1,634 research outputs found
Sustainable Product-Service System Design applied to Distributed Renewable Energy fostering the goal of sustainable energy for all
Energy is a fundamental imperative to the quest for sustainable development. The current challenge is to provide sustainable energy solutions for all, whilst concomitantly increasing the access to energy and improving its efficiency. Within this perspective, design Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) need to be able to equip design students with a broad knowledge base, as well as effective methods and tools so that a new generation of designers (and design educators) can play an active role in the development and diffusion of sustainable energy systems. This is the ambition of the Learning Network on Sustainable Energy Systems (LeNSes) project - an African-European multi-polar network for curricula development on Product-Service System (S.PSS) Design for Sustainability applied to Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE). The research working hypothesis of the LeNSes project is that S.PSS could be effectively applied to DRE, representing a promising opportunity to couple several benefits: economical, environmental, and socio-ethical ones
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An African-European network of design universities fostering the goal of sustainable energy for all
This paper presents the intermediate results of the Learning Network on Sustainable Energy Systems (LeNSes) an African-European multi-polar network for curriculum development on Design for Sustainability (DfS) focused on Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) and Sustainable Product-Service Systems (S.PSS). The paper discusses the convergence between the S.PSS and DRE models as promising approaches to provide sustainable energy solutions for all by increasing its access and improving efficiency in use. Currently, the project partners are collaboratively developing new curricula focused on these combined approaches. The paper examines the S.PSS and DRE models and how they can be used to develop and implement sustainable energy solutions for all within the African context. The research hypothesis is that S.PSS could be applied to DRE to offer a range of benefits such as: economic, environmental and socio-ethical. The paper describes some of the project activities that includes: development of a new modular and adaptable package of learning resources focused on DRE and S.PSS for the design discipline; implementation of pilot courses at African Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) targeted at undergraduate and graduate students, practitioners and companies; and development of an open web platform for distributed production and transfer of knowledge and know-how in this area. The innovation of the project described in the paper is twofold, firstly by developing unique curricula based on design for sustainability focused on S.PSS and DRE applied to the African contexts, and secondly by delivering it through an open platform for free and in copy-left. This will equip design students in African universities with a broad knowledge base, as well as effective methods and tools with which to play an active role in the development and diffusion of sustainable energy systems
Product-Service Systems Development for Sustainability. A New Understanding
Design for Sustainabilit
Circular material flow in the intensive care unit-environmental effects and identification of hotspots
PurposeThe healthcare sector is responsible for 6–7% of CO2 emissions. The intensive care unit (ICU) contributes to these CO2 emissions and a shift from a linear system to a circular system is needed. The aim of our research was to perform a material flow analysis (MFA) in an academic ICU. Secondary aims were to obtain information and numbers on mass, carbon footprint, agricultural land occupation and water usage and to determine so-called “environmental hotspots” in the ICU.MethodsA material flow analysis was performed over the year 2019, followed by an environmental footprint analysis of materials and environmental hotspot identification.Results2839 patients were admitted to our ICU in 2019. The average length of stay was 4.6 days. Our MFA showed a material mass inflow of 247,000 kg in 2019 for intensive care, of which 50,000 kg is incinerated as (hazardous) hospital waste. The environmental impact per patient resulted in 17 kg of mass, 12 kg CO2 eq, 300 L of water usage and 4 m2 of agricultural land occupation per day. Five hotspots were identified: non-sterile gloves, isolation gowns, bed liners, surgical masks and syringes (including packaging).ConclusionThis is the first material flow analysis that identified environmental risks and its magnitude in the intensive care unit
Gauge links for transverse momentum dependent correlators at tree-level
In this paper we discuss the incorporation of gauge links in hadronic matrix
elements that describe the soft hadronic physics in high energy scattering
processes. In this description the matrix elements appear in soft correlators
and they contain non-local combinations of quark and gluon fields. In our
description we go beyond the collinear approach in which case also the
dependence on transverse momenta of partons is taken into consideration. The
non-locality in the transverse direction leads to a complex gauge link
structure for the full process, in which color is entangled, even at
tree-level. We show that at tree-level in a 1-parton unintegrated (1PU)
situation, in which only the transverse momentum of one of the initial state
hadrons is relevant, one can get a factorized expression involving transverse
momentum dependent (TMD) distribution functions. We point out problems at the
level of two initial state hadrons, even for relatively simple processes such
as Drell-Yan scattering.Comment: 25 pages, corrected typos and updated reference
Designing Sustainable Energy for All. Sustainable Product-Service System Design Applied to Distributed Renewable Energy
Access to energy is one of the greatest challenges for many people living in low-income and developing contexts, as around 1.4 billion people lack access to electricity. Distributed Renewable Energy systems (DRE) are considered a promising approach to address this challenge and provide energy access to all. However, even if promising, the implementation of DRE systems is not always straightforward. The book analyses, discusses and classifies the promising Sustainable Product-Service System (S.PSS) business models to deliver Distributed Renewable Energy systems in an effective, efficient and sustainable way. Its message is supported with cases studies and examples, discussing the economic, environmental and socioethical benefits as well as its limitations and barriers to its implementation. An innovative design approach is proposed and a set of design tools are supplied, enabling readers to create and develop Sustainable Product-Service System (S.PSS) solutions to deliver Distributed Renewable Energy systems. Practical applications of the book’s design approach and tools by companies and practitioners are discussed and the book will be of interest to readers in design, industry, governmental institution, NGOs as well as researchers
Bessel-Weighted Asymmetries in Semi Inclusive Deep Inelastic Scattering
The concept of weighted asymmetries is revisited for semi-inclusive deep
inelastic scattering. We consider the cross section in Fourier space, conjugate
to the outgoing hadron's transverse momentum, where convolutions of transverse
momentum dependent parton distribution functions and fragmentation functions
become simple products. Individual asymmetric terms in the cross section can be
projected out by means of a generalized set of weights involving Bessel
functions. Advantages of employing these Bessel weights are that they suppress
(divergent) contributions from high transverse momentum and that soft factors
cancel in (Bessel-) weighted asymmetries. Also, the resulting compact
expressions immediately connect to previous work on evolution equations for
transverse momentum dependent parton distribution and fragmentation functions
and to quantities accessible in lattice QCD. Bessel weighted asymmetries are
thus model independent observables that augment the description and our
understanding of correlations of spin and momentum in nucleon structure.Comment: Matches published version, JHEP style, 36 pages and 2 figures, minor
correction
Nonthermal Emission from Star-Forming Galaxies
The detections of high-energy gamma-ray emission from the nearby starburst
galaxies M82 & NGC253, and other local group galaxies, broaden our knowledge of
star-driven nonthermal processes and phenomena in non-AGN star-forming
galaxies. We review basic aspects of the related processes and their modeling
in starburst galaxies. Since these processes involve both energetic electrons
and protons accelerated by SN shocks, their respective radiative yields can be
used to explore the SN-particle-radiation connection. Specifically, the
relation between SN activity, energetic particles, and their radiative yields,
is assessed through respective measures of the particle energy density in
several star-forming galaxies. The deduced energy densities range from O(0.1)
eV/cm^3 in very quiet environments to O(100) eV/cm^3 in regions with very high
star-formation rates.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Astrophysics and Space
Science Proceeding
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