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This paper presents a three-year pilot experience of a new municipal waste management system developed in Navarre, Spain that integrates composting and hens. The aim of this new system is to motivate the general public to participate more in waste prevention programs. The Composter-Henhouse (CH) is a compact facility comprised of a henhouse and three composters. This is shared by 30 families who provide the organic part of their kitchen waste to feed the hens. Hens help speed up the composting process by depositing their droppings and turning the organic residue into compost. This study assesses the CH in terms of treatment capacity, the technical adequacy of the composting process, the quality and safety of the compost obtained and some social aspects. Over three years, the CH has managed nearly 16.5 tons of organic waste and produced approximately 5600 kg of compost and more than 6000 high-quality fresh eggs. No problems or nuisances have been reported and the level of animal welfare has been very high. The follow up of the composting process (temperature, volume reduction and compost maturity) and a physicochemical and microbiological analysis of the compost have ensured the proper management of the process. The level of involvement and user satisfaction has been outstanding and the project has presented clear social benefits.

Background: Dietary factors have significant effects on the brain, modulating mood, anxiety, motivation and cognition. To date, no attention has been paid to the consequences that the combination of ethanol (EtOH) and a high-fat diet (HFD) have on learning and mood disorders during adolescence. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the biochemical and behavioral consequences of ethanol binge drinking and an HFD consumption in adolescent mice. Methods: Animals received either a standard diet or an HFD (ad libitum vs. binge pattern) in combination with ethanol binge drinking and were evaluated in anxiety and memory. The metabolic profile and gene expression of leptin receptors and clock genes were also evaluated. Results: Excessive white adipose tissue and an increase in plasma insulin and leptin levels were mainly observed in ad libitum HFD + EtOH mice. An upregulation of the Lepr gene expression in the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus was also observed in ad libitum HFD groups. EtOH-induced impairment on spatial memory retrieval was absent in mice exposed to an HFD, although the aversive memory deficits persisted. Mice bingeing on an HFD only showed an anxiolytic profile, without other alterations. We also observed a mismatch between Clock and Bmal1 expression in ad libitum HFD animals, which were mostly independent of EtOH bingeing. Conclusions: Our results confirm the bidirectional influence that occurs between the composition and intake pattern of a HFD and ethanol consumption during adolescence, even when the metabolic, behavioral and chronobiological effects of this interaction are dissociated.

This paper proposes a methodology for the economic optimisation of the sizing of Energy Storage Systems (ESSs) whilst enhancing the participation of Wind Power Plants (WPP) in network primary frequency control support. The methodology was designed flexibly, so it can be applied to different energy markets and to include different ESS technologies. The methodology includes the formulation and solving of a Linear Programming (LP) problem.; The methodology was applied to the particular case of a 50 MW WPP, equipped with a Vanadium Redox Flow battery (VRB) in the UK energy market. Analysis is performed considering real data on the UK regular energy market and the UK frequency response market. Data for wind power generation and energy storage costs are estimated from literature.; Results suggest that, under certain assumptions, ESSs can be profitable for the operator of a WPP that is providing frequency response. The ESS provides power reserves such that the WPP can generate close to the maximum energy available. The solution of the optimisation problem establishes that an ESS with a power rating of 5.3 MW and energy capacity of about 3 MW h would be enough to provide such service whilst maximising the incomes for the WPP operator considering the regular and frequency regulation UK markets. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Trigeneration plants can use different types of chillers in the same plant, typically single effect and double effect absorption chillers, vapour compression chillers and also cooling storage systems. The highly variable cooling demand of the buildings connected to a district heating and cooling (DHC) network has to be distributed among these chillers to achieve lower operating costs and higher energy efficiencies. This problem is difficult to solve due to the different partial load behaviour of each chiller and the different chiller combinations that can cover a certain cooling demand using an appropriate sizing of the cooling storage. The objective of this paper is to optimize the daily plant operation of an existing trigeneration plant based on cogeneration engines and to study the optimal cooling load sharing between different types of absorption chillers using a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model. Real data from a trigeneration plant connected to a DHC close to Barcelona (Spain) is used for the development of this model. The cooling load distribution among the different units is heavily influenced by the price of the electricity sold to the grid which rules the duration of the operation time of the engines. The main parameter to compare load distribution configurations is the primary energy saving indicator. Cooling load distribution among the different chillers changes also with the load of the whole plant because the chiller performance changes with load.

This article surveys game theoretic papers focused on the negotiation process that leads to an International Environmental Agreement. Most of the papers considered apply bargaining theory, although other approaches have been considered as well. Among other issues, the papers considered analyze: the burden sharing rule that will result from a negotiation over a global public good; the role of information asymmetries; the impact of unilateral commitments, delegation, and ratification; whether or not countries are going to form groups during the negotiation process; and the influence of the expectation of a future bargaining process on investment decisions. The basic bargaining model is optimistic, as it predicts that countries will reach an efficient agreement immediately. However, all the developments of this model surveyed afterwards are rather pessimistic and even the basic model has perverse incentives for pre-negotiation signals. Peer reviewed

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license Solar thermal technology for the production on electricity is one of the current technological challenges. In concentrating solar power (CSP) plants, in order to achieve high power it is required to use a high operating temperature to reach high conversion efficiencies. The majority of today's commercial solar thermal power plants are based on the parabolic trough collector technology with operating temperature around 400 °C. However, the technology of solar tower is used in order to maximize the efficiency of the CSP plants. This technology reaches an operating temperature higher than 1000 °C and the development of high temperature receivers that work in this temperature ranges is still in its early stages. The fundamental problems observed are related to materials durability and reliability. The main objective of this paper has been to develop testing methods for solar receivers which guarantee their reliability and durability under demanding working conditions of high solar concentrating technology. Based on a revision of published or draft Standards, a qualification test methodology for durability tests has been developed. This paper has been funded by the project MIRASOL, ref ENE2012-39385-C03-01 (CENER) and ENE2012-39385-C03-03 (CSIC), within the framework “Subprograma de Proyectos de Investigación Fundamental no orientada (2012)”, MINECO (Spanish Government). Peer Reviewed

Venetian blinds (VB) are shading devices of widespread use in residential and corporate buildings. They can reflect or transmit light into buildings and at the same time allow daylighting and exterior views. They can also efficiently block radiative heat from entering the building, and if combined with a heat dissipation system such as forced ventilation, they can improve the thermal performance of double skin façades (DSF). Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has proven to be a useful tool for modeling flow and heat transfer in DSF, including conduction, convection and radiation heat transfer phenomena. The aim of this work is to evaluate, by means of CFD, the influence of several optical, construction and operation parameters of a DSF (such as optical properties of the materials, geometrical relations of the VB or flow stream conditions) in terms of energy savings, measured as a reduction of the solar load entering the building. Results obtained show that parameters such as the proximity of the VB to the exterior skin of the façade or a differentiated surface treatment for the exterior and interior faces of the VB louvers can notably affect the thermal performance of the DSF and hence the heat gains experienced by the building.