BACKGROUND Biodiesel is the main liquid biofuel in the EU and is currently mainly produced from vegetable oils. Alternative feedstocks are lignocellulosic materials, which provide several benefits compared with many existing feedstocks. This study examined a technical process and its mass and energy balances to gain a systems perspective of combined biodiesel (FAME) and biogas production from s...

Core body temperature is normally tightly regulated to within a few tenths of a degree. The major thermoregulatory defences in humans are sweating, arteriovenous shunt vasoconstriction, and shivering. The core temperature triggering each response defines its activation threshold. General anaesthetics greatly impair thermoregulation, synchronously reducing the thresholds for vasoconstriction and...

Global climate change increases heat loads in urban areas causing health and productivity risks for millions of people. Inhabitants in tropical and subtropical urban areas are at especial risk due to high population density, already high temperatures, and temperature increases due to climate change. Air conditioning is growing rapidly, especially in South and South-East Asia due to income growt...

Different driving forces push the electricity production towards decentralization. The projected increase of distributed power generation on the residential level with an increasing proportion of intermittent renewable energy resources poses problems for continuously matching the energy balance when coordination takes place centrally. On the other hand, new opportunities arise by intelligent cl...

Cogeneration power plants simultaneously generate power and usable heat in a single, integrated system, which achieves a degree of overall efficiency that is much greater compared to electricity production alone. This makes better use of energy conversion and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Combined heat and power production is already relatively common in Europe while it is less common, for ...

Climate solutions – nuclear vs sustainable pathways • Energy efficiency represents an economic bonanza, which will enable a significant share of energy demand to be provided by renewable sources and allowing nuclear power to be phased out. • The biggest single obstacle to improving energy efficiency is that in most countries, utilities are rewarded for selling more energy. We need to reward the...