Exploring the role of servitization to overcome barriers for innovative energy efficiency technologies – the case of public LED street lighting in German municipalities

In this paper we analyse the case for public application of LED street lighting. Drawing from the energy services literature and transaction cost economics, we compare modes of lighting governance for modernisation. We argue that servitization can accelerate the commercialisation and diffusion of end-use energy demand reduction (EUED) technologies in the public sector if third party energy service companies (ESCo) overcome technological, institutional and economic barriers that accompany the introduction of such technologies resulting in transaction costs. This can only succeed with a supportive policy framework and an environment conducive towards the dissemination of specific technological and commercial knowledge required for the diffusion process

The governance of innovation diffusion – a socio-technical analysis of energy policy

This paper describes a dynamic price mechanism to coordinate electric power generation from micro Combined Heat and Power (micro-CHP) systems in a network of households. It is assumed that the households are prosumers, i.e. both producers and consumers of electricity. The control is done on household level in a completely distributed manner. Avoiding a centralized controller both eases computation complexity and preserves communication structure in the network. Local information is used to decide to turn on or off the micro-CHP, but through price signals between the prosumers the network as a whole operates in a cooperative way

Transaction cost analysis of digital innovation governance in the UK energy market

Energy markets are undergoing significant changes. Legacy systems developed around inflexible, centralized and monodirectional supplies are being replaced by flexible, distributed and bidirectional supply-and-demand systems. Where legacy systems are less entrenched, such as in decentralized renewable energy, flexibility and energy service markets, the pace of change is faster, and new technologies, business models and ideas are more likely to be tested and applied. This conceptual paper analyzes the changing governance of decentralized renewable energy, flexibility and energy services in the United Kingdom from a transaction cost perspective. Particular emphasis is placed on the impact of potentially disruptive innovations such as distributed ledgers, emerging digital technologies and big data analytics on the one hand, and the need for value creation from just and affordable decarbonization on the other. In doing so, this paper sheds light on some contradictions between current energy governance and the requirements for a decarbonized, decentralized, digitalized and democratized energy system. The paper concludes that energy governance is increasingly shaped by decentralization and digitalization, which can either facilitate or inhibit value creation through democratization (social value) and decarbonization (environmental value)

Funktion der m-AAA-Protease bei der Regulation mitochondrialer Translation

Proteolytische Prozesse spielen bei der Qualitätskontrolle mitochondrialer Proteine und der Biogenese von Mitochondrien eine wichtige Rolle. So führt eine Inaktivierung der ATP-abhängigen m-AAA-Protease in verschiedenen Organismen zu einer gestörten Atmung, einer veränderten mitochondrialen Morphologie und zur axonalen Degeneration bei hereditären spastischen Paraplegien des Menschen. Um den molekularen Mechanismus dieser Defekte zu verstehen, sollten in dieser Arbeit Substratproteine, die möglicherweise regulatorische Funktionen ausüben, identifiziert werden. In einem ersten Ansatz sollte mit Hilfe von zweidimensionalen Gelanalysen eine mögliche Akkumulation von potentiellen Substratproteinen in m-AAA-Protease-defizienten Hefe-Mitochondrien nachgewiesen werden. Es war mit dieser Methode jedoch nicht möglich, kurzlebige Proteine zu identifizieren. Vielmehr zeigten diese Analysen eine hohe Stabilität des mitochondrialen Proteoms auf. Unter Verwendung einer proteolytisch inaktiven Variante der m-AAA-Protease sollten in einem zweiten Ansatz mögliche interagierende Substrate über eine Affinitätschromatographie gereinigt werden. Mit diesem Ansatz konnte MrpL32, eine Komponente der großen Untereinheit mitochondrialer Ribosomen, als ein Substrat der m-AAA-Protease identifiziert werden. MrpL32 wird in Abhängigkeit von der m-AAA-Protease sowohl am N- als auch am C-Terminus prozessiert. Die N-terminale Reifung führt dazu, dass MrpL32 in direkter Nachbarschaft zur inneren Mitochondrienmembran in fast vollständig assemblierte Ribosomen integriert werden kann. Die Translation der mitochondrialkodierten Proteine erfolgt entsprechend in direkter Nähe zur inneren Mitochondrienmembran. Der Ausfall der Prozessierung von MrpL32 in Abwesenheit der m-AAA-Protease führt zum Verlust der Atmungskompetenz. Da die Expression der reifen Form von MrpL32 in m-AAA-Protease-defizienten Zellen den Atmungsdefekt komplementieren kann, stellt die Reifung von MrpL32 offenbar eine zentrale Aufgabe der m-AAA-Protease während der mito¬chondrialen Biogenese dar. Dabei handelt es sich um einen konservierten Prozess. Der Verlust von Paraplegin, einer Untereinheit der murinen m-AAA-Protease, führt in Mitochondrien der Maus sowohl zu einem MrpL32-Prozessierungs- als auch zu einem Translationsdefekt. Die Verbindung zwischen der m-AAA-Protease und der Assemblierung der Ribosomen bzw. der mitochondrialen Translation könnte helfen, die zellulären Grundlagen der hereditären spastischen Paraplegie beim Menschen zu verstehen

Founding of NAACP in San Antonio 1918: A Call to Activism

Enter the Progressive era a time of social activism and political reform, an era aimed at finding a cure for industrialization and urbanization nationally. There were also societal issues that needed to be resolved, issues of governmental corruption, government machines and their overseers, women’s suffrage, child labor laws, the practice of Eugenics, and safer food and medicine for all citizens. Although the reformers of the era were trying to create a “Great America,” the Progressive era encouraged discriminatory rules; rules which aided in the re-emergence of the KKK and lay the foundation for the Immigration Act of 1917. Policies that allowed strong segregation and racial persecution. There was an overwhelming need for a voice of equality, citizenship, and protection for African Americans. Organized in 1918, the San Antonio Branch of the NAACP has extensively been a spearhead of the fight for justice, and a forerunner in the call to activism. As I discuss the importance of the founding of the branch in San Antonio, I will also discuss the impact on the people it served, and the effects of a child born under its umbrella

Compassion Informed Mindfulness For Teachers: A Case Study

The professional duties of teaching can be stressful. The social pressures many teachers face beyond their workday (finances, family, career, peers, etc.) may exacerbate their feelings of work stress. Mindfulness-based practices in education show evidence they can alleviate teachers’ stress. The purpose of this study was to explore the framework of compassion as informed mindfulness in the professional lives of educators. Compassion Informed Mindfulness for Teachers (CIMT) was an original 6-week mindfulness-based intervention protocol (90 min. per week) addressing compassion, self-compassion, common humanity, mindfulness, and resilience exclusively for educators. Analysis of data through an ethnographic case study, supported by triangulated mixed-methodological design, suggests CIMT corroborates research supporting the efficacy of mindfulness in education. Pre-CIMT and post-CIMT analysis suggests case participants learned how to meditate, learned skills addressing self-criticism and greater self-compassion, were less over-identified with stressors, reported greater mental spaciousness and awareness, and reported less reactivity to stress. This research supports the continued and widespread use of mindfulness-based interventions in school environments. Instructing teachers and other school personnel the skills of mindfully reframing difficult interactions could have broad implications for school communities. Further recommendations for action include: instructing prominent stakeholders the pedagogical value of mindfulness and compassion; promoting CIMT as a staff developmental protocol in schools and districts; and promoting compassion and mindfulness programs in higher education, especially leadership and credentialing programs for educators. CIMT is positioned as a protocol to research and a framework to live by

‘Pro-savers’: the role of community in energy demand reduction

Community energy provides a space for end-users and inter- est groups to engage with energy consumption and production at the grassroots level. Often emerging out of community-led renewable energy projects, community initiatives have the ca- pacity to address issues such as rising energy prices, fuel pov- erty and the desire of independence from incumbent energy utilities. The publication of the Community Energy Strategy in January 2014 in particular marks the first attempt to insti- tutionalise community energy within the UK energy system. Using localised and tacit knowledge, community energy groups can be ideally placed to deal with energy consumption at the point of demand. This opens up opportunities for consumers to engage not only in energy generation but increasingly also in energy demand-management, thus moving from consumption over ‘prosumption’ to ‘pro-saving’. Our three case studies pro- vide an overview of three community energy approaches that exhibit the emergence of ‘prosumption’ and the shift towards ‘pro-saving’, a concept which includes the notion of demand reduction as well as the development of innovative approaches combining distributed energy with demand reduction and de- mand side response. The paper draws these examples together in order to provide an outlook for increasingly decentralised energy generation and demand-management practices along with some concrete policy recommendations

Post-Subsidy Solar PV Business Models to Tackle Fuel Poverty in Multi-Occupancy Social Housing

Feed-in Tariffs created a vibrant business ecosystem for the deployment of decentralised renewable energy technologies while constituting a regressive tax and increasing inequality. Business model innovation spurred by their withdrawal is providing valuable lessons for progressive policy design. Using the case study of solar PV deployment on multi-occupancy social housing, this paper reveals policy, business and organisational challenges that need to be overcome to address fuel poverty and reduce inequality. Suitable ‘export’ and ‘local’ business models were identified through a workshop and subsequently evaluated through qualitative thematic interview analysis. The ‘local’ model compares favourably in terms of production costs and benefits for fuel poor tenants but unfavourably in terms of transaction costs. Both models are considered equally susceptible to changes in policy. Their success hinges upon third party intermediaries, peer-to-peer learning and a supportive policy environment. This paper concludes with a policy recommendation to ensure that energy justice lies at the heart of the UK’s transition to net-zero carbon through the fair distribution of costs and benefits by including specific provisions to protect low-income groups

Polynucleotide Phosphorylase from a Cyanobacterium (Synechococcus sp.): Subunit Composition and Properties

Polynucleotide phosphorylase from cells of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. has been purified 1400-fold by an improved procedure. The enzyme purified to homogeneity and lacking nuclease, phosphatase and protease contaminations reveals a single band of ADP polymerizing activity upon polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under nondenaturing conditions which corresponds to a molecular mass of about 275 000. The enzyme migrates as a single polypeptide of Mr≈70 000 when subjected to gel electrophoresis in the presence of dodecyl sulfate indicating a composition of α4 for the native enzyme molecule. The isoelectric point of the purified enzyme as determined by isoelectric focusing was found to be at 4.2±0.1. Polynucleotide phosphorylase of Synechococcus is preferentially activated by Mg2+; Kcl has a significant stimulatory effect. © 1982, Walter de Gruyter. All rights reserved