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ON 16 NOVEMBER 2000, the final report of the World Commission on Dams (WCD) was launched in London, in the presence of South Africa’s former president Nelson Mandela. This represented a remarkable milestone in the history of dam policy and politics. During its two-year existence, WCD had conducted the most extensive review of research and evidence regarding the planning, impacts, and management of large dams. It had engaged with numerous stakeholders around the globe. It also made comprehensive recommendations about how to improve dam planning and management.

Wood biomass is turned into industrial fuel through chipping. The efficiency of chipping depends on many factors, including chipper knife wear. Chipper knife wear was determined through a long-term follow-up study, conducted at a waste wood recycling yard. Knife wear determined a sharp drop of productivity (>20%) and a severe decay in product quality. Dry sharpening with a grinder mitigated this effect, but it could not replace proper wet sharpening. Increasing the frequency of wet sharpening sessions determined a moderate increase of knife depreciation cost, but it could drastically enhance machine performance and reduce biomass processing cost. Since benefits largely exceed costs, increasing the frequency of wet sharpening sessions may be an effective measure for reducing overall chipping cost. If the main goal of a chipper operator is to increase productivity and/or decrease fuel consumption, then managing knife wear should be a primary target. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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 of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.

This paper presents a mechanism for developing knowledge based support for real time application of multiagent systems (MAS) in control, automation and diagnosis of electric power systems. In particular it presents a way for autonomous agents to utilize a qualitative means-ends based model for reasoning about control situations. The proposed mechanism has been used in different scenarios of electric power distribution system protection and control. Results show that agents can use local models of their environment and coordinate with other agents to analyze and understand a disturbance situation and choose an appropriate control action. The paper also elaborates on real time interfacing between multi-agent systems and industry standard distribution automation and control system.

Abstract Thermal energy storage systems for both heat and cold are necessary for many industrial processes. High energy density and high power capacity are desirable properties of the storage. The use of latent heat increases the energy density of the storage tank with high temperature control close to the melting point. Tube in PCM tank is a very promising system that provides high packing factor. This work presents an experimental study of a PCM tank for cold storage applications. Two different configurations and different flow rates of the heat transfer fluid were studied. The effectiveness of the PCM storage system was defined as that of a heat exchanger. The results showed that the heat exchange effectiveness of the system did not vary with time, decreased with increasing flow rate and increased with increasing heat transfer area. The effectiveness was experimentally determined to only be a function of the ratio m ˙ /A. This equation was found to be adequately be used to design a PCM storage system, and a case study is presented. It was shown that the tube in tank design together with a low temperature PCM is suitable as a thermal storage facility for cold storage.

The paper presents a method of analysis and design of urban landscapes called PlaceMaker. The method is intended as a key resource for assessing the identity of places and measures for its enhancement, reconstruction and design. By using different tools for analysis and interpretation of places and questionnaires administered to their users, PlaceMaker finds the identity material that the city has available and how to de-compose and re-compose it for its sustainable project transformation. Pedestrian-intensive areas, in particular urban, cultural and historical poles of attraction, increasingly bear the imprint of globalization, conveying messages which have developed in an uncontrolled manner and are aimed at conveying their users' patterns of thought and action. The presence of a dense mixture of contrasting elements and perceptions can detract from the image of a city. As regards, the paper is completed with a synopsis of the experiment carried out in an historic axe in London - Oxford Street - where globalization is in danger of levelling out the beauty of the area in favour of widespread genericity

Great efforts have been paid to improve engine efficiency as well as to reduce the pollutant emissions. The direct injection allows to improve the engine efficiency; on the other hand, the GDI combustion produces larger particle emissions. The properties of fuels play an important role both on engine performance and pollutant emissions. In particular, great attention was paid to the octane number. Oxygenated compounds allow increasing gasoline's octane number and play an important role in PM emission reduction. In this study was analyzed the effect of fuels with different RON and with ethanol and ethers content. The analysis was performed on a small GDI engine. Two operating conditions, representative of the typical EUDC cycle, were investigated. Both the engine performance and the exhaust emissions were evaluated. The gaseous emissions and particle concentration were measured at the exhaust by means of conventional instruments. Particle size distribution function was measured in the range from 5.6 nm to 560 nm by means of an Engine Exhaust Particle Sizer (EEPS). The results point out that the better result in terms of performance and emission reduction was observed for the high RON fuel. The fuels with ethanol as additive show a large fuel consumption and a not valuable effect on exhaust emissions

In Italy, olive tree groves may offer up to a million tonnes of dry biomass per year as pruning residue. Searching for a cost-effective way to tap this potential, the authors tested a new machine, capable of recovering pruning residue at the same time as pruning. The pre-commercial prototype was tested on four different plots and compared to a simpler tractorbase mechanical pruning unit. The authors conducted detailed time-studies in order to determine machine productivity and residue recovery cost. The integrated machine can treat between 0.2 and 0.6 ha h(-1), producing between 0.33 and 1.03 tonnes of fresh residue hour(-1). Its integrated residue recovery function does not slow the pruning, which actually proceeds faster than with the tractor-base unit, due to the more efficient multiple-disc cutting bar. The marginal cost of residue recovery hovers around 40-45 (sic) fresh tonne(-1). However, the new machine must not be considered just as a biomass harvester, but rather as a mechanical pruning unit with an integrated biomass recovery function. Its main benefit derives from the capacity of performing a very effective mechanical pruning, and the residue recovery function is a secondary benefit yet unavailable on standard pruning machines. Its deployment must be seen in the context of a general effort to modernize olive grove management and to develop an integrated biomass production system, rather than as a further attempt to build a specialised biomass supply chain.

Artículos en revistas Energy transportation costs typically make up a quarter of consumers? electricity bills, and most of this amount (90% in the United Kingdom, 75% in Brazil and Spain, and 60% in India, for example) is due to energy transportation through the distribution network. This cost could escalate over the next few decades as distributed energy resources are expected to grow substantially in response to the financial incentives many governments have created for renewable and efficient generation to meet their CO2 reduction targets. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

We analysed the effect of applying Dutch thermal efficiency standards of residential dwellings, conversion efficiency, appliance fuel mixes and appliance ownership rates, to the UK residential sector. We found that although aggregate energy consumption does not change significantly, pollution emissions are reduced significantly. Thus, the primary difference between housing and appliance stocks in the two regions is in terms of fuel mixes. However, improved thermal efficiency does allow for increased dwelling warmth without increasing emissions. Adapting Dutch standards in the UK would lead to a one-time improvement of the environmental situation, after which the trend is continued.