The role of district heating systems to provide balancing services in the European Union

European electricity markets ensure the matching between supply and demand at all times. Due to their time-scale operations, the balancing markets are the last resources to achieve so and ensure the grid frequency. The increasing shares of non-dispatchable power capacities intensify the demand for flexibility. District heating systems (DHs) are potential sources of flexibility if interface technologies are in place like CHP or power-to-heat, together with thermal storage. This study assesses the technical potential of DHs to contribute to frequency containment reserves (FCR), automatic and manual frequency restoration reserves (aFRR and mFRR) markets. Through a review of case-studies, we gain insight and derive appropriate assumptions to estimate the potential at country and EU levels. Based on the POTEnCIA Central scenario up to 2050 — a description of the evolution of the EU energy system with the assumption of no further policies introduced beyond 2017 —, we find that the potential is highest for the provision of aFRR, followed by mFRR and FCR. Specifically, the aFRR technical potential is currently 32 GW — 4 times the aFRR contracted in 2019 in the EU — and it only slightly decreases by 2050. Overall, this study highlights the lack of data on current (and future) DHs and their variety in size and composition. A sensitivity analysis is performed by examining different scenarios for DHs deployment. This research emphasizes the large untapped potential to exploit flexibility from DHs, however, the evaluation of the actual potential shall be done on a case-by-case basis

Saving energy in China’s industry with a focus on electricity: a review of opportunities, potentials and environmental benefits

Industry is the largest electricity consuming sector in the world. China consumes about 25% of global electricity demand, and 69% of this is used in industries. The high electricity demand in industry is responsible for 45% of CO2, 25% of SO2, 34% of NOx and 14% of PM emissions in China. This study aims to fill the knowledge gap on the potential for electricity savings in China’s industries, thereby providing important implications for the potential of reducing emissions in electricity-intensive industrial subsectors in general. Available studies are reviewed and compared to identify electricity-saving potentials. The findings show that China’s industrial energy system is shifting to higher electricity and relatively lower fossil fuel use due to accelerated end-use electrification. China’s industry can reduce electricity use by 7–24% in 2040, compared to baseline levels, and generate emission reductions of 192–1118 Mt-CO2, 385–2241 kt-SO2, 406–2362 kt-NOx and 92–534 kt-PM2.5. The iron & steel subsector has the largest contribution to the industrial electricity savings, followed by non-ferrous metals, chemicals, cement and pulp & paper. Policies that combine environmental targets, demand-side efficiency and supply-side retrofits in the power sector should be adopted. Given the different performance of policies in terms of energy savings and emission reduction, sector- and region-specific policies would be preferred

The potential of industrial electricity savings to reduce air pollution from coal-fired power generation in China

Coal-intensive power supply systems, along with a fast-growing electricity demand driven by industry has caused serious air pollution and health concerns. These concerns are particularly prominent in countries where electricity use is likewise dominated by industry and heavily dependent on coal-based electricity. A more efficient industry and coal-free electricity systems are the core components of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Previous studies rarely reflect on the impacts of the electricity savings of industrial consumers on the electricity supply sector with respect to future air emission changes, and also neglect the potential benefits of reducing investments in new generation capacity. Here, a comprehensive modeling framework is newly developed to quantify the connections of electricity savings, coal-based electricity systems, air pollutant emissions, and control investments in China, a country exposed to poor air quality. The modeling framework includes 175 energy efficiency technologies (covering multiple industrial sectors) and detailed information of power generation units (thermal efficiency, environmental performance, and lifespan), and allows for unit-by-unit assessment. We find that industrial efficiency improvements can significantly decrease the dependence on coal-fired power generation, particularly the most polluting power fleet. Efficient use of electricity in industry can drive all small high-polluting coal generation units (i.e. units below 300 MW, in total 753 units) to be phased out and effectively curb less efficient coal-fired plants to come online in China. Meanwhile, the air pollutant emissions can be significantly avoided because of the closed coal-fired power units. Developed cost portfolios demonstrate that improving industrial energy efficiency is more cost-effective than installing flue gas controls in coal-fired plants. We further reveal that a sustainable industry could contribute to climate change mitigation even if less remarkable than air quality improvement, while enabling the expansion of intermittent renewable power supply

Integrated assessment of resource-energy-environment nexus in China's iron and steel industry

MESSAGEix model are widely used for forecasting long-term energy consumption and emissions, as well as modelling the possible GHGs mitigations. However, because of the complexity of manufacturing sectors, the MESSAGEix model aggregate detailed technology options and thereby miss linkages across sub-sectors, which leads to energy saving potentials are often not very realistic and cannot be used to design specific policies. Here, we integrate Material/Energy/water Flow Analysis (MEWFA) and nexus approach into the MESSAGEix to estimate resource-energy-environment nexus in China's iron and steel industry. Results show that between 2010 and 2050 energy efficiency measures and route shifting of China's steel industry will decrease raw material input by 14%, energy use by 7%, water consumption by 8%, CO2 emissions by 7%, NOx emissions by 9%, and SO2 emissions by 14%, respectively. However, water withdrawal and PM2.5 emissions will increase by 14% and 20%, respectively. The main reason is that water withdrawal and PM2.5 emissions in the process of BF-BOF are over 4 times lower than the process scrap-EAF. Therefore, policy makers should consider nexus effects when design integrated policy to achieve multiple targets. Finally, future directions on enhancing the representation of manufacturing sectors in IAMs are given

Mannan Molecular Substructures Control Nanoscale Glucan Exposure in Candida

Cell wall mannans of Candida albicans mask β-(1,3)-glucan from recognition by Dectin-1, contributing to innate immune evasion. Glucan exposures are predominantly single receptor-ligand interaction sites of nanoscale dimensions. Candida species vary in basal glucan exposure and molecular complexity of mannans. We used super-resolution fluorescence imaging and a series of protein mannosylation mutants in C. albicans and C. glabrata to investigate the role of specific N-mannan features in regulating the nanoscale geometry of glucan exposure. Decreasing acid labile mannan abundance and α-(1,6)-mannan backbone length correlated most strongly with increased density and nanoscopic size of glucan exposures in C. albicans and C. glabrata, respectively. Additionally, a C. albicans clinical isolate with high glucan exposure produced similarly perturbed N-mannan structures and elevated glucan exposure geometry. Thus, acid labile mannan structure influences the nanoscale features of glucan exposure, impacting the nature of the pathogenic surface that triggers immunoreceptor engagement, aggregation, and signaling. Graus et al. find that N-mannan structural features regulated by Candida mannosyltransfersases control glucan exposure. Loss of mannan increased the frequency and size of glucan exposures and changed multivalent receptor engagement. Changes to mannan structure in a bloodstream isolate are associated with elevated glucan exposure at the nanoscale

Population-based impact of COVID-19 on incidence, treatment, and survival of patients with pancreatic cancer

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has put substantial strain on the healthcare system of which the effects are only partly elucidated. This study aimed to investigate the impact on pancreatic cancer care.Methods: All patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer between 2017 and 2020 were selected from the Netherlands Cancer Registry. Patients diagnosed and/or treated in 2020 were compared to 2017–2019. Monthly incidence was calculated. Patient, tumor and treatment characteristics were analyzed and compared using Chi-squared tests. Survival data was analyzed using Kaplan–Meier and Log-rank tests.Results: In total, 11019 patients were assessed. The incidence in quarter (Q)2 of 2020 was comparable with that in Q2 of 2017–2019 (p = 0.804). However, the incidence increased in Q4 of 2020 (p = 0.031), mainly due to a higher incidence of metastatic disease (p = 0.010). Baseline characteristics, surgical resection (15% vs 16%; p = 0.466) and palliative systemic therapy rates (23% vs 24%; p = 0.183) were comparable. In 2020, more surgically treated patients received (neo)adjuvant treatment compared to 2017–2019 (73% vs 67%; p = 0.041). Median overall survival was comparable (3.8 vs 3.8 months; p = 0.065). Conclusion: This nationwide study found a minor impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pancreatic cancer care and outcome. The Dutch health care system was apparently able to maintain essential care for patients with pancreatic cancer.</p