Key performance indicators of ‘good practices’ of energy efficiency in industry: application to real cases in Italy and in the European Union

With the publication of the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) in 2012, energy savings in the Industry processes have gained more and more importance in the European Union (EU). Industry (with building and transport) is one of the three main sectors where Energy consumption and efficiency play a fundamental role, to accomplish the EU energy objectives. Many countries in EU have already adopted schemes and mechanisms to implement the Directive: however deep differences of approaches still remain among the Member States (MSs), especially with respect to the identification of the real benefits of measures and to the assessment of their efficiency and sustainability. As a consequence, a huge amount of the efficiency potential still remains untapped. This paper proposes some criteria for the evaluation of the applied Energy Efficiency measures, leading to the identification of Good Practices of Energy Efficiency. These criteria are taken from the ‘real world’ of industry, and are susceptible to be replicated in other contexts (e.g. different sectors or other countries). The proposed criteria have been developed in the EU H2020 project EU MERCI (nr 693845) and through a national research (part of the ‘Ricerca di Sistema’ national funding system) both coordinated by RSE. The starting point is the harmonization of data sets related to projects developed in different EU countries within local efficiency implementation schemes. The second step is the definition of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) reflecting the impact of measures against Energy, Environment and Economic aspects. The last step is the extraction of efficiency ‘Good Practices’ ranked according to the identified KPIs and other factors, including social elements. The real added value of this approach is that it is full based on tangibly implemented projects, in opposition to similar attempts, essentially theoretical. Ultimately, it offers a key of assessment of the effectiveness of efficiency measures implementing local and EU policies

Analytical capability of defocused μ-SORS in the chemical interrogation of thin turbid painted layers

© The Author(s) 2015. A recently developed micrometer-scale spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (m-SORS) method provides a new analytical capability for investigating non-destructively the chemical composition of sub-surface, micrometer-scale thickness, diffusely scattering layers at depths beyond the reach of conventional confocal Raman microscopy. Here, we demonstrate experimentally, for the first time, the capability of μ-SORS to determine whether two detected chemical components originate from two separate layers or whether the two components are mixed together in a single layer. Such information is important in a number of areas, including conservation of cultural heritage objects, and is not available, for highly turbid media, from conventional Raman microscopy, where axial (confocal) scanning is not possible due to an inability to facilitate direct imaging within the highly scattering sample. This application constitutes an additional capability for μ-SORS in addition to its basic capacity to determine the overall chemical make-up of layers in a turbid system

ALMA Band 9 upgrade: a feasibility study

We present the results of a study on the feasibility of upgrading the existing ALMA Band 9 receivers (602-720 GHz). In the current configuration, each receiver is a dual channel heterodyne system capable of detecting orthogonally polarized signals through the use of a wire grid and a compact arrangement of mirrors. The main goals of the study are the upgrade of the mixer architecture from Double-Sideband (DSB) to Sideband-separating (2SB), the extension of the IF and RF bandwidth, and the analysis of the possibilities of improving the polarimetric performance. We demonstrate the performance of 2SB mixers both in the lab and on-sky with the SEPIA660 receiver at APEX, which shows image rejection ratios exceeding 20 dB and can perform successful observations of several spectral lines close to the band edges. The same architecture in ALMA Band 9 would lead to an increase in the effective spectral sensitivity and a gain of a factor two in observation time. We set up also an electromagnetic model of the optics to simulate the polarization performance of the receivers, which is currently limited by the cross-polar level and the beam squint, i.e. pointing mismatch between the two polarizations. We present the results of the simulations compared to the measurements and we conclude that the use of a polarizing grid is the main responsible of the limitations.Comment: to appear in Proc. of the mm Universe 2023 conference, Grenoble (France), June 2023, published by F. Mayet et al. (Eds), EPJ Web of conferences, EDP Science

A metamaterial with applications in broad band antennas used in radio astronomy and satellite communications

Electromagnetic metamaterials at microwave frequencies are well established in industry and research. Recent work has shown how a specific kind of metallic metamaterial can contribute towards improving the performance of the feedhorn antennas used in radio astronomy and satellite telecommunications. In this article, we discuss an innovative type of meta-ring of remarkable manufacturability, able to improve the state of the art in these fields. A pioneering meta-horn antenna formed of meta-rings is then fabricated and characterized in the laboratory. It shows an excellent feature on an octave bandwidth, especially in terms of cross-polarization, a key figure of merit in both radio astronomy and telecommunications, and also side-lobe level, return-loss and gain

Estrogen pathway polymorphisms in relation to primary open angle glaucoma: An analysis accounting for gender from the United States

Purpose Circulating estrogen levels are relevant in glaucoma phenotypic traits. We assessed the association between an estrogen metabolism single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) panel in relation to primary open angle glaucoma (POAG), accounting for gender. Methods: We included 3,108 POAG cases and 3,430 controls of both genders from the Glaucoma Genes and Environment (GLAUGEN) study and the National Eye Institute Glaucoma Human Genetics Collaboration (NEIGHBOR) consortium genotyped on the Illumina 660W-Quad platform. We assessed the relation between the SNP panels representative of estrogen metabolism and POAG using pathway- and gene-based approaches with the Pathway Analysis by Randomization Incorporating Structure (PARIS) software. PARIS executes a permutation algorithm to assess statistical significance relative to the pathways and genes of comparable genetic architecture. These analyses were performed using the meta-analyzed results from the GLAUGEN and NEIGHBOR data sets. We evaluated POAG overall as well as two subtypes of POAG defined as intraocular pressure (IOP) ≥22 mmHg (high-pressure glaucoma [HPG]) or IOP 0.99). Among women, gene-based analyses revealed that the catechol-O-methyltransferase gene showed strong associations with HTG (permuted gene p≤0.001) and NPG (permuted gene p=0.01). Conclusions: The estrogen SNP pathway was associated with POAG among women

‘Good Practices’ to Improve Energy Efficiency in the Industrial Sector

Since the introduction of the International Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) directive and of the Best Available Techniques Reference (BREF) documents, the best available techniques (BATs) have become a reference both for policies and for companies to compare performance and to identify investment opportunities. Due to the environmental core of the IPPC and the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), energy efficiency (EE) BATs are not always detailed and often lack energy-performance indicators. The H2020 EU-MERCI project is aimed at fostering and facilitating the implementation of EE projects in the manufacturing industry sectors by selecting and disseminating technological and policy best practices. A set of EE ‘Good Practices’ (GPs) was developed considering both BREF indications and literature analysis, and as innovative approach the outcomes of EE obligation and support measures aimed at the industrial sector. This was implemented through an in-depth analysis of the existing schemes in four countries (Austria, Italy, Poland and UK) and a thorough activity to normalise and compare the data made available by the different schemes. The outcome is available through the European Industrial Energy Efficiency good Practices platform implemented by EU-MERCI Partners. On the platform, a database of EE projects implemented in industry under the existing schemes is available. The database is searchable by country, sector, supporting scheme, implementation year and company size. The complete list is also downloadable as Excel file. Besides, a library divided by sectors is available, in which it is possible to look for the available GPs (both BATs and projects implemented under the national schemes) for each phase of the manufacturing processes. Sectoral and national analyses are finally available. This article will illustrate the methodology used for the project and the main outcomes.This work has been funded partially by the Research Fund for Italian Electric System under the Contract Agreement between RSE and the Italian Ministry of Economic Development and partially by the European Commission under Grant Agreement No. 693845 (EU-MERCI project). The authors would like to thank the other project partners, especially AEA, KAPE, Carbon Trust, CRES and FIRE and the colleagues from RSE for the constant support

Proteomic Profile of M. longissimus thoracis from Commercial Lambs Reared in Different Forage Systems

This study compared the protein composition of M. longissimus thoracis of lambs from six commercial forage production systems in New Zealand. A total of 286 proteins were identified based on liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. First, a binomial model showed that different production groups could be distinguished based on abundances of 16 proteins. Second, pair-wise comparisons were performed to search for protein abundance differences in meat due to animal sex (ewe vs. wether), diet (perennial ryegrass vs. chicory), and age (4 vs. 6-8 months old). Greater abundance of some myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic proteins were observed in lamb loins from ewes compared to wethers. Chicory diet and older age at slaughter were associated with meat with lower abundance of some myofibrillar proteins, possibly due to a greater proportion of muscle glycolytic fibres. The proteins that showed significant differences in their abundances due to production factors could be further investigated to understand their influence on meat quality.fals