• Energy Research
• 13. Climate action close
• 4. Education close
• ES close

We have a system that is unable to keep students excited about their own learning and educational performance. In light of this situation it is the responsibility of educators to make a broad and global reflection on what must be changed and how this change may be managed. We believe that change is possible and there is no objective more necessary for society than investing in its future project. This paper proposes an exhaustive analysis of the current situation of the secondary school teachers and from there on justifies the change through the teaching practice based on innovation and with a better training in pedagogical and didactical issues.

We evaluated a teacher training intervention programme aimed at improving the teaching and learning process relating to history in the secondary classroom. This was carried out via the implementation of several teaching units during the period of teaching practice of trainee teachers specialising in geography and history. The design of the teaching units was based on historical thinking competencies and on the introduction of active learning strategies. The programme was evaluated via a quasi-experimental A-B type methodological approach employing a pretest and a post-test. Both tools were designed on the basis of four dimensions (methodology, motivation, satisfaction and perception). The content of the tools was validated using the interjudge process via a discussion group in the first round and with a Likert scale questionnaire (1–4) with seven experts in the second round. The reliability of the tools has been estimated via three indices (Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability and omega), and the validity of the construct via an exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with the structural equation model. The results regarding reliability and validity have been adequate. Furthermore, the descriptive results show an improvement in all of the dimensions following the implementation of the teaching units, particularly with regard to group work, the use of digital resources and work with primary sources.

Cooperative learning seems to be the right methodology to tackle the development of the teamwork competence inside the process of teaching?learning at the University. That strategy has been used by lecturers of different faculties and schools of the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU who have sorted an Educational Team on cooperative learning. The experience was developed in six different groups which add up as 185 students. The outcome of that experience was analysed by means of a questionnaire which gathers the main competences of teamwork. The analysis of the dimensions of the questionnaire shows a structure with two dimensions: (1) 'interpersonal competences' and (2) 'instrumental competences'. Students seem to prioritise the most technical or procedural competences (instrumental) over personal and relationship competences (interpersonal) in their formative process and assessment of their learning.

Recent advances in the satellite retrieval of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) provide new opportunities for understanding the phenological responses of ecosystems to global climate change. Because of the strong link between SIF and plant gross photosynthesis, phenological events derived from SIF represent the seasonal variation of ecosystem functioning (photosynthetic phenology) and differ from phenologies derived from traditional vegetation indices. We provide an overview of recent advances in remotely sensed photosynthetic phenologies, with a focus on their driving factors, their impact on the global carbon cycle, and their relationships with vegetation index-derived land surface phenology metrics. We also discuss future research directions on how to better use various phenological metrics to understand the responses of plants to global change.

Abstract Hybrid TiO2/SiO2 thin films deposited by material printing technique on flexible substrates were prepared, characterized and tested for solar photocatalytic disinfection. Effect of surface hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity of printed coatings on photocatalytic disinfection was studied by means of (i) drinking water contaminated with natural consortia of fecal bacteria (gram-negative: Escherichia coli and total coliforms; gram-positive: Enterococci), and (ii) seawater containing pathogenic gram-negative bacteria (Vibrio owensii, Vibrio alfacsensis and Vibrio harveyi). Inactivation of gram-negative bacteria in drinking water with fecal contamination by solar photocatalysis was slightly more efficient than solar disinfection, while for gram-positive bacteria similar efficiency was observed. These results, in combination with observed release of titanium from coatings (detected by means of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer), indicate that TiO2/SiO2 needs further improvements for solar photocatalytic disinfection of drinking water. Efficiency of seawater disinfection towards gram-negative Vibrio spp. (Vibrio owensii, Vibrio alfacsensis and Vibrio harveyi) was significantly enhanced when TiO2/SiO2 coatings were used under natural solar light. Moreover, hydrophobic thin films led to faster Vibrio spp. inactivation as compared to hydrophilic ones, which was attributed to higher bacteria adhesion on hydrophobic coatings. However, decrease of photocatalytic activity of hydrophobic TiO2/SiO2 coatings was observed after ten experimental cycles mainly due to deposition of salts on the surface of photocatalyst. Generally, results of this study suggest that autochthonous bacteria such as Vibrio spp. in seawater are significantly more resistant to solar disinfection in comparison with not autochthonous bacteria such as Escherichia coli, total coliforms and Enterococci in contaminated drinking water.

ABSTRACTWind power forecasts are useful tools for power load balancing, energy trading and wind farm operations. Long range monthly‐to‐seasonal forecasting allows the prediction of departures from average weather conditions beyond traditional weather forecast timescales, months in advance. However, it has not yet been demonstrated how these forecasts can be optimally transformed to wind power. The predictable part of a seasonal forecast is for longer monthly averages, not daily averages, but to use monthly averages misses information on variability. To investigate, here a model relating average weather conditions to average wind power output was built, based on the relationship between instantaneous wind speed and power production and incorporating fluctuations in air density due to temperature and wind speed variability. Observed monthly average power output from UK stations was used to validate the model and to investigate the optimal temporal resolution for the data used to drive the model. Multiple simulations of wind power were performed based on reanalysis data, making separate simulations based on monthly, daily and sub‐daily averages, using a distribution defined by the mean across the period to incorporate information on variability. Basing the simulation on monthly averages alone is sub‐optimal: using daily average winds gives the highest correlation against observations. No improvement over this is gained by using sub‐daily averages or including temperature variability. This signifies that to transform seasonal forecasts to wind power a compromise must be made between using the daily averages with debatable skill and the more predictable monthly averages, losing information on day‐to‐day variability.

One of the major goals of engine designers is the reduction of fuel consumption and pollutant emissions while keeping or even improving engine performance. In recent years, different technical issues have been investigated and incorporated into internal combustion engines in order to fulfill these requirements. Most are related to the combustion process since it is responsible for both fuel consumption and pollutant emissions. Additionally, the most critical operating points for an engine are both the starting and the warming up periods (the time the engine takes to reach its nominal temperature, generally between 80°C and 90°C), since at these points fuel consumption and pollutant emissions are larger than at any other points. Thus, reducing the warm-up period can be crucial to fulfill new demands and regulations. This period depends strongly on the engine cooling system and the different strategies used to control and regulate coolant flow and temperature. In the present work, the influences of different engine cooling system configurations on the warm-up period of a Diesel engine are studied. The first part of the work focuses on the modeling of a baseline engine cooling system and the tests performed to adjust and validate the model. Once the model was validated, different modifications of the engine coolant system were simulated. From the modelled results, the most favourable condition was selected in order to check on the test bench the reduction achieved in engine warm-up time and to quantify the benefits obtained in terms of engine fuel consumption and pollutant emissions under the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC). The results show that one of the selected configurations reduced the warm-up period by approximately 159 s when compared with the baseline configuration. As a consequence, important reductions in fuel consumption and pollutant emissions (HC and CO) were obtained.