Primary energy consumption of heat pumps in high renewable share electricity mixes

The increase of power plants’ conversion efficiencies, together with the high share of renewable energy sources in the electricity production for some countries, pushes for the use of heat pumps for space heating when aiming at reducing the associated primary energy consumption. However, the effective reduction of primary energy consumption should be supported by careful evaluations, as a number of parameters influence the heat pumps performance, including outdoor temperature, supply temperature, heat load and electricity primary energy factor. The variability of such parameters increases the complexity of the analysis, and annual or monthly average calculations might lead to incomplete evaluations and thus to sub-optimal solutions. This paper performs a hourly simulation of the operation of an air-source heat pump for space heating, relying on the available heat demand data of real buildings currently connected to a district heating network. In addition, the paper proposes the calculation of the hourly primary energy factor of the electricity supplied by the power grid, as the variability of the generation sources plays a key role in the global analysis of the energy system’s conversion efficiency. The results show that in all the considered cases the heat pumps provide potential primary energy savings compared to natural gas boilers, thanks to the combined effect of their high coefficient of performance and the low electricity primary energy factor in the analyzed context. The primary energy consumption reduction obtained in each case is in the range 10–40%, with a median value close to 30%. Moreover, the comparison between average and high-resolution calculations of primary energy factors shows the possible underestimation of the potential primary energy savings when yearly or monthly data are adopted

Carbon Intensity of Passenger Transport Modes: A Review of Emission Factors, Their Variability and the Main Drivers

The transport sector is responsible for a significant amount of global carbon emissions, and several policies are being implemented at different levels to reduce its impact. To properly assess the effectiveness of planned measures, analysts often rely on average emission factors for different transport modes. However, average values often hide significant variability that stems from factors along the entire supply chain of transport modes. This review presents a comprehensive overview of research on this topic, comparing emission factors for different passenger transport modes and discussing the main drivers and parameters that affect their variability. The results are useful for researchers and policymakers to properly understand the reliability of carbon intensity indicators when evaluating the impact and effectiveness of sustainable transport policies

Opening dialogue and fostering collaboration: different ways of knowing in fisheries research

We set out to explore some of the impediments which hinder effective communication among fishers, fisheries researchers and managers using detailed ethnographic research amongst commercial handline fishers from two sites- one on the southern Cape coast and the other on the west coast of South Africa. Rather than assuming that the knowledge of fishers and scientists is inherently divergent and incompatible, we discuss an emerging relational approach to working with multiple ways of knowing and suggest that this approach might benefit future collaborative endeavours. Three major themes arising from the ethnographic fieldwork findings are explored: different classifications of species and things; bringing enumerative approaches into dialogue with relational approaches; and the challenge of articulating embodied ways of relating to fish and the sea. Although disconcertments arise when apparently incommensurable approaches are brought into dialogue, we suggest that working with multiple ways of knowing is both productive and indeed necessary in the current South African fisheries research and management contexts. The research findings and discussion on opening dialogue offered in this work suggest a need to rethink contemporary approaches to fisheries research in order to mobilise otherwise stagnant conversations, bringing different ways of knowing into productive conversation

Stock-recruitment relationships for cod (Gadus morhua callarias L.) in the central Baltic Sea incorporating environmental variability

Recruitment of central/eastern Baltic cod critically depends on favourable oceanographic conditions in the deeper basins of the Baltic Sea creating a suitable habitat for the development of early life stages. The decline in the size of the spawning stock since the mid-1980s initiated a series of investigations on recruitment, which were continued through a partial recovery of the stock in the mid-1990s. The principal factors influencing recruitment and recognized at present are: (i) the volume of water with temperature, oxygen and salinity conditions which meet the minimum requirements for successful egg development ('reproductive volume'); (ii) the age-structure of the spawning stock; (iii) the timing of spawning; and (iv) predation mortality on eggs due to sprat (Sprattus sprattus) and herring (Clupea harengus), as well as cod cannibalism. We relate recruitment at age 2 to parent stock size using updated time series of these variables, comprising the period 1966 to 1994. Spawning stock biomass and egg production are compared as measures of parent stock size. The influence of wind energy and zooplankton abundance on cod recruitment are discussed. A modified Ricker model is outlined explicity accounting for environmentally-induced oscillations around the two observed levels of cod stock size

Technologies for the global energy transition

The availability of reliable, affordable and mature technologies is at the basis of an effective decarbonization strategy, that should be in turn supported by timely and accurate policies. Due to the large differences across sectors and countries, there is no silver bullet to support decarbonization, but a combination of multiple technologies will be required to reach the challenging goal of decarbonizing the energy sector. This chapter presents a focus on the current technological solutions that are available in four main sectors: power generation, industry, transport and buildings. The aim of this work is to highlight the main strengths and weaknesses of the current technologies, to help the reader in understanding which are the main opportunities and challenges related to the development and deployment of each of them, as well as their potential contribution to the decarbonization targets. The chapter also provides strategies and policy recommendations from a technology point of view on how to decarbonize the global energy systems by mid-century and of the necessity to take a systems approach

Strong fisheries management and governance positively impact ecosystem status

Fisheries have had major negative impacts on marine ecosystems, and effective fisheries management and governance are needed to achieve sustainable fisheries, biodiversity conservation goals and thus good ecosystem status. To date, the IndiSeas programme (Indicators for the Seas) has focussed on assessing the ecological impacts of fishing at the ecosystem scale using ecological indicators. Here, we explore fisheries Management Effectiveness' and Governance Quality' and relate this to ecosystem health and status. We developed a dedicated expert survey, focused at the ecosystem level, with a series of questions addressing aspects of management and governance, from an ecosystem-based perspective, using objective and evidence-based criteria. The survey was completed by ecosystem experts (managers and scientists) and results analysed using ranking and multivariate methods. Results were further examined for selected ecosystems, using expert knowledge, to explore the overall findings in greater depth. Higher scores for Management Effectiveness' and Governance Quality' were significantly and positively related to ecosystems with better ecological status. Key factors that point to success in delivering fisheries and conservation objectives were as follows: the use of reference points for management, frequent review of stock assessments, whether Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) catches were being accounted for and addressed, and the inclusion of stakeholders. Additionally, we found that the implementation of a long-term management plan, including economic and social dimensions of fisheries in exploited ecosystems, was a key factor in successful, sustainable fisheries management. Our results support the thesis that good ecosystem-based management and governance, sustainable fisheries and healthy ecosystems go together.IOC-UNESCO; EuroMarine; European FP7 MEECE research project; European Network of Excellence Eur-Oceans; FRB EMIBIOS project [212085]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Synthesis and characterization of metal (M=Al or Ga) 2-phosphino (phenolate/benzenethiolate) complexes and their electrochemical behavior in the presence of CO2

A series of Group 13 complexes MLX2 (M = Al or Ga, L = SC6H4-2-PtBu2 or OC6H4-2-PtBu2, X = Me or C6F5) have been synthesized and characterized by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray diffraction. Reactions of Me3Al or Me3Ga with an equivalent of either 2-tBu2P(C6H4)OH (1) or 2-tBu2P(C6H4)SH (5) resulted in the formation of four new (2,3,6, and 7), 4-coordinate dimethyl chelate (S,P or O,P) complexes via methane elimination. The dimethyl gallium complexes (3 and 7) underwent a further reaction with excess B(C6F5)3, and through ligand exchange (methyl/pentafluorophenyl), resulted in the disubstituted bis(pentafluorophenyl) analogs (4 and 8). Cyclic voltammetry (CV) experiments for all compounds in the presence of and the absence of (1–8) CO2 were performed. For compounds showing cathodic reduction waves under CO2 (2,3,4, and 6), bulk electrolysis experiments were performed. Electrochemical studies indicate that, for several compounds, a transient CO2 adduct is formed which undergoes a one-electron, irreversible (or partially irreversible) reduction to form an unstable radical anion