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IntroductionTransforming consumption and lifestyles toward sustainability cannot be achieved by individual behavior change alone but requires changes in the structures in which this behavior is embedded. However, “structure” is a blurry concept and scholars use it in a multitude of ways. What often remains implicit in studies on structural phenomena are different types of structures, how they may or may not restrict the agency of individuals in particular ways, and how these restrictions support sustainable consumption patterns at the societal level. To move beyond the current state of research, this article systematizes political, economic, technological, and societal structural factors the literature identifies as impactful regarding the sustainability of consumption and lifestyles compatible with the targets of the Paris Agreement.MethodsWe draw on a systematic review of existing research and use empirical observations to develop conceptual terms that revisit the structure-agency dilemma and offer ways going forward about (un)sustainable consumption.ResultsWe do so based on the material or ideational, as well as shallow or deep nature of these factors. Thereby, the article throws light on the deep and opaque material and ideational structural factors lying underneath and shaping the sustainability impact of the more visible, shallow structural factors typically considered in public debates about sustainability governance.DiscussionThe article, thus, highlights the need to consider and address these deep structural factors for any effective pursuit of transformation.

Buildings play an important role in the energy consumption of a household. There are different types of buildings and different standards, which are for each of them. Hence, the decentralized energy system has different configurations for each building standards and buildings built up according to each standards and have necessity to be controlled in a different approach. Using a case study of four different standards—Sonnenhaus, KfW55, Passive house and WSchVO95 of single family houses (SFH) of same geometry and boundary conditions the control constraints are showcased. The houses are selected such that high renewable energy self-production, low energy demand house, low net energy house and an old 1995 constructed house are compared. The differences in the system design, their control strategy and how it affects the system sizing or renewable fraction is explained in this paper. The same SFH according to different standards is simulated with TRNSYS and the energy system (including solar thermal collectors, PV, gas boiler, fuel cell CHP, thermal storage and electrical storage) for each house is optimized and compared. Thus, the paper showcases the importance of the building, not only geometry but also building physics and energy efficiency. Finally, the necessity for intelligent control system for a complicated building system with multiple energy source is justified and the requirements of such control systems are enlisted.

The hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) process is limited for fuel applications by the high nitrogen content in the bio-crude in case of the protein-containing biomass. In this study, carbohydrates and proteins are selected as model compounds to perform HTL, investigating the fate of nitrogen and nitrogen-containing heterocycles in the bio-crude. Special attention was paid to the influence of Maillard Reactions on this conversion. In addition, sewage sludge as “real” feedstock is subjected to the same experimental conditions, to compare the formed products with those produced from the model compounds. The results from the model compounds show that higher bio-crude yields (15-40 wt.%) with higher nitrogen content (10-40 wt.%) are produced via HTL of model mixtures, which are increased with reaction temperature. In case of real feedstock, lower bio-crude yields with higher nitrogen content are found from HTL of lipid-extracted sewage sludge under highest temperature. An investigation of the N-containing products formed was performed to derive a scheme of reaction pathways based on the key chemical compounds. Proceedings of the 26th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 14-17 May 2018, Copenhagen, Denmark, pp. 1158-1162

AbstractIntroductionHospitals are vital components of a country’s critical infrastructure, essential for maintaining resilient public services. Emergency planning for hospitals is crucial to ensure their functionality under special circumstances. The impact of climate change and seasonal variations in the utilization of hospital services further complicate emergency planning. Therefore, the knowledge of perennial disaster patterns could help strengthening the resilience of health care facilities.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the Emergency Events Database EM-DAT for disasters in Central Europe between January 2000 and December 2023 (defined as Germany and bordering countries). Primary endpoint was the average month of occurrence of disasters across the overall study period.ResultsOut of 474 events, 83% were associated with a natural cause and only 80 events (=17%) were technological. More than 50 % of the technological disasters were categorized in the transport accident subgroup. Technological disasters were spread equally over the whole year. The vast majority of natural disasters (N=394) were due to storm (n=178, 45%), flood (n=101, 26%) and extreme temperatures (n=93, 24%) with peaks occurring during summer and winter months, while less disasters were registered during autumn and especially spring seasons.DiscussionLooking at the three most common disaster types, extreme temperatures, floods, and storms are clearly dominating and cause over 90% of the natural disasters in central Europe. An overlap of hospital admissions due to seasonal effects and catastrophic events, mainly triggered by natural disasters in the vulnerable periods may lead to a partial collapse of the health care system. To deal with such a variety of different and potentially simultaneous hazards using an “all hazards” approach could be promising and often has been seen as the most effective strategy for hospital emergency planning.

Abstract Background Ghana’s agriculture sector has contributed significantly to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the past decades even though there has been persistent decline of about 12.8% in the last seven years. It decreased from 31.8% in 2009 to merely 19% as of September 2015, a period of seven years. In spite of these trends, sustainable agriculture has been observed to be a game changer in agricultural development and growth globally. Sustainable agriculture is partly dependent on the attitude of the present agriculture students who represent the potential officers to impart sustainable agriculture knowledge to farmers. It is therefore relevant to assess the perception of students toward the concept of sustainable agriculture on climate change to inform policy decisions and interventions. Methods To assess the perception of students’ toward sustainable agriculture, this study sampled 120 final year undergraduate students’ in the School of Agriculture at the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon. The study used a well-structured questionnaire to solicit students’ perception for sustainable agriculture, its’ adoption barriers and perceived strategies to address the barriers in Ghana. Results Findings indicated that students’ perception for sustainable agriculture is positive. Majority of the students (78%) were of the view that sustainable agricultural practices would help protect the environment and our natural resources, therefore could mitigate adverse effects of climate change on agricultural activities. Conclusions Students ranked perceived barriers to sustainable agriculture adoption as; economic costs, lack of knowledge and land tenure constraints. Strategic ways to address the barriers were identified as farmer-to-farmer education, provision of financial incentives, developing training and partnership programs, and participatory learning.

Abstract This paper presents a case study using calibrated numerical models to evaluate the thermal impacts and long-term sustainability of intensive geothermal use on a neighborhood scale. The subsurface heat transport model is configured with site-specific parameters and validated against monitoring data from a typical urban living quarter in Germany. Based on the simulated ground temperature profile, the heat pump performance is approximated. In addition, the effects of groundwater flow on the thermal interaction and economical operation of the shallow geothermal systems are examined. The results indicate limited thermal impacts as the groundwater temperature will maintain above 3.2 °C and that the area undergone severe temperature drop is less than 1% size of the neighborhood. Since the estimated seasonal coefficients of performance (SCOPs) are at least 3.8, the sustainability of the shallow geothermal applications is confirmed economically. Nevertheless, financial disadvantages up to 92 € year - 1 are anticipated due to gradual efficiency losses of the heat pump, which are meant for the owners of downstream installations. In addition, uncertainties in groundwater flow rate are also analyzed. For the negligible advection case, simulation results suggest that some systems can only operate sustainably for eight years. Conclusions are drawn regarding the general feasibility of neighborhood-scale shallow geothermal utilization and the importance of hydrogeological site investigations during the planning phase of such projects.

The German Energiewende is an ambitious project, but the expansion of renewables needed to achieve its goals is expensive. Now, research shows that consumers would accept higher levies to finance renewables if exemption policies were abolished, forcing industries to pay their fair share.

Individuals’ sensitivity to climate hazards is a central component of their vulnerability to climate change. In this paper, we introduce and outline the utility of a new intraindividual variability construct, affective sensitivity to air pollution (ASAP)–defined as the extent to which an individual’s affective states fluctuate in accordance with daily changes in air quality. As such, ASAP pushes beyond examination of differences in individuals’ exposures to air pollution to examination of differences in individuals’ sensitivities to air pollution. Building on known associations between air pollution exposure and adverse mental health outcomes, we empirically illustrate how application of Bayesian multilevel models to intensive repeated measures data obtained in an experience sampling study (N = 150) over one year can be used to examine whether and how individuals’ daily affective states fluctuate with the daily concentrations of outdoor air pollution in their county. Results indicate construct viability, as we found substantial interindividual differences in ASAP for both affect arousal and affect valence. This suggests that repeated measures of individuals’ day-to-day affect provides a new way of measuring their sensitivity to climate change. In addition to contributing to discourse around climate vulnerability, the intraindividual variability construct and methodology proposed here can help better integrate affect and mental health in climate adaptation policies, plans, and programs.