Kulturlandschaft durch Ökologischen Landbau im Saint-Amarin-Tal (Südvogesen)

Im Saint-Amarin-Tal in den französischen Südvogesen wurde Mitte der 1990er Jahre der Verein Agriculture & Paysages gegründet, der die Einzelinitiativen der Landwirte in der Region bündelte und ihre Bemühungen um die Berglandwirtschaft und die Landschaftsgestaltung über das Tal hinaus bekannt machte. Francis Schirck ist einer der Initiatoren des Vereins; gemeinsam mit seiner Frau Monique bewirtschaftet er den Hof Runtzenbach in der Gemeinde Mollau. Bei den heute 135 ha umfassenden Flächen handelt es sich überwiegend um zuvor mehrere Jahrzehnte brachliegende Weideflächen. Bei der Rodung dieser Vorwaldstadien besteht das Bemühen um eine ästhetische Gestaltung, in der alte Bäume als Zeitzeugen erhalten werden. Die Landwirte suchen in Fragen der Landschaftsgestaltung den Dialog gerade auch mit der nichtlandwirtschaftlichen Bevölkerung. In Zeiten anonymer Subventionierung der landwirtschaftlichen Produktion mit Steuermitteln und zunehmender Entfremdung der Menschen vom landwirtschaftlichen Alltag wünschen sich Schircks über das Thema „Landschaft“ wieder echte menschliche Beziehungen zu ihren Nachbarn und Kunden entstehen zu lassen

Netzdienlicher Handel als Element des zellulären Energiesystems am Beispiel des Altdorfer Flexmarkts (ALF)

Der Beitrag erläutert auf Grundlage von beschriebenen Marktmechanismen, welche im Rahmen des Projekts C/sells für ein zelluläres Energiesystem entwickelt werden, die Wertversprechen von Flex-Plattformen für den netzdienlichen Handel von Flexibilität. Diese stellen Netzbetreibern ein zukünftiges Werkzeug für marktbasiertes Engpassmanagement zur Verfügung. Hierzu werden die Funktionen des C/sells Flex-Plattform Konzepts sowie die Interaktionen der beteiligten Akteure vorgestellt. Anschließend werden Charakteristika des Altdorfer Flexmarkts (ALF) als eine Implementierung des Flex-Plattform Konzepts detailliert beschrieben. Auf Basis der Systemlandschaft werden spezifische Prozessschritte erläutert und auf die Schwerpunkte bei der Umsetzung von ALF eingegangen. Hierzu gehört neben dem einfachen Marktzugang von Kleinanlagen die Integration in die durch intelligente Messsysteme bereitgestellte Infrastruktur. In der Zusammenfassung werden die Inhalte im energiewirtschaftlichen Kontext verortet und ein Ausblick auf die weitere Umsetzung gegeben

Infrasound as a cue for seabird navigation

Seabirds are amongst the most mobile of all animal species and spend large amounts of their lives at sea. They cross vast areas of ocean that appear superficially featureless, and our understanding of the mechanisms that they use for navigation remains incomplete, especially in terms of available cues. In particular, several large-scale navigational tasks, such as homing across thousands of kilometers to breeding sites, are not fully explained by visual, olfactory or magnetic stimuli. Low-frequency inaudible sound, i.e., infrasound, is ubiquitous in the marine environment. The spatio-temporal consistency of some components of the infrasonic wavefield, and the sensitivity of certain bird species to infrasonic stimuli, suggests that infrasound may provide additional cues for seabirds to navigate, but this remains untested. Here, we propose a framework to explore the importance of infrasound for navigation. We present key concepts regarding the physics of infrasound and review the physiological mechanisms through which infrasound may be detected and used. Next, we propose three hypotheses detailing how seabirds could use information provided by different infrasound sources for navigation as an acoustic beacon, landmark, or gradient. Finally, we reflect on strengths and limitations of our proposed hypotheses, and discuss several directions for future work. In particular, we suggest that hypotheses may be best tested by combining conceptual models of navigation with empirical data on seabird movements and in-situ infrasound measurements

Frequency Clustering in Spontaneous Otoacoustic Emissions from a Lizard's Ear

Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAEs) are indicators of an active process in the inner ear that enhances the sensitivity and frequency selectivity of hearing. They are particularly regular and robust in certain lizards, so these animals are good model organisms for studying how SOAEs are generated. We show that the published properties of SOAEs in the bobtail lizard are wholly consistent with a mathematical model in which active oscillators, with exponentially varying characteristic frequencies, are coupled together in a chain by visco-elastic elements. Physically, each oscillator corresponds to a small group of hair cells, covered by a tectorial sallet, so our theoretical analysis directly links SOAEs to the micromechanics of active hair bundles

ETCLIP – The Challenge of the European Carbon Market: Emission Trading, Carbon Leakage and Instruments to Stabilise the CO2 Price. Price Volatility in Carbon Markets: Why it Matters and How it Can be Managed

The environmental effectiveness of an emission trading system depends on the one hand on the stringency of the cap and on the other hand on the scheme's ability to provide stable regulatory conditions and incentives for investment in emission saving technologies. However, in case of highly volatile CO2 prices no clear investment signal is provided and hence firms' decision making and planning is rendered difficult. Analyses of price developments in the European Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) indicate that in Phase 1 (2005-2007) fluctuations were mainly caused by incomplete information at the beginning, adjustments after the emergence of verified emission data and regulatory mechanisms. At the beginning of Phase 2 (2008-2012) in contrast a decline in carbon prices was observed as firms sold surplus allowances resulting from lower emissions due to economic recession. For Phase 3 of the EU ETS (2013-2020) hence the introduction of price stabilisation measures has been suggested by several member countries during the discussions on the EU energy and climate package. Various instruments can be integrated in a cap-and-trade scheme in order to reduce price volatility such as provisions for banking and borrowing, the approval of offsets for compliance purposes and hybrid systems, i.e., combinations of price and quantity mechanisms. Given the long-term nature of climate policy, the related uncertainties regarding technological change and political frameworks, and given a rising speculation in carbon markets, such price stabilisation approaches should be considered for the future design of emission trading schemes.

On the shedding of impaled droplets: The role of transient intervening layers.

Maintaining the non-wetting property of textured hydrophobic surfaces is directly related to the preservation of an intervening fluid layer (gaseous or immiscible liquid) between the droplet and substrate; once displaced, it cannot be recovered spontaneously as the fully penetrated Wenzel wetting state is energetically favorable. Here, we identify pathways for the lifting of droplets from the surface texture, enabling a complete Wenzel-to-Cassie-Baxter wetting state transition. This is accomplished by the hemiwicking of a transient (limited lifetime due to evaporation) low surface tension (LST) liquid, which is capable of self-assembling as an intervening underlayer, lifting the droplet from its impaled state and facilitating a skating-like behavior. In the skating phase, a critical substrate tilting angle is identified, up to which underlayer and droplet remain coupled exhibiting a pseudo-Cassie-Baxter state. For greater titling angles, the droplet, driven by inertia, detaches itself from the liquid intervening layer and transitions to a traditional Cassie-Baxter wetting state, thereby accelerating and leaving the underlayer behind. A model is also presented that elucidates the mechanism of mobility recovery. Ultimately, this work provides a better understanding of multiphase mass transfer of immiscible LST liquid-water mixtures with respect to establishing facile methods towards retaining intervening layers

On the shedding of impaled droplets: The role of transient intervening layers

Maintaining the non-wetting property of textured hydrophobic surfaces is directly related to the preservation of an intervening fluid layer (gaseous or immiscible liquid) between the droplet and substrate; once displaced, it cannot be recovered spontaneously as the fully penetrated Wenzel wetting state is energetically favorable. Here, we identify pathways for the “lifting” of droplets from the surface texture, enabling a complete Wenzel-to-Cassie-Baxter wetting state transition. This is accomplished by the hemiwicking of a transient (limited lifetime due to evaporation) low surface tension (LST) liquid, which is capable of self-assembling as an intervening underlayer, lifting the droplet from its impaled state and facilitating a skating-like behavior. In the skating phase, a critical substrate tilting angle is identified, up to which underlayer and droplet remain coupled exhibiting a pseudo-Cassie-Baxter state. For greater titling angles, the droplet, driven by inertia, detaches itself from the liquid intervening layer and transitions to a traditional Cassie-Baxter wetting state, thereby accelerating and leaving the underlayer behind. A model is also presented that elucidates the mechanism of mobility recovery. Ultimately, this work provides a better understanding of multiphase mass transfer of immiscible LST liquid-water mixtures with respect to establishing facile methods towards retaining intervening layers.ISSN:2045-232