Background report providing guidance on tools and methods for the preparation of public heat maps

This methodology is intended to provide guidance to MS on the structure and methods of preparation of a map of the national territory, identifying heating and cooling demand points, district heating and cooling infrastructure and potential heating and cooling supply points. Since there are many diverse methods and tools that can be used for processing of the data, making of the map and eventual publishing, this methodology is not intended to cover them all but instead should be viewed as a supporting document and a source of ideas.JRC.F.6-Energy Technology Policy Outloo

The EpiNo® Device: Efficacy, Tolerability, and Impact on Pelvic Floor—Implications for Future Research

Aims. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the available literature on preventing perineal trauma with the EpiNo. Methods. We perfomed a literature research in the MedLine and EMBASE databases for studies referring to EpiNo published between 1990 and 2014, without restrictions for language and study type. Results. Five published studies were identified, regarding the effect of EpiNo on the rate of episiotomy and perineal tears, pelvic floor muscle function, and fetal outcome. The device seems to reduce episiotomy and perineal tears’ rate, as well as the risk for levator ani microtrauma and avulsion, though not always statistically significant. It does not seem to have an effect on duration of second stage of labour and fetal outcome. The device is well tolerated and the adverse events are rare and mild. However, design and reporting bias in the reviewed articles do not allow evidence based conclusions. Conclusions. The EpiNo device seems to be promising, with potential positive effects on natural birth, while being uncomplicated to use and without major complications. Well designed, randomized trials are needed in order to understand the effects of EpiNo on pelvic floor and make evidence based recommendations on its use

FSMD-Based Hardware Accelerators for FPGAs

Current VLSI technology allows the design of sophisticated digital systems with escalated demands in performance and power/energy consumption. The annual increase of chip complexity is 58%, while human designers productivity increase is limited to 21 % per annum (ITRS, 2011). The growing technology-productivity gap is probably the most importan

Background report on evaluation of thresholds for exemptions under Article 14(6) of the Energy Efficiency Directive

Article 14 (6) of the Energy Efficiency Directive allows Member States to exempt certain installations from the requirements of conducting a cost-benefit analysis of individual installations as stated by Article 14 (5). This report compares MS notifications on exemptions concerning laying down thresholds with general benchmark thresholds and with thresholds estimated through a general techno-economic model. Finally, this report provides recommendations how the exemptions thresholds ought to be defined, in order not to a priori exclude feasible heat linking options.JRC.C.7-Knowledge for the Energy Unio

Background report on best practices and informal guidance on installation level CBA for installations falling under Article 14(5) of the Energy Efficiency Directive

The Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), adopted on 4 December 2012, establishes a set of binding measures to help the EU reach its 20% energy efficiency target by 2020. Under the Directive, all EU countries are required to use energy more efficiently at all stages of the energy chain from its production to its final consumption. Member States were required to translate the EED into national law by 5 June 2014. The EED will repeal the existing Cogeneration Directive (2004/8/EC) and the Energy End-Use Efficiency and Energy Services Directive (2006/32/EC) as of 5 June 2014. Article 14(5) of the EED requires Member States to ensure that thermal electricity generation installations and industrial installations exceeding 20 MWth, carry out a cost-benefit analysis when they are planned or substantially refurbished to assess whether the use of high-efficiency cogeneration, the connection to a district heating or cooling network or other means of waste heat recovery would be cost-effective. The obligation to carry-out a cost-benefit analysis also applies to new district heating and cooling networks, when those are planned or when an energy production installation with a capacity exceeding 20 MWth is planned or substantially refurbished within those networks, in order to assess whether the utilisation of waste heat from a nearby industrial installation is cost-effective. If the benefits exceed the costs, the options analysed in the cost-benefit analysis must be included in the authorisation or permit criteria. The cost-benefit analysis has to be in accordance with the general methodological principles set out in Part 2 of Annex IX. A possible methodology for conducting a Cost Benefit-Analysis (CBA) in accordance with Article 14(5) and Part 2 of Annex IX of the Energy Efficiency Directive is presented here. The methodology takes into account the Guidance note prepared by the Commission for the implementation of Article 14, including the carrying out of the cost-benefit analysis by individual installations and district heating and cooling networks.JRC.F.6-Energy Technology Policy Outloo

Case study on the impact of cogeneration and thermal storage on the flexibility of the power system

This work investigates the optimal operation of cogeneration plants combined with thermal storage. To do so, a combined heat and power (CHP) plant model is formulated and incorporated into Dispa-SET, a JRC in-house unit commitment and dispatch model. The cogeneration model sets technical feasible operational regions for different heat uses defined by temperature requirements.JRC.C.7-Knowledge for the Energy Unio