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Global changes in response to human encroachment into natural habitats and carbon emissions are driving the biodiversity extinction crisis and increasing disease emergence risk. Host distributions are one critical component to identify areas at risk of viral spillover, and bats act as reservoirs of diverse viruses. We developed a reproducible ecological niche modelling pipeline for bat hosts of SARS-like viruses (subgenusSarbecovirus), given that several closely related viruses have been discovered and sarbecovirus–host interactions have gained attention since SARS-CoV-2 emergence. We assessed sampling biases and modelled current distributions of bats based on climate and landscape relationships and project future scenarios for host hotspots. The most important predictors of species distributions were temperature seasonality and cave availability. We identified concentrated host hotspots in Myanmar and projected range contractions for most species by 2100. Our projections indicate hotspots will shift east in Southeast Asia in locations greater than 2°C hotter in a fossil-fuelled development future. Hotspot shifts have implications for conservation and public health, as loss of population connectivity can lead to local extinctions, and remaining hotspots may concentrate near human populations.

The aim of this paper is to estimate the potential impacts of different COVID-19 scenarios on the Italian energy sector through 2030, with a specific focus on transport and industry. The analysis takes a multi-disciplinary approach to properly consider the complex interactions of sectors across Italy. This approach includes the assessment of economic conditions using macroeconomic and input-output models, modelling the evolution of the energy system using an energy and transport model, and forecasting the reaction of travel demand and modal choice using econometric models and expert interviews. Results show that the effect of COVID-19 pandemic may lead to mid-term effects on energy consumption. The medium scenario, which assumes a stop of the emergency by the end of 2021, shows that energy-related emissions remain 10% lower than the baseline in the industry sector and 6% lower in the transport sector by 2030, when compared with a pre-COVID trend. Policy recommendations to support a green recovery are discussed in light of the results.

Abstract Unrecoverable and recoverable performance degradation is a major issue hindering commercialization of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. The recoverable losses, caused for example by a contaminant adsorption, catalyst flooding, ionomer dehydration, and platinum oxidation, can be reversed, usually following an interruption in the cell operation. In order to elucidate the link between platinum oxidation and recoverable performance loss, three MEAs were characterized in this work. They involved catalysts with different nanoparticle sizes and loadings tested using a combination of the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, constant-voltage, constant-current and potential controlled techniques, before and after electrocatalyst aging. Experimental results indicate that a decrease in specific activity over time is not affected by nanoparticle size or aging. Nevertheless, linear sweep voltammetry, which is adopted to reduce platinum oxide and as diagnostics for oxide composition, reveals that a change in composition is observed in correlation with catalyst morphology and catalyst aging. The formation of the platinum oxide associated with the peak at 0.61 VRHE in the voltammetry is found to decrease the catalyst's specific activity more than oxides associated with peaks at higher potentials. This indicates that the recoverable performance loss due to the platinum oxide formation depends on the oxide composition.

AbstractChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 200 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract, please click on HTML or PDF.

Abstract This paper discusses the environmental and economic performance of an innovative micro-CHP system based on membrane reactor and PEM fuel cell. The performance is compared with a PEM based micro-CHP system using a standard steam reforming fuel processor. The environmental analysis is carried out using Life Cycle Assessment while the economic assessment determines the maximum system cost to make it cost-effective over the lifetime. The analysis is performed assuming six different scenarios featuring three different residential loads in two different countries (Italy and Germany) to assess the impact of thermal/electric loads and NG/electricity costs on the results. Results show that the innovative system enables to reduce or to have similar impacts for the carbon footprint depending on the assumed scenarios, while water withdrawal and human health can be positive or negative depending on the case. From an economic point of view, both the micro-CHP system, and in particular the innovative solution, can be competitive with respect to conventional supply. The resulting annual economic saving allows defining the maximum capital cost of the system for each scenario.

A simple approach based on electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurement is adopted to elucidate the effect of mixed ion and electron transport limitations during materials aging in platinum group metal-free catalysts for PEMFC.

Abstract COVID-19 lockdowns make it possible to investigate the extent to which an unprecedented increase in renewables’ penetration may have brought unexpected limitations and vulnerabilities of current power systems to the surface. We empirically investigate how power systems in five European countries have dealt with this unexpected shock, drastically changing electricity load, the scheduling of dispatchable generation technologies, electricity day-ahead wholesale prices, and balancing costs. We find that low-cost dispatchable generation from hydro and nuclear sources has fulfilled most of the net-load even during peak hours, replacing more costly fossil-based generation. In Germany, the UK, and Spain coal power plants stood idle, while gas-fired generation has responded in heterogeneous ways across power systems. Falling operational costs of generators producing at the margin and lower demand, both induced by COVID-19 lockdowns, have significantly decreased wholesale prices. Balancing and other ancillary services’ markets have provided the flexibility required to respond to the exceptional market conditions faced by the grid. Balancing costs for flexibility services have increased heterogeneously across countries, while ancillary markets’ costs, measured only in the case of Italy, have increased substantially. Results provide valuable evidence on current systems’ dynamics during high renewables’ shares and increased demand volatility. New insights into the market changes countries will be facing in the transition towards a clean, secure, and affordable power system are offered.