• Energy Research
• 12. Responsible consumption close
• 6. Clean water close
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Abstract In this article, we investigate the intergenerational transmission of sustainable consumption practices. Whereas previous studies have used self-reported attitudes and behaviour, this study uses data on actual energy consumption for space-heating and hot water combined with extensive panel data from Danish administrative registers. The paper shows significant intergenerational correlations between the energy consumption patterns of adults and their mothers, also when controlling for the energy consumption of the mother-in-law, where possible. Furthermore, it shows that the intergenerational correlation is slightly stronger for adults with lower income levels. These results suggest that energy consumption practices are shared and reproduced within the family. Following theories of practice, the intergenerational similarities in energy consumption practices refer to bodily learned practices that are indirectly transmitted and negotiated through family relations. In this way, these findings also contribute to a better understanding of how practical understanding regarding how to perform practices is transmitted within more ordinary aspects of consumption that play a less obvious role in distinction. To ensure more sustainable consumption practices in the future, this paper points to the importance of the role of family relations and the transmission of embodied practices.

Abstract The increasing global energy demand, the foreseen reduction of available fossil fuels and the increasing evidence off global warming during the last decades have generated a high interest in renewable energy sources. However, renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, have an intrinsic variability that can seriously affect the stability of the energy system if they account for a high percentage of the total generation. The Energy Flexibility of buildings is commonly suggested as part of the solution to alleviate some of the upcoming challenges in the future demand-respond energy systems (electrical, district heating and gas grids). Buildings can supply flexibility services in different ways, e.g. utilization of thermal mass, adjustability of HVAC system use (e.g. heating/cooling/ventilation), charging of electric vehicles, and shifting of plug-loads. However, there is currently no overview or insight into how much Energy Flexibility different building may be able to offer to the future energy systems in the sense of avoiding excess energy production, increase the stability of the energy networks, minimize congestion problems, enhance the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the future energy networks. Therefore, there is a need for increasing knowledge on and demonstration of the Energy Flexibility buildings can provide to energy networks. At the same time, there is a need for identifying critical aspects and possible solutions to manage this Energy Flexibility, while maintaining the comfort of the occupants and minimizing the use of non-renewable energy. In this context, the IEA (International Energy Agency) EBC (Energy in Buildings and Communities program) Annex 67: “Energy Flexible Buildings” was started in 2015. The article presents the background and the work plan of IEA EBC Annex 67 as well as already obtained results. Annex 67 is a corporation between participants from 16 countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and UK.

Abstract Global energy consumption is increasing at a dramatic rate and will likely continue to do so. The major source of energy is still fossil fuel, which has resulted in the well-documented problem of global warming due to the emission of greenhouse gases from the burning of such fuel. Climate change and global warming are among the crucial and complex issues encountered by the world today, and they require an immediate solution. Technological innovation is the key to ensuring energy security without causing emissions and providing efficient cost-effective energy solutions. Power electronic technologies offer high reliability and renewable energy conversion efficiency, thus contributing to energy conservation, improving energy efficiency, and helping in the mitigation of harmful global emissions. This review focuses on various aspects of power electronic technologies and their importance in tackling carbon emission and global warming problems. The key topologies of power electronic converters are explained based on types, control difficulties, benefits, and drawbacks. Power electronic controllers utilized for energy conversion are comprehensively reviewed with regard to their structure, algorithm complexity, strengths and weaknesses, and mathematical modeling. The review focuses on power converters and controllers used in different applications and highlight their contributions to energy conservation, increasing the share of renewable energy sources, and mitigating emissions. Moreover, existing research gaps, issues, and challenges are identified. The insights provided by are expected to lead to the enhanced development of advanced power electronic converters and controllers for sustainable energy conversion. Such development can reduce carbon emissions and mitigate global warming.

Decision analysis is often used to help decision makers choose among alternatives, based on the expected utility associated to each alternative as function of its consequences and potential impacts. Environmental impacts are not always among the prioritized concerns of traditional decision making. This has fostered the development of several environmental problems and is nowadays a reason of concern. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) can assess an extensive range of environmental impacts associated with a product or service system and support a life cycle perspective on the alternative products or service systems, revealing potential problem shifting between life cycle stages. Through the integration with traditional risk based decision analysis, LCA may thus facilitate a better informed decision process. In this study we explore how environmental impacts are taken into account in different fields of interest for decision makers to identify the need, potential and obstacles for integrating LCA into conventional approaches to decision problems. Three application areas are used as examples: transportation planning, flood management, and food production and consumption. The analysis of these cases shows that environmental impacts are considered only to a limited extent in traditional evaluation of transport and food projects. They are rarely, if at all, addressed in flood risk management. Hence, in each of the three cases studied, there is a clear need for the inclusion of a better and systematic assessment of environmental impacts. Some LCA studies have been conducted in all three research areas, mainly on infrastructures and production systems. The three cases show the potential of integrating LCA into existing decision analysis by providing the environmental profiles of the alternatives. However, due to different goals and scopes of LCA and other decision analysis approaches, there is a general lack of consistency in study system scoping in terms of considered elements and boundaries, in uncertainty treatment, and in applied metrics. In the present paper, we discuss the obstacles arising when trying to integrate LCA with conventional evaluation tools and we propose a research agenda to eventually make such integration feasible and consistent.

Abstract In this paper, we investigate the construction of markets for clean technologies by examining the mechanisms through which new technologies succeed (or fail) to be transformed into goods that are both environmentally and economically valuable. We envisage this process as a particular form of market innovation in which new product qualities are inscribed into market architectures. We focus on the market for clean technologies that emerged as a result of the EU Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) directive that required polluting industries, including livestock farms, to implement the “best available techniques” in order to reduce their emissions. Our case study traces a Danish start-up firm's endeavors to commercialize one such “best available technique:” a solution for reducing ammonia emissions from farms. Building on the literature on the shaping of markets, we show that the construction of a market for clean technologies hinges upon the composition of a complex network of actors with divergent, and sometimes conflicting, interests, in which market devices (in this case, a technology list) play a pivotal role. More generally, the paper contributes to discussions on controversies and performativity in market practices and on the construction of markets designed to address environmental issues.

Abstract There is a concern that underground stored CO 2 may potentially escape and intrude shallow aquifers that may lead to degradation of the water quality and possible mobilization of metals. Moreover migrating CO 2 gas may invade buildings causing lethal conditions for humans. A better understanding of gaseous CO 2 migration in heterogeneous aquifer systems at low pressure will help in risk assessment of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). We performed complementary 1D column and 2D tank experiments by injecting gaseous CO 2 at three different rates into constructed heterogeneous porous media in laboratory setups. Soil moisture sensors were installed in the test systems to monitor the movement of the gaseous phase. The generated experimental data was analyzed using the numerical multiphase modeling code T2VOC. The results confirmed that large-scale heterogeneity controls overall gaseous CO 2 migration in porous media while processes occurring at smaller scale are of significance for gas saturations. Monitoring the exact gaseous movement and concentrations is difficult even in a constructed heterogeneous medium and point measurements are not always capturing the full dynamics of the system. The numerical model provided good estimates of the general flow of the gaseous phase around larger heterogeneous features and estimated the total amount of gaseous CO 2 in the test system to a good approximation. However, the numerical model was not able to adequately describe the processes occurring at smaller scale including unstable gaseous movement at low flow rates and dissolution of CO 2 .

Renewable energy has been prioritized in Danish energy policy since the early 1980s. This has led to the current situation where Denmark is one of the leading countries in the world in the field of wind energy utilization. The background for this success is a story about how a society can manage the development and diffusion of sustainable technologies so that they are simultaneously socially acceptable and environmentally benign. Consequently, this article describes the relationship between the organization of wind power and the protection of nature. The aim is to analyse which kinds of public planning and policy can promote wind power and nature protection in a situation where a conflict exists between these two issues. The discussion acknowledges that it has been a serious problem to balance these contrasting considerations. However, it also suggests that the problems seem solvable if technology development, the social organization relating to the use of the technology and proper planning are brought together to work in a spirit of local involvement. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment

Freshwater snails are intermediate hosts for a number of trematodes of which some are of medical and veterinary importance. The trematodes rely on specific species of snails to complete their life cycle; hence the ecology of the snails is a key element in transmission of the parasites. More than 200 million people are infected with schistosomes of which 95% live in sub-Saharan Africa and many more are living in areas where transmission is on-going. Human infection with the Fasciola parasite, usually considered more of veterinary concern, has recently been recognised as a human health problem. Many countries have implemented health programmes to reduce morbidity and prevalence of schistosomiasis, and control programmes to mitigate food-borne fascioliasis. As these programmes are resource demanding, baseline information on disease prevalence and distribution becomes of great importance. Such information can be made available and put into practice through maps depicting spatial distribution of the intermediate snail hosts.A biology driven model for the freshwater snails Bulinus globosus, Biomphalaria pfeifferi and Lymnaea natalensis was used to make predictions of snail habitat suitability by including potential underlying environmental and climatic drivers. The snail observation data originated from a nationwide survey in Zimbabwe and the prediction model was parameterised with a high resolution Regional Climate Model. Georeferenced prevalence data on urinary and intestinal schistosomiasis and fascioliasis was used to calibrate the snail habitat suitability predictions to produce binary maps of snail presence and absence.Predicted snail habitat suitability across Zimbabwe, as well as the spatial distribution of snails, is reported for three time slices representative for present (1980-1999) and future climate (2046-2065 and 2080-2099).It is shown from the current study that snail habitat suitability is highly variable in Zimbabwe, with distinct high- and low- suitability areas and that temperature may be the main driving factor. It is concluded that future climate change in Zimbabwe may cause a reduced spatial distribution of suitable habitat of host snails with a probable exception of Bi. pfeifferi, the intermediate host for intestinal schistosomiasis that may increase around 2055 before declining towards 2100.