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Thermodynamics and heat engines are the core disciplines which enabled the development of the thermo-industrial society during the 20th century. Liquid hydrocarbon fuels are one of the easiest and most convenient solutions offered by the thermophysical constraints of our world. However, an alternative to these dense energy carriers is required to enable a transition to a low carbon transport sector. Climate change mitigation, local air pollution reduction and energy independency are some of the key advantages that hydrogen fuel cell and battery electric vehicles can bring in this context. Beyond a shift from fossil fuels, the entire value chain, from primary energy to powertrains must be reconsidered, redesigned and redeployed to include renewable energies, robust powergrids, charging stations and electric powertrains. The prominent role of the infrastructure in terms of energy efficiency is demonstrated in chapter 2, introducing a grid to mobility segmentation for life cycle studies. In addition, the shortcomings of local and off-grid solutions are highlighted in the same chapter. Nevertheless, the grid integration also requires innovative solutions to comply with the physical constraints of current networks. In particular, the role and the sizing of stationary buffer batteries is detailled in chapter 3. The stochastic nature of charging events is used to develop a battery sizing algorithm including grid tie constraints. This research was intrinsically motivated by the perspective of infrastructure operators. A full scale demonstrator is at the core of the scientific questioning of this thesis. The design, the construction and the operation of a grid to mobility demonstrator is reported in chapter 4. Including a 200 kW / 400 kWh Vanadium redox flow battery, a 50 kW alkaline electrolyser, and a hydrogen refueling station, this demonstrator enabled a better understanding and characterization of process engineering, of control and programming and of electrochemical phenomenons. In particular, the data analysis on the electrolysis side and purification solutions are reported in chapter 5. Finally, the intrinsic characteristics of air driven gas boosters, a robust small scale compression solution, are analyzed in chapter 6 and the challenges for a full scale hydrogen mobility are discussed with an economic and logistics perspective.

Russian Analytical Digest (RAD), 308 ISSN:1863-0421

This work covers outdoor and indoor testing of a CdTe module from First Solar (FS-60). Outdoor characterisations were performed at PSI’s Solar Test Facility and indoor measurements at SUPSI-ISAAC Institute, Lugano. The location of PSI represents a typical site in the Swiss midland. The module was exposed outdoor on a sun tracker and tested under clear sky conditions as well as under a cloudy sky. During testing, the global-normal irradiance varied between 40 and 1054 W/m2, the cell module temperature between 13 and 68°C, and the relative air mass between 1.2 and 6.6. About 1360 I-V characteristics were acquired, allowing to plot the efficiency as a function of irradiance, cell module temperature and air mass. The data were used to validate a new efficiency model of PSI to calculate the module efficiency under real operating conditions on different sites. In order to investigate the difference between outdoor and indoor characterisation the module was measured with a pulsed sun simulator at SUPSI-ISAAC. The module was characterised by measuring the temperature coefficient and the full temperature-irradiance matrix in the range from 100 to 1000 W/m2 and from 25 to 65°C. Afterwards, the module energy output, under real conditions, was calculated with the energy prediction methods from PSI and the ‘Matrix-Method’ of SUPSI-ISAAC and the results were compared with the one year energy output data of the same module measured with the outdoor energy yield facility in Lugano. 25th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition / 5th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, 6-10 September 2010, Valencia, Spain; 3508-3512

Since the first studies by Ole Waever and the Copenhagen School, securitization theories have been criticized, revised and completed. Based on a specific empirical case study, this paper intends to do the same. Focused on the original case of environmental securitization within the United Nations (UN), this article aims to address the often-eluded question of the role of International Organizations in the securitization process. This example helps us to rethink securitization as well as politicization as discussed by securitization scholars and in environmental security studies. Contrary to the original definition of the Copenhagen School of depoliticization – understood as dedemocratisation –, this article argues that if, indeed, securitization can lead to depoliticization, the way we think depoliticization has to be revised. It can be an intentional strategic move by international securitizing actors to frame environment as an apolitical issue that requires a non-politicized scientific approach. Therefore, UN activities could reveal an attempt of a securitization without politicization, but not understood as a dedemocratisation.

Russian Analytical Digest (RAD), 193 ISSN:1863-0421

A mere amount of 2.2 grams (780 TBq) of tritium, diluted in $1.25 \cdot 10^6$ m$^3$ water, contained in 1047 tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are being released to the Pacific Ocean. The operation is scheduled to last over 30 years, with not more than releasing 62 mg (22 TBq) of tritium annually. The outcry in the world's press and the world's population is huge and countries like e.g. China are protesting aloud and are even banning Japanese seafood being sold in their domestic market. The outcry is real, the perceived fears are real, the havoc created on the Japanese fish market is real, but the danger is non-existing. The panic results from over-regulations initiated by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and similar bodies worldwide, prohibiting a reliable assessment of dangers and are thereby also preventing a solid risk analysis of real dangers. 12 pages, 3 figures

Proceedings of the GCSM 2012 10th Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing ISBN:978-605-63463-0-9