Regional input-output modelling in Germany: The case of North Rhine-Westphalia

The political system of Germany is characterized by strong federalist elements, which means that many important decisions of economic policy are made by the governments of the federal states or Länder. Unfortunately the statistical offices of the Länder do not produce regional input-output tables, claiming that they lack the resources (i.e. manpower) to do so. The lack of official input-output tables for the Länder forms a significant obstacle to the study of regional economic developments and hampers the ability of economists to provide well-informed advice to regional policy-makers. A similar situation prevails in many other European countries. This paper attempts to meliorate the situation by describing the process of constructing a regional input-output table (RIOT) for North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), the largest federal state in terms of GDP and population. A first approximation is produced by applying the CHARM method to the national input-output table on the basis of regional and national employment data. This first approximation is then improved upon by adding additional information from various sources, including the statistical office of NRW and the household survey of income and expenditure. We conclude that it is possible to construct a meaningful RIOT even when resources (time and money) are severely limited if the available information is used in an efficient manner.regional input-output table; nonsurvey method; hybrid method; location quotient; impact analysis

A novel function for the eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1A

The eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1A, eEF1A, a homolog of the bacterial EF1A (formerly known as EF-Tu), is a well-characterized ribosome associated factor, responsible for the delivery of aminoacyl-tRNAaa to the ribosomal A site. In contrast to this indirect interaction with the nascent polypeptide chain it is shown here for the first time that eEF1A also associates directly with the nascent polypetide chain distal to the peptidyl transferase center of the ribosome. This is demonstrated for a variety of nascent polypeptide chains of different length and sequence. Interestingly, unlike other ribosome associated factors, eEF1A also interacts with polypeptides after their release from the ribosome. It is further demonstrated that eEF1A does not bind to correctly folded full-length proteins, but interacts specifically with proteins that are unable to fold correctly in a cytosolic environment. This association was demonstrated both by photo-crosslinking and by a functional refolding assay. Furthermore, it is shown that the interaction of the nascent polypeptide chain with eEF1A can be competed out with a variety of short peptides. However, the found minimum length of 20-30 amino acids for these short peptides is significantly longer than typical binding sites in molecular chaperones or MHCs which is about seven to nine amino acids in length. The presence of charged aa-tRNAaa or uncharged tRNAaa in crosslinking experiments elicited a dose-dependent response similar to that seen in the competition experiments with short peptides. Gel-filtration demonstrated that eEF1A exhibits �quasi chaperone� activities, because eEF1A seems to be able to dissolve large complexes of oligomerized peptides and co-migrates with the dissolved peptide. Based upon the results of this work a model describing a novel function for eEF1A is presented

The energy and carbon inequality corridor for a 1.5 °C compatible and just Europe

The call for a decent life for all within planetary limits poses a dual challenge: provide all people with the essential resources needed to live well and, collectively, not exceed the source and sink capacity of the biosphere to sustain human societies. We examine the corridor of possible distributions of household energy and carbon footprints that satisfy both minimum energy use for a decent life and available energy supply compatible with the 1.5 °C target in 2050. We estimated household energy and carbon footprints for expenditure deciles for 28 European countries in 2015 by combining data from national household budget surveys with the environmentally-extended multi-regional input–output model EXIOBASE. We found a top-to-bottom decile ratio (90:10) of 7.2 for expenditure, 3.1 for net energy and 2.6 for carbon. The lower inequality of energy and carbon footprints is largely attributable to inefficient energy and heating technologies in the lower deciles (mostly Eastern Europe). Adopting best technology across Europe would save 11 EJ of net energy annually, but increase environmental footprint inequality. With such inequality, both targets can only be met through the use of CCS, large efficiency improvements, and an extremely low minimum final energy use of 28 GJ per adult equivalent. Assuming a more realistic minimum energy use of about 55 GJ ae−1 and no CCS deployment, the 1.5 °C target can only be achieved at near full equality. We conclude that achieving both stated goals is an immense and widely underestimated challenge, the successful management of which requires far greater room for maneuver in monetary and fiscal terms than is reflected in the current European political discourse.Peer Reviewe

Regional input-output modelling in Germany: The case of North Rhine-Westphalia

The political system of Germany is characterized by strong federalist elements, which means that many important decisions of economic policy are made by the governments of the federal states or Länder. Unfortunately the statistical offices of the Länder do not produce regional input-output tables, claiming that they lack the resources (i.e. manpower) to do so. The lack of official input-output tables for the Länder forms a significant obstacle to the study of regional economic developments and hampers the ability of economists to provide well-informed advice to regional policy-makers. A similar situation prevails in many other European countries. This paper attempts to meliorate the situation by describing the process of constructing a regional input-output table (RIOT) for North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), the largest federal state in terms of GDP and population. A first approximation is produced by applying the CHARM method to the national input-output table on the basis of regional and national employment data. This first approximation is then improved upon by adding additional information from various sources, including the statistical office of NRW and the household survey of income and expenditure. We conclude that it is possible to construct a meaningful RIOT even when resources (time and money) are severely limited if the available information is used in an efficient manner

Formation of nitrous oxide over Pt-Pd oxidation catalysts: Secondary emissions by interaction of hydrocarbons and nitric oxide

The interaction of hydrocarbons (HC) and nitric oxide (NO) over noble metal catalysts for exhaust gas after-treatment of lean-operated combustion engines can lead to secondary emissions, namely the formation of nitrous oxide (N$_2$O), which is a strong greenhouse gas calling for N$_2$O reduction concepts. By means of a series of light-off tests over state-of-the-art Pt-Pd oxidation catalysts, this study identifies the most critical catalyst operation regimes that should be avoided in order to minimize N$_2$O levels. Especially unsaturated HCs react with NO to form significant amounts of N$_2$O between 150 °C and 350 °C; an increasing HC/NOx ratio generally promotes N$_2$O formation, whereas the NO oxidation reaction is increasingly inhibited. Since low space velocities and fast catalyst heating allow for minimizing N$_2$O levels, active heating of catalytic converters during cold start and phases of low exhaust gas temperatures may efficiently reduce the formation of N$_2$O in real-world applications

Regional input-output modelling in Germany: The case of North Rhine-Westphalia

The political system of Germany is characterized by strong federalist elements, which means that many important decisions of economic policy are made by the governments of the federal states or Länder. Unfortunately the statistical offices of the Länder do not produce regional input-output tables, claiming that they lack the resources (i.e. manpower) to do so. The lack of official input-output tables for the Länder forms a significant obstacle to the study of regional economic developments and hampers the ability of economists to provide well-informed advice to regional policy-makers. A similar situation prevails in many other European countries. This paper attempts to meliorate the situation by describing the process of constructing a regional input-output table (RIOT) for North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), the largest federal state in terms of GDP and population. A first approximation is produced by applying the CHARM method to the national input-output table on the basis of regional and national employment data. This first approximation is then improved upon by adding additional information from various sources, including the statistical office of NRW and the household survey of income and expenditure. We conclude that it is possible to construct a meaningful RIOT even when resources (time and money) are severely limited if the available information is used in an efficient manner

The energy and carbon inequality corridor for a 1.5 °C compatible and just Europe

The call for a decent life for all within planetary limits poses a dual challenge: provide all people with the essential resources needed to live well and, collectively, not exceed the source and sink capacity of the biosphere to sustain human societies. We examine the corridor of possible distributions of household energy and carbon footprints that satisfy both minimum energy use for a decent life and available energy supply compatible with the 1.5 °C target in 2050. We estimated household energy and carbon footprints for expenditure deciles for 28 European countries in 2015 by combining data from national household budget surveys with the environmentally-extended multi-regional input–output model EXIOBASE. We found a top-to-bottom decile ratio (90:10) of 7.2 for expenditure, 3.1 for net energy and 2.6 for carbon. The lower inequality of energy and carbon footprints is largely attributable to inefficient energy and heating technologies in the lower deciles (mostly Eastern Europe). Adopting best technology across Europe would save 11 EJ of net energy annually, but increase environmental footprint inequality. With such inequality, both targets can only be met through the use of CCS, large efficiency improvements, and an extremely low minimum final energy use of 28 GJ per adult equivalent. Assuming a more realistic minimum energy use of about 55 GJ ae−1 and no CCS deployment, the 1.5 °C target can only be achieved at near full equality. We conclude that achieving both stated goals is an immense and widely underestimated challenge, the successful management of which requires far greater room for maneuver in monetary and fiscal terms than is reflected in the current European political discourse