 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019. Drawing from a measurement framework developed through WHO's GPW13 consultation, we mapped 23 effective coverage indicators to a matrix representing health service types (eg, promotion, prevention, and treatment) and five population-age groups spanning from reproductive and newborn to older adults (≥65 years). Effective coverage indicators were based on intervention coverage or outcome-based measures such as mortality-to-incidence ratios to approximate access to quality care; outcome-based measures were transformed to values on a scale of 0–100 based on the 2·5th and 97·5th percentile of location-year values. We constructed the UHC effective coverage index by weighting each effective coverage indicator relative to its associated potential health gains, as measured by disability-adjusted life-years for each location-year and population-age group. For three tests of validity (content, known-groups, and convergent), UHC effective coverage index performance was generally better than that of other UHC service coverage indices from WHO (ie, the current metric for SDG indicator 3.8.1 on UHC service coverage), the World Bank, and GBD 2017. We quantified frontiers of UHC effective coverage performance on the basis of pooled health spending per capita, representing UHC effective coverage index levels achieved in 2019 relative to country-level government health spending, prepaid private expenditures, and development assistance for health. To assess current trajectories towards the GPW13 UHC billion target—1 billion more people benefiting from UHC by 2023—we estimated additional population equivalents with UHC effective coverage from 2018 to 2023. Findings Globally, performance on the UHC effective coverage index improved from 45·8 (95% uncertainty interval 44·2–47·5) in 1990 to 60·3 (58·7–61·9) in 2019, yet country-level UHC effective coverage in 2019 still spanned from 95 or higher in Japan and Iceland to lower than 25 in Somalia and the Central African Republic. Since 2010, sub-Saharan Africa showed accelerated gains on the UHC effective coverage index (at an average increase of 2·6% [1·9–3·3] per year up to 2019); by contrast, most other GBD super-regions had slowed rates of progress in 2010–2019 relative to 1990–2010. Many countries showed lagging performance on effective coverage indicators for non-communicable diseases relative to those for communicable diseases and maternal and child health, despite non-communicable diseases accounting for a greater proportion of potential health gains in 2019, suggesting that many health systems are not keeping pace with the rising non-communicable disease burden and associated population health needs. In 2019, the UHC effective coverage index was associated with pooled health spending per capita (r=0·79), although countries across the development spectrum had much lower UHC effective coverage than is potentially achievable relative to their health spending. Under maximum efficiency of translating health spending into UHC effective coverage performance, countries would need to reach $1398 pooled health spending per capita (US$ adjusted for purchasing power parity) in order to achieve 80 on the UHC effective coverage index. From 2018 to 2023, an estimated 388·9 million (358·6–421·3) more population equivalents would have UHC effective coverage, falling well short of the GPW13 target of 1 billion more people benefiting from UHC during this time. Current projections point to an estimated 3·1 billion (3·0–3·2) population equivalents still lacking UHC effective coverage in 2023, with nearly a third (968·1 million [903·5–1040·3]) residing in south Asia. Interpretation The present study demonstrates the utility of measuring effective coverage and its role in supporting improved health outcomes for all people—the ultimate goal of UHC and its achievement. Global ambitions to accelerate progress on UHC service coverage are increasingly unlikely unless concerted action on non-communicable diseases occurs and countries can better translate health spending into improved performance. Focusing on effective coverage and accounting for the world's evolving health needs lays the groundwork for better understanding how close—or how far—all populations are in benefiting from UHC