Review of seasonal heat storage in large basins: water tanks and gravel-water pits

In order to respond to climatic change, many efforts have been made to reduce harmful gas emissions. According to energy policies, an important goal is the implementation of renewable energy sources, as well as electrical and oil combustion savings through energy conservation. This paper focuses on an extensive review of the technologies developed, so far, for central solar heating systems employing seasonal sensible water storage in artificial large scale basins. Among technologies developed since the late 70s, the use of underground spaces as an energy storage medium - Underground Thermal Energy Storage (UTES) - has been investigated and closely observed in experimental plants in many countries, most of them, as part of government programmes. These projects attempt to optimise technical and economic aspects within an international knowledge exchange; as a result, UTES is becoming a reliable option to save energy through energy conservation. Other alternatives to UTES include large water tanks and gravel-water pits, also called man-made or artificial aquifers. This implies developing this technology by construction and leaving natural aquifers untouched. The present article reviews most studies and results obtained in this particular area to show the technical and economical feasibility for each system and specifics problems occurred during construction and operation. Advantages and disadvantages are pointed out to compare both alternatives. The projects discussed have been carried out mainly in European states with some references to other countries

Single-layer graphene modulates neuronal communication and augments membrane ion currents

The use of graphenebased materials to engineer sophisticated biosensing interfaces that can adapt to the central nervous system requires a detailed understanding of how such materials behave in a biological context. Graphene's peculiar properties can cause various cellular changes, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we show that singlelayer graphene increases neuronal firing by altering membraneassociated functions in cultured cells. Graphene tunes the distribution of extracellular ions at the interface with neurons, a key regulator of neuronal excitability. The resulting biophysical changes in the membrane include stronger potassium ion currents, with a shift in the fraction of neuronal firing phenotypes from adapting to tonically firing. By using experimental and theoretical approaches, we hypothesize that the graphene\u2013ion interactions that are maximized when singlelayer graphene is deposited on electrically insulating substrates are crucial to these effects

Deutsch-Israelische Zusammenarbeit in der Energieforschung Abschlussbericht

SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: F95B967+a / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekBundesministerium fuer Forschung und Technologie (BMFT), Bonn (Germany)DEGerman

IEA Implementing Agreement: energy conservation through energy storage. Annex 5 Full scale latent heat storage installations. Final report

The objective of this Task is to prove the technical and economic feasibility of latent heat storage technology in field applications. Installation and monitoring will be performed in various operational and field test systems. Information shall be obtained from which the performance, energy saving and economic value of the storage systems can be determined. Task V comprises both latent heat and cool storage technologies. Recently, ice storage systems have been installed in many plants in Europe, too. By using cool stores, the electric peak power demand of chillers in air-conditioning systems of commercial buildings can be reduced substantially. Cool stores are an effective means for energy demand side management. For this reason they are being favoured by electric utilities, too. (orig./UA)SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: F93B400 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekInternational Energy Agency, 75 - Paris (France); Bundesministerium fuer Forschung und Technologie (BMFT), Bonn (Germany)DEGerman