Non-Permanent Migration and Multilocality in the Global South

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Living in Two Worlds: Multi-Locational Household Arrangements among Migrant Workers in China

In the past, the concept of multi-locality has hardly been applied to the study of livelihood strategies of migrant workers in China. The authors of this article present the findings of a research project in five selected rural-urban migration corridors in different parts of China. On the basis of qualitative interviews at both ends of the multi-locational households’ activity spaces, they were able to establish economic reciprocity, strategies for caring and the transfer of knowledge, values and beliefs at the household level. The multi-locational households – defined as units of joint planning – were found to be firmly embedded in informal social networks

Low Temperature District Heating for Future Energy Systems

The building sector is responsible for more than one third of the final energy consumption of societies and produces the largest amount of greenhouse gas emissions of all sectors. This is due to the utilisation of combustion processes of mainly fossil fuels to satisfy the heating demand of the building stock. Low temperature district heating (LTDH) can contribute significantly to a more efficient use of energy resources as well as better integration of renewable energy (e.g. geothermal or solar heat), and surplus heat (e.g. industrial waste heat) into the heating sector. LTDH offers prospects for both the demand side (community building structure) and the supply side (network properties or energy sources). Especially in connection with buildings that demand only low temperatures for space heating. The utilisation of lower temperatures reduces losses in pipelines and can increase the overall efficiency of the total energy chains used in district heating. To optimise the exergy efficiency of community supply systems the LowEx approach can be utilised, which entails matching the quality levels of energy supply and demand in order to optimise the utilisation of high-value resources, such as combustible fuels, and minimising energy losses and irreversible dissipation. The paper presents the international co-operative work in the framework of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Technology Cooperation Programme on District Heating and Cooling including Combined Heat and Power (DHC|CHP) Annex TS1

Specialised teams or personal continuity across inpatient and outpatient mental healthcare? Study protocol for a natural experiment

This study was funded by the European Commission 7th Framework Programme. Grant agreement number is 602645

LowEx communities - optimized performance of community energy supply system with exergy principles

Communities are characterised by a wide range of heating and cooling energy demands. This energy is mainly provided by the combustion of fossil fuels, which is responsible for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While a lot has already been achieved there are still large potentials in providing heating and cooling energy more efficiently. At the community level, different renewable energy sources are available. These energies are characterised by high fluctuations and different qualities: e.g. photovoltaics as electricity (high-exergy) or low temperature (low-exergy) heat from e.g. thermal solar collectors or waste heat from industry facilities. Low energy qualities are of particular interest, because the low exergy (LowEx) supply of thermal energy is very efficient. The application of exergy principles is especially important, allowing the detection of different available energy-quality levels and the identification of optimal contribution to an efficient supply. From this, appropriate strategies and technologies with great potential for promoting the usage of low-valued energy sources (LowEx) and a high share of renewable energies for heating and cooling of entire cities can be derived. The paper presents the key ideas of the just started international co-operative work in the general framework of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the EBC Annex 64: "LowEx Communities - Optimized Performance of Community Energy Supply System with Exergy Principles"