BACKGROUND: The Kingdom of Jordan belongs to the ten water scarcest countries in the world, and climate change is likely to increase the frequency of future droughts. Jordan is considered among the 10 most water impoverished countries in the world, with per capita water availability estimated at 170 m per annum, compared to an average of 1,000 m per annum in other countries. Jordan Government has taken the strategic decision to develop a conveyor system including a 325 km pipe to pump 100 million cubic meters per year of potable water from Disi-Mudawwara close to the Saudi Border in the south, to the Greater Amman area in the north. The construction of the water pipeline has started end of 2009 and shall be finished in 2013. Later on, the pipeline could serve as a major part of a national water carrier in order to convey desalinated water from the Red Sea to the economically most important central region of the country. The conveyor project will not only significantly increase water supplies to the capital, but also provide for the re-allocation of current supplies to other governorates, and for the conservation of aquifers. In the context of the Disi project that is co-funded by EIB two Environmental and Social Management Plans have been prepared: one for the private project partners and one for the Jordan Government. The latter includes the Governments obligation to re-balance water allocations to irrigation and to gradually restore the protected wetlands of Azraq (Ramsar site) east of Amman that has been depleted due to over-abstraction by re-directing discharge of highland aquifers after the Disi pipeline becomes operational. The Water Strategy recognizes that groundwater extraction for irrigation is beyond acceptable limits. Since the source is finite and priority should be given to human consumption it proposes to tackle the demand for irrigation through tariff adjustments, improved irrigation technology and disincentive to water intensive crops. The Disi aquifer is currently used for irrigation by farms producing all kinds of fruits and vegetables on a large scale and exporting most of their products to the Saudi and European markets and it is almost a third of Jordan's total consumption. The licenses for that commercial irrigation were finished by 2011/12. Whilst the licenses will be not renewed the difficulty will be the enforcement and satellite based information become an important supporting tool for monitoring. OUTLOOK: The ESA funded project Water management had the objective to support the South-North conveyor project and the activities of EIB together with the MWI in Jordan to ensure the supply of water for the increasing demand. EO Information provides a baseline for land cover and elevation and support the monitoring of further stages. usw.
Objective: The proposed project is designed to address the problem of pollution of the environment by road vehicles as denned under the Thematic Priority 1.6.2, Sustainable Surface Transport relating to the Work Programme 'Integrating and strengthening the European Research Area'. The research activities of the consortium will be based around state of the art developments in the area of optical fibre sensor and intelligent instrumentation technology to formulate a system for on line monitoring of exhaust emissions from road vehicles. The application of this technology to resolving the problems of atmospheric pollutants and their regional impacts is therefore highly appropriate to the issue identified in the thematic roadmap i.e. 'New technologies and concepts for all surface transport modes'. The consortium which will execute the research programme comprises six members from four EC member states. They include four academic institutions, an SME and an end user (a major European car manufacturer). Their combined expertise and knowledge of the technological and business issues will facilitate the rapid development of the technology into a demonstratable prototype within the three year lifetime of the project. The project's technical objectives are summarised as follows: -. To set up laboratory based test facilities such that the sensor systems may be characterised in a precisely controlled and reproducible manner. Therefore, individual parameters such as optical absorption and scattering may be studied in isolation as well as collectively.. To isolate and identify the optical signals arising from contaminants present in the complex mixtures of exhaust systems of a wide range of vehicles using advanced and novel optical fibre based spectroscopie interrogation techniques. To develop novel optical fibre sensors which are miniature and robust in their construction and may be fitted...
NANOINSULATE will develop durable, robust, cost-effective opaque and transparent vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) incorporating new nanotechnology-based core materials (nanofoams, aerogels, aerogel composites) and high-barrier films that are up to four times more energy efficient than current solutions. These new systems will provide product lifetimes in excess of 50 years suitable for a variety of new-build and retrofit building applications. Initial building simulations based on the anticipated final properties of the VIPs indicate reductions in heating demand of up to 74Prozent and CO2 emissions of up to 46Prozent for Madrid, Spain and up to 61Prozent and 55Prozent respectively for Stuttgart, Germany for a building renovation which reduces the U-value of the walls and roof from 2.0 W m-2 K-1 to 0.2 W m-2 K-1. This reduction could be achieved with NANOINSULATE products that are only 25 mm thick, giving a cost-effective renovation without the need of changing all the reveals and ledges. Similarly, significant reductions in U-values of transparent VIPs (3 W m-2 K-1 to 0.5 W m-2 K-1) are shown by substituting double glazed units in existing building stock. Six industrial & four research based partners from seven EU countries will come together to engineer novel solutions capable of being mass produced. Target final manufacturing costs for insulation board (production rates above 5 million m2/year) are less than 7 m-2 for a U-value of 0.2 W m-2 K-1. NANOINSULATE will demonstrate its developments at construction sites across Europe. A Lifecycle Assessment, together with a safety and service-life costing analysis, will be undertaken to prove economic viability. NANOINSULATE demonstrates strong relevance to the objectives and expected impacts of both the specific call text of the Public-Private Partnership Energy-efficient Buildings topic New nanotechnology-based high performance insulation systems for energy efficiency within the 2010 NMP Work Programme and the wider NMP & Energy Thematic Priorities. Prime Contractor: Kingsplan Research and Developments Ltd.; Kingscourt; Irland.
Objective: SHIVA aims to reduce uncertainties in present and future stratospheric halogen loading and ozone depletion resulting from climate feedbacks between emissions and transport of ozone depleting substances (ODS). Of particular relevance will be studies of short and very short-lived substances (VSLS) with climate-sensitive natural emissions. We will perform field studies of ODS production, emission and transport in understudied, but critical, regions of the tropics using ship, aircraft and ground-based instrumentation. We will parameterize potential climate sensitivities of emissions based on inter-dependencies derived from our own field studies, and surveys of ongoing work in this area. We will study the chemical transformation of ODS during transport from the surface to the tropical tropopause layer (TTL), and in the stratosphere, using a combination of aircraft and balloon observations together with process-oriented meso-scale modelling. These investigations will be corroborated by space-based remote sensing of marine phytoplankton biomass as a possible proxy for the ocean-atmosphere flux of ODS. From this a systematic emission inventory of VSLS ODS will be established to allow construction of future-climate scenarios. The impact of climate-sensitive feedbacks between transport and the delivery of ODS to the stratosphere, and their lifetime within it, will be studied using tracer observations and modelling. Further global modelling will assess the contribution of all ODS, including VSLS (which have hitherto normally been excluded from such models) to past, present and future ozone loss. Here, the sensitivity of natural ODS emissions to climate change parameters will be used in combination with standard IPCC climate model scenarios in order to drive measurement-calibrated chemical transport model (CTM) simulations for present and future stratospheric ozone; to better predict the rate, timing and climate-sensitivity of ozone-layer recovery.
BOmobil - so heißt der Elektrokleintransporter, den die Hochschule Bochum mit den Partnern Composite Impulse, Delphi, Scienlab, den Stadtwerken Bochum und dem TÜV NORD, gefördert im Rahmen des Wettbewerbs ElektroMobil.NRW serienreif entwickelt. Die Anforderungen von klein- und mittelständigen Unternehmen für den Regionalverkehr der Zukunft bestimmen das Konzept. Elektromobilitat und ansprechendes Design müssen sich nicht ausschließen, das beweist das BOmobil. Technologisch zeigt der Prototyp eine radikale Abwendung von herkömmlichen Automobilkonzepten: keine zentrale Antriebseinheit mehr - stattdessen Radnabenmotoren. So entsteht Raum für die Neugestaltung des Innenraums. Zwei Sitzplätze, Platz für eine Normgitterbox, Höchstgeschwindigkeit ca. 130 km/h, Reichweite mehr als 150 Kilometer - Elektromobilität für den Alltag. Alle Komponenten des elektrischen Antriebsstrangs werden im sogenannten Skateboard untergebracht, der tragenden Struktur, die aus Aluminium-Leichtbau-Profilen genietet und geklebt wird. Diese Variante des Aufbaus ermöglicht eine hochfeste Struktur, die für einen Kleintransporter die nötige Crash-Sicherheit bietet und flexible Aufbauvarianten zulässt. Die Batterie, die Traktionswechselrichter und die Motoren sind organisch zueinander angeordnet. So lassen sich kurze Leitungswege und ein niedriger Schwerpunkt realisieren. Durch die selbst entwickelten Radnabenmotoren wird das Antriebsmoment dort generiert, wo es benötigt wird und die eingesparte Antriebseinheit im Aufbau vergrößert das Ladevolumen des Fahrzeugs. Für die Batterie kommt die Lithium-Eisen-Phosphat-Technologie zum Einsatz. Das nötige enge Temperaturband für deren Betrieb wird im Rahmen des Thermomanagement des Fahrzeuges realisiert. Die Auswahl geeigneter thermisch isolierender Karosserie- und Scheibenwerkstoffe ist dabei von zentraler Bedeutung, um eine aktive Kühlung bzw. Heizung in deutlich geringerem Maße als in konventionellen Fahrzeugen erforderlich zu machen. Die Karosserie wird aus ABS-Kunststoff und Faserverbund-Kunststoff gefertigt. Die Kunststoffbauteile haben sowohl strukturelle, als auch warme- und geräuschdämmende Funktion. Während in konventionellen Fahrzeugen Einscheiben-Sicherheits- und Verbundglas eingesetzt wird, erfolgt im BOmobil soweit möglich die Verwendung von Kunststoffscheiben. Zur Kostenreduktion werden für das Fahrwerk Standardkomponenten des OPEL Zafira verwendet.
This follow-up project aims to reconstruct natural (climatic) and anthropogenic-induced hydrological changes and to provide new insights on the anthropogenic pollutants emitted in European environment over the last centuries, by focusing on: (1) The largest freshwater lake of Western Europe (Lake Geneva) and especially on industrial (trace metals) and microbial (pathogenic bacterial activity and resistance to antibiotic) pollution in the Vidy Bay; where are discharges the treated wastewaters of Lausanne since 50 years. (2) A drinking reservoir (Lake Brêt) in order to evaluate the impacts of agricultural activities and sewage emissions on the pollution of drinking water in Switzerland over the last century. Results demonstrate a slight enrichment in anthropogenic heavy metal since the 1950s but an additional (agricultural) source of copper during the last decade. In the absence of industries in the catchment, the records of DDT and PCBs highlight the long-range atmospheric transport of POPs that contaminated rural water resources via catchment runoff. (3) Human impact on the deposition of anthropogenic and natural trace element fluxes were measured in sediment cores from Lake Biel and from two upstream lakes (Lake Brienz and Lake Thun), all three connected by the Aare River. Results indicate that that the construction of sediment-trapping reservoirs significantly decreased regional riverine sediment discharge. Radiometric dating of the sediment core from Lake Biel furthermore identified hydrological releases of anthropogenic radionuclides from the nuclear reactor of Mühleberg located at ca.15 km from Lake Biel. Five publications (in refereed journals) directly resulting from this follow-up proposal are in process of publication.
Globalization raised the importance of food safety and quality concerns. Developed countries implement precautionary food regulation policies to protect their affluent consumers from unsafe food imported from developing and transition countries. However, the alarming number of trade disputes at WTO evidences cases of abuse of such policies. While claims on protectionist nature of food regulations are valid in principle, yet there is little empirical evidence about their economic effects. The questions of 1) quantification of trade impact of food standards and 2) investigation of national food regulation systems are absolutely essential for the new trade agenda. These problems for developing countries are on the focus of trade policy debate, whereas for transition countries are not considered seriously. Such a research for these recently liberalized markets gains a special significance. - The proposed research will employ Gravity Model for quantitative estimation of impact of EU aflatoxin standards on transition countries- exports.- Russian food regulations for cereal value chain, their enforcement and monitoring mechanisms will be investigated through value chain and cost-benefit analysis.- Compliance of Russian norms with EU standards will be estimated applying comparative advantage analysis.The study area is Stavropol region of the Russian Federation. Local experts will contribute to the construction of the research data set and analysis. The results of the research will assist 1) international policy makers in designing new global trade agenda and 2) Russian producers, exporters and decision makers in improving cereal value chain.
Objective: Increasing awareness by the public opinion about environmental issues, energy and material conservation at all stages of product life (from raw materials to disposal/recycling) is putting the industry in general and the transport industry in particular under increased pressure to reduce CO2 emissions and save energy. Environmental protection and safety will be increasingly influenced by legislation. The European transport industry is estimated to generate 22 percent of the carbon dioxide emission. As the car population is expected to grow 40 percent by the year 2010 new tough targets for reducing emissions by 30 percent in 2010 are being set by the EU, against the state of the art technologies of 1995. It is generally agreed by the industry that reductions of this size will require a change in current technologies. Multi-material technology (sandwich and/or hybrid materials) is becoming increasingly important in new vehicle design. Public service vehicles (buses and coaches) are regarded as primary targets for application of sandwich construction and multi-materials. Public service vehicles (PSV) play a major role in the transportation industry of both industrialized and developing countries. The proposed project will be focused on the development of a novel technology to manufacture bus/coach bodies using sandwich multi-material panels. The main overall objectives of the project are: - Solving the problem of reducing weight and production costs of land transport vehicles through the development of a technology of modular bus/coach construction, using 'all composite' multi-material sandwich panels instead of steel/aluminium space frame lined with sheets of different materials. - Devise design methodologies that reduce production lead time through reduction of number of components, functional integration, and allowance for dismantling, easy repair and recycling. Primce Contractor: INEGI - Instituto de Engenharia Mecanica e Gestao Industrial, Leca do Balio, Portugal.
Pflanzliche Cytochrom-P450-Monooxygenasen (P450s oder CYPs) sind wichtige Enzyme des Sekundärmetabolismus. Sie spielen weiterhin eine große Rolle im Metabolismus von Xenobiotika - wie z.B. Pestiziden, insbesondere Herbiziden. Spezies-Unterschiede in der Aktivität bestimmter P450s zum Metabolismus von Herbiziden werden als der Mechanismus angesehen, der es toleranten Pflanzenspezies ermöglicht, gegenüber Herbiziden weniger empfindlich zu sein als andere. P450s, die im Pestizid-Metabolism involviert sind, üben vermutlich auch eine Funktion im Sekundär-Metabolismus aus. CYP73A1 z.B. ist die trans-Zimtsäure-Hydroxylase aus Jerusalem-Artichoke, die auch die Ring-Methyl-Hydroxylierung von Chlortoluron katalysiert, wie durch Expression ihrer cDNA in Hefe gezeigt wurde. Ein Wissenszuwachs über P450s, die in empfindlichen und toleranten Pflanzen vorkommen, und über molekulare Mechanismen, die den P450-katalysierten Metabolismus von Herbiziden in toleranten Pflanzen verantwortlich sind, kann zu einem Verständis der Herbizid-Resistenz und ihrer Entwicklung beitragen. Auf Grund seiner Toxizität war Kornrade (Agrostemma githago L.) in der Vergangenheit ein problematisches Unkraut in europäischen Getreidefeldern. Heutzutage ist die Pflanze fast ausgestorben - als Folge des Einsatzes von Herbiziden und einer verbesserten industriellen Saatgutreinigung. In Weizenfeldern, sind eine Reihe Herbizide effektiv gegenüber Kornrade (z.B. Triasulfuron, Diuron, Metribuzin, Dicamba + 2,4-D und Bromoxynil). Obwohl bislang über Resistenz bei Kornrade nicht berichtet wurde, sind Zellsuspensionskulturen der Kornrade in der Lage, die Herbizide Metamitron und Atrazin sowie das Xenoestrogen Nonylphenol zu metabolisieren. Die Metaboliten, die identifziert wurden, entstehen durch Dealkylierung und Hydroxylierung der aromatischen und aliphatischen Teilstrukturen der Ausgangsverbindungen. Da diese Reaktionen als typisch für P450-Enzyme im Metabolismus von Xenobiotika angesehen werden, kann man vermuten, dass P450s an der beobachteten Metabolisierung beteiligt sind. In Verlauf des Projektes wurde eine Plasmid-abhängige cDNA-Bibliothek von Kornrade-Zellsuspensionskulturen konstruiert, um unbekannte P450-Sequenzen zu isolieren. Um eine erhöhte Expression von P450s zu erreichen, wurden die Zellen mit dem Herbizid-Safener Benoxacor behandelt, von dem bekannt ist, dass er den P450-Gehalt von Mais-Keimlingen deutlich erhöht. Um sicherzustellen, dass die Kornradezellen der Suspensionskultur die gewünschten Enzyme noch exprimieren, wurde ihre Fähigkeit, 4-n-Nonylphenol (4-n-NP) durch Oxidation zu metabolisieren, in einer Metabolismus-Studie mit dem radioaktiv-markierten (ring-U-14C)4-n-Nonylphenol überprüft. Nach Anwendung verschiedener molekularbiologischer Techniken konnten letztlich mittels einer PCR-Strategie unter Verwendung P450-spezifischer degenerierter Primer zwei PCR-Produkte kloniert werden. U.s.w.
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