CO2 efficiency in road freight transportation: Status quo, measures and potential

Road freight transport continues to grow in Germany and generates 6% of the country's CO2 emissions. In logistics, many decisions influence the energy efficiency of trucks, but causalities are not well understood. Little work has been done on quantifying the potential for further CO2 reduction and the effect of specific activities, such as introducing computer assisted scheduling systems to trucking firms. A survey was survey out and linked fuel consumption to transport performance parameters in 50 German haulage companies during 2003. Emission efficiency ranged from 0.8 tonne-km to 26 tonne-km for I kg CO2 emissions. The results show potential for improvements given a low level of vehicle usage and load factor levels, scarce use of lightweight vehicle design, poorly selected vehicles and a high proportion of empty runs. IT-based scheduling systems with telematic application for data communication, positioning and navigation show positive effects on efficiency. Fuel use and transport performance was measured before and after the introduction of these system

L’électrochimie au service du véhicule électrique

Une pluridisciplinarité des compétences scientifiques et techniques a permis de contrecarrer les contraintes thermodynamiques, cinétiques et technologiques dont la mise sur le marché de batteries industrielles est l'objet. Des produits, basés sur les systèmes électrochimiques alcalins Ni-Cd et Ni-MH, recueillent maintenant de la part des constructeurs automobiles un avis favorable

Assessing the Fitness-For-Purpose of strategic transport research in support of European transport policy

International audienceThe transport policy environment is changing, because of increasing mobility of people and goods, world wide use of ICT, a rising importance of the knowledge economy, etc. Future meth-ods for transport policy assessments will have to integrate these emerging trends, but above all, the new research knowledge produced needs to be taken better into use within the policy proc-esses. To tackle the problem, the paper presents a generic fitness-for-purpose (FFP) Assessment method for research projects in support of transport policy. Based on the results of a case study, the paper argues that by linking a systematic FFP Analysis of transport research projects with researcher-civil servant network building, a method for accepting, elaborating and applying the produced European transport research knowledge can be provided. By doing this, the paper con-tributes to a more systematic and integrative assessment of transport research in policy support, and hopefully enhances the integration of transport research and policy making while at the same time, initiating a better based policy process. We see that FFP Assessments could offer an essential element for the policy relevant transport research knowledge production in the futur

Karst genesis modelling of a regional Mediterranean aquifer (Lez, France).

International audienceThe Lez aquifer (Montpellier, France) developed in aMediterranean setting, through several stages.Problem : The Messinian crisis is considered as mainly havingdriven the architecture of the karst conduits.Questions : Is this stage the most important in terms ofimpact on Lez aquifer architecture, and how does it comparewith the previous stages?Tools : To answer to these questions, a numerical model(GODIAG, TOTAL S.A.) has been constructed for the Lezaquifer. It allows to test several scenarii of the evolution of thekarstic network through time

The influence of nanoparticles embedded in a matrix on the responses of composite structures to low velocity impacts

cited By 0International audienceIn passive safety structures, the use of composite materials has increased significantly for many years because of their high specific properties and high energy absorption capacities. The purpose of this experimental study was to describe the behavior of Kevlar woven composite materials under low-velocity impacts. Different matrices (with and without nano-reinforcement) were considered. The role of the nano-reinforcement is to bring significant improvement with low concentration, thereby avoiding sacrificing other desirable properties. Tests were performed with a drop-weight tower on square plates clamped in a circular fixture. A video camera fixed underneath the plate during impact was used to record the damage that occurred during impact. Macroscopic impact scenarios were proposed based on the correlations between the photographs, displacement, and loading histories. Cross sections of the damaged areas were inspected with an optical microscope in order to reveal the micro-mechanisms that were involved in the dissipation of the impact energy. © 2012 Lavoisier

In vitro study of docosahexaenoic acid incorporation into phosphatidylcholine by enzymes of rat heart

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Rheological models based on the double reptation mixing rule: the effects of a polydisperse environment

cited By 54International audienceThe relationship between rheological data and molecular-weight distribution of linear polymers was studied. Only models that take into account tube renewal effects were able to describe correctly the behavior of different polymer species, such as PS, PMMA, and HDPE. Changing the mathematical form of the kernel function in the mixing rule, or changing the form of the mixing rule itself did not improve the description of polydispersity effects