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According to a report by the World Bank published in April 2018, air pollution in Tehran incurs annual loss of billions of dollars and over 4,000 premature deaths from exposure to fine particles ambient concentrations. Particulate matter (PM), one of the primary pollutants from diesel exhaust, is associated with many different types of respiratory and cardiovascular effects, and premature mortality. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the cost effectiveness of retrofitting existing city diesel bus fleet in Tehran with best available Diesel particulate filters (DPFs) available in the market. The report provides an updated assessment on the diesel retrofit solutions for an ageing diesel city bus fleet in Tehran based on publicly available information. The economic benefits of DPF installed in buses are evaluated with standard techniques of environmental economics, and technological assumptions about how much PM emissions can be avoided and control costs. The report highlights a number of national, regional and local examples of effective emission control program that exhibit best practices from around the world. Also, it presents important features and global experiences of successful retrofit program on heavy-duty diesel vehicles (HDDVs), including benefit-cost analysis from several case studies to help Tehran city leadership in taking informed economic and policy decisions. Finally, it recommends a set of critical actions to the government both at the national and local level for implementation of an effective emission control programs.

This study investigates the perspectives of researchers and business professionals on the Physical Internet (PI) and its application in city logistics. Through a two-part survey involving 83 participants from Europe and the United States, the research explores the perceived key elements for PI's successful implementation, its potential to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of urban logistics operations, and the main challenges to its adoption. The findings reveal a general optimism about PI's potential, with technology, collaboration, and infrastructure identified as critical success factors. However, concerns regarding costs, resistance to change, and technological limitations are also highlighted. The study concludes with suggestions for increasing awareness and fostering cross-sector collaboration to realize PI's full potential in transforming urban logistics. Presented at the 10th International Physical Internet Conference (IPIC 2024) 29-31 May 2024, Savannah, GA USA

Les réseaux de distribution d'électricité sont depuis plusieurs années au cœur des évolutions énergétiques et environnementales qui touchent nos sociétés. Les clients délaissent progressivement les chauffe-eaux instantanés à gaz pour les ballons d'eau chaude électriques, ainsi que les voitures diesel pour les véhicules électriques. D'autre part, la production d'énergie renouvelable commence à constituer une part importante du mix énergétique mais ne concorde pas nécessairement avec la consommation électrique des usagers. Elle peut donc être refoulée vers le reste du réseau de distribution, voire le réseau de transport. Toutes ces évolutions doivent être maîtrisées pour éviter un renforcement conséquent des infrastructures du réseau, et limiter les répercussions économiques et environnementales de la transition énergétique. Dans ce sens, ces travaux de thèse portent sur la supervision énergétique des réseaux de distribution HTA, en particulier de type rural et péri-urbain, afin d'y encourager la consommation locale des énergies renouvelables et d'optimiser le coût d'acheminement d'énergie pour les gestionnaires du réseau. Les algorithmes développés visent principalement à piloter les charges tels que les véhicules électriques et les ballons d'eau chaude sanitaire raccordés au réseau de distribution. Le système de supervision agit au niveau d'un poste source HTB/HTA et utilise les mesures ainsi que les prévisions de production et de consommation d'énergie afin de piloter les différentes charges disponibles. La stratégie proposée prend aussi en compte les contraintes électriques qui peuvent apparaître sur le réseau à travers une approche de co-simulation entre les logiciels Matlab/Simulink, où la supervision est implémentée, et DIgSILENT PowerFactory, où le réseau de distribution est finement modélisé. Les consignes de supervision sont donc testées et adaptées en temps-réel avant d'être envoyées aux différents utilisateurs. Enfin, le pilotage des producteurs décentralisés est aussi utilisé comme levier supplémentaire pour résoudre une partie des contraintes électriques. Electricity distribution grids have been for several years at the heart of energy and environmental challenges affecting our societies. Customers are increasingly switching from instantaneous gas water heaters to electric hot water tanks, and from diesel cars to electric vehicles. On the other hand, renewable energy production is starting to become an important part of the energy mix but does not necessarily match the electricity consumption of the users. It can therefore be transmitted to the rest of the distribution network, and eventually the transmission network. All these evolutions must be controlled to avoid significant reinforcements of the network infrastructures and limit the economic and environmental impacts of the energy transition. In this context, this thesis focuses on the energy supervision of medium voltage distribution grids, particularly rural and suburban types, to promote the local consumption of renewable energy and optimize energy transmission costs for network operators. The developed algorithms mainly aim to control loads such as electric vehicles and electric water heaters. The supervision system acts at the level of an HV/MV substation and uses real-time production and consumption measurements as well as day-ahead forecasts to control the various available loads. The proposed strategy also takes into account the electrical constraints that can appear on the network through a co-simulation approach between Matlab/Simulink software, where the supervision strategy is implemented, and DIgSILENT PowerFactory, where the distribution network is finely modeled. The supervision's power set-points are therefore tested and adapted in real-time before being sent to the various customers. Finally, the control of decentralized producers is used as an additional lever to solve a part of the detected electrical constraints.

AbstractAccelerated warming and melting of Arctic sea-ice has been associated with significant increases in phytoplankton productivity in recent years. Here, utilizing a multiproxy approach, we reconstruct an annually resolved record of Labrador Sea productivity related to sea-ice variability in Labrador, Canada that extends well into the Little Ice Age (LIA; 1646 AD). Barium-to-calcium ratios (Ba/Ca) and carbon isotopes (δ13C) measured in long-lived coralline algae demonstrate significant correlations to both observational and proxy records of sea-ice variability, and show persistent patterns of co-variability broadly consistent with the timing and phasing of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). Results indicate reduced productivity in the Subarctic Northwest Atlantic associated with AMO cool phases during the LIA, followed by a step-wise increase from 1910 to present levels—unprecedented in the last 363 years. Increasing phytoplankton productivity is expected to fundamentally alter marine ecosystems as warming and freshening is projected to intensify over the coming century.

Scenarios to stabilize global climate and meet international climate agreements require rapid reductions in human carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, often augmented by substantial carbon dioxide removal (CDR) from the atmosphere. While some ocean-based removal techniques show potential promise as part of a broader CDR and decarbonization portfolio, no marine approach is ready yet for deployment at scale because of gaps in both scientific and engineering knowledge. Marine CDR spans a wide range of biotic and abiotic methods, with both common and technique-specific limitations. Further targeted research is needed on CDR efficacy, permanence, and additionality as well as on robust validation methods—measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification—that are essential to demonstrate the safe removal and long-term storage of CO2. Engineering studies are needed on constraints including scalability, costs, resource inputs, energy demands, and technical readiness. Research on possible co-benefits, ocean acidification effects, environmental and social impacts, and governance is also required.

Women’s empowerment is a powerful engine for personal and societal economic development and well-being. Nevertheless, gender biases in physical infrastructure investments lead to negative consequences for women and children that reduce their empowerment and limit their economic benefits. Public fixed-route buses, such as those in Washington, DC, illustrate how physical transportation infrastructure has innate gender biases. These young residents likely depend on strollers to travel longer than a few blocks. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) runs the public transportation system in Washington, DC. In 2021, 7% of DC’s 720,000 residents were under five. WMATA maintains a fleet of approximately 1595 buses, 95% of which banned the onboarding of open strollers until recently. This ban directly limited the use of Metro buses for the caregivers of young children, primarily women. It also reduced the opportunities for these caregivers to participate in DC’s economic life. In neighborhoods dependent on buses for essential mobility, the stroller ban reduces employment, healthcare, social service, educational, and recreational offerings beyond walkable distances. This paper examines the publicly available discussions and actions that led to the updated stroller policy and offers opportunities for improving caregiver transit access in Washington, DC, and, by extension, other cities worldwide.

With the extensive promotion of new energy vehicles, the number of electric vehicles (EVs) in China has increased rapidly. Electric vehicles are densely parked in garages, which means parking garages contain a large amount of idle energy storage resources. How to make this idle energy storage in garages participate in power system dispatch and evaluate the network loss and system carbon emissions considering electric vehicle energy storage has become an important research topic. The uncertainty around parking habits for electric vehicles causes it to be difficult to predict compared with the traditional energy storage system. Therefore, it is necessary to study its influence on the synergistic effect of loss reduction and carbon reduction as energy storage access. The benefits of new energy power generation output growth, energy waste reduction, and carbon emission reduction brought by loss reduction measures can be well reflected in the loss reduction index system of a power system in a low-carbon scenario. In this paper, a large amount of parking information in a certain area is collected, and the approximate parking habits of all vehicles in the simulated garage are obtained by the Monte Carlo method. Then, the load aggregation model is established, which is incorporated into the power system as an energy storage model. The synergy of loss reduction and carbon reduction is considered in this paper and comprehensively optimizes the strategy of integrating electric vehicles into the power system from the perspectives of electricity and carbon. In the scenarios of carbon flow calculation and network loss calculation, the YALMIP and CPLEX of MATLAB are applied, with various constraints input for simulation, so that the benefit evaluation method of carbon reduction and loss reduction under a coordinated transportation–electricity network is obtained.

Thailand needs to avoid the high-carbon growth path of many developed countries and, instead, take a low-carbon growth path. A green low-carbon growth path is in Thailand's own interest as it can simultaneously tackle local environmental degradation, global climate change, and energy security challenges. It can also position Thailand as a regional leader in green, sustainable growth. Green low-carbon growth in Thailand could focus on the following four pillars: 1) maintaining rapid economic growth while adjusting the country's economic structure toward a less energy, and carbon-intensive economy; 2) achieving greater urbanization while shifting toward green livable low-carbon cities; 3) meeting the huge thirst for energy while transforming the energy sector toward one of high energy efficiency and widespread diffusion of low-carbon technologies; and 4) improving quality of life while shifting toward a resource-efficient and sustainable lifestyle.