Final report: Workshop on: Integrating electric mobility systems with the grid infrastructure

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This document is a report on the workshop entitled “Integrating Electric Mobility Systems with the Grid Infrastructure” which was held at Boston University on November 6-7 with the sponsorship of the Sloan Foundation. Its objective was to bring together researchers and technical leaders from academia, industry, and government in order to set a short and longterm research agenda regarding the future of mobility and the ability of electric utilities to meet the needs of a highway transportation system powered primarily by electricity. The report is a summary of their insights based on workshop presentations and discussions. The list of participants and detailed Workshop program are provided in Appendices 1 and 2. Public and private decisions made in the coming decade will direct profound changes in the way people and goods are moved and the ability of clean energy sources – primarily delivered in the form of electricity – to power these new systems. Decisions need to be made quickly because of rapid advances in technology, and the growing recognition that meeting climate goals requires rapid and dramatic action. The blunt fact is, however, that the pace of innovation, and the range of business models that can be built around these innovations, has grown at a rate that has outstripped our ability to clearly understand the choices that must be made or estimate the consequences of these choices. The group of people assembled for this Workshop are uniquely qualified to understand the options that are opening both in the future of mobility and the ability of electric utilities to meet the needs of a highway transportation system powered primarily by electricity. They were asked both to explain what is known about the choices we face and to define the research issues most urgently needed to help public and private decision-makers choose wisely. This report is a summary of their insights based on workshop presentations and discussions. New communication and data analysis tools have profoundly changed the definition of what is technologically possible. Cell phones have put powerful computers, communication devices, and position locators into the pockets and purses of most Americans making it possible for Uber, Lyft and other Transportation Network Companies to deliver on-demand mobility services. But these technologies, as well as technologies for pricing access to congested roads, also open many other possibilities for shared mobility services – both public and private – that could cut costs and travel time by reducing congestion. Options would be greatly expanded if fully autonomous vehicles become available. These new business models would also affect options for charging electric vehicles. It is unclear, however, how to optimize charging (minimizing congestion on the electric grid) without increasing congestion on the roads or creating significant problems for the power system that supports such charging capacity. With so much in flux, many uncertainties cloud our vision of the future. The way new mobility services will reshape the number, length of trips, and the choice of electric vehicle charging systems and constraints on charging, and many other important behavioral issues are critical to this future but remain largely unknown. The challenge at hand is to define plausible future structures of electric grids and mobility systems, and anticipate the direct and indirect impacts of the changes involved. These insights can provide tools essential for effective private ... [TRUNCATED]Workshop funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Ethics, climate, and risks

We have an obligation to make public investment in biotechnology and bioprocessing in order to achieve economic advancements and to develop “no-regrets” responses to problems like climate change. Without technology, we cannot support 6 to 10 billion people in anything like a prosperous world with only a moderate impact on the environment. Technology is essential. However, in devising ways of minimizing climate change, for example, we must not incur other risks

Implementing an environmental audit program in a university setting: A Recommendation for Rochester Institute of Technology

In an effort to assure and move beyond regulatory compliance, Rochester Institute of Technology has begun implementing an environmental management system (EMS) through the RIT Strategic Environmental Management Initiative. As part of this initiative, RIT is considering implementing a comprehensive auditing program to evaluate environmental compliance and management system performance. This thesis evaluates current environmental internal audit program design and implementation practices at other colleges and universities, and compares those to standard environmental audit program implementation and design in the industrial regulated community. The thesis evaluates compliance auditing programs at seven colleges and universities of varying sizes, and environmental management system auditing programs at one ISO 14001-registered university. From this evaluation and comparison, an audit program design strategy recommendation is offered for RIT. It was found that the elements being implemented in the university setting closely mirror those recommended by industrially focused literature sources for industrial entities. At this point, these elements are effectively helping colleges and universities manage their environmental issues and ensure compliance, however, it is still too early in the process to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of the industrially focused design and implementation elements being applied in the university setting. As these programs mature, colleges and universities may uncover better ways to organize and manage their audit programs than what is typically recommended for industry. RIT, as it undertakes the task of designing and implementing its internal auditing program, should find mechanisms to keep up with what practices other colleges and universities are implementing to make their internal auditing programs effective. As new design and implementation information becomes available, RIT may decide not to use the recommendations made in this thesis. In the meantime, however, RIT may use these recommendations as a starting point for its internal auditing program, and can later build upon them to reach its environmental performance goals

A Second Nonsecretor Allele of the Blood Group Α(1,2)Fucosyl-transferase Gene (FUT2)

While screening Le(a+b+) Polynesian DN A samples for a candidate Se w allele, a point mutation (C 571 →T) resulting in a new stop codon (Arg 191 →stop) in the Α(1,2)fucosyltransferase gene (FUT2) was identified. This point mutation resulted in the gaining of a new restriction enzyme cleavage site ( DdeI ), which allowed restriction enzyme cleavage screening of 40 selected Polynesians and 42 random Caucasians. The nonsecretor phenotype in two of the three nonsecretor Polynesians analyzed was due to homozygosity for the ‘new’ mutation, whereas the third Polynesian nonsecretor (with Caucasian ancestors) was due to homozygosity of the ‘old’ (Trp 143 →stop) mutation. The nonsecretor phenotype in all Caucasians analyzed was a consequence of homozygosity for the ‘old’ mutation. Both the new and the old nonsecretor mutations were identified in the heterozygous state in some secretor-positive Polynesians, while only the old mutation was found in the heterozygous state in Caucasians of the same phenotype.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72637/1/j.1423-0410.1996.tb00991.x.pd

Linking nitrogen biogeochemistry to different stages of wetland soil development in the Mississippi River Delta, Louisiana

Extensive wetland loss and nutrient-enhanced eutrophication occur across the Mississippi River delta and include newly emergent landscapes, in the early stages of ecological succession, and older landscape formations, with fully developed ecological communities. Here I tested how the anthropogenic effects of a climate-induced vegetation shift, an oil spill, and nitrate-enrichment regulate the principal environmental factors controlling nutrient biogeochemistry in wetland soils at different stages of development throughout the Mississippi River delta. In the older, transgressing Barataria basin, there was no clear effect of the climate-induced species shift from Spartina alterniflora Loisel to Avicennia germinans L. on soil nutrient chemistry. Observed soil development patterns were attributed to allochthonous sediment deposition from disturbances rather than autochthonous soil development. Throughout the salt marsh-mangrove ecotone, gross denitrification (mean net N2 flux 81.4 µmol N m-2 h-1) was the dominant N2 pathway and low nitrate concentrations (\u3c 10 µM) likely limited direct denitrification. The oiling of Avicennia and Spartina habitats, during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, doubled soil organic matter stimulating net N2 production and nitrate/nitrite uptake. In the actively regressing Wax Lake delta (WLD), soil nutrient chemistry exhibited patterns characteristic of primary substrate development; total nitrogen and organic matter increased, while total phosphorus remained relatively constant. Under ambient nitrate concentrations (\u3e 60 µM), gross denitrification dominated the mean net N2 flux (163.2 µmol N m-2 h-1). However, under low nitrate concentrations (\u3c 2 µM), soils switched from net denitrification to net nitrogen fixation. As soils in the WLD aged, the subsequent increase in organic matter stimulated fluxes of N2 and nitrate/nitrite in more mature soils. In conclusion, patterns of soil nitrogen biogeochemistry were linked to the distinct stages of delta formation. Low nitrate availability in the older, transgressive regions limited direct denitrification yielding a net N2 flux dominated by coupled nitrification-denitrification fueled by organic matter mineralization. In contrast, young, regressive regions demonstrated a high capacity for direct denitrification of riverine nitrate that was regulated by substrate age and organic matter accumulation. Throughout the delta cycle, nitrate availability and soil organic matter were the principal factors regulating nitrogen biogeochemistry, and thus the anthropogenic impact of nitrate-enrichment had a marked influence on the observed patterns

Biosynthesis of the Pyrrolizidine Alkaloid Rosmarinine

The work presented in this thesis is divided into three sections: (a) Biosynthesis of rosmarinecine; (b) Synthesis of macro-cyclic pyrrolizidine diester analogues; and (c) Structural studies. (a) Biosynthesis of Rosmarinecine The biosynthesis of rosmarinecine, the base portion of the pyrrolizidine alkaloid rosmarinine (A), has been studied in Senecio pleistocephalus (family Compositae) plants. Samples of [1-13C]- and [2,3-13C2]putrescine dihydrochloride were incorporated with very high specific incorporations (up to 25% per unit) into rosmarinine. 13C N.m.r. spectroscopy established complete labelling patterns and showed that two molecules of putrescine were incorporated to about the same extent into rosmarinine. The incorporation of [1-amino-15N, 1-13C]- putrescine dihydrochloride into rosmarinine produced a labelling pattern which was indicative of the conversion of two putrescine molecules into a C4-N-C4 symmetrical intermediate. Intact incorporation of [1,9-13C2]- homospermidine trihydrochloride into rosmarinecine, was consistent with this intermediate being homospermidine. The stereochemistry of the enzymic processes in the pathway was investigated by feeding (R)-[1-2H]- and (S)-[1-2H] putrescine dihydrochloride to S. pleistocephalus. The labelling patterns obtained in rosmarinine, as determined by 2H n.m.r. spectroscopy, were consistent with the following. The oxidation of putrescine to 4-aminobutanal occurs with the loss of the pro-S hydrogen. The aldehyde and another molecule of putrescine condense to give the corresponding imine, which after reduction (on the C-si face) affords homospermidine. Two further oxidations each take place with loss of the pro-S hydrogens generating the dialdehyde, which after Mannich cyclisation produces 1B -formyl-8a-pyrrolizidine. Reduction to isoretronecanol proceeds by the delivery of a hydride equivalent on the C-re face of the carbonyl group. Feeding experiments with (R)-[2-2H]- and (S)-[2-2H]putrescine dihydrochloride established that the two hydroxylations in rosmarinecine occur with retention of configuration and that formation of the pyrrolizidine ring involves the stereospecific removal of the pro-R hydrogen on the carbon which becomes C-1 of rosmarinecine. The proposed product from the first oxidation of homospermidine, N-(4-aminobutyl)-1,2-didehydropyrrolidinium, was shown to be an intermediate in the biosynthetic pathways to several pyrrolizidine alkaloids, by 14C-labelling experiments and an intermediate trapping experiment. Platynecine was shown to be an efficient precursor for rosmarinecine biosynthesis using 3H-labelling experiments. Similarly, rosmarinecine was found to be an efficient precursor for rosmarinine biosynthesis. (b) Synthesis of Macrocyclic Pyrrolizidine Diester Analogues A number of optically active 12-membered macrocyclic dilactones containing (+)-6alpha-hydroxy-1alpha-hydroxymethyl-8beta-pyrrolizidine were prepared by lactonisation via the pyridine-2-thiolesters with different anhydrides. These are the first synthetic macrocyclic pyrrolizidine diester analogues which contain a saturated pyrrolizidine base. (c) Structural Studies The plant Lindelofia longiflora (family Boraginaceae) was shown, by spectroscopic studies, to contain one pyrrolizidine alkaloid, echinatine. Similarly, Cynoglossum macrostylum (family Boraginaceae) was found to contain two major alkaloidal components. Echinatine and heliosupine were identified in the ratio 3:1