Contestation, contingency, and justice in the Nordic low-carbon energy transition

The five Nordic countries have aggressive climate and energy policies in place and have already emerged to be leaders in renewable energy and energy efficiency. Denmark is renowned for its pioneering use of wind energy, Finland and Sweden bioenergy, Norway hydroelectricity and Iceland geothermal energy. All countries aim to be virtually “fossil free” by 2050. This study explores the Nordic energy transition through the lens of three interconnected research questions: How are they doing it? What challenges exist? And what broader lessons result for energy policy? The study firstly investigates the pathways necessary for these five countries to achieve their low-carbon goals. It argues that a concerted effort must be made to (1) promote decentralized and renewable forms of electricity supply; (2) shift to more sustainable forms of transport; (3) further improve the energy efficiency of residential and commercial buildings; and (4) adopt carbon capture and storage technologies for industry. However, the section that follows emphasizes some of the empirical barriers the Nordic transition must confront, namely political contestation, technological contingency, and social justice and recognition concerns. The study concludes with implications for what such historical progress, and future transition pathways, mean for both energy researchers and energy planners

Social housing retrofit strategies in England and France: A parametric and behavioural analysis

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.IFORE (Innovation for Renewal) is an EU Interreg funded partnership including two large housing associations, one in England, one in France, and a university from each country. The project is an exemplar large-scale retrofit, 100 houses have been retrofitted at Rushenden, on the Isle of Sheppey (Kent, England), and a similar number at Outreau, a suburb of Boulogne (Pas-de-Calais, France). This paper offers an overview of the methods used by the project team to find common solutions and to identify similarities between retrofit measures and occupant's behaviour in both countries. The cross-border nature of IFORE makes the project also original in relation to other similar national retrofit projects that have been developed prior to it. Dynamic thermal simulation was used to evaluate the thermal behaviour of the buildings refurbished. It is a valuable decision-making tool when assessing alternative retrofit measures. Initial surveys were carried out to make a classification of the housing stock which formed the context for the computer simulations. Some results from the simulations, carried out with ESP-r in England and Pleiade + Comfie in France, are presented in this paper. The comparison of the results from the two simulation tools shows great similarity between the two methods, which gave confidence for their use in evaluating alternative specifications for the works that have now been adopted for retrofit. At the same time sociological studies have characterised the populations in order to bring the most advantageous results from the retrofit works in reducing carbon emissions but also reducing fuel poverty whilst improving comfort standards

Social housing retrofit strategies in England and France: A parametric and behavioural analysis

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.IFORE (Innovation for Renewal) is an EU Interreg funded partnership including two large housing associations, one in England, one in France, and a university from each country. The project is an exemplar large-scale retrofit, 100 houses have been retrofitted at Rushenden, on the Isle of Sheppey (Kent, England), and a similar number at Outreau, a suburb of Boulogne (Pas-de-Calais, France). This paper offers an overview of the methods used by the project team to find common solutions and to identify similarities between retrofit measures and occupant's behaviour in both countries. The cross-border nature of IFORE makes the project also original in relation to other similar national retrofit projects that have been developed prior to it. Dynamic thermal simulation was used to evaluate the thermal behaviour of the buildings refurbished. It is a valuable decision-making tool when assessing alternative retrofit measures. Initial surveys were carried out to make a classification of the housing stock which formed the context for the computer simulations. Some results from the simulations, carried out with ESP-r in England and Pleiade + Comfie in France, are presented in this paper. The comparison of the results from the two simulation tools shows great similarity between the two methods, which gave confidence for their use in evaluating alternative specifications for the works that have now been adopted for retrofit. At the same time sociological studies have characterised the populations in order to bring the most advantageous results from the retrofit works in reducing carbon emissions but also reducing fuel poverty whilst improving comfort standards

Stem Cells Derived from Human Amniotic Fluid Contribute to Acute Kidney Injury Recovery

Stem cells isolated from human amniotic fluid are gaining attention with regard to their therapeutic potential. In this work, we investigated whether these cells contribute to tubular regeneration after experimental acute kidney injury. Cells expressing stem cell markers with multidifferentiative potential were isolated from human amniotic fluid. The regenerative potential of human amniotic fluid stem cells was compared with that of bone marrow-derived human mesenchymal stem cells. We found that the intravenous injection of 3.5 × 105 human amniotic fluid stem cells into nonimmune-competent mice with glycerol-induced acute kidney injury was followed by rapid normalization of renal function compared with injection of mesenchymal stem cells. Both stem cell types showed enhanced tubular cell proliferation and reduced apoptosis. Mesenchymal stem cells were more efficient in inducing proliferation than amniotic fluid-derived stem cells, which, in contrast, were more antiapoptotic. Both cell types were found to accumulate within the peritubular capillaries and the interstitium, but amniotic fluid stem cells were more persistent than mesenchymal stem cells. In vitro experiments demonstrated that the two cell types produced different cytokines and growth factors, suggesting that a combination of different mediators is involved in their biological actions. These results suggest that the amniotic fluid-derived stem cells may improve renal regeneration in acute kidney injury, but they are not more effective than mesenchymal stem cells

Prevalence and anatomical distribution of endometriosis in women with selected gynecological conditions - results from a multicentric Italian study

We have evaluated the prevalence of endometriosis in selected gynaecological conditions requiring surgery. Eligible for the study were women with primary or secondary sterility, chronic pelvic pain, fibroids or benign ovarian cysts requiring laparoscopy or laparotomy consecutively observed during the study period in 23 obstetrics and gynaecology departments in Italy between May 1991 and July 1992. Women with a previous diagnosis of endometriosis were specifically excluded. A total of 3684 subjects entered the study. Of these, 660 (mean age 31 years) were included for sterility, 409 (mean age 32) for chronic pelvic pain, 1880 (mean age 42) for fibroids and 735 (mean age 33) for benign ovarian cysts. During the surgical procedure surgeons were asked to examine the pelvis carefully to identify endometriosis. Out of the 660 women included for sterility, 195 [30%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 26-35] had endometriosis; the corresponding figures were 185 out of 409 (45%, 95% CI 39-52) for pelvic pain, 219 out of 1880 (12%, 95% CI 10-14) for fibroids and 257 out of 735 (35%, 95% CI 31-40) for ovarian cysts; these differences were significant (x(3)(2) heterogeneity, absence versus presence = 323.9, P < 0.001). Among women with endometriosis who entered the study for sterility, 51% were at stage 1, 22% at stage 2, 20% at stage 3 and 7% at stage 4. The corresponding figures for pelvic pain and fibroids were largely similar: 37%, 24%, 30%, 10% for women with pelvic pain, 36%, 11%, 45% and 8% for those with fibroids, but among cases with ovarian cysts stage 3 was over-represented (62% of cases). The most common sites of endometriosis were, in order of frequency, the ovaries considered together, the posterior cul de sac and uterosacral ligaments. Endometriotic implants were more common on the uterosacral ligaments and the posterior cul de sac among women with sterility and pelvic pain than in those with fibroids and ovarian cysts. The frequency of endometriosis was not directly related to age at surgery, but decreased with increasing parity in all the four criteria for entry groups