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Project: GCOS Earth Heat Inventory - A study under the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) concerted international effort to update the Earth heat inventory (EHI), and presents an updated international assessment of ocean warming estimates, and new and updated estimates of heat gain in the atmosphere, cryosphere and land over the period from 1960 to present. Summary: The file “GCOS_EHI_1960-2020_Earth_Heat_Inventory_Ocean_Heat_Content_data.nc” contains a consistent long-term Earth system heat inventory over the period 1960-2020. Human-induced atmospheric composition changes cause a radiative imbalance at the top-of-atmosphere which is driving global warming. Understanding the heat gain of the Earth system from this accumulated heat – and particularly how much and where the heat is distributed in the Earth system - is fundamental to understanding how this affects warming oceans, atmosphere and land, rising temperatures and sea level, and loss of grounded and floating ice, which are fundamental concerns for society. This dataset is based on a study under the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) concerted international effort to update the Earth heat inventory published in von Schuckmann et al. (2020), and presents an updated international assessment of ocean warming estimates, and new and updated estimates of heat gain in the atmosphere, cryosphere and land over the period 1960-2020. The dataset also contains estimates for global ocean heat content over 1960-2020 for different depth layers, i.e., 0-300m, 0-700m, 700-2000m, 0-2000m, 2000-bottom, which are described in von Schuckmann et al. (2022). This version includes an update of heat storage of global ocean heat content, where one additional product (Li et al., 2022) had been included to the initial estimate. The Earth heat inventory had been updated accordingly, considering also the update for continental heat content (Cuesta-Valero et al., 2023).

Dynamics of societal material stocks such as buildings and infrastructures and their spatial patterns drive surging resource use and emissions. Building up and maintaining stocks requires large amounts of resources; currently stock-building materials amount to almost 60% of all materials used by humanity. Buildings, infrastructures and machinery shape social practices of production and consumption, thereby creating path dependencies for future resource use. They constitute the physical basis of the spatial organization of most socio-economic activities, for example as mobility networks, urbanization and settlement patterns and various other infrastructures. This dataset features a detailed map of material stocks for the whole of Germany on a 10m grid based on high resolution Earth Observation data (Sentinel-1 + Sentinel-2), crowd-sourced geodata (OSM) and material intensity factors. Temporal extent The map is representative for ca. 2018. Data format Per federal state, the data come in tiles of 30x30km (see shapefile). The projection is EPSG:3035. The images are compressed GeoTiff files (*.tif). There is a mosaic in GDAL Virtual format (*.vrt), which can readily be opened in most Geographic Information Systems. The dataset features area and mass for different street types area and mass for different rail types area and mass for other infrastructure area, volume and mass for different building types Masses are reported as total values, and per material category. Units area in m² height in m volume in m³ mass in t for infrastructure and buildings Further information For further information, please see the publication or contact Helmut Haberl (helmut.haberl@boku.ac.at). A web-visualization of this dataset is available here. Visit our website to learn more about our project MAT_STOCKS - Understanding the Role of Material Stock Patterns for the Transformation to a Sustainable Society. Publication Haberl, H., Wiedenhofer, D., Schug, F., Frantz, D., Virág, D., Plutzar, C., Gruhler, K., Lederer, J., Schiller, G. , Fishman, T., Lanau, M., Gattringer, A., Kemper, T., Liu, G., Tanikawa, H., van der Linden, S., Hostert, P. (accepted): High-resolution maps of material stocks in buildings and infrastructures in Austria and Germany. Environmental Science & Technology Funding This research was primarly funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (MAT_STOCKS, grant agreement No 741950). ML and GL acknowledge funding by the Independent Research Fund Denmark (CityWeight, 6111-00555B), ML thanks the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC; project Multi-Scale, Circular Economic Potential of Non-Residential Building Scale, EP/S029273/1), JL acknowledges funding by the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF), project ESR17-067, TF acknowledges the Israel Science Foundation grant no. 2706/19.

Purpose. In modern conditions of energy consumption growth and a rapid increase in energy prices the actual problem is the development and implementation of energy efficiency programs and resource-saving conversion in to a source to provide the needs of industry and municipal power. The paper aims to solve the urgent problem of energy saving and efficient use of fuel-energy ones and heat supply system optimization on the basis of Uman National University of Horticulture (UNUH). Methodology. The work investigated the process of heating and hot water supply in the course of 2007-2015 years. Implementation of current problems of energy saving is grounded on the scientific-practical and efficient assurance of fuel and energy usage. At the same time energy-saving technologies are viewed as a priority direction of the energy sector development, reduction of man-induced impact on the environment and as a way of improving the competitiveness of the national economy. Findings. Statistical data acquisition and analyzing of gas flow and outside air temperature for nine years was carried out. On the basis of this analysis, the problem was identified and specific targets for its solutions were set. Originality. Scientific novelty lies in solving the problem of energy saving and efficient use of fuel resources in Ukraine through the use of a systematic approach, the methodology development of efficient use of different fuels and optimization of local heating operation, applying contemporary automation and control systems. Firstly it was in detail analyzed and conducted the comprehensive assessment of various factors influence on energy conservation. It takes into account the human factor, professionalism and responsibility of the operators of boilers and their superiors, as well as the relevant control services. Practical value. For UNUH campus hybrid use of solid fuel and gas boilers was carried out. Decentralization of the university heating system has been conducted through the restoration of 350 individual heating systems in residential buildings, remote departments and campus dormitories. The conclusions propose the list of activities upon the real economy of fuel and energy resources, and measures to overcome the economic and political crisis in the country.

As it is widely accepted, cycling tends to produce health benefits and reduce air pollution. Policymakers encourage people to use bikes by improving cycling facilities as well as developing bicycle-sharing systems (BSS). It is increasingly interesting to investigate how environmental factors influence the cycling behavior of users of bicycle-sharing systems, as users of bicycle-sharing systems tend to be different from regular cyclists. Although earlier studies have examined effects of safety and convenience on the cycling behavior of regular riders, they rarely explored effects of safety and convenience on the cycling behavior of BSS riders. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to investigate how road safety, convenience, and public safety affect the cycling behavior of BSS riders by controlling for other environmental factors. Specifically, in this study, we investigated the impacts of environmental characteristics, including population density, employment density, land use mix, accessibility to point-of-interests (schools, shops, parks and gyms), road infrastructure, public transit accessibility, road safety, convenience, and public safety on the usage of BSS. Additionally, for a more accurate measure of public transit accessibility, road safety, convenience, and public safety, we used spatiotemporally varying measurements instead of spatially varying measurements, which have been widely used in earlier studies. We conducted an empirical investigation in Chicago with cycling data from a BSS called Divvy. In this study, we particularly attempted to answer the following questions: (1) how traffic accidents and congestion influence the usage of BSS; (2) how violent crime influences the usage of BSS; and (3) how public transit accessibility influences the usage of BSS. Moreover, we tried to offer implications for policies aiming to increase the usage of BSS or for the site selection of new docking stations. Empirical results demonstrate that density of bicycle lanes, public transit accessibility, and public safety influence the usage of BSS, which provides answers for our research questions. Empirical results also suggest policy implications that improving bicycle facilities and reducing the rate of violent crime rates tend to increase the usage of BSS. Moreover, some environmental factors could be considered in selecting a site for a new docking station.

The paper represents the analysis, which has helped to establish the usage of gas hydrate technologies in the methane conversion. This gas could be obtained in different ways. Possibilities and sources for the gas obtaining have been demonstrated. Use of other environmentally friendly sources to support operation in such systems in terms of joint energy complex has been considered. The necessary kinetic connections to provide operational sustainability of all the constituents have been given. The approach helps evaluate quantitatively the priority of its physicochemical transformations to obtain gas hydrates artificially. It is possible to transport methane at considerable distances when it is solidified. Actually, in this case there is no necessity to build costly compressor stations and pipelines for its transportation to consumers. The approach is extremely important for mining regions as it helps prolong the operating period and working out of the abandoned and off-balance coal reserves. In this case, it is proposed to apply special gasification technologies tending to maximum methane recovery. The proposed solutions give the possibility to define the trends of our further research. They will be highlighted in the following authors’ studies.

Purpose.The railways of Ukraine have been operated the locomotives, which are both morally and physically obsolete. Therefore, to ensure the competitiveness of rail transport it is necessary to update the locomotive fleet, and first of all the fleet of electric locomotives, because electrified railways provide the greater part of passenger and freight traffic. In this connection it is of special importance to determine the optimum parameters of the nominal mode of electric rolling stock. The purpose of the work is to examine the features of solution of these problems with respect to electric locomotives. Methodology. Assuming that the limit values of traction force are determined by the conditions of wheel-rail grip, then the power of the nominal mode can be represented as the product of rated speed, estimated friction coefficient, train weight and the coefficients that represent the ratio of the estimated (starting) value of traction force to value of traction force the nominal mode and the ratio of the mass of the locomotive to the train weight. Since the mass of the train is not a constant value, there is always a surplus power of the locomotive fleet required for the mastering of a predetermined volume of transportations. Reduced overcapacity of the locomotive fleet can be achieved by introduction of the locomotives of different power, designed for driving trains of different weight that will result in increased completeness of the power use but also in difficulty in selecting of locomotives for trains in operation. The paper shows the method of calculating the optimum values of power, speed and traction force of the nominal mode. It presents the mathematical model of the relationship of traction rate, excessive capacity and power of the traction unit. Findings.It is proved that the power of the traction unit, the total fleet power requirement and the excess of power in absolute units are proportional to the speed of the nominal mode. To reduce the total power of the fleet when selecting the optimum power of the traction unit it is necessary to take into consideration the speed of the nominal mode, defined by the condition of minimization of power consumption for traction, i.e. the smallest value that enables the implementation of the given running speed and the powerredundancy level required for operation. Originality. It consists in the development of a unified algorithm for determining the optimal parameter values of the nominal mode of passenger, freight and freight-passenger electric locomotives. Practical value. The authors determined the minimization costs during production, acquisition and maintenance of electric locomotives, whose nominal mode parameters are designed according to the above procedure.

This article addresses the problem that fluctuations in the torque of an internal combustion engine (ICE) lead to additional energy losses, as it causes fluctuations in the speed and kinetic energy of the car. These losses increase as the frequency of oscillations of the torque of the internal combustion engine approaches the frequency of free (natural oscillations) of the running gear of the car in the longitudinal direction. If there is an elastic connection between the traction force and the movement of the car, the movement of the latter can be represented as complex. At the same time, the portable movement is uniform, and the relative movement is oscillatory. This article presents the results of the study of these losses for cars with mechanical and combined electromechanical drive wheels. Analytical expressions are obtained, which allows to take into account additional energy losses including the tangential rigidity of the tire and the rigidity of the suspension in the longitudinal direction. When using a combined electromechanical drive of the drive wheels as well as in the case of a mechanical transmission of a car, the resonance is dangerous. But with the increase in the share of torque kem on the wheel generated by the electric motor, the relative additional energy losses for the movement of the car are reduced.

This paper presents a life cycle assessment (LCA) of photovoltaic (PV) solar modules which have been integrated into electric vehicle applications, also called vehicle integrated photovoltaics (VIPV). The LCA was executed by means of GaBi LCA software with Ecoinvent v2.2 as a background database, with a focus on the global warming potential (GWP). A light utility electric vehicle (LUV) named StreetScooter Work L, with a PV array of 930 Wp, was analyzed for the location of Cologne, Germany. An operation time of 8 years and an average shadowing factor of 30% were assumed. The functional unit of this LCA is 1 kWh of generated PV electricity on-board, for which an emission factor of 0.357 kg CO2-eq/kWh was calculated, whereas the average grid emissions would be 0.435 kg CO2-eq/kWh. Hence, charging by PV power hence causes lower emissions than charging an EV by the grid. The study further shows how changes in the shadowing factor, operation time, and other aspects affect vehicle’s emissions. The ecological benefit of charging by PV modules as compared to grid charging is negated when the shadowing factor exceeds 40% and hence exceeds emissions of 0.435 kg CO2-eq/kWh. However, if the operation time of a vehicle with integrated PV is prolonged to 12 years, emissions of the functional unit go down to 0.221 kg CO2-eq/kWh. It is relevant to point out that the outcomes of the LCA study strongly depend on the location of use of the vehicle, the annual irradiation, and the carbon footprint of the grid on that location.