Stations In Germany Research Articles

Nel receives orders for additional stations in Germany and Norway

Denmark-based Nel Hydrogen Solutions has received a purchase order from H2 Mobility Deutschland GmbH for hydrogen equipment to build two H2Station® hydrogen refueling stations in Germany, and a contract from Uno-X Hydrogen to build the next two H2Station hydrogen stations in Norway.

Analysis of past changes in wet bulb temperature in relation to snow making conditions based on long term observations Austria and Germany

Abstract Ski resorts increasingly rely on snow making to ensure good quality skiing regardless of the variability of the natural snow cover. This study aims to quantify past changes in snow making conditions based on an analysis of long-term wet bulb temperature time series from 20 weather stations in Germany and Austria. The weather stations are located at a range of altitudes from 267 m to 3109 m, in the vicinity of ski resorts. The lengths of the time-series range from 54 to 83 years. Using a threshold mean daily wet bulb temperature of −2 °C we define ‘potential snow making days’ and track changes in the number of snow making days in the months of the early skiing season (October, November, December) by computing linear trends, comparing consecutive 20 year periods, and Mann-Kendall trend testing of overlapping sub-periods. The number of snow making days changes least in October and most in December when averaged over all stations. Very high stations show more change in October and less change in December than the lower stations. Several stations show a significant decrease of snow making days per month, particularly in more recent sub-periods, but trends vary strongly between stations and for different sub-periods. Sub-periods with positive trends are present in earlier phases of the time series at some stations and inter-annual variability is generally 1–2 orders of magnitude greater than detected trends. Detailed microclimatic studies are necessary to determine potential future effects of changes in snow making conditions on the scale of a ski resort.

Cobalt: A GPU-based correlator and beamformer for LOFAR

For low-frequency radio astronomy, software correlation and beamforming on general purpose hardware is a viable alternative to custom designed hardware. LOFAR, a new-generation radio telescope centered in the Netherlands with international stations in Germany, France, Ireland, Latvia, Poland, Sweden and the UK, has successfully used software real-time processors based on IBM Blue Gene technology since 2004. Since then, developments in technology have allowed us to build a system based on commercial off-the-shelf components that combines the same capabilities with lower operational cost. In this paper we describe the design and implementation of a GPU-based correlator and beamformer with the same capabilities as the Blue Gene based systems. We focus on the design approach taken, and show the challenges faced in selecting an appropriate system. The design, implementation and verification of the software system shows the value of a modern test-driven development approach. Operational experience, based on three years of operations, demonstrates that a general purpose system is a good alternative to the previous supercomputer-based system or custom-designed hardware.

H2 Mobility's second call selects Oldenburg, Brunsbüttel and Siegen

H2 Mobility Deutschland has announced three more locations for hydrogen refueling stations in Germany, with one each in the federal states of Lower Saxony (Oldenburg), Schleswig-Holstein (Brunsbüttel), and North Rhine-Westphalia (Siegen). Planning is now under way, and the actual sites will be announced shortly on the H2.Live app.

Impact of the 4 April 2014 Saharan dust outbreak on the photovoltaic power generation in Germany

Abstract. The importance for reliable forecasts of incoming solar radiation is growing rapidly, especially for those countries with an increasing share in photovoltaic (PV) power production. The reliability of solar radiation forecasts depends mainly on the representation of clouds and aerosol particles absorbing and scattering radiation. Especially under extreme aerosol conditions, numerical weather prediction has a systematic bias in the solar radiation forecast. This is caused by the design of numerical weather prediction models, which typically account for the direct impact of aerosol particles on radiation using climatological mean values and the impact on cloud formation assuming spatially and temporally homogeneous aerosol concentrations. These model deficiencies in turn can lead to significant economic losses under extreme aerosol conditions. For Germany, Saharan dust outbreaks occurring 5 to 15 times per year for several days each are prominent examples for conditions, under which numerical weather prediction struggles to forecast solar radiation adequately. We investigate the impact of mineral dust on the PV-power generation during a Saharan dust outbreak over Germany on 4 April 2014 using ICON-ART, which is the current German numerical weather prediction model extended by modules accounting for trace substances and related feedback processes. We find an overall improvement of the PV-power forecast for 65 % of the pyranometer stations in Germany. Of the nine stations with very high differences between forecast and measurement, eight stations show an improvement. Furthermore, we quantify the direct radiative effects and indirect radiative effects of mineral dust. For our study, direct effects account for 64 %, indirect effects for 20 % and synergistic interaction effects for 16 % of the differences between the forecast including mineral dust radiative effects and the forecast neglecting mineral dust.

Fuel Prices and Station Heterogeneity on Retail Gasoline Markets

ABSTRACT We empirically investigate how and why price levels differ across gasoline stations, using the first full year from a novel panel data set including price quotes from virtually all gas stations in Germany. Our analysis specifically explores the role of station heterogeneity in explaining price differences across gasoline stations. Key determinants of price levels are found to be ex-refinery prices as key input costs, a station’s location on roads or highway service areas, and brand recognition. A lower number of station-specific services implies lower fuel price levels, as does a more heterogeneous local competitive environment.

Impact of renewable energies on the operation and economic situation of coal fired power stations: Actual situation of coal fired power stations in Germany

Due to the fluctuating character of the renewable energy sources the demand of conventional power plants for flexibility is increasing. In the recent years, in Germany there has been a fast rise of production capacity of renewable energies, especially from wind turbines, photovoltaic installations, and biomass plants. The installed nominal power of wind turbines is actually (December 2016) 42 GW and of photovoltaic installations 40 GW. The renewable electric energy production in Germany is about 190 TWh/a, which represents a share of 33% of the yearly demand. The increased need for flexibility affects both the power gradients as well as the minimum load of conventional power plants. Due to this flexibility behaviour, conventional power plants are faced with problems concerning the durability of power plant components, corrosion, more maintenance effort and consequently the overall life expectancy. Another consequence of the increasing share of renewable energies is the decreasing full load operating hours, especially of coal fired and gas power plants. Along with decreasing revenues from the energy exchange market, coal fired power plants are faced with new economically challenges.

Impacts of low emission zones in Germany on air pollution levels

Since 2008 low emission zones (LEZ) have been introduced in many German cities to improve air quality and to protect human health. In order to assess the effectiveness of LEZ, both descriptive and statistical analyses have been conducted based on concentrations of air pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, NO, NO2, and NOx) from relevant monitoring stations in Germany from year 2002 to 2012. The results indicate that the introduction of LEZ has brought positive effects on reducing air pollutant concentrations. But the potential of further reduction by additional LEZ in Germany without further development of this measure seems to be small.

Efficient and equitable transnational infrastructure planning for natural gas trucking in the European Union

The European Union relies on oil for over 90% of its transportation fuels. To reduce this dependency, the EU is developing an integrated market for compressed (CNG) and liquefied (LNG) natural gas as alternatives to diesel for long-haul trucking. This paper develops a modeling approach for optimizing a subsidized European network of LNG truck stops based on the flow-refueling location model (FRLM). The FRLM locates stations to cover the maximum flow volume of origin–destination trips on their shortest paths. The FRLM explicitly accounts for the need for multiple refueling stops to serve long-distance trips given a user-specified vehicle driving range. In this paper, the FRLM maximizes covered flows in terms of ton-kilometers (tkm) rather than tons because tkm are proportional to the amount of diesel that can be replaced by LNG and the associated difference in carbon emissions. Nevertheless, despite the fact that maximizing covered tkm prioritizes longer shipments, the basic FRLM clusters all new stations in Germany, which has the densest concentration of flows. For subsidized stations promoting pan-European trucking, concentrating new stations in a few countries may not be politically desirable. We therefore introduce and compare several new side constraints for producing a more equitable distribution of covered flows across EU members, including transnational corridor constraints that require connectivity between different countries and partial country coverage constraints that require a minimum percentage coverage threshold in each country. The country coverage constraints show the most promise for offering decision-makers distinct alternatives for a network of alternative-fuel stations across countries.

Accessibility to Services in Rural Areas

Throughout Europe, especially in rural areas, an increasing spatial concentration of basic services can be observed. As a result, the living conditions between regions are diverging. Against the background of the normative political goal of ‘territorial cohesion’ of the European Union, as well as the goal of German regional planning policy to provide comparable living conditions in all regions of Germany, current empirically sound information about the accessibility of basic services is important in forming an objective impression of the current situation, which can function as input for future policy interventions.Surprisingly, such data rarely exists on country level, making it difficult to realistically assess the situation. To bridge this knowledge gap we analysed the accessibility of street petrol stations in Germany, as one core service of general interest important for the overall mobility of the population especially in rural areas, based on a GIS accessibility analysis.The analysed data allows one to reason that in spite of the fact that in Germany the number of petrol stations has been steadily declining since 1970, and that Germany is one of a group of countries with the lowest density of petrol stations in Europe, provision of gasoline near to the place of residence is still, at present, guaranteed nationwide.

Building Up Demand-Oriented Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles in Germany

Mobility offerings have never been as abundant and varied as the present. While users welcome new and innovative mobility options, this current paradigm shift presents a challenge for authorities that plan, organize, and operate such services. In particular, integrating new mobility services into existing infrastructure systems can generate problems of acceptance, co-operability, and compatibility. This problem is especially relevant for electric vehicles. Limited range and battery capacity of battery electric vehicles make them dependent on charging infrastructure, which in turn hinders their acceptance. In light of the German government's goal of one million electric vehicles by 2020, establishing a demand-oriented charging infrastructure is of crucial importance. However, numerous questions remain unanswered regarding the quantity, type, and location of electric vehicle charging stations in Germany. This article presents the findings of the project “LADEN2020: Concept to build up a demand-oriented charging infrastructure in Germany between today and 2020.” The research project develops a systematically comprehensible and consistent strategy for electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Germany. The paper presents the methodological framework to estimate the charging demand for daily and long-distance travel, which is unique and innovative as similar comprehensive and consistent analytical tools do not exist to date.

Evaluating the productivity of four main tree species in Germany under climate change with static reduced models

We present simple models of forest net primary production (NPP) in Germany that show increasing productivity, especially in mountainous areas, under warming unless water becomes a limiting factor. They can be used for spatially explicit, rapid climate impact assessment. Climate impact studies largely rely on process-based forest models generally requiring detailed input data which are not everywhere available. This study aims to derive simple models with low data requirements which allow calculation of NPP and analysis of climate impacts using many climate scenarios at a large amount of sites. We fitted regression functions to the output of simulation experiments conducted with the process-based forest model 4C at 2342 climate stations in Germany for four main tree species on four different soil types and two time periods, 1951–2006 and 2031–2060. The regression functions showed a reasonable fit to measured NPP datasets. Temperature increase of up to 3 K leads to positive effects on NPP. In water-limited regions, this positive effect is dependent on the length of drought periods. The highest NPP increase occurs in mountainous regions. Rapid analyses, using reduced models as presented here, can complement more detailed analyses with process-based models. Especially for dry sites, we recommend further study of climate impacts with process-based models or detailed measurements.

High spatial and temporal organization of changes in precipitation over Germany for 1951–2006

ABSTRACTTemporal changes in daily precipitation observed at more than 2300 stations in Germany during the second half of the 20th century are analysed. Compared to other studies, this analysis is based on a very high spatial density of observation locations and complete areal coverage of Germany. Changes in four precipitation characteristics are investigated: (1) total amount of seasonal and monthly precipitation, (2) mean and 95% quantile (q95) of daily precipitation, (3) transition probabilities to quantify wet and dry spells, and (4) precipitation amounts for a 7‐day event with return period 100 years. For all parameters, strikingly clear trend patterns in space and time (of the year) emerged. Stations with increasing and decreasing trends are never found in direct neighbourhood, but are well separated from each other. Changes are season and even month specific. These clear spatial and temporal patterns are an expression of the organization of precipitation mechanisms over Germany. These findings add a note of caution in regard to trend analyses: Spatially and temporally aggregated trend studies might not disclose the complete range of changes and might miss important details. Interestingly, the variability of daily precipitation has changed in parallel with the mean behaviour: Those regions and seasons that show an increase in mean show also an increase in standard deviation, leading to a disproportional increase in heavy precipitation. In addition, there is a tendency towards higher persistence, in particular, longer wet spells in winter, spring, and autumn, and longer dry spells in summer. If these trends continue, there will be an increasing potential for floods in winter and spring, and increasing problems for water availability in summer in regions that show signs of water stress today.

Management of prehospital shoulder dislocation: feasibility and need of reduction.

Dislocation of the shoulder is rare in the prehospital setting. The medical specialities of the emergency physicians are heterogeneous, and the level of experience is different. Aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, sufficiency, and need of prehospital reduction. Over 12months, 16 rescue stations in Germany and Austria documented cases. Points of examination were: incidence of reduction, influence of pathological findings, therapy and effectiveness of reduction. We included 70 patients. A reduction was undertaken in n=47 (66.6%). In n=70 (100%) perfusion was without pathological finding after reduction, all n=7 (10%) neurological pathologies declined after reduction. There was no significance in total implementation of prehospital reduction between surgeons and anaesthetists. N=63 (90%) of all patients received an immobilisation of the shoulder. N=68 (97%) of all patients were transported to a hospital. Time to arrival in hospital was in n=50 (71.4%)≤10min, in n=17 (24.2%)≤20min and in n=3 (4.4%)≤30min. Implementation of reduction is independent of pathological neurological or vascular findings. Knowledge and skill is enough to perform a reduction quiet effectively in all emergency physicians. No specific technique can be recommended for prehospital use, the importance of being skilled is more important than one method. Early reduction was performed most rapidly in surgeons, but as well in the recommended time by other medical disciplines. On documented timings to admission hospital waiver of reduction is doubt. Therefore, a reduction in the prehospital setting is possible, but not obligatory.

Extracting planetary waves from geomagnetic time series using Empirical Mode Decomposition

Empirical Mode Decomposition is presented as an alternative to traditional analysis methods to decompose geomagnetic time series into spectral components. Important comments on the algorithm and its variations will be given. Using this technique, planetary wave modes of 5-, 10-, and 16-day mean periods can be extracted from magnetic field components of three different stations in Germany. In a second step, the amplitude modulation functions of these wave modes can be shown to contain significant contribution from solar cycle variation through correlation with smoothed sunspot numbers. Additionally, the data indicate connections with geomagnetic jerk occurrences, supported by a second set of data providing reconstructed near-Earth magnetic field for 150 years. Usually attributed to internal dynamo processes within the Earth's outer core, the question of who is impacting whom will be briefly discussed here.

Temporal trends in δ18O composition of precipitation in Germany: insights from time series modelling and trend analysis

AbstractTemporal and spatial variations of stable oxygen (18O) and hydrogen (2H) isotope measurements in precipitation act as important proxies for changing hydro‐meteorological and regional and global climate patterns. Temporal trends in time series of the stable isotope composition in precipitation were rarely observed, and they are poorly understood. These might be a result of a lack of proper trend detection tools and effort for exploring trend processes. Here, we investigate temporal trends of δ18O in precipitation at 17 observation stations in Germany between 1978 and 2009. We test if significant trends in the isotope time series from different models can be observed. Mann–Kendall trend tests are applied on the isotope series, using general multiplicative seasonal autoregressive integrate moving average (ARIMA) models, which account for first and higher order serial correlations. Effects of temperature, precipitation, and geographic parameters on isotope trends are also investigated in the proposed models. To benchmark our proposed approach, the ARIMA results are compared with a trend‐free pre‐whitening procedure, the state of the art method for removing the first order autocorrelation in environmental trend studies. Moreover, we further explore whether higher order serial correlations in isotope series affects our trend results. Overall, three out of the 17 stations show significant changes when higher order autocorrelation are adjusted, and four show a significant trend when temperature and precipitation effects are considered. The significant trends in the isotope time series generally occur only at low elevation stations. Higher order autoregressive processes are shown to be important in the isotope time series analysis. Results suggest that the widely used trend analysis with only the first order autocorrelation adjustment may not adequately take account of the high order autocorrelated processes in the stable isotope series. The investigated time series analysis method including higher autocorrelation and external climate variable adjustments is shown to be a better alternative. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Comment on ‘Updated investigations of cancer excesses in individuals born or resident in the vicinity of Sellafield and Dounreay’: premature all-clear for nuclear power

Sir, Bunch et al (2014) report no increased leukaemia/cancer rates in children and young adults below age 25 in Seascale ward near the Sellafield nuclear site, during the period 1991–2006. But the case numbers are very small – 1 observed leukaemia case (O=1) vs 0.26 expected cases (E=0.26), which means a standardised incidence ratio (SIR) of 3.9 with a wide 90% confidence interval (90% CI: 0.28–33.8). Near the Dounreay nuclear installation, in the wards of Thurso and Reay, not a single leukaemia case was registered in 1991–2006, and also not in the respective control region, the rest of Caithness county. Thus, for 1991–2006, no meaningful conclusions about leukaemia risk near Sellafield and Dounreay can be drawn from these numbers. Bunch et al fail to discuss the leukaemia increases over the full period, 1963–2006. A highly significant increase is found in Seascale ward (O=6, E=0.91, SIR=6.67, 90% CI: 2.9, 13.0). The ratio of the SIR in Seascale (SIR=6.67) to the SIR in Copeland and Allerdale County excluding Seascale (SIR=0.90) yields a relative risk (RR) of RR=6.67/0.90=7.4 (P=0.0002). Near Dounreay the increase in leukaemia risk is not significant (RR=1.64, P=0.227). For all malignancies and over the whole study period 1963–2006 a significantly increased risk is found near Sellafield (RR=3.3, P=0.0004), but the increase is not statistically significant near Dounreay (RR=1.22, P=0.274). Pooled data from Sellafield, Dounreay, and La Hague: Guizard et al (2001) reported on leukaemia around the La Hague reprocessing plant in France between 1978 and 1998. Leukaemia rates in the 10-km zone were compared with rates in the 10–35-km zone. During the 21-year study period, four leukaemia cases were found among children in the 10-km zone: all were between 1 year and 6 years old. A relative risk of RR=3.4 was found, which was not statistically significant using a two-sided test. However, with the one-sided test, which we use here as we test for an increase, the increase of childhood leukaemia near La Hague is statistically significant (P=0.042). We have pooled the data for leukaemia in children and young adults aged under 24 in the vicinities of Sellafeld, Dounreay, and La Hague (study areas: the wards Seascale, Thurso/Reay, and Beaumont-Hague). We compared the leukaemia rates in the combined study areas with the rates in the combined respective control areas and found a significantly increased relative risk of 2.40 (P=0.0010). The results are shown in Table 1. Table 1 Leukaemias in children and young adults aged under 24 in the vicinities of Sellafeld, Dounreay, and La Hague In 2012, we analysed the pooled data of leukaemia cases near nuclear power stations in Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland, and France, and found a 37% increased risk in young children living near them (Koerblein and Fairlie, 2012). Since radiation exposures near nuclear reprocessing plants are likely to be greater than those near nuclear power stations, higher leukaemia risks would also be expected. The result in Table 1 is in line with this expectation.

A model for the determination of pollen count using google search queries for patients suffering from allergic rhinitis.

Background. The transregional increase in pollen-associated allergies and their diversity have been scientifically proven. However, patchy pollen count measurement in many regions is a worldwide problem with few exceptions. Methods. This paper used data gathered from pollen count stations in Germany, Google queries using relevant allergological/biological keywords, and patient data from three German study centres collected in a prospective, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, multicentre immunotherapy study to analyse a possible correlation between these data pools. Results. Overall, correlations between the patient-based, combined symptom medication score and Google data were stronger than those with the regionally measured pollen count data. The correlation of the Google data was especially strong in the groups of severe allergy sufferers. The results of the three-centre analyses show moderate to strong correlations with the Google keywords (up to >0.8 cross-correlation coefficient, P < 0.001) in 10 out of 11 groups (three averaged patient cohorts and eight subgroups of severe allergy sufferers: high IgE class, high combined symptom medication score, and asthma). Conclusion. For countries with a good Internet infrastructure but no dense network of pollen traps, this could represent an alternative for determining pollen levels and, forecasting the pollen count for the next day.

Statistical–dynamical downscaling for wind energy potentials: evaluation and applications to decadal hindcasts and climate change projections

ABSTRACTA statistical–dynamical downscaling (SDD) approach for the regionalization of wind energy output (Eout) over Europe with special focus on Germany is proposed. SDD uses an extended circulation weather type (CWT) analysis on global daily mean sea level pressure fields with the central point being located over Germany. Seventy‐seven weather classes based on the associated CWT and the intensity of the geostrophic flow are identified. Representatives of these classes are dynamically downscaled with the regional climate model COSMO‐CLM. By using weather class frequencies of different data sets, the simulated representatives are recombined to probability density functions (PDFs) of near‐surface wind speed and finally to Eout of a sample wind turbine for present and future climate. This is performed for reanalysis, decadal hindcasts and long‐term future projections. For evaluation purposes, results of SDD are compared to wind observations and to simulated Eout of purely dynamical downscaling (DD) methods.For the present climate, SDD is able to simulate realistic PDFs of 10‐m wind speed for most stations in Germany. The resulting spatial Eout patterns are similar to DD‐simulated Eout. In terms of decadal hindcasts, results of SDD are similar to DD‐simulated Eout over Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, and Benelux, for which high correlations between annual Eout time series of SDD and DD are detected for selected hindcasts. Lower correlation is found for other European countries. It is demonstrated that SDD can be used to downscale the full ensemble of the Earth System Model of the Max Planck Institute (MPI‐ESM) decadal prediction system.Long‐term climate change projections in Special Report on Emission Scenarios of ECHAM5/MPI‐OM as obtained by SDD agree well to the results of other studies using DD methods, with increasing Eout over northern Europe and a negative trend over southern Europe. Despite some biases, it is concluded that SDD is an adequate tool to assess regional wind energy changes in large model ensembles.

Is Particle Pollution in Outdoor Air Associated with Metabolic Control in Type 2 Diabetes?

BackgroundThere is growing evidence that air pollutants are associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes. Subclinical inflammation may be a mechanism linking air pollution with diabetes. Information is lacking whether air pollution also contributes to worse metabolic control in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes. We examined the hypothesis that residential particulate matter (PM10) is associated with HbA1c concentration in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes.MethodsNationwide regional levels of particulate matter with a diameter of ≤10 µm (PM10) were obtained in 2009 from background monitoring stations in Germany (Federal Environmental Agency) and assigned to place of residency of 9,102 newly diagnosed diabetes patients registered in the DPV database throughout Germany (age 65.5±13.5 yrs; males: 52.1%). Mean HbA1c (%) levels stratified for air pollution quartiles (PM10 in µg/m3) were estimated using linear regression models adjusting for age, sex, BMI, diabetes duration, geographic region, year of ascertainment, and social indicators.FindingsIn both men and women, adjusted HbA1c was significantly lower in the lowest quartile of PM10 exposure in comparison to quartiles Q2–Q4. Largest differences in adjusted HbA1c (95% CI) were seen comparing lowest quartiles of exposure with highest quartiles (men %: −0.42 (−0.62; −0.23)/mmol/mol: −28.11 (−30.30; −26.04), women, %: −0.28 (−0.47; −0.09)/mmol/mol: −0.28 (−0.47; −0.09)).InterpretationAir pollution may be associated with higher HbA1c levels in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients. Further studies are warranted to examine this association.