Feed-in Tariffs and Quotas for Renewable Energy in Europe

Regenerative Energie, Elektrizität, Stromtarif, Förderung regenerativer Energien, EU-Staaten, Renewable energy, Electricity, Electricity price, Renewable energy policy, EU countries

Multi-Hamiltonian structure of the epidemics model accounting for vaccinations and a suitable test for the accuracy of its numerical solvers

We derive a generalized Hamiltonian formalism for a modified suscepti ble–infectious–recovered/removed (SIR) epidemic model taking into account the population V of vaccinated persons. The resulting SIRV model is shown to admit three possible functionally independent Hamiltonians and hence three associated Poisson structures. The reduced case of vanishing vaccinated sector shows a complete correspondence with the known Poisson structures of the SIR model. The SIRV model is shown to be expressible as an almost Nambu sys tem, except for a scale factor function breaking the divergenceless property. In the autonomous case with time-independent stationary ratios k and b, the SIRV model is shown to be a maximally super-integrable system. For this case we test the accuracy of numerical schemes that are suited to solve the stiff set of SIRV differential equations

On the Future of Passenger Mobility and its Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Cities: Scenarios for Different Types of Policies

Many cities have set goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Mobility is a major target sector as it is still widely fossil fuel-dependent and largely car-oriented. In this paper, a new methodological approach for modelling the impact of different policies on mobility, energy demand and resulting flow and embedded greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles is derived up to 2050. Finally, this approach is applied to the case of the City of Vienna. Three scenarios are developed with different policy targets focusing on battery electric vehicles and public transport. Each scenario was calculated with an average mix of electricity and a mix of renewable energy sources to be reached by 2030. The major conclusions are: (i) The impact of policies is of tremendous importance; (ii) Travel activity must be reduced and (iii) Public transport must be supported (iv) The electricity mix has to be switched to renewable energy sources

The looming revolution: How photovoltaics will change electricity markets in Europe fundamentally

The increase in PV capacities mainly in Germany had in 2011 on some days significant impacts on spot market prices at the German electricity exchange. The core objective of this paper is to investigate the possible effects of a further uptake of PV on the prices in the EU-4 (German-French-Austrian-Swiss) electricity market. We analyse two major effects: (i) the direct impact of PV at specific times of the year when PV shifts the supply curve of conventional electricity virtually out of the market, leading to temporarily very low market prices close to Zero; (ii) the indirect impact of PV (and wind) on the costs at which fossil capacities are offered. The major effects of these developments on the electricity markets will be: (i) a much higher price volatility from hour-to-hour and day-to-day; (ii) higher costs and prices for fossil capacities mainly based on gas turbines; (iii) increasing importance of flexible balancing power plants

On the Environmental Benignity of Electric Vehicles

Electric vehicles are considered as an important means to cope with increasing environmental problems in the transport sector. Many governments worldwide have set targets to increase the number of electric vehicles, although their environmental benignity is not ensured in the scope of the policies implemented. The core objective of this paper is to investigate the overall environmental impact of electric vehicles in different regions. The analysis is based on a life cycle assessment of electric vehicles including emissions from electricity generation, vehicle production and disposal, and vehicle use. The major conclusion is that the environmental benignity of electric vehicles is very sensitive on: electricity mix (a); number of km driven per year (b) and embedded emissions in car production (c), as well as battery recycling. Yet, as shown in this paper the highest sensitivity is with respect to the electricity mix. Hence, to make electric vehicles more environmentally friendly it is most important to increase the share of renewable energy sources in electricity generation

Memory-Like Inflammatory Responses of Microglia to Rising Doses of LPS: Key Role of PI3Kγ

Trained immunity and immune tolerance have been identified as long-term response patterns of the innate immune system. The causes of these opposing reactions remain elusive. Here, we report about differential inflammatory responses of microglial cells derived from neonatal mouse brain to increasing doses of the endotoxin LPS. Prolonged priming with ultra-low LPS doses provokes trained immunity, i.e., increased production of pro-inflammatory mediators in comparison to the unprimed control. In contrast, priming with high doses of LPS induces immune tolerance, implying decreased production of inflammatory mediators and pronounced release of anti-inflammatory cytokines. Investigation of the signaling processes and cell functions involved in these memory-like immune responses reveals the essential role of phosphoinositide 3-kinase γ (PI3Kγ), one of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase species highly expressed in innate immune cells. Together, our data suggest profound influence of preceding contacts with pathogens on the immune response of microglia. The impact of these interactions—trained immunity or immune tolerance—appears to be shaped by pathogen dose

The Role of the Pathogen Dose and PI3Kγ in Immunometabolic Reprogramming of Microglia for Innate Immune Memory

Microglia, the innate immune cells of the CNS, exhibit long-term response changes indicative of innate immune memory (IIM). Our previous studies revealed IIM patterns of microglia with opposing immune phenotypes: trained immunity after a low dose and immune tolerance after a high dose challenge with pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMP). Compelling evidence shows that innate immune cells adopt features of IIM via immunometabolic control. However, immunometabolic reprogramming involved in the regulation of IIM in microglia has not been fully addressed. Here, we evaluated the impact of dose-dependent microglial priming with ultra-low (ULP, 1 fg/mL) and high (HP, 100 ng/mL) lipopolysaccharide (LPS) doses on immunometabolic rewiring. Furthermore, we addressed the role of PI3Kγ on immunometabolic control using naïve primary microglia derived from newborn wild-type mice, PI3Kγ-deficient mice and mice carrying a targeted mutation causing loss of lipid kinase activity. We found that ULP-induced IIM triggered an enhancement of oxygen consumption and ATP production. In contrast, HP was followed by suppressed oxygen consumption and glycolytic activity indicative of immune tolerance. PI3Kγ inhibited glycolysis due to modulation of cAMP-dependent pathways. However, no impact of specific PI3Kγ signaling on immunometabolic rewiring due to dose-dependent LPS priming was detected. In conclusion, immunometabolic reprogramming of microglia is involved in IIM in a dose-dependent manner via the glycolytic pathway, oxygen consumption and ATP production: ULP (ultra-low-dose priming) increases it, while HP reduces it

Strain-specific genes of Helicobacter pylori: genome evolution driven by a novel type IV secretion system and genomic island transfer

The availability of multiple bacterial genome sequences has revealed a surprising extent of variability among strains of the same species. The human gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori is known as one of the most genetically diverse species. We have compared the genome sequence of the duodenal ulcer strain P12 and six other H. pylori genomes to elucidate the genetic repertoire and genome evolution mechanisms of this species. In agreement with previous findings, we estimate that the core genome comprises about 1200 genes and that H. pylori possesses an open pan-genome. Strain-specific genes are preferentially located at potential genome rearrangement sites or in distinct plasticity zones, suggesting two different mechanisms of genome evolution. The P12 genome contains three plasticity zones, two of which encode type IV secretion systems and have typical features of genomic islands. We demonstrate for the first time that one of these islands is capable of self-excision and horizontal transfer by a conjugative process. We also show that excision is mediated by a protein of the XerD family of tyrosine recombinases. Thus, in addition to its natural transformation competence, conjugative transfer of genomic islands has to be considered as an important source of genetic diversity in H. pylori