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This study analyzes the relationship between drought processes and crop yields in Moldova, together with the effects of possible future climate change on crops. The severity of drought is analyzed over time in Moldova using the Standard Precipitation Index, the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index, and their relationship with crop yields. In addition, rainfall variability and its relationship with crop yields are examined using spectral analysis and squared wavelet coherence. Observed station data (1950–2020 and 1850–2020), ERA5 reanalysis data (1950–2020), and climate model simulations (period 1970–2100) are used. Crop yield data (maize, sunflower, grape), data from experimental plots (wheat), and the Enhanced Vegetation Index from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer satellites were also used. Results show that although the severity of meteorological droughts has decreased in the last 170 years, the impact of precipitation deficits on different crop yields has increased, concurrent with a sharp increase in temperature, which negatively affected crop yields. Annual crops are now more vulnerable to natural rainfall variability and, in years characterized by rainfall deficits, the possibility of reductions in crop yield increases due to sharp increases in temperature. Projections reveal a pessimistic outlook in the absence of adaptation, highlighting the urgency of developing new agricultural management strategies.

Devon County Council

The anaerobic bioavailability of two types of solid slaughterhouse waste (poultry and pig wastes) was studied after the application of thermal pretreatment. Both wastes were characterized by different proportions between fats, proteins and carbohydrates. The thermal pretreatments selected (70ºC for 60 min, and 133ºC and 3 bars for 20 min) were included in the European regulations 1774/2002 & 92/2005 for higienization purposes. These pretreatments had a remarkable effect on the solubilization of organic matter and on protein hydrolysis. No negative effects in methane or biogas yields were found in both pretreated wastes, but the bioavailibity of organic matter after the pretreatment depended on the composition of each waste, basically the presence of carbohydrates which could react with protein hydrolysis products (amino acids) giving slowly or not anaerobically biodegradable products (Maillard compounds).

The phenomenon of ���climate change litigation��� has come to the fore in recent years as campaigners and activists have become increasingly frustrated at a perceived lack of action on the part of the international community and individual states in terms of getting to grips with the climate change problem. Existing legal mechanisms available to private parties and other bodies, such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been used as a means of endeavouring to hold governments and polluters to account for the effects of climate change. The physical impact of climate change on life and property has been thrown into sharp relief by floods and wildfires in all parts of the globe. One aspect of climate change litigation focuses on the role that tort might play in attempting to secure compensation for at least part of such losses. No one would pretend that actions of this nature can actually solve the problem, but they may serve to shame polluters and so forth by establishing an actual link between their activities and the tangible consequences of climate change. However, such actions raise formidable causation difficulties which have, until recently, rendered such claims outlandish and highly speculative. Nevertheless, developments in extreme weather event attribution may be about to reduce the conceptual and theoretical barriers to bringing such claims. In this article it is argued that, from a UK perspective, existing causality tests may be capable of accommodating such evidence, although, one must be aware of countervailing policy considerations which may inhibit the courts from adopting such an approach. Keywords: Climate change, climate change litigation, attribution science, tort, causation ALJ 2021, 268���284

The city of Leh was the capital of the Kingdom of Ladakh from the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries. Over time, due to wars, politics, and isolation, the capital city fell into a state of disrepair soon after the royal family was exiled. An explosion in tourism over the last few decades has seen a revival in the local community but most of the benefits including generated tourism revenue have been directed towards development outside the historical boundary of Leh. The residents of what is now known as Leh Old Town suffer from poverty, lack of basic infrastructures such as drainage, and limited access to water. Additionally, Leh Old Town was also placed under World’s Monument Watch in 2008 due to issues related to low-scale modern construction and urgent need of repair for 55% of the historic buildings. Climate change has also been cited as a cause of concern due to issues related to faster melting glaciers and flash floods due to the lack of a drainage system. The main aim of this practicum is to study and demonstrate the role that landscape architects can play in the rehabilitation of historical alpine settlements that have been adversely affected by anthropological factors such as politics, climate change, and over-tourism. It does so by highlighting the cultural and architectural heritage of the Old Town of Leh, known as Kharyog in Ladakhi, and demonstrating the use of indigenous construction materials and methods that have been superseded by modern materials imported from other parts of the country. It also aims to study how the positive effects of tourism can be distributed equally throughout a community to improve the quality of life for the residents of Leh Old Town.

About 45% applications from PV solar farm developers seeking connections to the distribution grids in Ontario were denied in 2011-13 as the short circuit current (SCC) capacity of several distribution substations had already been reached. PV solar system inverters typically contribute 1.2 p.u. to 1.8 p.u. fault current which was not considered acceptable by utility companies due to the need for very expensive protective breaker upgrades. Since then, this cause has become a major impediment in the growth of PV based renewable systems in Ontario. A novel predictive technique has been patented in our research group for management of short circuit current contribution from PV inverters to ensure effective deployment of solar farms. This thesis deals with the real time testing and validation of a short circuit current (SCC) controller based on the above technique. With this SCC controller, the PV inverter can be shut off within 1-2 milliseconds from the initiation of any fault in the grid that can cause the short circuit current to exceed the rated current of the inverter. Therefore, the power system does not see any short circuit current contribution from the PV inverter and no expensive upgrades in protective breakers are required in the system. The performance of the PV solar system with the short circuit current controller is simulated and tested using (i) industry grade electromagnetic transients software PSCAD/EMTDC (ii) real time simulation studies on the Real Time Digital Simulator (RTDS) (iii) physical implementation on dSPACE board to generate firing pulses for the inverter. The validation of controller is done on dSPACE board with actual PV inverter short circuit waveforms obtained from Southern California Edison Short Circuit Testing Lab. This novel technology is planned to be showcased on a physical 10 kW PV solar system in Bluewater Power Distribution Corporation, Sarnia, Ontario. This proposed technology is expected to remove the technical hurdles which caused the denials of connectivity to several PV solar farms, and effectively lead to greater connections of PV solar farms in Ontario and in similar jurisdictions, worldwide.

The smart energy system concept provides an integrated framework for the adoption of renewable energy resources and novel energy technologies, such as distributed battery energy storage systems and electric vehicles. In this effort, large-scale transition towards smart energy systems can significantly reduce the environmental emissions of energy production, while leveraging the compatible operation of numerous distributed grid components to improve upon the energy utility, reliability, and flexibility of existing power grids. Most importantly, transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy resources provides environmental benefits within both the building and transportation sectors, which must adapt to address both increasing pressure from international climate change-related policy-making, as well as to meet the increasing power demands of future generations. In the case of building operation, the transition towards future energy systems consequently result in the adoption of decentralized energy networks as well as various distributed energy generation, conversion, and storage technologies. As such, there is significant potential for existing systems to adopt more economic and efficient operating strategies, which may manifest in novel operational modes such as demand-response programs, islanded operation, and optimized energy vector dispatch within local systems. Furthermore, new planning and design considerations can provide economic, environmental, and energy efficiency benefits. While these potential benefits have been justified in existing literature, there is still a strong research need to quantify the impacts of optimal building operation within these criteria, under a smart energy system context. Meanwhile, the transportation sector may benefit from the smart energy network concept by leveraging electric mobility technologies and by transitioning vehicle charging demand onto the grid’s electricity network. In this transition, the emissions associated with fossil fuel consumption are displaced by ...

This paper reports on the design and implementation of a wireless sensor communication system with a low power consumption that allows it to be integrated with the energy harvesting technology. The system design and implementation focus on reducing the power consumption at three levels: hardware, software and data transmission. The reduction in power consumption, at hardware level in particular, is mainly achieved through the introduction of an energy-aware interface (EAI) that ensures a smart inter-correlated management of the energy flow. The resulted system satisfies the requirements of a wireless sensor structure that possesses the energy autonomous capability.

Emissions trading is a crucial policy tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in a cost-effective way. The world’s largest existing emissions trading scheme is the European Union’s cap-and–trade Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). It was established in 2005 through the Emissions Trading Directive to help the European Union and its member states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fulfill their commitments under the Kyoto Protocol in a cost-effective way. The Directive recognizes that linking the EU ETS to other emissions trading schemes would increase the cost-effectiveness of reaching the community’s emissions reduction commitment. When the EU ETS was launched in 2005, in its first phase, it covered over 11,500 energy-intensive installations across the then 15 EU member states, representing 45 percent of the EU’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Currently in its second trading period, from 2008 to 2012, the EU ETS now addresses emissions from the enlarged EU, with 27 member states. The EU ETS is also linked to domestic emissions trading schemes in Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein. Most recently, in August 2012, Australia and the EU announced their intention of linking their emissions trading schemes. Switzerland is also considering the establishment of a domestic emissions trading scheme and anticipating linking to the EU ETS in the future. Because of its size and harmonization experience, this scheme offers a starting point for establishing a global network of greenhouse gas emissions trading schemes. Greenhouse gas emissions trading schemes in Canada, in particular, the proposed federal scheme and the existing Alberta provincial scheme are also potential candidates for linkage under article 25 of the EU Trading Directive, through an agreement for the mutual recognition of allowances. However, the different designs of the EU and Canadian domestic emissions schemes will pose challenges in establishing linkage. This thesis identifies some of the key features in the design of emissions trading schemes and the implications of these design features when exploring linkage between the EU ETS and the Canadian emissions trading schemes.