• Energy Research
• Closed Access close
• Restricted close
• Embargo close
• IT close
• DE close
• BE close

Abstract Over the last decades, electricity markets across OECD countries have been subjected to profound structural changes with far-reaching implications on the economy and the environment. This paper investigates the effect of restructuring – changes in entry regulations, the degree of vertical integration and ownership structure – on GHG emissions. The findings show that competition policies – particularly reducing the degree of vertical integration and increasing privatization – correlate negatively with emission intensity. However, the environmental effect of reducing market entry barriers is generally insignificant. Integration of competition and stringent environmental policies are required to reduce GHG emissions and improve environmental quality.

Although the integrated energy and environmental planning processes of cities and territories with more than 50,000 inhabitants differ, previous studies suggest that long-term, model-based energy planning processes have a common scheme that can also be used as a framework for reviewing the methods and the tools that are used in the integrated energy planning of these cities and territories. This paper first presents a generic integrated energy planning procedure in which the planning activities are divided into four main phases. Second, the methods and the tools that are used for these diverse planning tasks are mapped to the suggested generic planning procedure tasks. Finally, the combined use of these methods and tools in the scope of integrated energy planning are briefly discussed from a mapping point of view.

This study explores the role of digital and smart technologies in cultural heritage organizations, particularly museums, in promoting sustainability and social inclusion. The rapid advancement of digital tools and smart technologies, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has shown their potential to overcome barriers and support the ambitious goals of the UN Agenda 2030. However, the widespread adoption and integration of these technologies present complex challenges for managers and policymakers. In the context of Italian museums, the use of innovative technologies for sustainability and social inclusion is still in its early stages and underutilized. Through a literature review and multiple case study analysis, this research examines the adoption of digital tools and smart technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, in leading Italian museums. The findings offer valuable insights to guide future research in this area.

Regional and local decision-makers still require relevant information and training in order to establish long-term strategies and to contribute to national and supranational energy and climate targets. As an example, a widespread participation of local authorities to comply with the Italian long-term building renovation strategy has not occurred so far. Thus, the overall target, annual 1% floor area of new or deeply renovated buildings to the nearly zero-energy building (nZEB) standard by 2020 (PanZEB 2015), proves to have been disregarded to date. Evidence-based, data-enabled assessment of the building stock and of its relationship with the energy system as a whole at a capillary level is crucial to this extent. In Italy, various building databases are already being used with the ultimate purpose of EPBD implementation and to track and record incentives for public and private building renovation. These datasets have an untapped potential for local energy planning that could be released from wider integration, also including energy consumption data and smart-metering data. Moreover, the regulatory landscape is changing toward an interaction of the building with the user, the energy grid and other buildings in a dynamic and functional way. Within this context, the paper will investigate how integrated data could unlock the value of a more evidence-based planning starting from the DIPENDE integrated dataset, a REQUEST2ACTION (IEE 2014–2017) pilot project combining data from energy performance certificates (EPCs) with bottom-up information on building renovation, and other data in order to support decision making at different territorial scales.

The non-Antarctic Notothenioidei families, Bovichtidae, Pseudaphritidae and Eleginopsidae, diverged early from the main notothenioid lineage. They are important in clarifying the early evolutionary processes that triggered notothenioid evolution in the Antarctic. The early-diverged group represents 8% of all notothenioid species and never established themselves on the Antarctic shelf. Most attention has been paid to the Antarctic notothenioids and their limited physiological tolerance to climate change and increased temperatures. In this review, we discuss key life history traits that are characteristic of the non-Antarctic early-diverged notothenioid taxa as well as the genetic resources and population differentiation information available for this group. We emphasise the population fitness and dynamics of these species and indicate how resource management and conservation of the group can be strengthened through an integrative approach. Both Antarctic waters and the non-Antarctic regions face rapid temperature rises combined with strong anthropogenic exploitation. While it is expected that early-diverged notothenioid species may have physiological advantages over high Antarctic species, it is difficult to predict how climate changes might alter the geographic range, behaviour, phenology and ultimately genetic variability of these species. It is possible, however, that their high degree of endemism and dependence on local environmental specificities to complete their life cycles might enhance their vulnerability.

Abstract The solvents decreased the reduction rate of nitrazepam by rat liver homogenate; the lowest interference was observed with ethanol. High concentrations of nicotinamide used in media for nitroreductase determination lowered enzyme activity. Reduction of nitrazepam to 7-amino derivative decreased during the preservation of liver centrifugal fractions in 1.15% KCl at 0°C. The highest enzyme activity was found in rat liver, followed by the activity of kidney, heart, lung, skeletal muscle and spleen preparations. The substance was not reduced in brain. The Michaelis constants Km of nitrazepam reduction did not differ substantially, being of the same order of 10−4M in preparations from rat, mouse, rabbit and guinea pig liver. The maximal velocities of the reduction Vmax were 10−6moles per hour per 1 g of liver tissue. Chlorpromazine, diazepam and imipramine influenced the reduction only in high concentrations. EDTA, cysteine and ascorbic acid did not change substantially the enzyme activity. KCN was a strong non-competitive inhibitor (Ki = 10−4 M of the nitrazepam reduction.

Abstract A new energy-transfer pair is presented consisting of fluorescamine as the donor and fluorescein as the acceptor. The system has been investigated with binding of histone H5 to nucleosomal particles. Histone H5 has been labeled as its free N-terminus with fluorescamine while fluorescein is bound via a disulfide bridge to the cysteine of the core histone H3. The properties of this system are described. The distance between the chromophores is estimated and found to be consistent with the known nucleosome geometry.

The high power density, ease of transportation and storage and many years of development of internal combustion engine technologies have put liquid hydrocarbon fuels at a privileged position in our energy mix. Therefore processes that use renewable energy sources to produce liquid hydrocarbon fuels from H2O and CO2 are of crucial importance. Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) can be employed as the only energy source for the renewable production of hydrogen from water either indirectly, e.g. by supplying the electricity for electrolysis, or directly by supplying the necessary heat for thermochemically producing hydrogen. Among the various thermochemical cycles tested so far for CSP-driven hydrogen production via water splitting (WS), those based on redox-pair oxide systems, are directly adaptable to carbon dioxide splitting (CDS) and/or combined CO2/H2O splitting for the production of CO or syngas, respectively. The acknowledgement of this fact has recently revived the interest of the scientific community on such technologies. The current article presents the development, evolution and current status of CSP-aided syngas production via such redox-pair-based thermochemical cycles. At first the various redox oxide material compositions tested for water/carbon dioxide splitting are presented and their redox chemistries are discussed. Then the selection of suitable solar reactors is addressed in conjunction with the boundary conditions imposed by the redox systems as well as the heat demands, technical peculiarities and requirements of the cycle steps. The various solar reactor concepts proposed and employed for such reactions and their current status of development are presented. Finally, topics where further work is needed for commercialization of the technology are identified and discussed.