Climatic Areas Research Articles

100 Years of INTERPOL: its Position and Role within the European Union

Despite INTERPOL’s achievements through its global connection with and between all police forces, the current question is what place the largest international police organisation will take in police cooperation within the European Union. This question is indeed relevant given the European Union’s increasing role in the regulation, policy and coordination in the field of European police cooperation. It has also become clear in recent years that the European Union has been striving for more strategic autonomy in this globalised world and more geopolitical independence. This has not only been the case in the areas of energy supply, climate and defence, but also in police cooperation. In my current positions as IINTERPOL Vice-President for Europe, but also as a person directly involved in European police cooperation (including through the chairmanship of the Europol Management Board and the chairmanship of COSI 1 during the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2024), I think it would be interesting to reflect on that in this article.Aim: Opinion on the future role of INTERPOL in the European Union.Methodology: The various regulations and actions regarding police cooperation within the European Union are examined from the perspective of how INTERPOL relates to them.Findings: Despite the various initiatives developed within the European Union to establish internal European police cooperation both through the European agency Europol and its various European information systems, it is clear that INTERPOL remains a vital enabler of European police cooperation. Value: In the light of the willingness from the European Union to more strategic autonomy, also regarding police and security, and given the ongoing negotiations between EU and INTERPOL, it is clear that consideration must be given to the role that INTERPOL can still play within the EU.

Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of human ocular helaziasis in China from 2011 to 2022 based on bibliometrics

To understand the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of human ocular thelaziasis patients in China. Case reports regarding human ocular thelaziasis cases in China were retrieved in international and national electronic databases, including CNKI, VIP, CBM, Traditional Chinese Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System, Wanfang Database, PubMed and Web of Science from 2011 to 2022. Patients' gender, age, clinical symptoms, treatment, recurrence, site of infections, time of onset, affected eye, affected sites, number of infected Thelazia callipaeda, sex of T. callipaeda and source of infections were extracted for descriptive analyses. A total of 85 eligible publications were included, covering 101 cases of human ocular thelaziasis, including 57 males (56.44%) and 44 females (43.56%) and aged from 3 months to 85 years. The main clinical manifestations included foreign body sensation (56 case-times, 22.49%), eye itching (38 case-times, 15.26%), abnormal or increased secretions (36 case-times, 14.46%), tears (28 case-times, 11.24%) and eye redness (28 case-times, 11.24%), and conjunctival congestion (50 case-times, 41.67%) was the most common clinical sign. The most common main treatment (99/101, 98.02%) was removal of parasites from eyes using ophthalmic forceps, followed by administration with ofloxacin and pranoprofen. In publications presenting thelaziasis recurrence, there were 90 cases without recurrence (97.83%) and 2 cases with recurrence (2.17%). Of all cases, 51.96% were reported in four provinces of Hubei, Shandong, Sichuan, Hebei and Henan, and ocular thelaziasis predominantly occurred in summer (42.19%) and autumn (42.19%). In addition, 56.45% (35/62) had a contact with dogs. The human thelaziasis cases mainly occur in the continental monsoon and subtropical monsoon climate areas such as the Yellow River and the Yangtze River basin, and people of all ages and genders have the disease, with complex clinical symptoms and signs. Personal hygiene is required during the contact with dogs, cats and other animals, and individual protection is required during outdoor activities to prevent thelaziasis.

Temperature variation in caves and its significance for subterranean ecosystems

Climate change affects all ecosystems, but subterranean ecosystems are repeatedly neglected from political and public agendas. Cave habitats are home to unknown and endangered species, with low trait variability and intrinsic vulnerability to recover from human-induced disturbances. We studied the annual variability and cyclicity of temperatures in caves vis-à-vis surface in different climatic areas. We hypothesize that cave temperatures follow the average temperature pattern at the surface for each location with a slight delay in the signal, but we found three different thermal patterns occurring in caves: (1) high positive correlation and a similar thermal pattern to the surface, (2) low correlation and a slight thermal delay of the signal from the surface, and (3) high negative correlation with an extreme delay from the surface. We found daily thermal cycles in some caves, which may potentially control the circadian rhythms of cave organisms. Our results show that caves had lower thermal amplitude than the surface, and that thermal averages within caves approximately correspond to the to the annual average of surface temperature. Caves buffer external temperature and act as refugia for biota in extreme climatic events. Likewise, temperature increases at surface will lead to increment in caves, threatening subterranean biota and ecosystem services.

Effects of thermal perception on restorative benefits by green space exposure: A pilot study in hot-humid China

Green space exposure can bring various psychological restorative benefits, including attention restoration, stress recovery, and mood improvement. However, most research on restorative environments has focused on visual and acoustic experiences. The role of thermal perception in psychological restoration has been largely overlooked. Based on a pre-test-post-test design intervention experiment in an urban park in Guangzhou, China, this study investigated the relationship between thermal perception and the psychological restorative benefits of three types of green space in hot-humid areas. Thirty-eight university students participated in this experiment, each engaging in three environmental stimuli. The results showed that: 1) short-term exposure to urban park grassland and forest in hot and humid areas significantly increased the Perceived restorativeness scale (PRS) score and decreased negative emotions, for example, Anger. 2) Thermal Comfort Vote (TCV) significantly predicted the PRS score. 3) The type of green space greatly influenced the effect of TCV on PRS. These findings prove the relationship between thermal perception and the restorative benefits of green space exposure. The study further integrates the research areas of urban climate, green exposure, and psychological restoration. Incorporating thermal perception and psychological restoration concepts in urban green spaces' design and management helps enhance comfort and psychological well-being.

Awareness of Urinary Stone Risk Factors Among the Adult Population of Jazan, Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Urolithiasis, a common clinical condition, has seen a global increase in prevalence in recent years. Urinary stones are common in hot climate areas like Saudi Arabia. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and awareness of risk factors for urinary stones in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1000 Jazan adults between January and June 2022. A questionnaire was used to collect data on sociodemographics, urinary stone diagnosis, and awareness of risk factors. The overall prevalence of diagnosed urinary stones was 140 (14.0%). The prevalence was higher among patients who were older, married, had higher education, and were employees (all P<0.001). Participants who believed that hot weather (p = 0.012), sleeve gastrectomy (p = 0.049), and Saxenda injections (p = 0.000) increased the risk of stones had a higher prevalence. No association was found between stones and othersociodemographic factorsordietary habits. The main sources of knowledge were the internet (426, 42.6%) and education (155, 15.5%). The prevalence of urinary stones in Jazan is considerable (14.0%). Certain sociodemographic factors and beliefs about risk factors were associated with higher prevalence. Improving public awareness about the prevention and risk factors for urinary stones is crucial to controlling this health problem in high-risk communities.

Comparative energy analysis of cooling energy performance between conventional and hybrid air source internet data center cooling system

The widespread need for data processing has led to an increase in internet data centers (IDCs), contributing to the generation of high heat loads and high energy usage. This study discusses a simulation model of a newly proposed cooling system applied to data centers for five selected climatic areas in South Korea. Using experimental data of the newly proposed system, performance correlations are developed by regression analysis method to estimate performance curve coefficients for energy modelling and simulation to predict the annual energy performance of the system and compare the performance with that of a conventional cooling system. The results showed an overall annual average energy efficiency of approximately 14.1% of the hybrid cooling system over the conventional cooling system. The mean seasonal coefficient of performance (SCOP) for the hybrid system and the conventional system is approximately 6.7 and 4.9 respectively for all cases in the winter period while a SCOP of 3.2 and 3.7 respectively for the summer period.

Angiosperm phylogenetic diversity is lower in Africa than South America.

Although originating from a common Gondwanan flora, the diversity and composition of the floras of Africa and South America have greatly diverged since continental breakup of Africa from South America now having much higher plant species richness. However, the phylogenetic diversity of the floras and what this tells us about their evolution remained unexplored. We show that for a given species richness and considering land surface area, topography, and present-day climate, angiosperm phylogenetic diversity in South America is higher than in Africa. This relationship holds regardless of whether all climatically matched areas or only matched areas in tropical climates are considered. Phylogenetic diversity is high relative to species richness in refugial areas in Africa and in northwestern South America, once the gateway for immigration from the north. While species richness is strongly influenced by massive plant radiations in South America, we detect a pervasive influence of historical processes on the phylogenetic diversity of both the South American and African floras.

Comparison of building energy performance in three urban sites using field measurements and modelling in Kayseri, Turkiye

Despite the fact that the interrelationships between urban microclimates and energy demand have been recognised, there are not many processes that combine microclimatic boundary conditions to estimate energy consumption in parametric morphological investigations. Therefore, this paper will demonstrate a simple step-by-step methodology to incorporate the effect of urban microclimate on building cooling energy demand in semi-arid climatic areas. In this study, the combination of ENVI-met, Urban Weather Generator (UWG) and Rhino grasshopper are used to investigate the connection between microclimate and energy in the climatic environment of Kayseri. This coupling’s potential is investigated across compact high-rise, midrise and low-rise buildings, focusing on the cooling requirement on the hottest days. The comparative study shows how and to what extent urban geometry, building height in this case, contributes to modifying the magnitude of microclimate impact on building cooling performance.

Rapid and collective determination of the complete "hot-spring frog" mitochondrial genome containing long repeat regions using Nanopore sequencing.

The mitochondrial genome (mt-genome) is one of the promising molecular markers for phylogenetics and population genetics. Recently, various mt-genomes have been determined rapidly by using massively parallel sequencers. However, the control region (CR, also called D-loop) in mt-genomes remain difficult to precisely determine due to the presence of repeat regions. Here, using Nanopore sequencing, we succeeded in rapid and collective determination of complete mt-genome of the hot-spring frog, Buergeria japonica, and found that its mt-genome size was 22,274 bp including CR (6,929 bp) with two types of tandem repeat motifs forming repeat regions. Comparison of assembly strategies revealed that the long- and short-read data combined together enabled efficient determination of the CR, but the short-read data alone did not. The B. japonica CR was longer than that of a congenic species inhabiting cooler climate areas, Buergeria buergeri, because of the long repeat regions in the former. During the thermal adaptation of B. japonica, the longer repeat regions in its CR may have accumulated within a period after divergence from B. buergeri.

Eco-Tourism: An Option For Sustainable Livelihood And Biodiversity Conservation In Himalayan Region

Tourism is one of the world’s most durable and dynamic sectors, but according to Mowforth and Munt (1998), there is always a dark side. Natural and Protected areas (National Park, Sanctuary) have been in touristic demand since the 1970’s. Uttarakhand is rich in natural resources especially water (through snow-clad and forest recharged) and forests with many glaciers, rivers, dense forests and snow-clad mountain peaks. The state has a vast tourism potential in adventure, leisure, and after all pilgrimage which may link to eco-tourism. The importance of Sustainable Tourism worldwide has increased significantly due to the impact of increased human activity on climate and natural areas (Protected and Un-protected). Nevertheless, it is necessary that the negative impact of the Tourism industry is not enlarged unrealistically. Full advantage can then be drawn from the potential of tourism for inclusive growth, with livelihood support to the poor, most disadvantaged, women and youth. Mass tourism is generally perceived as problematic, destructive to the environment and insensitive. Therefore, as tourism and its environmental impact grows, so does criticism. Growing environmental concern, combined with a general dissatisfaction with such forms of tourism, led to increased demand for sustainable tourism (Mowforth and Munt, 1998).&#x0D;

Literature review: The effect of environmental arrangement on malaria incidence in dry tropical climate areas in NTT

"Indonesia Bebas Malaria 2030" is the Indonesian government's target proclaimed by the Indonesian Ministry of Health at this time. This set target is inversely proportional to several discoveries found in eastern Indonesia, especially East Nusa Tenggara. For example, in 2022 in Sikka Regency, there will be an increase in malaria cases reaching 55 people. Based on research conducted in Africa, it is known that the treatment of malaria can not only be overcome by medication but by improving the physical environment such as housing and the surrounding environment. Therefore, an article search was carried out in several reputable journals for the past ten years to determine the influence of external and internal environmental settings on the incidence of malaria, especially in the East Nusa Tenggara region. From the search that has been done, it is known that environmental factors provide and biological factors are the factors that most influence the thermal characteristics of the incidence of malaria in NTT.

Application of Wavelet Transform for Bias Correction and Predictor Screening of Climate Data

Climate model (CM) statistical downscaling requires quality and quantity modifications of the CM’s outputs to increase further modeling accuracy. In this respect, multi-resolution wavelet transform (WT) was employed to determine the hidden resolutions of climate signals and eliminate bias in a CM. The results revealed that the newly developed discrete wavelet transform (DWT)-based bias correction method can outperform the quantile mapping (QM) method. In this study, wavelet coherence analysis was utilized to assess the high common powers and the multi-scale correlation between the predictors and predictand as a function of time and frequency. Thereafter, to rate the most contributing predictors based on potential periodicity, the average variance was calculated, which is named the Scaled Average (SA) measure. Consequently, WT along with Artificial Neural Network (ANN) were applied for bias correction and identifying the dominant predictors for statistical downscaling. The CAN-ESM5 data of Canadian climate models and INM-CM5 data of Russian climate models over two climatic areas of Iran with semi-arid (Tabriz) and humid (Rasht) weather were applied. The projection of future precipitation revealed that Tabriz will experience a 3.4–6.1% decrease in precipitation, while Rasht’s precipitation will decrease by 1.5–2.5%. These findings underscore the importance of refining CM data and employing advanced techniques to assess the potential impacts of climate change on regional precipitation patterns.

Comparative study of efficiencies of purification of cadmium contaminated irrigation water by different purification systems

Cadmium (Cd) contamination in rice threats food safety and human health. Control of Cd pollution has become an urgent need. Most existing studies on heavy metal pollution control have focused on industrial wastewater and few on irrigation water. Some researchers have found ecological ditches, plant ponds and constructed wetlands have the potential of treating heavy metal contaminated irrigation water, but they examined only one of the methods and the validity needs to be verified by field studies. Our study has filled the gap by combining the methods and using field experiments. We examined efficiencies of removal of Cadmium from irrigation water by 14 different combinations of ecological ditches, plant ponds, and constructed wetlands using field experiments. The effects of the purification on Cd concentration in paddy soil and rice grains were also examined. Results showed that there were significant differences among efficiencies of purification of Cd contaminated irrigation water using different systems and that pH, chemical form of Cd in irrigation water, vegetation coverage and biomass of aquatic plants significantly affect the efficiency. Of the 14 purification systems, seven resulted in the concentration of Cd in the effluent water meeting the National Standard for Irrigation Water Quality (GB5084–2021) for all days of the experiment period. The highest amount and rate of Cd removal were achieved by the combination of two-stage ecological ditch, two-stage plant pond, and one-stage constructed wetland, while the highest removal amount and rate per 100 m2 was achieved by the combination of one-stage plant pond and one-stage constructed wetland. Considering purification efficiency, area of coverage, and cost of construction and maintenance, we suggest that combination of plant pond and constructed wetland be a priority choice for purification of Cd pollution in irrigation water. Compared to the control data collected from rice grain and paddy soil irrigated by unpurified water, Cd concentration in rice grain and paddy soil irrigated by purified water declined by 5.08–19.42 % and 30.93–77.15 % respectively. All results showed that removal of Cd contamination from irrigation water effectively controlled cadmium pollution in rice grain and paddy soil. Our study not only contributes to pollution control practice, but also warrants further investigation of the mechanisms of how the treatment systems work. The most efficient method we identified could be applied locally, regionally and in areas of similar topography, climate, soil, vegetation, agriculture, and heavy metal pollution.

Changes in soil organic carbon and its response to environmental factors in the Yarlung Tsangpo River basin

The distribution of terrestrial soil organic carbon changes with climate and substrate conditions. This study investigated the spatial and temporal distribution of soil organic carbon and its influencing elements in the Yarlung Tsangpo River Basin using meteorological, subsurface, and remotely sensed data over the past 39 years, combined with random forests and geodetector. The results of the study showed that soil organic carbon has been increasing in the study area over the past 39 years, and this change has been concentrated in the central part of the watershed. Among the environmental factors, precipitation, temperature, and leaf area index were the main contributors to the soil organic carbon changes, and the effects of the three factors were more significant at higher altitudes, with a 33 % increase in the significance level. Notably, the interactions among the factors exceeded their individual effects, and the combination of climate and leaf area index showed a significant two-factor enhancement effect, with q-value enhancements generally ranging from 0.15 to 0.3. The two-factor enhancement effect was more pronounced below 3000 m above sea level, where the topography of the study area concentrates soil organic carbon in the gently sloping areas of the catchment.

Association of hydrothermal conditions one month before harvest and degree of maturity with the yield of sound apple fruit aft er storage

The quality and storability of apple fruits depend on the apple variety and degree of maturity, as well as weather conditions of the growing season. For each pomological variety, the picking maturity of the fruit is individual. It depends on geographical and climatic area of cultivation, weather conditions of a particular season – the hydrothermal conditions of the active growing season (the sum of active temperatures, precipitation and hydrothermal coefficient (HTC)). Fruits should be harvested at the optimal maturity stage to ensure maximum duration of storage and preservation of fruit quality. The paper presents a quantitative assessment of the impact of weather conditions one month before harvesting in different years (2014, 2016, 2018, 2019) on the yield of sound apple fruits of Priokskoye and Rozhdestvenskoe breeding varieties (the Russian Research Institute of Fruit Crop Breeding) after storage at +2 °С. A certain regularity was revealed in the yield of marketable fruits after storage, depending on hydrothermal conditions, 30 days before harvesting. Regression equations for Priokskoye and Rozhdestvenskoye varieties grown in central Russia were obtained on the basis of HTC indicators and the joint effect of the sum of active temperatures ≥ 10°C and HTC. The equations can be used to predict the yield of sound fruits after storage, by interpolating and extrapolating empirically obtained data.

Use of geothermal energy to prevent road pavement icing and damage in cold climate areas

In cold climate or alpine regions, freezing temperatures and snow can result into road icing, with consequent threat of the circulation security (Figure 1(a)). When the road surface temperature goes below zero, not only the road surface ices, but also the soil below the pavement can undergo freezing. The phenomenon of soil freezing is complex due to the multi-phase and porous nature of the soil itself. Generally speaking, as ice expands in the soil pores, the soil volume increases (of about 9%, depending on the soil porosity and water saturation). This can induce frost heaving, with consequent damage of the road pavement. In this framework, the possibility to use geothermal energy systems embedded in tunnel linings for road pavement de-icing has rarely been investigated. In such systems, the concrete tunnel lining is equipped with a circuit of pipes, in which a heat carrier fluid circulates and exchanges heat with the ground. As the rock or soil around the tunnel is generally hotter than the external air temperature, heat is extracted from the rock or soil to the fluid, transported through the pipes circuit outside the tunnel, and used to de-ice the pavement road.&#x0D; The objective of this study is to go a step forward in the investigation of this innovative application, for both road de-icing and prevention of frost heave. A portion of a geothermally activated tunnel and its connection to a road pipe circuit was simulated numerically (Figure 1 (b)). Appropriate climatic conditions were considered as boundary conditions at the surface level and inside the tunnel, according to available data. The efficiency of the technology was investigated under different climatic and exploitation scenarios. Figure 1 (c) shows as an example the thermal field obtained after the activation of the geothermal plant. The evolution of temperature on the road pavement surface and at the road pipes depth (30 cm from the road pavement surface) are presented on Figure 2 (a), together with the evolution of the external air and tunnel temperature, imposed as boundary conditions according to the monitored climatic conditions in the city of Oslo [1].&#x0D; The geothermal system was activated after two years of simulation, by changing the fluid pipes velocity from 0 (non active system) to 0.9 m/s (purple curve on the right axis on Figure 2 (a)). The results show that the road temperature increases thanks to the activation of the system (i.e. when the fluid pipes velocity is imposed to 0.9 m/s).&#x0D; Furthermore, a recently developed thermo-hydro-mechanical constitutive model for frozen soils [2] was used to quantify the soil heave due to freezing, with and without the activation of the geothermal system. For this purpose, a similar numerical model has been developped where a column of saturated soil below the road and the tunnel were modelled. The phreatic water table is at the ground surface level and gravity as well as the geostatic stress conditions are considered. The soil is a clay with a low hydraulic conductivity of Kw=4.1×10-10 m/s and a thermal conductivity of Γ=2.35 W/m/K. The other soil properties are: soil stiffness E=100 MPa, Poisson’s ratio ν=0.3, porosity n=0.25, solid grain thermal volumetric expansion coefficient αs=3.4×10-4 K-1. The same soil surface climatic conditions used in the first part were applied. The temperature evolution obtained in the road from the previously mentioned analyses (Figure 2 (a)) was imposed to reproduce the effect of the geothermal activation on the road behaviour. Furthermore, the soil surface is free of stress to study the soil swelling and settlement. The bottom limit of the soil column is hydraulically drained and allows heat flux (at constant liquid pressure and temperature). The lateral far field boundaries are thermally adiabatic, hydraulically impervious, and with oedometric conditions. The results were firstly compared with the case without geothermal activation to quantify the effects in terms of road heave and settlement (Figure 2 (b)). Swelling and settlement are due to thermal expansion and compression of the soil under positive temperature (T&gt;0°C) and to frost heave and thaw settlement under negative temperature (T&lt;0°C). The liquid pressure at the road surface is also depicted (Figure 2 (b)). These results and comparisions allowed understanding the performance of the technology in reducing road mechanical damage induced by freezing.

A fragile future for pink birds: habitat suitability models predict a high impact of climate change on the future distribution of flamingos

ABSTRACT Climate change is one of the most impactful global phenomena, affecting multiple ecosystems, particularly wetlands and water bodies, as well as important species that depend on these areas. Flamingos are unique and distinctive species that live exclusively in these environments and are highly impacted by any changes in their breeding or non-breeding wetlands. To address and measure the direct impact that future climatic changes could have on the distribution of the six extant species of flamingos, I used citizen science data and climatic variables to construct habitat suitability models. These models were used to predict the future gain or loss of climatic suitability areas in the short, medium, and long term, under four different Shared Socioeconomic Pathways and eight Global Circulation Models. The results predicted that five out of the six species of flamingos will experience continued loss of habitat over the next few decades in all scenarios. Dramatic changes in distribution are expected for all species. The data also indicate a higher impact of climate change on more habitat restrictive species and on wetlands along the borders of their distributions. Finally, the research highlights the importance of combined efforts from public communities, scientists, and policymakers to create mitigation and conservation plans that could avoid the intensification of climate change effects on wetlands and prevent the future reduction of flamingo populations.

Geographical and morphological changes of conifers in Yunnan, China during the Cenozoic in response to climatic changes

Yunnan province, known as a hot spot of plant diversity, is located in Southwest China and on the southeastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Today, there are four families, 21 genera and 56 species of conifers found in Yunnan. Three families, 15 genera and 44 species of fossil conifers have been reported from the Cenozoic in Yunnan. In this study, we investigated the fossil conifers from the Cenozoic in Yunnan and their corresponding living species and evaluated the distribution and climatic conditions of the extant genera. Based on this analysis, paleoclimates of the fossils were reconstructed to determine the migration patterns of these conifers in response to climatic changes caused by the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Our analyses show that the cooling trend led to a southward expansion and migration of conifers to warm and humid climate areas since the early Oligocene. In addition, the drought tendency led to the disappearance of certain conifer species from Yunnan, and the strengthening monsoon climate resulted in the migration of conifers eastward to eastern China or coastal areas, westward to western Yunnan, southeast Tibet and northern Myanmar and northward to dry and cold North China and North Korea. Likely adaptive morphological changes also occurred among the conifer species. The study also revealed that the diversity and composition of conifers in Yunnan have changed significantly since the early Oligocene with the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and climatic changes and that the extant lineages of Yunnan conifers appeared in the late Miocene.

Energy systems modeling for maximizing renewable energy share in fossil fuel dominated Mediterranean climate

AbstractIncreasing energy production and consumption and the need to save and increase its efficiency will lead us to manage the energy system on both supply and demand sides with higher accuracy. This study presents a new model scheme for Mediterranean climate areas' energy systems due to the importance of energy modeling to meet energy systems' needs. This model aims to provide an interactive energy system for two short and medium‐term time horizons (2025 and 2030, respectively) by targeting three main objectives: total primary energy supply, greenhouse gas emissions, and system cost. North Khorasan province in northeastern Iran has been selected for the case study as an example of mountainous and Mediterranean climates. EnergyPLAN has been used as a modeling tool. Accordingly, after examining the study area's current state, its future needs are forecasted using the support vector machine algorithm. The study area's optimal energy system is modeled within the desired time horizons by applying and comparing four different scenarios, including business as usual (BAU), power plant optimization, and demand response with wind or solar power plants. The results show that the part of the energy demand provided by wind scenario's situation is favorable and can meet the study area's future demands. This scenario will reduce CO2 emissions in 2025 and 2030 by 93.87 and 227.78 kilotonnes per year, respectively, compared to the BAU scenario. It is also estimated that this scenario's implementation will save the total annual cost of 8.27 and 156.06 million euros compared to the BAU scenario in 2025 and 2030.

Refinement and predicting formaldehyde concentrations of indoor fabric: Effects of temperature and humidity

Indoor air pollution resulting from volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is a significant health concern, especially formaldehyde. Therefore, predicting indoor formaldehyde concentration is essential for environmental control. In this research, the authors develop a thermal and wet coupling calculation model of porous fabric that considers the influence of different phases of wet components and the coupling effect of heat and humidity on formaldehyde migration. We propose a modified calculation method of the formaldehyde mass transfer characteristic parameters of fabric to obtain the diffusion coefficient D and partition coefficient K. The heat and humidity coupling model and formaldehyde mass transfer model of fabric are simultaneously solved, and the authors analyze the influence mechanism of fabric loading rate, fabric type, temperature, and humidity on indoor formaldehyde mass transfer characteristics. We study the variation trend of fabric formaldehyde mass transfer characteristics coefficient and the temporal and spatial distribution of indoor formaldehyde concentration. The theoretical model is applied to practical problems by pre-evaluating the indoor formaldehyde concentration of decorated residential buildings in typical climate areas of China before occupancy. The authors obtain the variation rule of indoor formaldehyde concentration of residential buildings under typical hot and humid climate conditions, building materials, furniture, and fabrics. To provide theoretical support for indoor environmental control and human health protection.