Policy mixes for incumbency: the destructive recreation of renewable energy, shale gas 'fracking,' and nuclear power in the United Kingdom

The notion of a ‘policy mix’ can describe interactions across a wide range of innovation policies, including ‘motors for creation’ as well as for ‘destruction’. This paper focuses on the United Kingdom’s (UK) ‘new policy direction’ that has weakened support for renewables and energy efficiency schemes while strengthening promotion of nuclear power and hydraulic fracturing for natural gas (‘fracking’). The paper argues that a ‘policy apparatus for incumbency’ is emerging which strengthens key regimebased technologies while arguably damaging emerging niche innovations. Basing the discussion around the three technology-based cases of renewable energy and efficiency, fracking, and nuclear power, this paper refers to this process as “destructive recreation”. Our study raises questions over the extent to which policymaking in the energy field is not so much driven by stated aims around sustainability transitions, as by other policy drivers. It investigates different ‘strategies of incumbency’ including ‘securitization’, ‘masking’, ‘reinvention’, and ‘capture.’ It suggests that analytical frameworks should extend beyond the particular sectors in focus, with notions of what counts as a relevant ‘policy maker’ correspondingly also expanded, in order to explore a wider range of nodes and critical junctures as entry points for understanding how relations of incumbency are forged and reproduced

Prozessentwicklung zur Produktion von 2-Keto-l-Glulonsäure, einer Vitamin C-Vorstufe

In this study a process for the continuous production of 2-keto-L-gulonic acid was developed. This compound is a precursor of vitamin C and therefore of great industrial interest. 2-Keto-L-gulonic acid (2-KLG) was produced from D-glucose in a two-step reaction: Glucose was first oxidized to 2,5-diketo-D-gluconic acid (2,5-DKG) with cells of $\textit{Gluconobacter oxydans}$, 2,5-DKG was then reduced to 2-KLG with the enzyme 2,5-diketo-D-gluconate reductase. Both reactions were carried out in separate reactors; 2,5-DKG was transferred into the second reactor without any further processing or purification. Resting cells of $\textit{Gluconobacter oxydans}$ could successfully be applied in batch and continuously stirred tank reactors (CSTR) for the production of 2,5-DKG. In both cases, sufficient supply of oxygen is crucial; in a specially constructed batch reactor the activity of the cells was increased threefold compared to the activity in shaking flasks. Thus, yields of up to 97% were achieved in the batch reactor. In a CSTR, yields of about 80% could be kept for several days, in that case the space-time-yield was 92 g$^{*}$L$^{-1}$d$^{-1}$. The enzyme 2,5-diketo-D-gluconate reductase (2,5-DKGR) was isolated and purified from recombinant $\textit{E. coli}$ cells in good yields of 0.31 mg$_{Protein/gcells}$. In kinetic investigations it accepted NADH as a cofactor but showed a much higher preference for NADPH (K$_{M, NADH}$ = 500 · K$_{M, NADPH}$). Cofactor regeneration worked best with the alcohol dehydrogenase from $\textit{Lactobacillus brevis}$. The two enzymes were successfully applied in an enzyme membrane reactor to produce 2-KLG from 2,5-DKG with yields of up to 100%. The highest space-time-yield was 329 g$^{*}$L$^{-1*}$d$^{-1}$ with product yields of 81%. After coupling the two reactor systems, 2-KLG could be produced continuously from D-glucose with yields of 68% and space-time-yields of 41.5 g$^{*}$L$^{-1*}$d$^{-1}$ for more than eight days. This study showed that the yields in this two-step reaction can be improved if the two steps are carried out in separate reactors. This way, the best reaction conditions for both oxidation and reduction can be adjusted

Prozessentwicklung zur Produktion von 2-Keto-L-Gulonsäure, einer Vitamin C-Vorstufe

In this study a process for the continuous production of 2-keto-L-gulonic acid was developed. This compound is a precursor of vitamin C and therefore of great industrial interest. 2-Keto-L-gulonic acid (2-KLG) was produced from D-glucose in a two-step reaction: Glucose was first oxidized to 2,5-diketo-D-gluconic acid (2,5-DKG) with cells of Gluconobacter oxydans, 2,5-DKG was then reduced to 2-KLG with the enzyme 2,5-diketo-D-gluconate reductase. Both reactions were carried out in separate reactors; 2,5-DKG was transferred into the second reactor without any further processing or purification...

Technische Anwendung von Enzymen: Weiße Wäsche und Grüne Chemie

In the laboratories of Mother Nature, enzymes, the most efficient and specific catalysts, have been developed. These proteins have been used by mankind since millennia, e.g., for cheese-making. By now, enzymes have captured a huge market in industry and handicraft, and even more expansions are certain. Applications range from detergents and textiles to food, animal feed and drugs. Stone-washed jeans, antibiotics, improved wine corks and ice cream - all these products make us live a very enzyme-filled life