• Energy Research
• 2021-2025close
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Abstract Energy harvesting in natural environment has attracted a great deal of attention to generate stable and continuous electrical energy. In this work, we proposed an advanced pyroelectric energy harvesting system by using form-stable phase change material (PCM) composites. The PCM composite connected pyro-electrode generated electrical polarization due to the change of external environment. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) and 1-tetradecanol (1-TD) composites with different phase transition field induced the temperature difference during light-on/-off process. Poly(vinylidene difluoride) (PVDF) was utilized for pyroelectric energy harvesting. The PVDF based pyro-electrode was applied changing the conditions of solar light irradiation and heat air flow. The PCM composites controlled the temperature fluctuation effectively and generated stable output electrical voltage and current. Numerical simulation was carried out to provided in-depth insight into the underlying physics of the system. We envisage that the developed thermal energy harvesting system can pave a way towards high-throughput and sustainable energy harvesting.

Alcohol-associated liver disease(ALD), caused by excessive alcohol consumption, are often associated with inflammatory outbreaks and lipid deposition in the liver. The role of Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 7 (IGFBP7), an important metabolic regulator, in ALD, its underlying regulatory mechanism, and its potential implication in anti-ALD therapies remain unknown. We investigated the effects of IGFBP7 on hepatic inflammation and lipid metabolism disruption in a mouse model of ALD. Mice were fed by chronic ethanol feeding plus a single binge of ethanol feeding(chronic-plus-single-binge model). In addition, ethanol exposure modeling studies were performed on cultured hepatocytes to verify molecular correlations. The results showed that IGFBP7 expression was significantly elevated in the livers of mice and hepatocytes after chronic ethanol exposure. Subsequently, the results of a study by specific knockout of IGFBP7(IGFBP7-cKO) in mouse hepatocytes and lentiviral silencing of IGFBP7 in vivo suggested that IGFBP7 deletion could improve liver function levels in alcohol-fed mice; It also attenuated the outbreak of hepatitis factor and the disorder of lipid metabolism in mice.Using RNA-seq sequencing of mouse liver tissue, we found that IGFBP7 affects several downstream metabolic signaling pathways, including PPAR, MAPK, FoxO, etc. Then, we used the PPARα plasmid in hepatocytes and discovered that overexpressing PPARα reversed the impact of IGFBP7 on lipid metabolism disorders in hepatocytes. In conclusion, IGFBP7 deficiency in alcohol-associated liver disease alleviates the decline in liver function and the imbalance of lipid metabolism in mice, attenuates the inflammatory outbreak, and affects a variety of downstream lipid metabolism factors by regulating PPARα. Hence, IGFBP7 may be an effective therapeutic target in the treatment of ALD.

Drought-tolerant species play a crucial role in maintaining ecosystem services in arid and semi-arid regions wherein subject to rapid climate change. However, how future climate change affect the distribution of drought-tolerant plants with different growth forms (e.g., herb and woody) remains largely unknown. Here, we used the MaxEnt model to simulate the potential species distribution under current conditions, and predicted the future species distribution of 82 common drought-tolerant plants in China under two time periods (2041-2060 and 2081-2100) and three climate change scenarios (SSP126, SSP245 and SSP585) in the future. We found that the western and northern regions of China are hotspots for drought-tolerant plant distribution. Compared with other predictors, aridity index (AI) explained the largest portion of variation (45%) in the distribution patterns of drought-tolerant plant plants. Climate change would change the distribution of drought-tolerant plants, with more than 50% of the species showing a trend of shrinking ranges in China. For both herb and woody plants, the highest turnover values were observed under SSP585 for the period 2081-2100, reaching 37.67% and 29.08%, respectively. Our results highlighted that herb and woody plants respond differently to climate change stresses, with herb plants projected to greatly expand their ranges in the future. These insights are vital for evaluating the impacts of climate change on biodiversity and informing the development of effective adaptation strategies.

The Nigerian government is committed to sustaining rice production to meet national demand. Nevertheless, political tension and climate-induced stressors remain crucial constraints in achieving policy targets. This study examines whether climate change and political instability significantly threaten rice production in Nigeria. First, we employed nonparametric methods to estimate the country's rainfall and temperature trends between 1980Q1 and 2015Q4. Second, we employed the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) technique to examine the effects of climate change and political instability on rice production. The results show that while temperature has an increasing pattern, rainfall exhibits no significant trend. The findings from the ARDL estimate reveal that rice production responds negatively to temperature changes but is less sensitive to changes in rainfall. In addition, political instability adversely affects rice production in Nigeria. We argue that Nigeria's slow growth in rice production can be traced back to the impact of climate change and political tension in rice farming areas. As a result, reducing the overall degree of conflict to ensure political stability is critical to boosting the country's self-sufficiency in rice production. We also recommend that farmers be supported and trained to adopt improved rice varieties less prone to extreme climate events while supporting them with irrigation facilities to facilitate rice production.

Abstract Kenya has made considerable policy efforts to expand its renewable energy portfolio to meet energy demand and mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Development of proper policies requires a robust framework for analyzing the benefits of renewable energy investments. Towards this end, this study applied a choice experiment analysis to determine how attributes (type of energy, ownership, impact on environment, distance and visibility, community job creation, and yearly renewable energy tax) impact the public willingness to pay for renewable energy development in Kenya. A nationwide survey of 1020 households was conducted in nine counties using conditional logit (MNL) and random parameter logit (RPL) frameworks. The results reveal that the Kenyan public places a high value on environmental impact, followed by type of renewable energy and community job creation, respectively. On the other hand, respondents do not place much emphasis on ownership or distance and visibility. Policy simulation suggests that while renewable energy adoption is highly valued by households, the total willingness to pay is not enough to cover the higher capital cost for the development of various renewable energy technologies.