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Oskarshamn is one of the municipalities being discussed as a possible site for disposal of nuclear waste from the Swedish nuclear power plants, and there has been inquiries made for a pilot study in the area. In view of this the local council of Oskarshamn appointed a ´Youth team´, consisting of ten young politicians from all political parties represented in the local council. The aim of the team was to inform and create debate among adolescents about how to store the radioactive waste from nuclear power plants. The purpose of this survey, addressed to young people in Oskarshamn, was to shed light on their opinion towards a pilot study and possible disposal of nuclear waste in Oskarshamn. The respondents had to answer questions about their opinion on the use of nuclear power in Sweden, if they believed nuclear power to be abolished by year 2010, and about their general interest in issues concerning energy and nuclear power. Other questions concerned risks associated with nuclear power, the influence different groups have/ought to have when it comes to disposal of nuclear waste, and if the respondent would accept a decision to dispose nuclear waste in Oskarshamn. A number of questions dealt with the suggested pilot study; if the respondent was for or against a pilot study; who should decide about the pilot study; if there had been enough information about the study; and if the respondent had attended any meeting, signed any petition, contacted any politician, contacted or participated in mass media, or tried to influence anyone´s opinion on any issue concerning the pilot study. The respondents also had to state the issues they considered to be important to study in a pilot study. Furthermore the respondents had to give their opinion about a number of risks discussed in connection with disposal of nuclear waste in Oskarshamn. Other questions concerned the influence on job opportunities and tourism. Demographic items include age, gender, marital status, children, education, occupation, and trade union membership. Oskarshamn is one of the municipalities being discussed as a possible site for disposal of nuclear waste from the Swedish nuclear power plants, and there has been inquiries made for a pilot study in the area. In view of this the local council of Oskarshamn appointed a 'Youth team', consisting of ten young politicians from all political parties represented in the local council. The aim of the team was to inform and create debate among adolescents about how to store the radioactive waste from nuclear power plants. The purpose of this survey, addressed to young people in Oskarshamn, was to shed light on their opinion towards a pilot study and possible disposal of nuclear waste in Oskarshamn. The respondents had to answer questions about their opinion on the use of nuclear power in Sweden, if they believed nuclear power to be abolished by year 2010, and about their general interest in issues concerning energy and nuclear power. Other questions concerned risks associated with nuclear power, the influence different groups have/ought to have when it comes to disposal of nuclear waste, and if the respondent would accept a decision to dispose nuclear waste in Oskarshamn. A number of questions dealt with the suggested pilot study; if the respondent was for or against a pilot study; who should decide about the pilot study; if there had been enough information about the study; and if the respondent had attended any meeting, signed any petition, contacted any politician, contacted or participated in mass media, or tried to influence anyone's opinion on any issue concerning the pilot study. The respondents also had to state the issues they considered to be important to study in a pilot study. Furthermore the respondents had to give their opinion about a number of risks discussed in connection with disposal of nuclear waste in Oskarshamn. Other questions concerned the influence on job opportunities and tourism. Demographic items include age, gender, marital status, children, education, occupation, and trade union membership.

Cities are progressively heightening their climate aspirations to curtail urban carbon emis- sions and establish a future where economies and communities can flourish within the Earth’s eco- logical limits. Consequently, numerous climate initiatives are being launched to control urban car- bon emissions, targeting various sectors, including transport, residential, agricultural, and energy. However, recent scientific literature underscores the disproportionate distribution of climate poli- cies. While cities in the Global North have witnessed several initiatives to combat climate change, cities in the Global South remain uncovered and highly vulnerable to climate hazards. To address this disparity, we employed the Balanced Iterative Reducing and Clustering using the Hierarchies (BRICH) algorithm to cluster cities from diverse geographical areas that exhibit comparable socio- economic profiles. This clustering strives to foster enhanced cooperation and collaboration among cities globally, with the goal of addressing climate change in a comprehensive manner. In summary, we identified similarities, pa􏰀erns, and clusters among peer cities, enabling mutual and generaliza- ble learning among worldwide peer-cities regarding urban climate policy exchange. This exchange occurs through three approaches: (i) inner-mutual learning, (ii) cross-mutual learning, and (iii) outer-mutual learning. Our findings mark a pivotal stride towards a􏰀aining worldwide climate ob- jectives through a shared responsibility approach. Furthermore, they provide preliminary insights into the implementation of “urban climate policy exchange” among peer cities on a global scale.

This study assessed the hand hygiene performance in French nursing homes using the consumption of alcohol-based hand rubs (AHRs) as a surrogate. Nursing homes from the 17 French regions were contacted to collect their AHR consumption and occupancy in 2018 and 2019. A total of 1290 nursing homes from 15 French regions participated in the survey. The estimated median number of hand hygiene actions per resident-day was 1.48 (interquartile range: 1.04-2.03) in 2018 and 1.60 (1.10-2.26) in 2019. A significantly higher AHR consumption was observed in public nursing homes with an infection control team or link nurse.

Abstract To achieve the EU climate and energy objectives, a transition towards a future sustainable energy system is needed. The integration of the huge potential for industrial waste heat recovery into smart energy system represents a main opportunity to accomplish these goals. To successfully implement this strategy, all the several stakeholders' conflicting objectives should be considered. In this paper an evolutionary multi-objective optimization model is developed to perform a sustainability evaluation of an energy system involving an industrial facility as the waste heat source and the neighbourhood as district heating network end users. An Italian case study of heat recovery from a steel casting facility shows how the model allows to properly select the district heating network set of users to fully exploit the available waste energy. Design directions such as the thermal energy storage capacity can be also provided. Moreover, the model enables the analysis of the trade-off between the stakeholders’ different perspectives, allowing to identify possible win-win solutions for both the industrial sector and the citizenship.

Torrefaction is considered as a method for producing biofuels with improved characteristics compared to those of the “raw” biomass (higher calorific value, moisture resistance, better grindability). The torrefaction process is an endothermic process that is usually carried out in a gaseous atmosphere in the absence of oxygen. To reduce the required heat input, it is proposed to employ the oxidative torrefaction and conduct the process in a fluidized bed agitated with flue gases containing less than 6% oxygen. Preliminary studies of the oxidative torrefaction of sunflower husks, including thermogravimetric analysis of the treated material, have shown that the heat treatment time for the biomass should be at least 5 min. A fluidized bed is a reactor with ideal mixing of the treated material where uniform treatment of raw material particles cannot generally be attained. To overcome this disadvantage of the fluidization technique and achieve the required residence time for biomass in a fluidized bed during a continuous torrefaction process, it was proposed to equip a torrefaction reactor with a series of vertical baffles spaced at 50 mm. These baffles induce a loop-like flow of the processed biomass from the inlet to the outlet of the reactor. To investigate the residence time for husk particles in the reactor, a tracer, which was colored to husk particles' color with a water-soluble dye which did not change the weight and size of the particles, was injected into the bed of uncolored particles. Tracer samples were taken every 30 s at the outlet of the reactor and were analyzed using a special procedure to determine the fraction of colored particles in each sample. This enabled us to gauge the time during which the colored particles injected into the fluidized bed reached the point of their discharge from the bed. Studies performed in a “cold” model of the reactor showed that a series of vertical baffles in the bed can provide the required residence time for biomass in a reactor including commercial reactors. Plates can provide the necessary biomass residence time in the reactor.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of increasing sulfate concentrations on chromium removal, to evaluate the effect of the presence of Cr(VI) on sulfate removal by Streptomyces sp. MC1 and to analyze the differential protein expression profile in the presence of this metal for the identification of proteins repressed or overexpressed. In the presence of Cr(VI) but in the absence of sulfate ions, bacterial growth was negligible, showing the Cr(VI) toxicity for this bacterium. However, the sulfate presence stimulated bacterium growth and Cr(VI) removal, regardless of its concentrations. Streptomyces sp. MC1 showed ability to remove chromium and sulfate simultaneously. Also, the sulfate presence favored the decrease of total chromium concentration from supernatants reaching a decrease of 50% at 48 h. In presence of chromium, seven proteins were down‐expressed and showed homology to proteins involved in protein biosynthesis, energy production and free radicals detoxification while two proteins involved in oxidation‐reduction processes identified as dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase and S‐adenosyl‐l‐methionine synthase were overexpressed.

Abstract Limiting the increase of global temperature requires electrification of the railway transport, which is relatively a distinct mode of transport in terms of economy, business and socialization of a country. However, battery complemented railway transport systems such as fuel cell hybrid railway propulsion systems are constrained by the high cost of the battery, and suboptimal performance of the fuel cell under varying loads. Optimized selection of battery can reduce its costs associated with sizing, life and utilization. Similarly, managing the load distribution between the battery and fuel cell can reduce the load variations concern for fuel cell. In this study, model-based selective characterization of the battery and fuel cell is done to identify the optimal features and constraints. Following characterization, the load allocation to battery and fuel cell is determined with the targets of collaborative utilization of optimal features and mitigation of constraints. Subsequently, considering this load allocation and results of characterization, conditions are proposed for reliable sizing and optimized selection of battery. The significance of the proposed conditions in reliable sizing is explored. Based on these conditions, certain commercially developed batteries are evaluated for optimized selection of battery. The results signify this study as a foundation for research on the reliable sizing and optimized selection of battery in fuel cell hybrid railway propulsion systems.

Interfacial resistance at electrode‐high Li+ conductive solid electrolytes must be reduced well to develop high‐power all‐solid‐state batteries using oxide‐based solid electrolytes (Ox‐SSBs). Herein, crystalline electrode films of LiCoO2 (LCO) are formed on a high Li+ conductive crystalline‐glass solid electrolyte sheet, Li1.3Al0.3Ti2(PO4)3 (LATP) (σ25 °C = 1 × 10−4 S cm−1), at room temperature by aerosol deposition (AD), and the effects of the annealing temperature on the interfacial resistivities (Rint) at the LCO/LATP are investigated. The Rint visibly increases by annealing over 500 °C with the growth of Co3O4 as a reactant. In contrast, Rint is reduced to ≈100 Ω cm2 by low‐temperature annealing at 250–350 °C due to superior contact through the structural rearrangement of an artificial metastable interface formed by the AD. These results are applied to bulk‐type Ox‐SSB, Li/Li7La3Zr2O12(LLZ)/LCO–LATP, and our best Ox‐SSB delivers a discharge capacity of 100 mA cm−2 at 100 °C.

Changes in the main weather features are becoming perceivable in Italy. In the last years, the average temperature and the intensity of rainstorms are increasing. Such phenomena could lead to changes in the earth-atmosphere interaction. Accounting for the high vulnerability of the Italian territory, an obvious consequence would concern the effects on the hydro-geological hazards, including landslides and floods. As a matter of fact, the higher frequency of high magnitude flood and landslide events represent an alarm bell. It is necessary to explore with all available instruments the consequences of the potential climate changes. Since quantitative predictions are not possible, the only way to run is depicting rational scenarios for the most vulnerable contexts adopting a multidisciplinary approach. Based on projections of potential climate changes in the 21st century, the report examines their potential impact in the context of the Italian peninsula. After a general overview about typical slope responses to weather changes, some quantitative scenarios have been depicted for representative geomorphological contexts. The last part of the paper examines changes in the expected risk, based on the characteristics of the Italian territory and its vulnerability, looking at the initiatives to undertake for its mitigation.