Biomass or batteries:The role of three technological innovations in the energy transition

Society is on the verge of an energy transition in order to mitigate climate change and decrease the dependency on finite fossil resources. European policy emphasises the role of technology, by stimulating technological innovation. The introduction of batteries and biomass as energy carriers, to realise change in the transport, the energy and the residential sector are, therefore, accompanied with high expectations. The results of this research show that the electric vehicles with lithium based batteries, co-combustion of biomass in a coal-fired power plant and large scale green gas production for the residential sector, only marginally contribute to the energy transition, within the required timeframe until 2050. In the case of green gas via biomass gasification, this is due to lagging technological development. Co-combustion results in an efficiency increase from a greenhouse perspective, but also leads to a less efficient power production system, from an energy perspective. Electric vehicles result in increased energy efficiency and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. However, the expected continued expansion of the vehicle fleet, due to increased demand, is larger than the introduction rate of electric vehicles. Therefore, even though the energy efficiency of the transport sector increases, the absolute energy use and emissions of the transportation sector are expected to increase. It is highly probable that demand increases at a faster pace than efficiency increases, effectively annihilating the greenhouse gas reduction potential of the explored technological innovations. Therefore, these innovations do not lead to an energy transition

The big picture:the future role of gas

There are a plethora of drivers of change in energy systems until 2015. The role of social and political actors is likely to be more noticeable. In Europe, locally, high-impact ideas like green consumerism and limited acceptance of energy systems that result in trade-offs will be important. Nationally, the empowerment of individuals and communities and the politicization of energy-related issues will be drivers of change. Internationally, energy issues will become more important in the foreign and security policies of state and non-state actors

Practical Applications as a Source of Credibility: A Comparison of Three Fields of Dutch Academic Chemistry

In many Western science systems, funding structures increasingly stimulate academic research to contribute to practical applications, but at the same time the rise of bibliometric performance assessments have strengthened the pressure on academics to conduct excellent basic research that can be published in scholarly literature. We analyze the interplay between these two developments in a set of three case studies of fields of chemistry in the Netherlands. First, we describe how the conditions under which academic chemists work have changed since 1975. Second, we investigate whether practical applications have become a source of credibility for individual researchers. Indeed, this turns out to be the case in catalysis, where connecting with industrial applications helps in many steps of the credibility cycle. Practical applications yield much less credibility in environmental chemistry, where application-oriented research agendas help to acquire funding, but not to publish prestigious papers or to earn peer recognition. In biochemistry practical applications hardly help in gaining credibility, as this field is still strongly oriented at fundamental questions. The differences between the fields can be explained by the presence or absence of powerful upstream end-users, who can afford to invest in academic research with promising long term benefits

Artifactual measurement of low serum HDL-cholesterol due to paraproteinemia

High levels of serum low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and low levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) are well-known risk factors for premature atherosclerotic vascular disease [1, 2]. They are targets for primary and secondary prevention. Interpreting lipid profiles is part of the daily routine for a cardiologist. The most common cause of low HDL-C in western society is metabolic syndrome. More rare are primary lipid disorders (e.g., Tangier syndrome due to an ABCA transporter deficiency or deficiency of apolipoprotein A1) and secondary causes like (ab)use of androgens (Table 1). Extremely low serum HDL levels are associated with an increased risk of death, sepsis and malignancy [3]. A rare but important cause is interference in the biochemical assay by paraproteins, yielding an artifactually low HDL-C measurement result. We present the case of a patient who had his lipid profile repeatedly tested over the course of 4 years and had progressive decline in HDL-C measurements

Eye contact avoidance in crowds: A large wearable eye-tracking study

Eye contact is essential for human interactions. We investigated whether humans are able to avoid eye contact while navigating crowds. At a science festival, we fitted 62 participants with a wearable eye tracker and instructed them to walk a route. Half of the participants were further instructed to avoid eye contact. We report that humans can flexibly allocate their gaze while navigating crowds and avoid eye contact primarily by orienting their head and eyes towards the floor. We discuss implications for crowd navigation and gaze behavior. In addition, we address a number of issues encountered in such field studies with regard to data quality, control of the environment, and participant adherence to instructions. We stress that methodological innovation and scientific progress are strongly interrelated

Cytostatic effects of α-difluoromethylornithine against experimental tumors in vivo : influence of gastrointestinal polyamines

Putrescine, spermidine and spermine contain two, three and four nitrogen atoms, respectively, interconnected by a carbon backbone. They are generally designated as polyamines. Under physiological conditions the nitrogen atoms are positively charged. Thus, in vivo polyamines behave as organic cations, that are known to bind with macromolecules, such as nucleic acids. By using specific inhibitors of their biosynthetic enzymes in cell cultures it became clear that polyamines are essential for the growth of both normal and tumor cells. Polyamine biosynthesis is therefore intensively studied as a possible target for cancer chemotherapy. Although polyamine biosynthesis is quite simple, the regulation of intracellular concentrations is complex. If polyamine levels are insufficient for cell proliferation several mechanisms may compensate for the imminent deficiency. Among these are upregulation of biosynthetic enzymes, downregulation of catabolic enzymes, and increase of polyamine transport from the extracellular compartment. The failure to induce a cytostatic effect in tumor bearing animals using a specific inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase (the first enzyme in polyamine biosynthesis), stimulated us to investigate the in vivo uptake of polyamines from exogenous sources (notably the gastrointestinal tract).