Spatial Data Management and Numerical Modelling: Demonstrating the Application of the QGIS-Integrated FREEWAT Platform at 13 Case Studies for Tackling Groundwater Resource Management

Because of the spatial nature of groundwater-related data and their time component, effective groundwater management requires the application of methods pertaining to the Information and Communication Technologies sector, such as spatial data management and distributed numerical modelling. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the QGIS-integrated FREEWAT platform and an approach combining spatial data management and numerical models to target groundwater management issues. FREEWAT is a free and open source platform integrated in a Geographic Information System environment and embedding tools for pre- and post-processing of spatial data and integrating numerical codes for the simulation of the hydrological cycle, with a main focus on groundwater. To this aim, this paper briefly presents the FREEWAT platform, introduces the FREEWAT approach, and showcases 13 case studies in European and non-European countries where the FREEWAT platform was applied. Application of the FREEWAT platform to real-world case studies is presented for targeting management of coastal aquifers, ground- and surface-water interaction, climate change impacts, management of transboundary aquifers, rural water management and protection of groundwater-dependent ecosystems. In this sense, compared to other existing software suites, FREEWAT allows data analysis and visualization to accomplish each step of the modelling workflow, i.e., from data analytics, to conceptual model definition, to numerical modelling and reporting of results. The presented experiences demonstrate that improved access to data and the portability of models and models’ results can help to promote water sustainability from the local- to the basin-scale. Furthermore, FREEWAT may represent a valuable tool to target the objective of increasing the capabilities of public authorities and private companies to manage groundwater resources by means of up-to-date, robust, well-documented and reliable software, without entailing the need of costly licensing, nowadays seldom affordable by public water authorities. Based on the strengths highlighted, the FREEWAT platform is a powerful tool for groundwater resources management, and for data collection, sharing, implementation and comparison of scenarios, for supporting planning and decision-making

Enhancing Care

AbstractIf moral enhancement is possible, the caring capacity of human beings should be considered one of the first and most important traits for augmentation. To assess the plausibility of enhancing care, I will explore how the concept and its associated human dispositions are socially constructed, and identify some of the critical points and complexities. Scientific advances regarding neuro-enhancing substances that allegedly make humans more caring will be considered and assessed against the main principles that govern the ethics of care approach. I argue that given the relational and contextual nature of care, its enhancement, if targeted at the individual level, can be more disadvantageous than helpful, by overlooking the “webs of care” people are situated in, and the role of social institutions in shaping behaviours, duties, attitudes, and principles.</jats:p

Untapped Aspects of Waste Management versus Green Deal Objectives

Smart waste management is an important tool for energy and resource conservation, and the related recycling and reuse policies are conducive to a positive impact on the ecological footprint. Since waste treatment is a very expensive process, the principle of prevention should be implemented increasingly at the European level to meet the Green Deal&rsquo;s objectives and related eco-friendly approaches more easily and cost-effectively. Therefore, the rationale of the present work was to statistically study, for the first time, from a waste management viewpoint, the waste categories and quantities produced in the past decade, and mainly eight waste categories were compared at the Romanian versus the European level, including on the level of European regulation implementation. For that, assumptions were made and ANOVA and path analysis were performed. The results of ANOVA emphasize the differences between the eight types of waste collected, to understand the challenges and the weak points of the member states in their approach to meeting the Green Deal&rsquo;s objectives and gaining sustainable development. Furthermore, the causes of differences in the European Union&rsquo;s member states were analyzed in clusters, based on three criteria: total waste, waste management, and waste treatment, and the results are discussed here. The study revealed that Romania proved an increased efficiency in waste treatment and the path analysis proves that waste management is better implemented than treatment management. The study concludes that, regardless of the results obtained so far, further endeavors are necessary at the Romanian governmental level to meet the waste-related European goal

Effect of Electrical Accelerated Aging on DC Resistivity of Mineral Oil Used in Power Transformers

Power transformers are still equipment of primary importance within power grids. The recent paradigm changes registered in the field of energy require the interconnection of electrical grids of much larger areas, even up to the level of an entire continent. In this context, knowing the state of the electrical equipment and that of the power transformers is an essential aspect to ensure safe operation conditions. The present work is related to the vulnerability of the oil–paper insulation systems of power transformers to different aging factors and their quick degradation under certain conditions. In this regard, the study proposed in this paper considers the measurement of DC resistivity on mineral oil samples contaminated with small amounts of accelerated aging oil under the action of high-strength electric field and partial discharges. In the absence of standardized procedures for accelerated electrical aging of mineral oil, an original method presented and discussed in previous articles is used. The obtained results clearly indicate that under the action of electrical stress, the mineral oil resistivity decreases significantly, showing that the oil’s electric properties worsen

Assessing the Energy Performance of Solar Thermal Energy for Heat Production in Urban Areas: A Case Study

One of the major challenges faced in the optimization process of existing heating systems is the harnessing and integration of a higher share of renewable energy. Centralized integration at the thermic source leads to high investment costs at the first investment stage, and low values of conversion, transport, and storage efficiencies, due to high levels of heat loss from large-capacity entropic systems. This research paper presents a case study on the partially decentralized integration of thermal solar fields that are used for heat production in crowded urban areas within the optimization process of the existing heating system in the city of Oradea, Romania. A deterministic method was used as the method for the calculation of heat demand, in both stationary&#8212;hourly heat demand and dynamic regimes&#8212;annual heat demand, and the simulations within the configuration and the optimization process of the hybrid heating systems were carried out. In the case study, four representative urban areas with different thermal densities were analyzed within two working scenarios, which took into account the energy performances of the buildings inside the studied areas before thermal retrofitting, and after a usual thermal retrofit

Overall Efficiency of On-Site Production and Storage of Solar Thermal Energy

Harnessing renewable energy sources (RES) using hybrid systems for buildings is almost a deontological obligation for engineers and researchers in the energy field, and increasing the percentage of renewables within the energy mix represents an important target. In crowded urban areas, on-site energy production and storage from renewables can be a real challenge from a technical point of view. The main objectives of this paper are quantification of the impact of the consumer’s profile on overall energy efficiency for on-site storage and final use of solar thermal energy, as well as developing a multicriteria assessment in order to provide a methodology for selection in prioritizing investments. Buildings with various consumption profiles lead to achieving different values of performance indicators in similar configurations of storage and energy supply. In this regard, an analysis of the consumption profile’s impact on overall energy efficiency, achieved in the case of on-site generation and storage of solar thermal energy, was performed. The obtained results validate the following conclusion: On-site integration of solar systems allowed the consumers to use RES at the desired coverage rates, while restricted by on-site available mounting areas for solar fields and thermal storage, under conditions of high energy efficiencies. In order to segregate the results and support optimal selection, a multicriteria analysis was carried out, having as the main criteria the energy efficiency indicators achieved by hybrid heating systems