• Energy Research
• engineering and technology close
• 2. Zero hunger close
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Twenty-minute neighbourhoods highlight the importance of well-connected and mixed-used neighbourhoods and communities with proximate access to employment, essential services, public transport, and open spaces. Shorter distances together with re-prioritised public spaces encourage more active transport choices, resulting in public health benefits and reduced environmental pollution. Higher liveability brought about by mixed-use developments enables people to have equitable access to local facilities, amenities, and employment opportunities, promoting vibrancy, social cohesion, and intergenerational connections. The attributes of 20-minute neighbourhoods also combine to create places, that are acknowledged as friendly for all ages, address changing needs across the life course, and provide better support for the ageing population. Furthermore, there are indications that 20-minute neighbourhoods may be more resilient against many of the negative impacts of stringent public health protocols such as those implemented in periods of lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic. In this article, we evaluate and compare planning policies and practices aimed at establishing 20-minute neighbourhoods in Melbourne (Australia) and Scotland (the UK). Using case studies, we discuss similarities and differences involved in using place-based approaches of 20-minute neighbourhoods to address 21st-century challenges in key areas of health and wellbeing, equity, environmental sustainability, and community resilience.

ABSTRACTA novel design for a high temperature SOFC, based on lamellar electrode-electrolyte segments obtained by solidification of an oxidic eutectic melt on an electrolyte substrate is presented. Such “composite” electrodes contain NiO or MnO - 8Y-ZrO2 lamellae, which after reduction / oxidation yield electrode-electrolyte lamellae with 1–2 μm width and a vertical dimension of> 100 μm, depending upon the amount of eutectic melt solidified on a polycrystalline substrate. The nucleation of the eutectic on a polycrystalline substrate followed by a semi-directional crystallization of the two phases yields a gradient of 3-phase boundaries over the height of such an electrode, with the number of 3-phase boundaries increasing towards the substrate.

This study was conducted to determine the association between the age of skin wound and percentage of type III and type I collagen using Picrosirius polarization method. Cross-sectional study of 35 samples of skin wound was taken from medicolegal death cases which displayed skin wounds with known time of incident. All the samples were stained with Picrosiriusred solution and type of collagens were assessed at the edge of injury site and percentages were given. Statistical significant differences were found between type III and type I collagen with age of skin wounds. Type I collagen showed good correlations with the age of skin wound.

Abstract One approach to creating physics-based reduced-order models (ROMs) of battery-cell dynamics requires first generating linearized Laplace-domain transfer functions of all cell internal electrochemical variables of interest. Then, the resulting infinite-dimensional transfer functions can be reduced by various means in order to find an approximate low-dimensional model. These methods include Pade approximation or the Discrete-Time Realization algorithm. In a previous article, Lee and colleagues developed a transfer function of the electrolyte concentration for a porous-electrode pseudo-two-dimensional lithium-ion cell model. Their approach used separation of variables and Sturm–Liouville theory to compute an infinite-series solution to the transfer function, which they then truncated to a finite number of terms for reasons of practicality. Here, we instead use a variation-of-parameters approach to arrive at a different representation of the identical solution that does not require a series expansion. The primary benefits of the new approach are speed of computation of the transfer function and the removal of the requirement to approximate the transfer function by truncating the number of terms evaluated. Results show that the speedup of the new method can be more than 3800.

Although there is no certain known mechanism of how the electromagnetic flelds (EMFs) at power frequency (50/60Hz) can afiect human health, it has been epidemiologically shown that they have many hazards on human health. Also the power frequency flelds may interfere with the nearby electrical and electronic equipment. In response to the precautionary principle, it might be needed in some situations to reduce the magnetic and electric flelds of a high voltage line segment when it passes in close proximity to a populated area or may interfere with sensitive equipment. In other words, new arrangements of high voltage \green lines" are needed. This paper introduces a numerical solution based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) technique, to reduce both magnetic and electric flelds of high voltage overhead transmission line by rearranging the conductors. The horizontal, vertical, and triangular conflgurations of both single circuit and double circuit transmission lines were investigated. The examples presented in this paper show that the rearranged line conflgurations can introduce up to 81% reduction in magnetic fleld and up to 84% in electric fleld when the efiects of ice and wind are considered, and up to 97% reduction in both magnetic and electric flelds when these efiects are neglected. A comparison is made between the cost of reducing EMFs of a line segment in a suburban area in Amman in Jordan, and the cost of not-reducing EMFs, where it is found that the cost of reducing the flelds is outweighed by the \possible health costs" otherwise.

In Turkey, the population living around forest areas is significantly affected by forestry activities. There are 21 thousand forest villages and 7 million forest villagers living in these forest villages within the 22.9 million ha forest area. In other words, one out of every three people living in rural areas is a forest villager. Daily life activities of forest villagers living together with forest areas can cause pressure on forests. GDoFV by various development projects to reduce the impacts of pressures on forest areas of forest villagers have been implemented. This improvement loans are two groups, including for economic and social purposes. GDoFV only makes cost-benefit analysis for social projects. Does not apply any other economic analysis. Water Heating with Solar Energy Systems (Solar Power Plant) project is a project implemented by GDoFV social purposes. The aim of the SPP projects is to reduce the firewood consumption of the forest villagers. This case study aimed to evaluate the economic analysis of SSP projects implemented to reduce the forest villager's consumption of firewood. In the forest villages of the Western Mediterranean Region, 100 forest villages were sampled from 152 forest villages and 629 forest villagers where SPP application was made.

Abstract Background Solid biomass-based energy is expected to retain its position as a sole fuel source for households in the rural part of Ethiopia unless alternative energy sources are introduced. Synthesizing small-scale renewable alternative energy sources, such as biogas energy, into the energy mix has become an important strategy to overcome the energy hunger of its rural residents. As part of the government policy, small-scale biogas digesters have been installed in selected districts and regions of the country since 2007. There is, however, limited evidence on whether or not the intended objectives of the domestic biogas initiative have been actualized by the participants of the project. This paper, therefore, intends to investigate the economic benefits of domestic biogas plants along with the challenges facing it and future prospects of the biogas initiative in selected districts of northern Ethiopia. Methods Qualitative data were gathered using focus group discussion and key informant interviews. A survey of 400 households was also administered to capture cross sectional data using structured questionnaires. The qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. A propensity score matching model was employed to evaluate the effects of domestic biogas technology on energy expenditure, crop yield, and the substitution of chemical fertilizers. Results The study finds that biogas adopters have reduced their monthly energy expenditure on average by 20–36%. Moreover, the existence of a positive crop yield premium of 1.5 quintal/year/household was observed as a result of using bio-slurry as a fertilizer. The key factors that limit the extension of biogas technology to potential biogas adopters are the presence of failed digesters, an inadequate plot of land for the digester construction and a water availability problem. In light of such barriers, however, the study finds that more favorable environments for the widespread use of the technology exist. Conclusions Biogas user households have significantly reduced their energy expenditure compared to non-biogas adopters. Nevertheless, despite the modest increase in crop yield, the overall effect of bio-slurry application on crop productivity and substituting chemical fertilizers was not significant because of an improper bio-slurry utilization and management.

AbstractChina is under pressure to improve its agricultural productivity to keep up with the demands of a growing population with increasingly resource‐intensive diets. This productivity improvement must occur against a backdrop of carbon intensity reduction targets, and a highly fragmented, nutrient‐inefficient farming system. Moreover, the Chinese government increasingly recognizes the need to rationalize the management of the 800 million tonnes of agricultural crop straw that China produces each year, up to 40% of which is burned in‐field as a waste. Biochar produced from these residues and applied to land could contribute to China's agricultural productivity, resource use efficiency and carbon reduction goals. However competing uses for China's straw residues are rapidly emerging, particularly from bioenergy generation. Therefore it is important to understand the relative economic viability and carbon abatement potential of directing agricultural residues to biochar rather than bioenergy. Using cost‐benefit analysis (CBA) and life‐cycle analysis (LCA), this paper therefore compares the economic viability and carbon abatement potential of biochar production via pyrolysis, with that of bioenergy production via briquetting and gasification. Straw reincorporation and in‐field straw burning are used as baseline scenarios. We find that briquetting straw for heat energy is the most cost‐effective carbon abatement technology, requiring a subsidy of $7 MgCO2e−1 abated. However China's current bioelectricity subsidy scheme makes gasification (NPV $12.6 million) more financially attractive for investors than both briquetting (NPV $7.34 million), and pyrolysis ($−1.84 million). The direct carbon abatement potential of pyrolysis (1.06 MgCO2e per odt straw) is also lower than that of briquetting (1.35 MgCO2e per odt straw) and gasification (1.16 MgCO2e per odt straw). However indirect carbon abatement processes arising from biochar application could significantly improve the carbon abatement potential of the pyrolysis scenario. Likewise, increasing the agronomic value of biochar is essential for the pyrolysis scenario to compete as an economically viable, cost‐effective mitigation technology.