Increasing the competitiveness of e-vehicles in Europe

Introduction This paper is concerned with incentives for the take-up and use of e-vehicles that are in place in different European countries. Especially, it analyses Norway and Austria, in order to establish and understand factors influencing the competitiveness of e-vehicles and potential market penetration. Norway currently enjoys the world’s largest take-up of electric cars per capita, achieved through an extensive package of incentives. Austria has used the concept of Model Regions with government support to stimulate market introduction. So far, this has been a less effective approach. Methods The paper brings in and combine analyses of national travel survey data and web surveys to e-vehicle owners and non-e-vehicle owners. It considers socio-economic factors including convenience and time savings due to e-vehicle policies. Results Analysing national travel surveys, we find a considerable potential for e-vehicles based on people’s everyday travel. Social networks play a crucial role in spreading knowledge about this relatively new technology. The take-up of battery electric vehicles correlates relatively closely with the user value of e-vehicle incentives. The fiscal effects of e-vehicle incentives are non-trivial – especially in the longer run. The cost of lifting a new technology into the market by means of government incentives is significant. We point to the importance of a strategy for the gradual phasing out of e-vehicle policies in countries with large incentives when the cost of vehicles goes down and the technology improves. Conclusions Successful market uptake and expansion of electric vehicles requires massive, expensive and combined policies. Central government backing, long term commitment and market-oriented incentives help reduce the perceived risk for market players like car importers and allow the e-vehicle market to thrive. For countries with low e-vehicle market shares the potential is promising. Battery electric vehicles are already a real option for the majority of peoples’ everyday trips and trip chains. However, their relative disadvantages must be compensated by means of incentives – at least in the initial market launch phase. Diffusion mechanisms play a sizeable role. The lack of knowledge in the population at large must be addressed

Allocation of tasks, arrangement of working hours and commuting in different Norwegian households

Weekly working hours and commuting distance can be seen as indicators of equality/inequality between spouses. Traditionally, it is women who adjust their career more readily to meeting family obligations. In an era with a focus on equality between the genders in regard to both education and paid work, it is obvious to think of equality regarding working hours as well, and of distance to and from work. In this study we utilized data from the Norwegian Travel Survey of 2009 to examine the results of adjustments made in weekly working hours and commuting distance in families in which both husband and wife are in paid work. These indicate that the family situation is significant, and that, among other things, children in a family does not lead to any reduction in men’s working hours or commuting distance. Living in the periphery of large cities is disadvantageous for women who want to work full time, while living within a city tends to be to their advantageous in this regard. The results from the analysis of commuting distance show that women do not commute as far as men in comparable groups (working hours, family type, education, place of living, income, access to a car and occupation) and that the policy of regional enlargement is far from gender neutral. So long as it is women who adjust their labour market participation – both temporal and spatial – an enlargement of the regional/geographical labour market resulting potentially in longer commuting distances will primarily favour those who have the possibility to travel irrespectively of family situation, i.e. men, not women.acceptedVersio

Energioverføring mellom histoner og DNA : ESR-studier av radikaldannelse i komplekskrystaller av glysin og cytosin

DNA-heliksen i cellekjernen er under store deler av cellesyklus kveilet opp og pakket sammen til en mer kompakt struktur ved hjelp av spesielle proteiner, histoner. Det er av interesse å undersøke muligheten for energioverføring mellom DNA-molekylet og histonene. Det er derfor gjort undersøkelser av radikaldannelse i enkrystaller av isolert N-formylglysin, samt i komplekskrystaller av cytosin og N-formylglysin. Dette er ett av svært få aminosyre-nukleinsyrekomponent komplekser hvis krystallstruktur er rapportert. Krystallene ble bestrålt med ioniserende stråling (røntgen) og undersøkt ved romtemperatur ved hjelp av elektron spinn resonans (ESR) spektroskopi, samt avledede teknikker (ENDOR og FSE). I tillegg ble det også gjort Density Functional Theory (DFT) molekylorbital-beregninger for å identifisere radikalstrukturen til det dominerende strålingsinduserte radikalet som stabiliseres ved romtemperatur, både i isolert N-formylglysin og i N-formylglysin-delen av kompleks-krystallen. Dette radikalet er trolig et hydrogenabstraksjonsradikal som er vanlig å observere i glysin, glysinderivater og andre aminosyrer ved romtemperatur. I komplekskrystallen dannes i tillegg små mengder av kjente cytosinradikaler, hydrogenaddisjons-radikalene 5-yl og 6-yl. Simuleringer viser at også en bred singlett bidrar til spektrene. Denne singletten tilhører trolig cytosinmolekylet. Det har ikke vært mulig å entydig bestemme den relative radikalmengden for de fire radikalene i komplekskrystallen. Simuleringer antyder likevel at singletten bidrar så mye til spektrene at det totalt sett dannes mer av cytosinradikalene enn av glysinradikalet. Dette gir muligheter for at det kan ha funnet sted en overføring av elektroner mellom aminosyren og DNA-basen. En slik overføring av spinn-funksjon fra DNA-bundne histoner til DNA-molekylet kan bety at histonene ikke gir noen signifikant beskyttelse av DNA-molekylet mot ioniserende stråling

Allocation of tasks, arrangement of working hours and commuting in different Norwegian households

Weekly working hours and commuting distance can be seen as indicators of equality/inequality between spouses. Traditionally, it is women who adjust their career more readily to meeting family obligations. In an era with a focus on equality between the genders in regard to both education and paid work, it is obvious to think of equality regarding working hours as well, and of distance to and from work. In this study we utilized data from the Norwegian Travel Survey of 2009 to examine the results of adjustments made in weekly working hours and commuting distance in families in which both husband and wife are in paid work. These indicate that the family situation is significant, and that, among other things, children in a family does not lead to any reduction in men’s working hours or commuting distance. Living in the periphery of large cities is disadvantageous for women who want to work full time, while living within a city tends to be to their advantageous in this regard. The results from the analysis of commuting distance show that women do not commute as far as men in comparable groups (working hours, family type, education, place of living, income, access to a car and occupation) and that the policy of regional enlargement is far from gender neutral. So long as it is women who adjust their labour market participation – both temporal and spatial – an enlargement of the regional/geographical labour market resulting potentially in longer commuting distances will primarily favour those who have the possibility to travel irrespectively of family situation, i.e. men, not women

Mobility and welfare of the older people \u96 development, travel needs and policy formation

Et stort flertall av eldre sier at transport er helt sentralt for deres velferd og livskvalitet. Likevel er det mange eldre i Norge i dag som har et utilfredsstillende transporttilbud. Ikke alle har mulighet til eller ønsker å kjøre bil. Mange bor slik til at kollektivtransport ikke er et alternativ. Holdeplassen er ofte for langt unna og tilbudet lite tilpasset. TT-ordningen er relativt dårlig kjent, og et flertall av dem som har TT-kort synes ikke at det dekker reisebehovet. Med en økende gruppe av eldre i samfunnet er det viktig å tilrettelegge transporttilbudet for dem. Dette medvirker til at flere eldre kan være selvhjulpne og bo lenger i eget hjem, og bidrar til bedret velferd og livskvalitet.A majority of older people state that access to transport is essential to their welfare and quality of life. Nevertheless many older people in Norway today are facing an unsatisfactory transport supply. Not all of them want to or are able to use a car, and many live in areas with low public transport quality. The knowledge of the Special Transport Service is low, and only one third of those who use it state that their transport need is met. With an increasing share of older people it is important to develop a transport policy adjusted to this change. It will mean greater independence for older people and help them to stay longer in their homes, contributing to improved welfare and quality of life

Electron Transfer in Amino Acid·Nucleic Acid Base Complexes: EPR, ENDOR, and DFT Study of X-Irradiated N-formylglycine·Cytosine Complex Crystals

Single crystals of the 1:1 complex of the nucleic acid base cytosine and the dipeptide N-formylglycine (C· NFG) have been irradiated at 10 and 273 K to doses of about 70 kGy and studied at temperatures between 10 and 293 K using 24 GHz (K-band) and 9.5 GHz (X-band) electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR), and ENDOR-induced EPR (EIE) spectroscopy. In this complex, the cytosine base is hydrogen bonded at positions N3 and N4 to the carboxylic group of the dipeptide, and the N3 position of cytosine has become protonated by the carboxylic group. At 10 K, two major radicals were characterized and identified. One of these (R1) is ascribed to the decarboxylated N-formylglycine one-electron oxidized species. The other (R2) is the N3-protonated cytosine one-electron reduced species. A third minority species (R3) appears to be a different conformation or protonation state of the one-electron reduced cytosine radical. Upon warming, the R2 and R3 radicals decay at about 100 K, and at 295 K, the only cytosine-centered radicals present are the C5 and C6 H-addition radicals (R5, R6). The R1 radical decays at about 150 K, and a glycine backbone radical (R4) grows in slowly. Thus, in the complex, a complete separation of initial oxidation and reduction events occurs, with oxidation localized at the dipeptide moiety, whereas reduction occurs at the nucleic acid base moiety. DFT calculations indicate that this separation is driven by large differences in electron affinities and ionization potentials between the two constituents of the complex. Once the initial oxidation and reduction products are trapped, no further electron transfer between the two constituents of the complex takes place