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Environment preservation, energy, and the growing economy are becoming strongly interconnected themes requiring new solutions to be exploited. An example of this interconnection is the demand for the development of almost zero-energy buildings, i.e. buildings capable to be almost autonomous from external energy supply or at least not dependent on the energy supply from utilities. The actual conception of a zero energy building is a very complex system formed by several subsystems, with the consequence that costs are very high and reliability relatively low. The aim of this research program is to deepen the possibility to employ the Stirling engine and cooler technology to lower the number of components required in a near zero-energy building, increase the efficiency, and contemporary raise the reliability of the overall system. Stirling cooler could be used to convert mechanical work into heating and cooling effects and produce the temperature difference by the expanding and compressing the working fluid. A similar concept of the Stirling cooler could also be adopted to develop a heat pump. Compared to the traditional vaporcompression refrigeration systems, the Stirling coolers are of higher efficiency and with no components like compressor, expansion valve, evaporator, or condensers. Therefore, they are considered to be clean cooling devices. On the other hand, the Stirling engine is an external combustion engine, which is compatible with a variety of thermal sources, such as solar radiation, waste heat, geothermal energy, combustion, and so on. With the heat input to the hot end of the engine, the Stirling engine could be operated to produce mechanical work/electricity at high thermal efficiency. In principle, the Stirling machines are capable to provide all the forms of energy (heat, cool, and electricity) that form the almost total energy load of a building.

This paper addresses the current knowledge on climate change impacts on mass movement activity in mountain environments by illustrating characteristic cases of debris flows, rock slope failures and landslides from the French, Italian, and Swiss Alps. It is expected that events are likely to occur less frequently during summer, whereas the anticipated increase of rainfall in spring and fall could likely alter debris-flow activity during the shoulder seasons (March, April, November, and December). The magnitude of debris flows could become larger due to larger amounts of sediment delivered to the channels and as a result of the predicted increase in heavy precipitation events. At the same time, however, debris-flow volumes in high-mountain areas will depend chiefly on the stability and/or movement rates of permafrost bodies, and destabilized rock glaciers could lead to debris flows without historic precedents in the future. The frequency of rock slope failures is likely to increase, as excessively warm air temperatures, glacier shrinkage, as well as permafrost warming and thawing will affect and reduce rock slope stability in the direction that adversely affects rock slope stability. Changes in landslide activity in the French and Western Italian Alps will likely depend on differences in elevation. Above 1500 m asl, the projected decrease in snow season duration in future winters and springs will likely affect the frequency, number and seasonality of landslide reactivations. In Piemonte, for instance, 21st century landslides have been demonstrated to occur more frequently in early spring and to be triggered by moderate rainfalls, but also to occur in smaller numbers. On the contrary, and in line with recent observations, events in autumn, characterized by a large spatial density of landslide occurrences might become more scarce in the Piemonte region.

Starting from an interpretation of “sustainable mobility”, this study describes a possible taxonomy of the modalities of urban travels related to sustainability and it suggests an inclusive approach to implement urban policies for “soft mobility” inside the urban contexts. These policies aim at improving the levels of urban liveability, reducing the polluting emissions and promoting the recovery of a sober moral behaviour in acting and reacting inside the city. The underway photovoltaic bikesharing project “Bene Bike” in Benevento shows how the bike station plays an innovative role. It represents a multifunctional element able of managing material and immaterial “flows of urban travels” (people, energy, information).

Forest trees dominate many Alpine landscapes that are currently exposed to changing climate. Norway spruce is one of the most important conifer species of the Italian Alps, and natural populations are found across steep environmental gradients with large differences in temperature and moisture availability. This study seeks to determine and quantify patterns of genetic diversity in natural populations toward understanding adaptive responses to changing climate. Across the Italian species range, 24 natural stands were sampled with a major focus on the Eastern Italian Alps. Sampled trees were genotyped for 384 selected single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 285 genes. A wide array of potential candidate genes was tested for correlation with climatic parameters. To minimize false-positive association between genotype and climate, population structure was investigated. Pairwise F ST estimates between sampled populations ranged between 0.000 and 0.075, with the highest values involving the two disjoint populations, Valdieri, on the western Italian Alps, and Campolino, the most southern population on the Apennines. Despite considerable genetic admixture among populations, both Bayesian and multivariate approach identified four genetic clusters. Selection scans revealed five F ST outliers, and the environmental association analysis detected ten SNPs associated to one or more climatic variables. Overall, 13 potentially adaptive loci were identified, three of which have been reported in a previous study on the same species conducted on a broader geographical scale. In our study, precipitation, more than temperature, was often associated with genotype; therefore, it appears as the most important environmental variable associated with the high sensitivity of Norway spruce to soil water supply. These findings provide relevant information for understanding and quantifying climate change effects on this species and its ability to genetically adapt.

Abstract The International Geothermal Association (IGA), founded in 1988, is an international, worldwide, non-profit and non-governmental association whose objective and mission is to promote the research and utilization of geothermal resources, through the compilation, publication, and dissemination of scientific and technical data and information. The Information Committee (IC) of the IGA is responsible for advising the IGA Board on policies concerned with the collection, compilation, publication, exchange and dissemination of geothermal information, including information on utilization, development, technical findings, scientific research, meetings, publications and Association activities. The Committee is also responsible for the implementation of information policies determined by the Board.

Abstract Methane conversion to a rich H2 fuel by reforming reactions is a largely applied industrial process. Recently, it has been considered for applications combined to gas turbine powerplants, as a mean for (I) chemical recuperation (i.e. chemical looping CRGT) and (II) decarbonising the primary fuel and make the related power cycle a low CO2 releaser. The possibility of enhancing methane conversion by the addition of CO2 to the steam reactant flow (i.e. tri-reforming) has been assessed and showed interesting results. When dealing with gas turbines, the possibility of applying tri-reforming is related to the availability of some CO2 into the fluegas going to the reformer. This happens in semi-closed gas turbine cycles (SCGT), where the fluegas has a typical 14–15% CO2 mass content. The possibility of joining CRGT and SCGT technologies to improve methane reforming and propose an innovative, low CO2 emissions gas turbine cycle was assessed here. One of the key issues of this joining is also the possibility of greatly reduce the external water consumption due to the reforming, as the SCGT is a water producer cycle. The SCGT-TRIREF cycle is an SCGT cycle where fuel tri-reforming is applied. The steam due to the reformer is generated by the vaporization of the condensed water coming out from the fluegas condensing heat exchanger, upstream the main compressor, where the exhausts are cooled down and partially recirculated. The heat due to the steam generation is recuperated from the turbine exhausts cooling. The reforming process is partially sustained by the heat recovered from the turbine exhausts (which generates superheated steam) and partially by the auto thermal reactions of methane with fresh air, coming from the compressor (i.e. partial combustion). The effect of CO2 on methane reforming (tri-reforming effect) increases with decreasing steam/methane ratio: at very low values, around 30% of methane is converted by reactions with CO2. At high values of steam/methane ratio, the steam reforming reactions are dominant and only a marginal fraction of methane is interested to tri-reforming. Under optimised conditions, which can be reached at relatively high pressure ratios (25–30), the power cycle showed a potential efficiency around 46% and specific work at 550 kJ/kg level. When the amine CO2 capture is applied, the specific CO2 emissions range between 45 and 55 g CO 2 / kW h .

Grape production is highly responsive to weather conditions and therefore very sensitive to climate change. To evaluate how viticulture in the traditional Italian wine region Emilia-Romagna could be affected by climate change, several bioclimatic indices describing the suitability for grapevine production were calculated for two future periods (2011–2040 and 2071–2100) using CORDEX (Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment) high-resolution climate simulations under two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) scenarios—RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5. The projections for both of the RCP scenarios showed that most of the Emilia-Romagna region will remain suitable for grape production during the period 2011–2040. By the end of the twenty-first century, the suitability to produce grapes in Emilia-Romagna could be threatened to a greater or smaller extent, depending on the scenario. During the period 2071–2100, the entire Emilia-Romagna region will be too hot for grape production under the RCP 8.5 scenario. Under the RCP 4.5 scenario, changes will be milder, suggesting that the Emilia-Romagna region could still be suitable for grape cultivation by the end of the twenty-first century but would likely require certain adjustments.

This paper deals with an investigation on the combustion process and pollutant formation of a small diesel engine fuelled with blended and pure biodiesel. The engine is a three-cylinder, 1028 cc, equipped with a common rail injection system. Endoscope based optical setup was used to observe in the cylinder without significant interference to the combustion process. Combustion images were post-processed by two-colour pyrometry method to evaluate the flame temperature and the in-cylinder soot concentration. Optical data were correlated to the nitrogen oxides and the particulate matter emissions measured at exhaust. Experiments were carried out at different operating conditions. It was found out that without EGR (exhaust gas recirculation), blended and pure RME (rapeseed methyl ester) were characterized by higher flame temperature and also by higher NOx emissions. In presence of EGR, lower flame temperature was detected for biodiesel; in this case higher NOx emissions were measured with biodiesel but the difference with NOx emissions from diesel fuel were reduced. Moreover, blended and pure biodiesel combustion was characterized by lower in-cylinder soot formation and also lower PM (particulate matters) at exhaust

AbstractThe synthesis and determination of the structure of a Förster resonance energy transfer probe intended for the detection of specific nucleic acid sequences are described here. The probe is based on the hybridization of oligonucleotide modified quantum dots with a fluorescently labeled nucleic acid sample resulting in changes of the fluorescence emission due to the energy transfer effect. The stoichiometry distribution of oligonucleotides conjugated to quantum dots was determined by capillary electrophoresis separation. The results indicate that one to four molecules of oligonucleotide are conjugated to the surface of a single nanoparticle. This conclusion is confirmed by the course of the dependence of Förster resonance energy transfer efficiency on the concentration of fluorescently labeled complementary single‐stranded nucleic acid, showing saturation. While the energy transfer efficiency of the probe hybridized with complementary nucleic acid strands was 30%, negligible efficiency was observed with a noncomplementary strand.

Abstract Vernacular architecture is still very popular and constructed widely in North-East India. In this paper, the result of long-term monitoring of two vernacular houses selected one in Tezpur (warm and humid climate) and other one in Cherrapunjee (cold and cloudy climate) are presented. Long-term monitoring work includes the measurements of temperature (inside and outside house), relative humidity (inside and outside house) and illumination level (inside and outside house) for 25 days in all the seasons (January: winter, April: spring/pre-summer, July: summer/monsoon and October: autumn/pre-winter) of the year 2008. Temperatures profile across all the seasons represents strong daily and seasonal fluctuations. Formulae have been developed based on part of the monitoring data to predict the indoor maximum, average and minimum temperatures inside the same house occupied by the same family. The predicted formulae were developed based on the measured data for the month of January and July and were validated with the measured data of April and October months. It is found that the correlation coefficient ( R 2 value) is above 0.96 for all the six formulae for the entire monitoring period.