The information platform energyscope.ch on the energy transition scenarios

Switzerland like many countries plans to undertake an energy transition and the government proposes different paths for 2035 and 2050 to achieve it. However the authors of this paper felt the need for a better information of the public on the energy matters. A special web-based information platform was introduced in 2015. The platform includes a calculator, a book providing 100 questions and answers on energy and a MOOC for citizens with more than 20 short lectures on the various aspects of the Swiss energy transition. Unlike other interactive energy scenario calculators our calculator offers the possibility to show monthly averages of demand and supply, highlighting the strong seasonal patterns occurring when considering most countries from the central to the northern parts of Europe. The calculator indicates the effects of the user’s choices on 6 main indicators (final energy, electricity balance, % of renewables, CO2 emissions, long term wastes and costs) While the underlying model has already been published, this paper intends to discuss the reactions following the introduction of such a platform. Reactions from minority, but very active groups, including climate change deniers, ultra-pronuclear and anti-wind power opponents have been noticed and highlight the very emotional nature of the topic. Scenarios for 2050 are presented and discussed as well as examples of a new scenario that can be made using the calculator. All main parameters such a socioeconomic, heating and cogeneration technologies, transportation, electricity generation can be adapted

Demand-Side Flexibility for Energy Transitions: Ensuring the Competitive Development of Demand Response Options

This report provides an overview of the current debates about demand response development, focusing primarily on Europe, with some comparisons to the United States. ‘Demand response’ includes strategies that involve end-use customers adapting or altering their electricity demand in response to grid conditions or market prices. It is viewed as a multi-purpose power-system resource that enhances the energy system’s capacity to cope with increasing demand, rising costs of conventional transmission and distribution grids, and increasing share of intermittent renewable energy. The report reviews risks, opportunities, potential, consumer engagement market design, and policy and regulation

Kidney amino acid transport

Near complete reabsorption of filtered amino acids is a main specialized transport function of the kidney proximal tubule. This evolutionary conserved task is carried out by a subset of luminal and basolateral transporters that together form the transcellular amino acid transport machinery similar to that of small intestine. A number of other amino acid transporters expressed in the basolateral membrane of proximal kidney tubule cells subserve either specialized metabolic functions, such as the production of ammonium, or are part of the cellular housekeeping equipment. A new finding is that the luminal Na+-dependent neutral amino acid transporters of the SLC6 family require an associated protein for their surface expression as shown for the Hartnup transporter B0AT1 (SLC6A19) and suggested for the l-proline transporter SIT1 (IMINOB, SLC6A20) and for B0AT3 (XT2, SLC6A18). This accessory subunit called collectrin (TMEM27) is homologous to the transmembrane anchor region of the renin-angiotensin system enzyme ACE2 that we have shown to function in small intestine as associated subunit of the luminal SLC6 transporters B0AT1 and SIT1. Some mutations of B0AT1 differentially interact with these accessory subunits, providing an explanation for differential intestinal phenotypes among Hartnup patients. The basolateral efflux of numerous amino acids from kidney tubular cells is mediated by heteromeric amino acid transporters that function as obligatory exchangers. Thus, other transporters within the same membrane need to mediate the net efflux of exchange substrates, controlling thereby the net basolateral amino transport and thus the intracellular amino acid concentratio

Demand-Side Flexibility for Energy Transitions: Policy Recommendations for Developing Demand Response

As a follow-up to IRGC's report on demand-side flexibility for energy transitions, this Policy Brief highlights that increasing flexibility in power systems is needed to accommodate higher shares of non-controllable and intermittent renewable generation, and that this requires changes to the market design and regulatory framework, to facilitate the development and deployment of appropriate technologies and market-based instruments (e.g. taxes and subsidies). The Policy Brief focuses on demand response (DR), since it is emerging as a powerful demand-side energy management option to deliver flexibility. Specifically, DR can contribute to reducing overall electricity consumption or shifting demand in such a way that consumption better follows generation, particularly intermittent wind and solar

Exergy assessment of future energy transition scenarios with application to Switzerland

Using an exergy based indicator is highly desirable to compare future national energy strategies. A new web- based information platform called energyscope.ch, informing the general public on the Swiss energy transition was presented at ECOS2016. This paper presents a new extension of the approach that we plan to call exergyscope.ch, clearly stating exergy and distinguishing between primary exergy, final exergy and useful exergy. This allows for a graphical interpretation of the exergy efficiency of each conversion step from primary exergy to final exergy, all the way to useful exergy. Different future energy scenarios for Switzerland are compared to illustrate the gain in exergy efficiency between different strategy choices. Monthly variations in exergy supply are considered by using an average reference temperature for each month. The analysis assesses the useful exergy requirement for all energy services including building and transportation. For heating and cooling services, the proposed framework is coherent with the introduction, reported earlier, of an exergy efficiency indicator in a Law on energy. Accordingly the global exergy efficiency for providing a given useful exergy service can be calculated by multiplying the individual exergy efficiency of each conversion steps. The useful industrial thermal exergy is introduced in a simplified manner with an average service temperature

Analyse des barrières à l'assainissement énergétique des bâtiments dans le canton de Vaud

Les propriétaires immobiliers du canton de Vaud font très peu appel aux subventions du Programme Bâtiments qui encourage les rénovations énergétiques. L’étude «Analyse des barrières à l'assainissement énergétique des bâtiments dans le canton de Vaud» mandatée par le Canton de Vaud a permis d’identifier certaines causes et propose des mesures pour remédier à cet état de fait. Parmi les facteurs pouvant expliquer le phénomène, l’étude a identifié des facteurs juridiques comme l’application du droit bail dans le canton, structurels comme le faible taux de maisons individuelles occupées en résidence principale, économiques et financiers comme l’absence de soutien cantonal aux audits énergétiques ou encore certains facteurs socio-culturels

Coming Full Circle Why Social and Institutional Dimensions Matter for the Circular Economy

In light of the environmental consequences of linear production and consumption processes, the circular economy (CE) is gaining momentum as a concept and practice, promoting closed material cycles by focusing on multiple strategies from material recycling to product reuse, as well as rethinking production and consumption chains toward increased resource efficiency. Yet, by considering mainly cost-effective opportunities within the realm of economic competitiveness, it stops short of grappling with the institutional and social predispositions necessary for societal transitions to a CE. The distinction of noncompetitive and not-for-profit activities remains to be addressed, along with other societal questions relating to labor conditions, wealth distribution, and governance systems. In this article, we recall some underlying biophysical aspects to explain the limits to current CE approaches. We examine the CE from a biophysical and social perspective to show that the concept lacks the social and institutional dimensions to address the current material and energy throughput in the economy. We show that reconsidering labor is essential to tackling the large share of dissipated material and energy flows that cannot be recovered economically. Institutional conditions have an essential role to play in setting the rules that differentiate profitable from nonprofitable activities. In this context, the social and solidarity economy, with its focus on equity with respect to labor and governance, provides an instructive and practical example that defies the constraints related to current institutional conditions and economic efficiency. We show how insights from the principles of the social and solidarity economy can contribute to the development of a CE by further defining who bears the costs of economic activities

A quasi-Delphi study on technological barriers to the uptake of hydrogen as a fuel for transport applications : production, storage and fuel cell drivetrain considerations

The introduction of hydrogen in transport, particularly using fuel cell vehicles, faces a number of technical and non-technical hurdles. However, their relative importance is unclear, as are the levels of concern accorded them within the expert community conducting research and development within this area. To understand what issues are considered by experts working in the field to have significant potential to slow down or prevent the introduction of hydrogen technology in transport, a study was undertaken, primarily during 2007. Three key technology areas within hydrogen transport were selected – hydrogen storage, fuel cell drivetrains, and small-scale hydrogen production – and interviews with selected experts conducted. Forty-nine experts from 34 organisations within the fuel cell, automotive, industrial gas and other related industries participated, in addition to some key academic and government figures. The survey was conducted in China, Japan, North America and Europe, and analysed using conventional mathematical techniques to provide weighted and averaged rankings of issues viewed as important by the experts. It became clear both from the interviews and the subsequent analysis that while a primary concern in China was fundamental technical performance, in the other regions cost and policy were rated more highly. Although a few individual experts identified possible technical showstoppers, the overall message was that pre-commercial hydrogen fuel cell vehicles could realistically be on the road in tens of thousands within 5 years, and that full commercialisation could take place within 10–15 years, without the need for radical technical breakthroughs. Perhaps surprisingly, the performance of hydrogen storage technologies was not viewed as a showstopper, though cost was seen as a significant challenge. Overall, however, coherent policy development was more frequently identified as a major issue to address

Untapped seasonal storage potential in Swiss hydropower schemes

• What is the seasonal storage capacity in Swiss hydropower dams? • How could the untapped potential be captured? • What is the impact on the Swiss energy transition