Review and analysis of energy storage systems by hydro-pumping to support a mix of electricity generation with a high percentage of renewables

In some countries the planning of the electricity generation mix for the future includes a considerable increase in Renewable Energy (RE) to reduce the emissions caused by the use of fossil fuels. This trend can be reinforced if the installed power capacity of nuclear and coal plants is considerably decreased. On the other hand future electricity demand seems to increase due to population growth and greater domestic electrification, especially if transport electrification is tackled. The combination of these factors may result in an ever greater decline in Security of Supply (SoS), mainly due to the stochastic nature of electricity supply and demand behaviour. To achieve an acceptable level of SoS when introducing renewable energy into the grid it is necessary to increase storage capacity and tackle other measures such as demand management. Many energy storage technologies can be found, and Pumped Hydro Energy Storage (PHES) is recognised as the most mature, though other technologies such as batteries are also available. In this paper, we first review PHES and its ability to support intermittent generation from energy plants, such as wind and solar, preventing energy losses and storing energy for use at times of high demand; second we analyse the performance of PHES in Spain over five years (2014-2018); our conclusion confirms that adequate SoS cannot be guaranteed with PHES management of the kind observed in the past.This research is supported by the Basque Government through the BERC 2018-2021 programme and by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) through BC3 María de Maeztu excellence accreditation MDM-2017-0714.Further support is provided by the project MINECO RTI2018-093352-B-I0

The costs of sea-level rise: coastal adaptation investments vs. inaction in Iberian coastal cities

Iberian coastal cities are subject to significant risks in the next decades due to climate change-induced sea-level rise. These risks are quite uncertain depending on several factors. In this article, we estimate potential economic damage in 62 Iberian coastal cities from 2020 to 2100 using regional relative sea-level rise data under three representative concentration pathways (RCP 8.5, RCP 4.5 and RCP 2.6). We analyze the expected accumulated damage costs if no adaptation actions take place and compare this scenario to the investment cost of some adaptation strategies being implemented. The results show that some adaptation strategies are less costly than the potential damage under inaction. In other words, it is economically rational to invest in adaptation even in a context of high uncertainty. These calculations are very relevant to inform climate change adaptation decisions and to better manage the risk posed by sea-level rise. Moreover, our findings show the importance of a good understanding of the shape of the sea-level rise and damage cost distributions to calculate the expected damage. We show that using the 50th percentile for these calculations is not adequate as it leads to a serious underestimation of expected damage and coastal risk

TGFBR1 Intralocus Epistatic Interaction as a Risk Factor for Colorectal Cancer

In colorectal cancer (CRC), an inherited susceptibility risk affects about 35% of patients, whereas high-penetrance germline mutations account for <6% of cases. A considerable proportion of sporadic tumors could be explained by the coinheritance of multiple low-penetrance variants, some of which are common. We assessed the susceptibility to CRC conferred by genetic variants at the TGFBR1 locus. We analyzed 14 polymorphisms and the allele-specific expression (ASE) of TGFBR1 in 1025 individuals from the Spanish population. A case-control study was undertaken with 504 controls and 521 patients with sporadic CRC. Fourteen polymorphisms located at the TGFBR1 locus were genotyped with the iPLEX Gold (MassARRAY-Sequenom) technology. Descriptive analyses of the polymorphisms and haplotypes and association studies were performed with the SNPator workpackage. No relevant associations were detected between individual polymorphisms or haplotypes and the risk of CRC. The TGFBR1*9A/6A polymorphism was used for the ASE analysis. Heterozygous individuals were analyzed for ASE by fragment analysis using cDNA from normal tissue. The relative level of allelic expression was extrapolated from a standard curve. The cutoff value was calculated with Youden's index. ASE was found in 25.4% of patients and 16.4% of controls. Considering both bimodal and continuous types of distribution, no significant differences between the ASE values of patients and controls were identified. Interestingly, a combined analysis of the polymorphisms and ASE for the association with CRC occurrence revealed that ASE-positive individuals carrying one of the most common haplotypes (H2: 20.7%) showed remarkable susceptibility to CRC (RR: 5.25; 95% CI: 2.547–5.250; p<0.001) with a synergy factor of 3.7. In our study, 54.1% of sporadic CRC cases were attributable to the coinheritance of the H2 haplotype and TGFBR1 ASE. These results support the hypothesis that the allelic architecture of cancer genes, rather than individual polymorphisms, more accurately defines the CRC risk

BASQUE TERRORISM: POLICE ACTION, POLITICAL MEASURES AND THE INFLUENCE OF VIOLENCE ON THE STOCK MARKET IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY

In the last 15 years, terrorist activity in the Basque Country has substantially decreased and strategies have changed. Whilst the type of killings has become more specialised (politicians, reporters, etc.), a new phenomenon based on urban guerrilla tactics, and called in Basque 'kale borroka' (street fighting), has emerged, creating an atmosphere of violence in the streets. The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, we create a daily measure of the level of violence in the area. Second, we examine if police action and the repressive policy measures adopted by the government since 2001 have been effective in reducing the intensity of violence. Third, we investigate whether the level of violence has had an effect on the stock market index in the Basque Country. The results, based on daily data from 1 July 2001 to 15 November 2005, suggest that the only effective measure to reduce violence was the banning of Herri Batasuna (HB), the radical party close to ETA supporters. Moreover, there was a decrease in the stock market index as a consequence of the violence in the area during the period under analysis.ETA, Terrorism, Economic impact, Stock exchange, Fractional integration,

Energy Supply and the Sustainability of Endogenous Growth

29 p.The paper provides an introduction to energy and, respective resource use within the framework of endogenous growth models. We provide an overview of different modeling approaches as well as intuition with respect to the results obtained. We consider the source problem, i.e. the supply of energy, as well as the sink problem, i.e. pollution generated by the consumption of energy resources. The introduction to the theoretical framework shortly discusses the use of neoclassical versus endogenous growth models and also points to the implications of the different types of endogenous growth approaches. We additionally give an introduction to CGE-models that include energy use and present an example of a numerical solvable model in detail. The paper closes with a look at possible future research