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In this study we evaluate the skill of a new, merged soil moisture product (ECV_SM) that has been developed in the framework of the European Space Agency's Water Cycle Multi-mission Observation Strategy and Climate Change Initiative projects. The product combines in a synergistic way the soil moisture retrievals from four passive (SMMR, SSM/I, TMI, and AMSR-E) and two active (ERS AMI and ASCAT) coarse resolution microwave sensors into a global data set spanning the period 1979-2010. The evaluation uses ground-based soil moisture observations of 596 sites from 28 historical and active monitoring networks worldwide. Besides providing conventional measures of agreement, we use the triple collocation technique to assess random errors in the data set. The average Spearman correlation coefficient between ECV_SM and all in-situ observations is 0.46 for the absolute values and 0.36 for the soil moisture anomalies, but differences between networks and time periods are very large. Unbiased root-mean-square differences and triple collocation errors show less variation between networks, with average values around 0.05 and 0.04m3m-3, respectively. The ECV_SM quality shows an upward trend over time, but a consistent decrease of all performance metrics is observed for the period 2007-2010. Comparing the skill of the merged product with the skill of the individual input products shows that the merged product has a similar or better performance than the individual input products, except with regard to the ASCAT product, compared to which the performance of ECV_SM is inferior. The cause of the latter is most likely a combination of the mismatch in sampling time between the satellite observations and in-situ measurements, and the resampling and scaling strategy used to integrate the ASCAT product into ECV_SM on the other. The results of this study will be used to further improve the scaling and merging algorithms for future product updates.

This paper presents a newly developed voltage and reactive power control device, the coordinated Q -V controller (CQVC), for a multimachine steam power plant (SPP). The requirements for the new controller are defined based on identified inadequacies of manual Q-V control. The controller uses a feed-forward correction signal based on the application of the sensitivity matrix at a power plant level. It is designed and its performance initially assessed using the Matlab/Simulink environment. The performed simulations show that all the primary design objectives are met. The Q-V controller maintains the voltage at the SPP busbar with a certain droop characteristic during slow voltage changes in the power system whilst also maintaining equal per unit reactive power sharing among the SPP generators. This ensures that the power system fully benefits from all generating units during system perturbations. The performance of the designed CQVC is validated by comparing simulation results with measured responses obtained from a real CQVC installed at a SPP.

This report provides information on energy demand profiles and commercial aspects relevant to the end-users involved in the ASTEP project.

This paper discusses the concept of 'sustainable water services' and suggests a multicriteria method to assess it. Although conceptual discussions around this notion are often confined to the triple bottom line (TBL) classification, it seems that the TBL approach does not provide the suitable framework to measure water services sustainability. It is argued that assets (or technical) and governance aspects are also indispensable dimensions. After revisiting the concept in broader terms, several criteria and metrics are suggested to operationalize and quantify the sustainability level of urban water services. To aggregate the numerous aspects that are relevant in this scope a multicriteria decision analysis approach is proposed. Furthermore, to illustrate the real-world application of the method, a multicriteria model applicable to the case of Portugal was developed and calibrated with the input of a decision-maker with extensive experience in the sector. With the suggested framework it is possible to assess the global sustainability level of the water services (e.g. of each utility) and also the performance in each particular dimension ('social', 'environmental', 'economic', 'governance' and 'assets').

This paper analyses the relationship among economic growth, energy use and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Israel over the period 1971–2006. Results of unit root tests show that all variables are integrated of order one. Causality results suggest that real gross domestic product (GDP) drives both energy use and CO2 emissions. Forecast error variance decompositions (FEVDs) evidence that the errors in real per capita GDP are mainly due to uncertainty in GDP itself, while the errors in predicting the energy consumption and the CO2 emissions are sensitive to disturbances in the other two equations. The FEVDs show that forecast errors in real per capita GDP are mainly due to uncertainty in GDP itself, the errors in predicting the energy use are sensitive to disturbances both in the GDP and in CO2 equations, while the forecast errors in CO2 emissions should be essentially connected to emissions itself. Finally, the vector autoregression (VAR) forecast represents an improvement in simpler forecasts in more tha...

The report covers the first phase (M18 report) of the assessment of the potential environmental impacts of ASTEP modular systems throughout the life cycle. It includes a literature review on the environmental impact of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants and Environmental assessment of ASTEP systems.

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) No abstract provided.

The report covers the first phase (M25 report) of the D8.2 that focuses on the assessment of the economic impacts of ASTEP modular systems throughout the life cycle. It includes a systematic literature review on the economic impact of different solar thermal plants like parabolic trough (PT), linear Fresnel (LFR), solar tower (ST) and solar dish (SD) plants. Different types of financial metrics like levelized cost of Energy (LCOE), net present value (NPV), investment/capital cost, total life cycle cost (TLCC), payback period, benefit- cost ratio (BRC), internal rate of return (IRR) and revenues were considered. It was found that ST plant had a lower average Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) than the PT plant at 100 MW and 200 MW capacity. The ST plant had a higher average NPV than the PT plant at 50 MW and 100 MW capacity. A lack of studies on the external environmental costs of solar thermal plants was observed. There is a need for more research in the economic assessment of solar thermal plants with capacities below 50 MW and above 100 MW to enable the economic comparison of solar thermal plants of different plant capacities. The report covers economic LCA of the ASTEP system that will be developed and applied on two end-users, Mandrekas & ArcelorMittal, located in Greece and Romania, at two different latitudes. Finally, the report explains the development of a new software tool using dynamic LCA to improve the results of the static LCA of the ASTEP system. The LCA tool will be used for the environmental and economic assessment of the systems that use solar thermal energy and high temperatures to provide heating and cooling for industrial processes such as the ASTEP system.