The impact of policy elements on the financing costs of RE investment: The case of wind power in Germany

Renewable energy support mechanisms affect the attractiveness of projects by influencing uncertainties in revenues or expenditures and ultimately result in a change in the financing costs. The influence of feed-in tariffs on financing costs was investigated. 26 wind onshore investors were surveyed in a conjoint analysis and the results were used in a cash flow model to quantify the impact. The introduction of premium models under a fixed remuneration tariff scheme seems to increase the financing costs considerably. --

Double Effect and Ethical End-of-Life Care: Assessing the Benefits and Burdens of Lethal Treatment (or Lack Thereof)

Given the wide the range of legally available options for end-of-life care in recent decades: from aggressive, even experimental, treatment to active euthanasia, our ethical analysis struggles to keep pace with technology and law. In this essay I show that the principle of double effect (PDE) remains, and will continue to be, a useful tool for ethical analysis of end-of-life care. According to PDE, an agent may ethically perform an act that s/he foresees will have a significant bad effect (e.g., death) in addition to a good effect (e.g., pain relief) only if s/he does not intend the bad effect, the act is not bad for reasons other than its causing the bad effect, and there is a proportionately serious reason to act. Following a brief explanation of PDE and preliminary considerations in favor of counting death as a bad effect, I analyze several end-of-life options in terms of the principle. I begin with those that enjoy significant consensus among proponents of PDE: active euthanasia, “passive euthanasia,” and palliative care. Then I consider the less-straightforward cases of drug provision, refusing food and water, and terminal sedation, arguing that participation in such actions is justifiable via PDE only under very limited conditions

Austenitic, Duplex, and Lean Duplex Stainless Steel Critical Pitting Temperature in Simulated Concrete Environment

In this work, the critical pitting temperature (CPT) will be observed for a selection of austenitic (316LN and 24100) and duplex (2205), and lean duplex (2304, 2001) stainless steels in simulated concrete pore solution. To study the influence of temperature on the pitting stability of the stainless steels, three temperatures were tested: 25oC, 45oC, and 65oC for cyclic potentiodynamic polarization (CPP) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Electrochemical properties of the interfaces we studied via EIS analysis. Kinetics were studied via CPP testing. To reveal the critical pitting temperature of the stainless steels, cyclic thermammetry was used. Characterization of the pits was studied via, OM, IFM, and SEM

COVID-19 and social care: the withdrawal of support services has negatively affected both people with dementia and their unpaid carers

Clarissa Giebel draws on recent research to discuss how the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown affected people with dementia and their unpaid carers. She finds that the condition of those living with dementia often deteriorated faster due to the lack of social interaction, while there was also a negative effect on the wellbeing of carers. People in ... Continue