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Geothermal Energy Supply in Chile, Phase 1: General Framework and Environmental Impact Assessment

Das Projekt "Geothermal Energy Supply in Chile, Phase 1: General Framework and Environmental Impact Assessment" wird/wurde ausgeführt durch: Hochschule Bochum, Bochum University of Applied Sciences, Zentrum für Geothermie und Zukunftsenergien.Climate protection aspects, commitments to the Kyoto-protocol and a guarantee of the national energy supply are the main drivers for this project of the Government of Chile. In the first phase of the consultation GZB will be the technical partner of a workgroup which is going to establish a government-guideline for the implementation of geothermal energy projects in Chile. The guideline will emphasize legal, financial and environmental aspects.

ERA-NET Plus on Cultural Heritage and Global Change Research (HERITAGE PLUS)

Das Projekt "ERA-NET Plus on Cultural Heritage and Global Change Research (HERITAGE PLUS)" wird/wurde gefördert durch: Kommission der Europäischen Gemeinschaften Brüssel. Es wird/wurde ausgeführt durch: Ministero dei Beni e delle Attivita Culturali e del Turismo.The main objective of the HERITAGE PLUS proposal is to pool the necessary financial resources from the participating national programmes and the European Community and to launch a single Joint Call for Proposals for research projects in the cultural heritage field that will be evaluated and managed jointly by the participating programmes. The 18 Partners have a strong background in designing, promoting and managing transnational, collaborative research programmes having participated to the Era Net Projects NET HERITAGE, HERA and DCNET and implemented the Joint Programming Initiative 'Cultural Heritage and Global Change: a new challenge for Europe' (JPICH). Within JPICH, the launch of the first pilot call, actually open, represents the factual commitment of Partners to implement transnational research programming. The HERITAGE PLUS project is fully in line with the JPICH as part of the implementation of the Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) and of the Action Programme. Consequently the HERITAGE PLUS call will be focused in topics on tangible cultural heritage research, developing new methodologies, technologies and products for the assessment, protection and management of historical and modern artefacts, buildings and sites, while not excluding interlinked aspects of digital and intangible heritage, following the interdisciplinary basic criteria on which the JPICH SRA devolved. This collaborative approach will provide a better use of public resources, while the European Community contribution to the Joint Call budget will stress the high interest generated by this common action. This ERA NET PLUS action will support the JPICH by proposing concrete solutions for pooling national expertise and resources and establishing closer and robust collaboration among the participating States in the field of cultural heritage. The HERITAGE PLUS action will improve the coordination of national research activities and policies in the domain of cultural heritage research.

The Influence of Corporate Responsibility on the Cost of Capital

Das Projekt "The Influence of Corporate Responsibility on the Cost of Capital" wird/wurde gefördert durch: Deutsche Bank. Es wird/wurde ausgeführt durch: Schlange & Co. GmbH.Corporate responsibility (CR) issues have gained importance within the financial community due to the exponential growth of specialized institutes, expansion of academic and research departments, increased launching of mutual funds allocated according to sustainability criteria, proliferation of online resources and other publications, and specialized corporate responsibility reports. A closer look at the literature concerning the relationship between CR issues and financial measures indicated three major fields for improvement in this area: (1) the development of a common understanding of CR issues; (2) the measurement of CR performance; and (3) the question of how CR issues affect the risk profile of a company. Since a common understanding of CR cannot be constructed theoretically, we based our research on the frequently used triple bottom line approach, in which CR incorporates economic, ecological and social responsibility issues. When it comes to the field of measuring CR performance, there are already plenty of methods and frameworks. In this research we developed a unique CR rating scheme based on existing frameworks and using weighting factors from analysts and investors. The question of how CR affects the risk profile of a company led to the projects objective: to analyze the impact of CR on capital market financing with a specific focus on electric utilities, assuming that the lower the company risk, the lower the cost of capital. We hypothesized that there is a relationship between CR and financial performance (H1) and that good CR performance reduces the risk to a company (H2). A clear relationship between CR and financial performance was not found, but CR and financial performance were indirectly linked throughout company risk. This research delivers evidence that CR performance is strongly linked to financial risk measures. There is also support for the assumption that CR issues are likely to be regulation-driven. Regulation seems to be a driver for CR engagement in the utility industry. It seems that a complete lack of CR engagement exposes a company to unnecessary high risk.

FP7-TRANSPORT, Transport Innovation Deployment for Europe (TIDE)

Das Projekt "FP7-TRANSPORT, Transport Innovation Deployment for Europe (TIDE)" wird/wurde gefördert durch: Kommission der Europäischen Gemeinschaften Brüssel. Es wird/wurde ausgeführt durch: Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie gGmbH.The mission of the TIDE project will be to enhance the broad transfer and take-up of 15 innovative urban transport and mobility concepts throughout Europe and to make a visible contribution to establish them as mainstream measures. The TIDE partners will make a range of new and feasible solutions easily accessible to address key challenges of urban transport such as energy efficiency, decarbonisation, demographic change, safety, access for all and new economic and financial conditions. TIDE will focus on 15 innovative concepts in five thematic clusters: financing models and pricing measures (1), non-motorised transport (2), network and traffic management to support traveller information (3), electric vehicles (4) and public transport organisation (5). Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans will be a horizontal topic to integrate the cluster activities. The project will provide a strong approach in methodology, content and outreach. The needs of practitioners in European cities and regions will be a guiding principle. A particular focus will also be on providing guidance for finding cost-efficient solutions (cost-benefit analysis). The project will refine existing and well proven transferability methodologies and integrate them into an easy to apply handbook. Face-to-Face training and exchange events as well as guidelines and e-learning on how to successfully implement innovative solutions will be the key tools to effectively support a wide range of take-up candidates in overcoming real or perceived barriers to implementation. A broad portfolio of dissemination activities will ensure a high visibility of the project. TIDE will actively support 15 committed cities in developing implementation scenarios. They will demonstrate how to successfully prepare implementation of innovative solutions and provide examples to a wider group of cities. An experienced and committed consortium will ensure that the advanced project approach will achieve a well visible impact.

Assessment of soil damage induced by drying

Das Projekt "Assessment of soil damage induced by drying" wird/wurde gefördert durch: Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung. Es wird/wurde ausgeführt durch: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Institut des sols, roches et fondations, Laboratoire de mecanique des sols.Drying, through its effects on soils, is likely to affect any man-made structure and building supported by the ground, as well as the safety of earth structures (such as flood embankments and dams) and land use. The related human and financial costs are incalculable. Studies on climate global change clearly suggest an increasing recurrence of drought events in some parts of the world, making the subject a burning issue. The broad objective of the research is twofold: (i) to gain a better understanding of the consequences of drying the soil, the mechanisms which induce damage and the variables which control it; (ii) to develop a comprehensive predictive model, able to assess such processes. Because of the deformable nature of soils, drying primarily induces shrinkage. More generally, drying is responsible for a large set of processes, which could be sorted as follows: (i) soil de-formation, (ii), strength modification, (iii), structure alteration, (iv), mechanical damage, and (v) fracture. The risks of degradation of buildings, of earth-structures and land use stem from these phenomena. In spite of the existing modelling capabilities, the prediction of the consequences of drying on soil behaviour is still oversimplified. This is primarily because of the lack of global conceptual models for the highly complex processes that occur during drying. We intend to tackle the problem by considering the fundamental couplings between the water retention behaviour and the mechanical behaviour. The structure changes and damages induced by drying will be the focus of our attention. In order to support our understanding of the processes and their modelling, it is planned to conduct experiments, and to measure the evolution of deformation, water saturation, particle arrangement and fracturing related to drying. The work and its planned dissemination will help communities to assess the potential environmental impact and risk on their territory more easily. This research will develop a coherent and experimentally-supported theory. Understanding soil drying shrinkage and damage and developing abilities to predict its behaviour will allow engineers to reduce the principal threat to landforms and structures. This alone will be greatly beneficial to a large portion of the population.

Sustainable semi-, decentralized sewage treatment - wastewater reuse, nutrient recovery and biogas production in the Delhi metropolitan area, India

Das Projekt "Sustainable semi-, decentralized sewage treatment - wastewater reuse, nutrient recovery and biogas production in the Delhi metropolitan area, India" wird/wurde ausgeführt durch: Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, Institut für Wasser und Gewässerentwicklung, Bereich Siedlungswasserwirtschaft und Wassergütewirtschaft (IWG-SWW).Suburbs and peripheral areas of large cities, such as the capital Delhi in India, have major infrastructural problems, especially in the field of sanitation and wastewater treatment. This is one the one hand due to logistical and on the other hand due to financial problems. Thats mainly why the City Council in Delhi today is no longer automatically connecting new housing estates to the main central collector. One way to solve these problems are semi- and decentralized technical solutions. The proposed demonstration plant partly already exists (a Rotating Biological Contactor unit (RBC) with a capacity of 340 PE) and was formerly studied in the framework of the BMBF project Analysis, Modeling and Demonstration of the Capability and Flexibility of Rotating Biological Contactors . It was formerly bought and now assigned and transferred to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). Up to today there was no utilization concept from the Indian side, and thus, after consulting the DJB, the plant will be involved in the proposed project. The demonstration plant will be reinstalled at the sewage treatment plant Okhla, Delhi and supplemented by additional elements. Thus the project shows research, development and demonstration purposes. Following a sustainable, modular approach, the main targets of the project are aimed at wastewater treatment (micro sieve, RBC) and disinfection (membrane technology) and reuse of the treated and disinfected wastewater (washing the buses of the Delhi Transport Cooperation (DTC)), as well as nutrient recovery (phosphorus and nitrogen as fertilizer) and energy production (biogas). The plant shows a modular structure, reduced development costs, little transport route for recycled water and low energy and maintenance requirements which makes this technology suitable for future semi-central wastewater treatment.

Degradation of 5 emergent contaminants on two Fe nanostructured photoresponsive catalysts

Das Projekt "Degradation of 5 emergent contaminants on two Fe nanostructured photoresponsive catalysts" wird/wurde gefördert durch: Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung. Es wird/wurde ausgeführt durch: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Faculte ENAC, IIE - Laboratoire de chimie environnementale.Keywords Language of correspondence Financial administration 6. Indirectly related to other research projects not specified Degradation of 5 emergent contaminants on two Fe nanostructured photoresponsive catalysts 01.09.2012 3 Mathematics, natural sciences 20709 Other disciplines of Environmental Sciences Given the impact of selected compounds such as metformin, carbendazim, azithromycin, metronidiazole, claritromycin and atenol, and the insufficiency of current decontamination approaches, enhanced technologies using promising catalysts are seriously needed. Therefore, our goal in the project proposed hereby is to obtain new Fe nanostructured photoresponsive catalytic formulations based on four catalysts (pillared clays and ultra-stable zeolite) and to assess their catalytic performances for the degradation processes of selected compounds from real wastewater. These results could be integrated with that obtained by Swiss group using UV and neutral photo-Fenton process. Given the competitive edge involved in the teams expertise and experience with the latest methods and with multi-disciplinary contextualization and industrial perspective, is anticipated that the results of the project will fall in the category of highly competitive developments that can be seen as eco-innovative and benefit to both industrial and social stake-holders.

Abgaben, Steuern und Transfers (3Ts) im europäischen Wassersektor

Das Projekt "Abgaben, Steuern und Transfers (3Ts) im europäischen Wassersektor" wird/wurde gefördert durch: Danish Water and Waste Water Association (DANVA). Es wird/wurde ausgeführt durch: Ecologic Institut gemeinnützige GmbH.Ecologic Institut unterstützt EUREAU in seinem Beitrag über finanziell nachhaltige Lösungen für die Wasserwirtschaft im Rahmen des 2012 World Water Forum (http://www.worldwaterforum6.org/) in Marseille. Ein zentraler Aspekt dieser Lösungen ist die Förderung des '3T'-Ansatzes, der von der Organisation für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (OECD) entwickelt wurde. Die Studie entwickelt eine praktische methodische Anleitung (Handbuch) um eine konsistente, auf den Endnutzer zugeschnittene Vorgehensweise zu etablieren, die finanzielle Daten auf Basis der 3Ts Methodik der OECD strukturiert. Um konkrete Beispiele und Illustrationen zu schaffen, wendet die Studie die erarbeitete 3Ts Methodik innerhalb einer quantitativen Analyse von ausgewählten europäischen Wasserversorgungsbetrieben auf unterschiedlichen geografischen und administrativen Ebenen (Gemeinde / Region / Land) an. Das letztendliche Ziel des Handbuchs ist die Entwicklung und Förderung der 3Ts als Schlüssel zur Entscheidungshilfe in der Finanzplanung der Wasserdienstleistungen - ein Hilfsmittel, dass in verschiedenen Publikationen, vor allem in EUREAU Publikation, verwendet werden kann.

Swiss Contribution to Deep Ice Coring in Northwest Greenland (NEEM)

Das Projekt "Swiss Contribution to Deep Ice Coring in Northwest Greenland (NEEM)" wird/wurde gefördert durch: Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung. Es wird/wurde ausgeführt durch: Universität Bern, Physikalisches Institut.The goals of the international project North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling (NEEM) are to obtain a reliable high-resolution northern hemisphere ice core record of the onset of the Eemian period (about 135,000 years ago) and, if possible, to provide first ice samples from the preceding glacial epoch from Greenland. This project has been declared top priority by IPICS, the International Partnership in Ice Core Science, and is the first of four internation polar ice drilling projects to be realised. Here we seek basic financial support to become a full partner of NEEM, to support the logistic cost at a very moderate but important level, and to be able to contribute to the NEEM project our unique scientific expertise in high-resolution ice core measurement. The focus of our research will be to perform firn gas measurements in the field and provide crucial information for ice core dating and the determination of the gas age-ice age relationshiop. We will deploy to NEEM Station our newly developed Continuous Flow Analyses (CFA) device with which we will produce high-resolution measurements of a series of chemical components on a meltwater stream from a section of the entire ice core. In addition, air will be extracted continuously from the meltwater in order to det4ermine air content as well as the CH4 concentration using a gas chromatograph coupled to the CFA device. These data will be measured in the framework of the science program during the three field seasons of ice core drilling at NEEM Station.

Integration of routine Aircraft measurements into a Global Observing System (IAGOS)

Das Projekt "Integration of routine Aircraft measurements into a Global Observing System (IAGOS)" wird/wurde gefördert durch: Kommission der Europäischen Gemeinschaften Brüssel. Es wird/wurde ausgeführt durch: Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Institut für Chemie und Dynamik der Geosphäre.IAGOS is a design study pursuing the preparation of a resilient distributed infrastructure for routine observations of atmospheric composition, aerosols, clouds and contrails on the global scale from commercial in-service aircraft. Observations in the Up per Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere (UTLS) are critical for improving the scientific understanding of chemistry-climate interactions, particularly those associated with the roles of clouds, aerosols and chemical composition. This information is essen tial for improving the scientific basis related to predictions of global climate change and for the assessment of surface air pollution, including the influence of aviation impacts and of emissions from other parts of the world on Europe. In IAGOS, new instrument packages will be developed which include state of the art developments based on the former MOZAIC instrumentation for O3, H2O, CO and NOy/NOx with significant reductions in size and weight. A central element is the certification of the packa ges for installation and deployment on Airbus longrange aircraft and for maintenance in compliance with aeronautical regulations. New instrumentation will be designed for aerosol, cloud particles and for stratospheric water vapour. Another important elem ent is the design of realtime data provision from the new instruments to meteorological services. Finally, IAGOS will establish the logistic and financial boundary conditions for the operation of the new infrastructure and will initiate the dialog betwe en scientific partners, users and airlines interested in supporting the new infrastructure. IAGOS is epected to make a significant step forward in the development of a globally operated in situ ob-servation network for the climate system.

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