Multienergy vector modelling of a Scottish energy system : transitions and technology implications

The Scottish Government's commitment for 100% of electricity consumed in Scotland to be from renewable, zero-carbon sources by 2020 continues to drive change in the energy system alongside European and UK targets. The growth of renewables in Scotland is being seen at many scales including industrial, domestic and community generation. In these latter two cases a transition from the current 'top down' energy distribution system to a newer approach is emerging. The work of this paper will look at a 'bottom up' view that sees community led distributed energy at its centre. This paper uses the modelling tool HESA to investigate high penetrations of Distributed Generation (DG) in the Angus Region of Scotland. Installations of DG will follow Thousand Flowers transition pathway trajectory which sees more than 50% of electricity demand being supplied by DG by 2050. From this, insights around the technological and socio-political feasibility, consequences and implications of high penetrations of DG in the UK energy system are presented. Results demonstrate the influence that system change will have on regional and local emission levels under four separate scenarios. It is shown that the penetration of DG requires supplementary installations of reliable and long term storage alongside utilisation of transmission and transportation infrastructures to maximise the potential of distributed generation and maximise whole system benefits. Importantly, there must be a level of coordination and support to realise a shift to a highly distributed energy future to ensure there is a strong economic case with a reliable policy backing

Multistep self-assembly of heteroleptic magnesium and sodium-magnesium benzamidinate complexes

Reaction of the magnesium bis-alkyl Mg(CH2SiMe3)(2) and the sodium amide NaHMDS (where HMDS = N(SiMe3)(2)) with benzonitrile yields the homometallic heteroleptic complex [PhC(NSiMe3)(2)Mg{mu-NC(CH2SiMe3)Ph}](2) (1). It appears that at least six independent reactions must have occurred in this one-pot reaction to arrive at this mixed benzamidinate ketimido product. Two benzonitrile solvated derivatives of Mg(CH2SiMe3)(2) (5a and 5b) have been synthesized, with 5a crystallographically characterized as a centrosymmetric (MgC)(2) cyclodimer. When, the components of 5a are allowed to react for longer, partial addition of the Mg-alkyl unit across the C N triple bond occurs to yield the trimeric species (Me3SiCH2)(2)Mg-3[mu-N=C(CH2SiMe3)Ph](4)center dot 2N CPh (6), with bridging ketimido groups and terminal alkyl groups. Finally, using the same starting materials as that which produced 1, but altering their order of addition, a magnesium bis-alkyl unit is inserted into the Na-N bonds of a benzamidinate species to yield a new sodium magnesiate complex, PhC(NSiMe3)(2)Mg(mu-CH2SiMe3)(2)Na center dot 2TMEDA (7). The formation of 7 represents a novel (insertion) route to mixed-metal species of this kind and is the first Such example to contain a bidentate terminal anion attached to the divalent metal center. All new species are characterized by H-1 and C-13 NMR spectroscopy and where appropriate by IR spectroscopy. The solid-state structures of complexes 1, 5a, and 7 have also been determined and are disclosed within

Revisiting rho 1 Cancri e: A New Mass Determination Of The Transiting super-Earth

We present a mass determination for the transiting super-Earth rho 1 Cancri e based on nearly 700 precise radial velocity (RV) measurements. This extensive RV data set consists of data collected by the McDonald Observatory planet search and published data from Lick and Keck observatories (Fischer et al. 2008). We obtained 212 RV measurements with the Tull Coude Spectrograph at the Harlan J. Smith 2.7 m Telescope and combined them with a new Doppler reduction of the 131 spectra that we have taken in 2003-2004 with the High-Resolution-Spectrograph (HRS) at the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) for the original discovery of rho 1 Cancri e. Using this large data set we obtain a 5-planet Keplerian orbital solution for the system and measure an RV semi-amplitude of K = 6.29 +/- 0.21 m/s for rho 1 Cnc e and determine a mass of 8.37 +/- 0.38 M_Earth. The uncertainty in mass is thus less than 5%. This planet was previously found to transit its parent star (Winn et al. 2011, Demory et al. 2011), which allowed them to estimate its radius. Combined with the latest radius estimate from Gillon et al. (2012), we obtain a mean density of rho = 4.50 +/- 0.20 g/cm^3. The location of rho 1 Cnc e in the mass-radius diagram suggests that the planet contains a significant amount of volitales, possibly a water-rich envelope surrounding a rocky core.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal (the 300+ RV measurements will be published as online tables or can be obtained from the author

Lithium dihydropyridine dehydrogenation catalysis : a group 1 approach to cyclisation of diamine-boranes

In reactions restricted previously to a ruthenium catalyst, a 1-lithium-2-alkyl-1,2-dihydropyridine complex is shown to be a competitive alternative dehydrogenation catalyst for the transformation of diamine boranes to cyclic 1,3,2-diazaborolidines, which can in turn be smoothly arylated in good yields. This study establishes the conditions and solvent dependence of the catalysis via NMR monitoring, with mechanistic insight provided by NMR (including DOSY) experiments and X-ray crystallographic studies of several model lithio intermediates

Nuclear Physics Neutrino PreTown Meeting: Summary and Recommendations

In preparation for the nuclear physics Long Range Plan exercise, a group of 104 neutrino physicists met in Seattle September 21-23 to discuss both the present state of the field and the new opportunities of the next decade. This report summarizes the conclusions of that meeting and presents its recommendations. Further information is available at the workshop's web site. This report will be further reviewed at the upcoming Oakland Town Meeting.Comment: Latex, 31 pages. This version has been updated to include final Comments from the working group

A hetero-alkali-metal version of the utility amide LDA : lithium-potassium diisopropylamide

Designed to extend the synthetically important alkali-metal diisopropylamide [(NPr2)-Pr-i; DA] class of compounds, the first example of a hetero-alkali-metallic complex of DA has been prepared as a partial TMEDA solvate. Revealed by an X-ray crystallographic study, its structure exists as a discrete lithium-rich trinuclear Li2KN3 heterocycle, with TMEDA only solvating the largest of the alkali-metals, with the two-coordinate lithium atoms being close to linearity [161.9(2)degrees]. A variety of NMR spectroscopic studies, including variable temperature and DOSY NMR experiments, suggests that this new form of LDA maintains its integrity in non-polar hydrocarbon solution. This complex thus represents a rare example of a KDA molecule which is soluble in non-polar medium without the need for excessive amounts of solubilizing Lewis donor being added

Death or survival from invasive pneumococcal disease in Scotland: associations with serogroups and multilocus sequence types

We describe associations between death from invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) and particular serogroups and sequence types (STs) determined by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) using data from Scotland. All IPD episodes where blood or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture isolates were referred to the Scottish Haemophilus, Legionella, Meningococcal and Pneumococcal Reference Laboratory (SHLMPRL) from January 1992 to February 2007 were matched to death certification records by the General Register Office for Scotland. This represented 5959 patients. The median number of IPD cases in Scotland each year was 292. Deaths, from any cause, within 30 days of pneumococcal culture from blood or CSF were considered to have IPD as a contributing factor. Eight hundred and thirty-three patients died within 30 days of culture of Streptococcus pneumoniae from blood or CSF [13.95%; 95% confidence interval (13.10, 14.80)]. The highest death rates were in patients over the age of 75. Serotyping data exist for all years but MLST data were only available from 2001 onward. The risk ratio of dying from infection due to particular serogroups or STs compared to dying from IPD due to all other serogroups or STs was calculated. Fisher's exact test with Bonferroni adjustment for multiple testing was used. Age adjustment was accomplished using the Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test and 95% confidence intervals were reported. Serogroups 3, 11 and 16 have increased probability of causing fatal IPD in Scotland while serogroup 1 IPD has a reduced probability of causing death. None of the 20 most common STs were significantly associated with death within 30 days of pneumococcal culture, after age adjustment. We conclude that there is a stronger association between a fatal outcome and pneumococcal capsular serogroup than there is between a fatal outcome and ST