Pathways to Carbon-Free Transport in Germany until 2050

The transport sector has to be widely decarbonized by 2050 to reach the targets of the Paris Agreement. This can be performed with different drive trains and energy carriers. This paper explored four pathways to a carbon-free transport sector in Germany in 2050 with foci on electricity, hydrogen, synthetic methane, or liquid synthetic fuels. We used a transport demand model for future vehicle use and a simulation model for the determination of alternative fuel vehicle market shares. We found a large share of electric vehicles in all scenarios, even in the scenarios with a focus on other fuels. In all scenarios, the final energy consumption decreased significantly, most strongly when the focus was on electricity and almost one-third lower in primary energy demand compared with the other scenarios. A further decrease of energy demand is possible with an even faster adoption of electric vehicles, yet fuel cost then has to be even higher or electricity prices lower

Implications of circadian rhythm and stress in addiction vulnerability

In the face of chronic stress, some individuals can maintain normal function while others go on to develop mental illness. Addiction, affecting one in every twelve people in America, is a substance use disorder long associated with stressful life events and disruptions in the sleep/wake cycle. The circadian and stress response systems have evolved to afford adaptability to environmental changes and allow for maintenance of functional stability, or homeostasis. This mini-review will discuss how circadian rhythms and stress individually affect drug response, affect each other, and how their interactions may regulate reward-related behavior. In particular, we will focus on the interactions between the circadian clock and the regulation of glucocorticoids by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Determining how these two systems act on dopaminergic reward circuitry may not only reveal the basis for vulnerability to addiction, but may also illuminate potential therapeutic targets for future investigation.</ns4:p

VIVER - Vision für nachhaltigen Verkehr in Deutschland

VIVER (Leben) - Vision für nachhaltigen Verkehr in Deutschland ist ein Eigenforschungsprojekt des Fraunhofer ISI, initiiert durch das Geschäftsfeld Verkehrssysteme. Ziel des Projektes war es eine anschauliche Vision für nachhaltigen Verkehr in Deutschland für das Jahr 2050 zu entwerfen. Dabei wurde bewusst ausschließlich die interdisziplinäre Expertise des Fraunhofer ISI genutzt. Im Ergebnis wird deutlich, dass nachhaltiger Verkehr in Deutschland sich nur durch die passfähige Kombination von technologischem Wandel und Verhaltensänderung erreichen lässt. In einem nachhaltigen Verkehrssystem werden der Personen- und Güterverkehr nicht bis 2050 weiter wachsen, sondern sich in den nächsten Dekaden stabilisieren - der Personenverkehr früher als der Güterverkehr - und der Personenverkehr wird in den letzten Dekaden sogar deutlich zurückgehen. Dieser Trendbruch von stetig wachsender Verkehrsnachfrage hin zu Stagnation und Rückgang lässt sich vor allem auf Verhaltensänderungen und strukturelle Veränderungen in Produktions- und Globalisierungsprozessen (d.h. letztendlich auf Verhaltensänderungen der Unternehmen) zurückführen. Diese Veränderungen lassen sich zum einen durch einen Wertewandel in der Gesellschaft (z.B. hin zu einer hohen Bedeutung von Klimaschutz und Lebensqualität) und zum anderen durch veränderte Rahmenbedingungen (z.B. durch eine verstärkte Knappheit fossiler Energieträger) sowie politische Strategien (z.B. an Umweltaspekten ausgerichtete Verkehrssteuern, Nutzergebühren und Stadtplanung) begründen. --Nachhaltigkeit,Mobilität,Verkehr,Vision,Deutschland,2030,2050

Recent advances in Omega-3: Health benefits, sources, products and bioavailability

The joint symposium of The Omega-3 Centre and the Australasian Section American Oil Chemists Society; Recent Advances in Omega-3: Health Benefits, Sources, Products and Bioavailability, was held November 7, 2013 in Newcastle, NSW, Australia. Over 115 attendees received new information on a range of health benefits, aquaculture as a sustainable source of supply, and current and potential new and novel sources of these essential omega-3 long-chain (LC, ≥C20) polyunsaturated fatty acid nutrients (also termed LC omega-3). The theme of “Food versus Fuel” was an inspired way to present a vast array of emerging and ground breaking Omega-3 research that has application across many disciplines. Eleven papers submitted following from the Omega-3 Symposium are published in this Special Issue volume, with topics covered including: an update on the use of the Omega-3 Index (O3I), the effects of dosage and concurrent intake of vitamins/minerals on omega-3 incorporation into red blood cells, the possible use of the O3I as a measure of risk for adiposity, the need for and progress with new land plant sources of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6ω3), the current status of farmed Australian and New Zealand fish, and also supplements, in terms of their LC omega-3 and persistent organic pollutants (POP) content, progress with cheap carbon sources in the culture of DHA-producing single cell organisms, a detailed examination of the lipids of the New Zealand Greenshell mussel, and a pilot investigation of the purification of New Zealand hoki liver oil by short path distillation. The selection of papers in this Special Issue collectively highlights a range of forward looking and also new and including positive scientific outcomes occurring in the omega-3 field

Analytical wavefront curvature correction to plane-wave reflection coefficients for a weak-contrast interface

Most amplitude versus offset (AVO) analysis and inversion techniques are based on the Zoeppritz equations for plane-wave reflection coefficients or their approximations. Real seismic surveys use localized sources that produce spherical waves, rather than plane waves. In the far-field, the AVO response for a spherical wave reflected from a plane interface can be well approximated by a plane-wave response. However this approximation breaks down in the vicinity of the critical angle. Conventional AVO analysis ignores this problem and always utilizes the plane-wave response. This approach is sufficiently accurate as long as the angles of incidence are much smaller than the critical angle. Such moderate angles are more than sufficient for the standard estimation of the AVO intercept and gradient. However, when independent estimation of the formation density is required, it may be important to use large incidence angles close to the critical angle, where spherical wave effects become important. For the amplitude of a spherical wave reflected from a plane fluid-fluid interface, an analytical approximation is known, which provides a correction to the plane-wave reflection coefficients for all angles. For the amplitude of a spherical wave reflected from a solid/solid interface, we propose a formula that combines this analytical approximation with the linearized plane-wave AVO equation. The proposed approximation shows reasonable agreement with numerical simulations for a range of frequencies. Using this solution, we constructed a two-layer three-parameter least-squares inversion algorithm. Application of this algorithm to synthetic data for a single plane interface shows an improvement compared to the use of plane-wave reflection coefficients

Die Modelle ASTRA und PANTA RHEI zur Abschätzung gesamtwirtschaftlicher Wirkungen umweltpolitischer Instrumente - ein Vergleich

Zur Abschätzung der ökonomischen Wirkungen umweltpolitischer Instrumente werden oft komplexe gesamtwirtschaftliche Modelle eingesetzt, um die vielfältigen Anpassungsreaktionen der Volkswirtschaft auf Preisänderungen, Investitionsimpulse, geänderte Exporttätigkeiten und andere ökonomische Stellgrößen in ihrer Gesamtheit abzubilden. Der erstmalige direkte Vergleich der zur Abschätzung energiepolitischer Fragestellungen eingesetzten Modelle ASTRA (FhG-ISI) und PANTA RHEI (GWS) trägt dazu bei, die Kommunikation der jeweiligen Ergebnisse zu vereinfachen. Die Modelle werden anhand verschiedener Kriterien (Datenstand, Modellansatz, Modellphilosophie) zunächst gegenübergestellt. In einem nächsten Vergleichsschritt werden die quantitativen Ergebnisse verschiedener bereits durchgeführter Modellierungsarbeiten für Deutschland und die EU verglichen und schließlich parallele Simulationen unter gleichen Vorgaben gerechnet. Der Modellvergleich zwischen PANTA RHEI und ASTRA zeigt, dass beide Modelle zuverlässige und auf nationaler, sowie europäischer Ebene bereits vielfach angewandte Werkzeuge zur Abschätzung der ökonomischen Wirkungen umweltpolitischer Maßnahmen sind. PANTA RHEI bildet dabei den Energieverbrauch des Wohnungssektors sowie der Industrie und die erneuerbaren Energien detaillierter ab, ASTRA den des Verkehrssektors.Modellvergleich, Abschätzung umweltpolitischer Instrumente, Simulationsrechnung

Transport demand evolution in Europe – factors of change, scenarios and challenges

In the transport sector, where change comes with inertia and investments are made with a long term perspective, decision makers need to consider how the future may look like in the very long term. The work presented in this paper is a scenario analysis focusing on the evolution of transport demand towards 2050, aiming to identify related challenges for European industrial and policy players. It follows up on the work of other recent attempts to study the future of transport from a European perspective, integrating findings from these studies, updating new trends and applying a specific scenario analysis methodology relying also on expert consultation. The diversity of the scenarios created unfolds aspects of the future transport system with rather different outcomes on issues like the volume of transport, travel motives, the prevalent spatial scales of transport and logistics, people’s preferences towards different transport attributes, the relevancy of the State versus the private initiative in transport production, the level of competition, or the relative importance of environment and resource scarcity in setting an agenda for innovation and regulations. Beyond the subsequent challenges and opportunities identified in this work, the scenarios developed may be a useful basis for individual actors of distinct backgrounds to build their own specific futures, supporting them in defining strategies for the future.JRC.J.1-Economics of Climate Change, Energy and Transpor

Challenges for national clean air policy

Clean air policy faces not only the classical problems like multi-pollutant aspects but also complex consequences of instruments on production costs, competition and consumption. A new model can support clean air policy in Germany

Transport demand evolution in Europe - factors of change, scenarios and challenges

In the transport sector, where change comes with inertia and investments are made with a long term perspective, decision makers need to consider how the future may look like in the very long term. The work presented in this paper is a scenario analysis focusing on the evolution of transport demand towards 2050, aiming to identify related challenges for European industrial and policy players. It follows up on the work of other recent attempts to study the future of transport from a European perspective, integrating findings from these studies, updating new trends and applying a specific scenario analysis methodology relying also on expert consultation. The diversity of the scenarios created unfolds aspects of the future transport system with rather different outcomes on issues like the volume of transport, travel motives, the prevalent spatial scales of transport and logistics, people’s preferences towards different transport attributes, the relevancy of the State versus the private initiative in transport production, the level of competition, or the relative importance of environment and resource scarcity in setting an agenda for innovation and regulations. Beyond the subsequent challenges and opportunities identified in this work, the scenarios developed may be a useful basis for individual actors of distinct backgrounds to build their own specific futures, supporting them in defining strategies for the future

National Integrated Assessment Modelling zur Bewertung umweltpolitischer Instrumente : Entwicklung des otello-Modellsystems und dessen Anwendung auf die Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Auf internationaler Ebene wurden Ziele zur Minderung von Luftschadstoff- und klimarelevanten Emissionen vereinbart, deren Umsetzung den jeweiligen Unterzeichnerstaaten obliegt. Hierzu existieren zahlreiche umweltpolitische Instrumente, deren Effektivität und Effizienz jedoch schwer abschätzbar sind. Daher ist es das Anliegen des im vorliegenden Buch beschriebenen otello-Modellsystems, solche politischen Instrumente in ihren ökologischen und ökonomischen Wirkungsmechanismen zu bewerten