The Diffusion of Renewable Energy Technology: An Analytical Framework and Key Issues for Research

During the last two decades there has been a great deal of research on renewable energy technologies. It is commonly thought that very little has come out of this research in terms of commercially interesting technologies. The first objective of this paper is to demonstrate that this perception is no longer entirely correct; in the 1990s there has been a double-digit growth rate in the market for some renewable energy technologies. The consequent alteration in the energy system, is, however, a slow, painful and highly uncertain process. This process, we argue, needs to be studied using an innovation system perspective where the focus is on networks, institutions and firms’ perceptions, competencies and strategies. The second objective of the paper is therefore to present the bare bones of such an analytical framework. A third objective is to identify a set of key issues related to the speed and direction of that transformation process which needs to be studied further

Resource Management in Diffserv On DemAnd (RODA) PHR

The purpose of this draft is to present the Resource Management in Diffserv (RMD) On DemAnd (RODA) Per Hop Reservation (PHR) protocol. The RODA PHR protocol is used on a per-hop basis in a Differentiated Services (Diffserv) domain and extends the Diffserv Per Hop Behavior (PHB) with resource provisioning and control

The effects of matter density uncertainties on neutrino oscillations in the Earth

We compare three different methods to evaluate uncertainties in the Earth's matter density profile, which are relevant to long baseline experiments, such as neutrino factories.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure. Talk given at the NuFact'02 Workshop, London, 1-6 July, 200

Byproduct-based concentrates in Swedish dairy cow diets - evaluation of environmental impact and feed costs

This study compared use of byproduct-based concentrates and a control feed based on cereal grains and soybean meal in dairy cow diets and evaluated effects on the environment and feed costs. To achieve a nutrient-dense feed ration to dairy cows byproducts are commonly combined with cereal grains and protein-rich feeds such as soybean meal. The present analysis was based on experimental data for high-yielding dairy cows showing that feeding concentrate based on byproducts gives similar milk yield as feeding concentrate based on cereal grains and soybean meal. Evaluation of the different concentrates using life cycle assessment showed that using byproducts required less cropland (-35%), reduced carbon footprint (-20%) and lowered eutrophication potential (-20%) compared with the control. Energy use was higher (+30%), due to the need for drying wet byproducts. Feed costs per kg energy-corrected milk did not differ between the feeds, which is beneficial from a sustainability perspective

Proposal to Search for Heavy Neutral Leptons at the SPS

A new fixed-target experiment at the CERN SPS accelerator is proposed that will use decays of charm mesons to search for Heavy Neutral Leptons (HNLs), which are right-handed partners of the Standard Model neutrinos. The existence of such particles is strongly motivated by theory, as they can simultaneously explain the baryon asymmetry of the Universe, account for the pattern of neutrino masses and oscillations and provide a Dark Matter candidate. Cosmological constraints on the properties of HNLs now indicate that the majority of the interesting parameter space for such particles was beyond the reach of the previous searches at the PS191, BEBC, CHARM, CCFR and NuTeV experiments. For HNLs with mass below 2 GeV, the proposed experiment will improve on the sensitivity of previous searches by four orders of magnitude and will cover a major fraction of the parameter space favoured by theoretical models. The experiment requires a 400 GeV proton beam from the SPS with a total of 2x10^20 protons on target, achievable within five years of data taking. The proposed detector will reconstruct exclusive HNL decays and measure the HNL mass. The apparatus is based on existing technologies and consists of a target, a hadron absorber, a muon shield, a decay volume and two magnetic spectrometers, each of which has a 0.5 Tm magnet, a calorimeter and a muon detector. The detector has a total length of about 100 m with a 5 m diameter. The complete experimental set-up could be accommodated in CERN's North Area. The discovery of a HNL would have a great impact on our understanding of nature and open a new area for future research

Neurobiological insight into hyperbaric hyperoxia

Aim: Hyperbaric hyperoxia (HBO) is known to modulate aerobic metabolism, vasoreactivity and blood flow in the brain. Nevertheless, mechanisms underlying its therapeutic effects, especially in traumatic brain injury (TBI) and stroke patients, are debated. The present study aimed at investigating regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) distribution during acute HBO exposure. Methods: Regional cerebral blood flow response was investigated in seven healthy subjects exposed to either normobaric normoxia or HBO with ambient pressure/inspired oxygen pressure of 101/21 and 250/250 kPa respectively. After 40 min at the desired pressure, they were injected a perfusion tracer and subsequently underwent brain single photon emission computed tomography. rCBF distribution changes in the whole brain were assessed by Statistical Parametric Mapping. Results: During HBO, an increased relative rCBF distribution was found in sensory-motor, premotor, visual and posterior cingulate cortices as well as in superior frontal gyrus, middle/inferior temporal and angular gyrus and cerebellum, mainly in the dominant hemisphere. During normobaric normoxia, a higher 99mTc-HMPAO distribution in the right insula and subcortical structures as well as in bilateral hippocampi and anterior cingulated cortex was found. Conclusions: The present study firstly confirmed the rCBF distribution increase during HBO in sensory-motor and visual cortices, and it showed for the first time a higher perfusion tracer distribution in areas encompassed in dorsal attention system and in default mode network. These findings unfold both the externally directed cognition performance improvement related to the HBO and the internally directed cognition states during resting-state conditions, suggesting possible beneficial effects in TBI and stroke patients

Highly efficient planar perovskite solar cells through band alignment engineering

The simplification of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), by replacing the mesoporous electron selective layer (ESL) with a planar one, is advantageous for large-scale manufacturing. PSCs with a planar TiO2 ESL have been demonstrated, but these exhibit unstabilized power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). Herein we show that planar PSCs using TiO2 are inherently limited due to conduction band misalignment and demonstrate, with a variety of characterization techniques, for the first time that SnO2 achieves a barrier-free energetic configuration, obtaining almost hysteresis-free PCEs of over 18% with record high voltages of up to 1.19 V