scholarly journals Behavior Patterns, Energy Consumption and Comfort during COVID-19 Lockdown Related to Home Features, Socioeconomic Factors and Energy Poverty in Madrid

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 5949
Author(s):  
Teresa Cuerdo-Vilches ◽  
Miguel Ángel Navas-Martín ◽  
Ignacio Oteiza
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Thermal Adaptation ◽  
Vulnerability Index ◽  
General Increase ◽  
Energy Poverty ◽  
Poor Households ◽  
Global Spread ◽  
Containment Measures ◽  
The Face ◽  
Future Harm

During spring 2020, the world was shocked at the imminent global spread of SARS-CoV-2, resorting to measures such as domestic confinement. This meant the reconfiguration of life in an unusual space; the home. However, not all households experienced it in the same way; many of them were vulnerable. A general increase in energy consumption and discomfort in many cases, led these families to suffer the ravages of confinement. This study analyzes the energy and comfort situation for the Madrid (Spain) population, according to the configuration of the homes, the characteristics of the dwellings, the vulnerability index by district, and energy poverty (measured with the 10% threshold of energy expenditure of home incomes). The results show a greater exposure, in confinement, of vulnerable and energy-poor households to scenarios of discomfort in the home, to which they could not respond, while energy consumption inevitably increased. Driven by need, energy-poor homes applied certain saving strategies, mainly resorting to thermal adaptation with clothing. This study shows the risk these households experienced in the face of an extreme situation, and invites reflection on preventive and containment measures that aim to avoid harming the disadvantaged in the future; harm that would also entail serious consequences on the health of their cohabitants.

scholarly journals Relaxing lockdown measures in epidemic outbreaks using selective socio-economic containment with uncertainty

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giacomo Albi ◽  
Lorenzo Pareschi ◽  
Mattia Zanella
Keyword(s):  
Uncertain Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Difficult Problem ◽  
Feedback Controls ◽  
Contact Patterns ◽  
Specific Contact ◽  
Containment Measures ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Impact

After an initial phase characterized by the introduction of timely and drastic containment measures aimed at stopping the epidemic contagion from SARS-CoV2, many governments are preparing to relax such measures in the face of a severe economic crisis caused by lockdowns. Assessing the impact of such openings in relation to the risk of a resumption of the spread of the disease is an extremely difficult problem due to the many unknowns concerning the actual number of people infected, the actual reproduction number and infection fatality rate of the disease. In this work, starting from a compartmental model with a social structure, we derive models with multiple feedback controls depending on the social activities that allow to assess the impact of a selective relaxation of the containment measures in the presence of uncertain data. Specific contact patterns in the home, work, school and other locations for all countries considered have been used. Results from different scenarios in some of the major countries where the epidemic is ongoing, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, are presented and discussed.

scholarly journals Estimated potential for energy savings in heating residential buildings in Poland

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 00068 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Lis
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Ventilation System ◽  
Energy Effect ◽  
Central Statistical ◽  
The Face ◽  
Central Statistical Office ◽  
Reduce Energy Consumption

In the face of a constant increase in demand for energy, one of the important sources will be its saving and efficient use. The search for the greatest opportunities in this area should focus on the areas where the highest energy consumption occurs. The dominant role here is played by the communal and living sector, to the extent that it is the sub-sector of buildings with a majority share of residential buildings. The article presents the expected energy effects of measures reducing energy consumption for heating residential buildings in the whole country. The author used statistical data of the Central Statistical Office available in the database of this institution. These data were identified and searched for as suitable for the purposes of this article and were used as a basis for calculations and analyses. The calculations show that only thanks to simple actions such as improvement of thermal insulation of envelope components it is possible to reduce energy consumption for heating of residential buildings by over 70% in relation to the situation in 2011. The potential energy effect will also translate into an economic and environmental effect. Qualitative measures such as improving the performance of the heating and ventilation system of a building and/or changing the energy carrier will also reduce energy consumption for this purpose, but they are not the subject of this study.

Social Investment and the causes of energy poverty: are cooperatives a solution?

2019 ◽  
pp. 179-194
Author(s):  
Michael Willoughby ◽  
José Millet-Roig ◽  
José Pedro García-Sabater ◽  
Aida Saez-Mas
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Social Economy ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
State Funding ◽  
Energy Prices ◽  
Energy Poverty ◽  
The Social ◽  
Reliable Source ◽  
The Face

This chapter is about a successful energy co-operative in Spain. With rising poverty and energy prices among the most expensive in Europe and, the cooperative not only provides a reliable source of clean energy to consumers, but also forms a central part of the community in which it is situated. The case study points to a need for private enterprises to collaborate with local authorities and social services to provide solutions to drastic situations of poverty that are still prevalent, particularly in areas of Southern and Eastern Europe. The Spanish energy cooperative demonstrates one way in which the social economy can help to shape the future of the welfare state in the absence of state funding and in the face of national policies that are not well aligned.

When Homes Become Prisons: The Relational Spaces of Postsocialist Energy Poverty

2007 ◽  
Vol 39 (8) ◽  
pp. 1908-1925 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Buzar
Keyword(s):  
Energy Poverty ◽  
Heating Systems ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Poor Households ◽  
Housing Needs ◽  
Vulnerable Households ◽  
Energy Deprivation ◽  
Energy Reforms ◽  
Institutional Relationships ◽  
Different Levels

In this paper I aim to develop a relational geographical interpretation of energy poverty in the postsocialist states of Eastern and Central Europe, through a field-based study of inadequately heated homes in the Macedonian cities of Skopje and Štip. According to the reviewed evidence, domestic energy deprivation simultaneously shapes, and is shaped by, the institutional relationships between policy actors at different levels of governance, and the day-to-day interactions between vulnerable households and the built environment. It is contingent on three sets of processes: the socioeconomic implications of energy reforms in postsocialism, the inadequate energy efficiency of the homes of energy-poor households, and the mismatch between housing needs and heating systems at the household level. As a result of such interdependencies, households may become ‘imprisoned’ in particular types of sociospatial arrangements that contribute to the emergence of poverty.

Energy Consumer Demand Predict of Hebei Province in the Domain of Low-Carbon Economy — Analysis Based on Gray Model GM (1,1)

2013 ◽  
Vol 380-384 ◽  
pp. 4456-4460
Author(s):  
Ju Qin Wang ◽  
Bao Lin Li
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Industrial Structure ◽  
Hebei Province ◽  
Scientific Development ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
The Face ◽  
Consumption Situation ◽  
World Economic ◽  
Carbon Economy

The face of the world economic development has transitioned to a low-carbon economy, in order to meet the dual challenges of climate change and scientific development, the development of low-carbon economy has become the reality of the development of key choice. In this background, based on energy consumption situation in Hebei Province,we use GM (1,1) gray prediction model to predict Hebei Provinces energy consumption and energy consumption structure in 2003-2010. Based on the analysis of the results, support from the policies, laws, and adjust the industrial structure, promote the three levels of the low-carbon concept has made a number of recommendations for the Hebei Province future energy planning and low-carbon development.

scholarly journals Gini and Entropy-Based Spread Indexes for Primary Energy Consumption Efficiency and CO2 Emission

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 4938
Author(s):  
Hellinton H. Takada ◽  
Celma O. Ribeiro ◽  
Oswaldo L. V. Costa ◽  
Julio M. Stern
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Co2 Emission ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Primary Energy ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Primary Energy Consumption ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Responsible Investment ◽  
Global Spread

Primary energy consumption is one of the key drivers of global CO2 emissions that, in turn, heavily depends on the efficiency of involved technologies. Either improvement in technology efficiency or the expansion of non-fossil fuel consumption requires large investments. The planning and financing of such investments by global policy makers or global energy firms require, in turn, reliable measures of associated global spread and their evolution in time, at least from the point of view of the principles for responsible investment (PRI). In this paper, our main contribution is the introduction of index measures for accessing global spread (that is, measures of inequality or inhomogeneity in the statistical distribution of a related quantity of interest) of technology efficiency and CO2 emission in primary energy consumption. These indexes are based on the Gini index, as used in economical sciences, and generalized entropy measures. Regarding primary energy sources, we consider petroleum, coal, natural gas, and non-fossil fuels. Between our findings, we attest some stable relations in the evolution of global spreads of technology efficiency and CO2 emission and a positive relation between changes in global spread of technology efficiency and use of non-fossil fuel.

scholarly journals Transcriptional Regulation of Metabolic and Cellular Processes in Durum Wheat (Triticum turgidum subsp. durum) in the Face of Temperature Increasing

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 2792
Author(s):  
Luis Abraham Chaparro-Encinas ◽  
Gustavo Santoyo ◽  
Juan José Peña-Cabriales ◽  
Luciano Castro-Espinoza ◽  
Fannie Isela Parra-Cota ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Durum Wheat ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Triticum Turgidum ◽  
Thermal Adaptation ◽  
Enrichment Analysis ◽  
Transcriptional Level ◽  
Root Weight ◽  
The Face ◽  
Shoot Weight ◽  
Almost All

The Yaqui Valley, Mexico, has been historically considered as an experimental field for semiarid regions worldwide since temperature is an important constraint affecting durum wheat cultivation. Here, we studied the transcriptional and morphometrical response of durum wheat at an increased temperature (+2 °C) for deciphering molecular mechanisms involved in the thermal adaptation by this crop. The morphometrical assay showed a significant decrease in almost all the evaluated traits (shoot/root length, biovolume index, and dry/shoot weight) except in the dry root weight and the root:shoot ratio. At the transcriptional level, 283 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained (False Discovery Rate (FDR) ≤ 0.05 and |log2 fold change| ≥ 1.3). From these, functional annotation with MapMan4 and a gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis with GOSeq were carried out to obtain 27 GO terms significantly enriched (overrepresented FDR ≤ 0.05). Overrepresented and functionally annotated genes belonged to ontologies associated with photosynthetic acclimation, respiration, changes in carbon balance, lipid biosynthesis, the regulation of reactive oxygen species, and the acceleration of physiological progression. These findings are the first insight into the regulation of the mechanism influenced by a temperature increase in durum wheat.

scholarly journals Influence of socio-economic indicators and territorial networks at the spatiotemporal spread dynamics of Covid-19 in Brazil

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Da Guia Albuquerque ◽  
Jefferson Rodrigues dos Santos ◽  
Angelita Fialho Silveira ◽  
Dardo Lorenzo Bornia Junior ◽  
Rozele Borges Nunes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Metropolitan Areas ◽  
Vulnerability Index ◽  
Social Vulnerability Index ◽  
Mato Grosso ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Brazilian Government ◽  
Basic Sanitation ◽  
Spread Dynamics ◽  
The Face

This work aims to provide an overview of the territorial evolution of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) in Brazil using socio-demographic variables, for the time span between February 26, 2020 until January 24, 2021. Socio-demographic indicators, basic sanitation infrastructure data, and epidemiological bulletins were integrated using Principal Components Analysis (PCA) to develop a social vulnerability index (SVI), to estimate the degree of exposure risk of the Brazilian population to COVID-19. The results indicate that the majority of confirmed cases were reported from the main Brazilian capitals, linked to well-developed port and airport modes. In terms of deaths, the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Ceará and Pernambuco were at the top of the ranking. On the contrary, there were some states of the mid-west (Mato Grosso do Sul) and the north (Acre, Amapá, Roraima, Rondônia and Tocantins), that recorded low mortality indexes. The SVI reveals that the states of the north and north-east are the most vulnerable. Regarding the metropolitan areas, it was observed that the main capitals of the north and north-east, with the exception of Salvador, present significantly more critical numbers in terms of dissemination and deaths by COVID-19 than the capitals of the south-southeast, where the SVI is lower. The comparative exception was Santa Catarina state metropolitan areas. Finally, as the virus does not strike everyone in the same way, one of the great challenges is to search for solutions to cope with COVID-19 in the face of very unequal realities. Thus, a reflection on the strategies adopted by the Brazilian government is relevant, while considering the continental dimensions and the diversity of the Brazilian regions, to obtain a better analysis of the more vulnerable populations and social groups.

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