A measurement strategy to address disparities across household energy burdens

Energy inequity is an issue of increasing urgency. Few policy-relevant datasets evaluate the energy burden of typical American households. Here, we develop a framework using Net Energy Analysis and household socioeconomic data to measure systematic energy inequity among critical groups that need policy attention. We find substantial instances of energy poverty in the United States – 16% of households experience energy poverty as presently defined as spending more than 6% of household income on energy expenditures. More than 5.2 million households above the Federal Poverty Line face energy poverty, disproportionately burdening Black, Hispanic, and Native American communities. For solar, wind, and energy efficiency to address socioeconomic mobility, programs must reduce energy expenditures by expanding eligibility requirements for support and access to improved conservation measures, efficiency upgrades, and distributed renewables. We recommend the United States develop a more inclusive federal energy poverty categorization that increases assistance for household energy costs.

How Much Energy Vaquejada Horses Spend in a Field Simulation Test?

Vaquejada is a high-intensity and short-duration exercise in which helper horses (HH) are responsible to keep a bull running in a line while pull horses (PH) work to put the bull down after 100 m of running. The purpose of this study was to quantify and compare energy expenditures (EE), transport costs (COT) and metabolic energy requirements (Pmet) of horses used in Vaquejada. Thus, eight Quarter Horses, in randomly formed pairs, performed a vaquejada simulation test (VST), which consisted of three races on a sand track (130–150 m), with a 5-min interval between them. All horses used an integrated heart rate (HR) and GPS monitoring system (V800, Polar Electro) and, from these data, EE, COT and Pmet were calculated using the formulas: EE (J/kg/min) = 0.0566 × HR1.9955, COT = (HR-35)/kg/m × 103 and Pmet = (HR-35)/min/kg. Blood samples were collected for lactate analysis at rest, immediately after the first, second and third race and after 30 min of recovery. Data obtained were submitted to one-way ANOVA and Tukey tests (p ≤ 0.05). In VST, HH had higher EE and higher HR at trot; while PH presented higher EE and HR at canter. Finally, considering total VST, PH had higher EE and COT, while HH had higher Pmet. Lactate was higher in PH. Despite practicing the same sport, PH and HH should be considered distinct athletes, and these must be considered to set up appropriate physical and nutritional programs, which will lead to better performance and guarantees of well-being.

Behaviour, temperature and terrain slope impact estimates of energy expenditure using oxygen and dynamic body acceleration

The energy used by animals is influenced by intrinsic (e.g. physiological) and extrinsic (e.g. environmental) factors. Accelerometers within biologging devices have proven useful for assessing energy expenditures and their behavioural context in free-ranging animals. However, certain assumptions are frequently made when acceleration is used as a proxy for energy expenditure, with factors, such as environmental variation (e.g. ambient temperature or slope of terrain), seldom accounted for. To determine the possible interactions between behaviour, energy expenditure and the environment (ambient temperature and terrain slope), the rate of oxygen consumption ($${\dot{\text{V}}\text{O}}_{2}$$ V ˙ O 2 ) was measured in pygmy goats (Capra hircus aegarus) using open-flow indirect calorimetry. The effect of temperature (9.7–31.5 °C) on resting energy expenditure was measured. The relationship between $${\dot{\text{V}}\text{O}}_{2}$$ V ˙ O 2 and dynamic body acceleration (DBA) was measured at different walking speeds (0.8–3.0 km h−1) and on different inclines (0, + 15°, − 15°). The daily behaviour of individuals was measured in two enclosures: enclosure A (level terrain during summer) and enclosure B (sloped terrain during winter) and per diem energy expenditures of behaviours estimated using behaviour, DBA, temperature, terrain slope and $${\dot{\text{V}}\text{O}}_{2}$$ V ˙ O 2 . During rest, energy expenditure increased below 22 °C and above 30.5 °C. $${\dot{\text{V}}\text{O}}_{2}$$ V ˙ O 2 (ml min−1) increased with DBA when walking on the level. Walking uphill (+ 15°) increased energetic costs three-fold, whereas walking downhill (− 15°) increased energetic costs by one third. Based on these results, although activity levels were higher in animals in enclosure A during summer, energy expenditure was found to be significantly higher in the sloped enclosure B in winter (means of enclosures A and B: 485.3 ± 103.6 kJ day−1 and 744.5 ± 132.4 kJ day−1). We show that it is essential to account for extrinsic factors when calculating animal energy budgets. Our estimates of the impacts of extrinsic factors should be applicable to other free ranging ungulates.

Motion and Sash Height (MASH) alarms for efficient fume hood use

Ventilation, including fume hoods, consumes 40–70% of the total energy used by modern laboratories. Energy-conscious fume hood usage—for example, closing the sash when a hood is unused—can significantly reduce energy expenditures due to ventilation. Prior approaches to promote such behaviors among lab users have primarily relied on passive feedback methods. In this work, we developed a low-cost fume hood monitoring device with active feedback to alert lab users when a fume hood is left open and unused. Using data collected by the building management system, we observed a 75.6% decrease in the average sash height after installation of these “Motion and Sash Height” (MASH) alarms, which would result in a reduction roughly equal to 43% of the annual carbon emissions of a typical American vehicle, for each fume hood. The MASH alarm presented here reduced energy costs by approximately $1,159 per year, per hood, at MIT.

Innovative exoskeleton mechanics

The authors have developed an integrated approach and technology for building an exoskeleton that minimizes human energy expenditures while walking. Optimized torque characteristics from an exoskeleton worn on one knee have reduced metabolic and electrical energy consumption. Studies have shown practical value and significance for application, namely, the lift increase of the exoskeleton and possibilities opening in medicine, for rescuers, tourists. Comparative analysis showed the way to solve the problems of mechanics when creating an exoskeleton to improve the quality of performing complex tasks.

Novel semi-decentralised mobile system for the sanitization and dehydration of septic sludge: a pilot-scale evaluation in the Jordan Valley

The provision of effective sanitation strategies has a significant impact on public health. However, the treatment of septic sludge still presents some challenges worldwide. Consequently, innovative technologies capable of an effective and efficient sludge treatment, mostly at a decentralized level, are in high demand to improve sanitation provision. To address this problem, this study evaluates a novel semi-decentralised mobile faecal sludge treatment system, the pilot-system for which consists of a combination of several individual processes including mechanical dewatering (MD), microwave (MW) drying, and membrane filtration (ultrafiltration [UF] and reverse osmosis [RO]). The system evaluation was carried out by treating raw, partially digested faecal sludge (FS) from septic tanks—hence, septic sludge (SS)—in the Jordan Valley, Jordan. The pilot-scale system exhibited an effective and flexible treatment performance for (i) sanitizing faecal sludge and related liquid streams (MW and UF); (ii) reducing the treated sludge mass (and sludge volume) (MD and MW); and (iii) producing a high-quality treated liquid stream ideal for water reclamation applications (UF and RO). The MD process removed approximately 99% of the initial SS water content. The MW drying system completely removed E. coli and dehydrated the dewatered sludge at low energy expenditures of 0.75 MJ kg−1 and 5.5 MJ kg−1, respectively. Such energy expenditures can be further reduced by approximately 40% by recovering energy in the condensate and burning the dried sludge, which can then be reused inland applications. The membrane filtration system (UF and RO) was able to produce high-quality treated water that is ideal for the water reuse applications that irrigation requires, as well as meeting the Jordanian standard 893/2006. In addition, the system can also be powered by renewable energy sources, such as photovoltaic energy. Therefore, this research demonstrates that the evaluated semi-decentralised mobile system is technically feasible for the in situ treatment of SS (sanitization and dehydration), while also being effective for simultaneously recovering valuable resources, such as energy, water, and nutrients.

Allonursing in Wild and Farm Animals: Biological and Physiological Foundations and Explanatory Hypotheses

The dams of gregarious animals must develop a close bond with their newborns to provide them with maternal care, including protection against predators, immunological transference, and nutrition. Even though lactation demands high energy expenditures, behaviors known as allonursing (the nursing of non-descendant infants) and allosuckling (suckling from any female other than the mother) have been reported in various species of wild or domestic, and terrestrial or aquatic animals. These behaviors seem to be elements of a multifactorial strategy, since reports suggest that they depend on the following: species, living conditions, social stability, and kinship relations, among other group factors. Despite their potential benefits, allonursing and allosuckling can place the health and welfare of both non-filial dams and alien offspring at risk, as it augments the probability of pathogen transmission. This review aims to analyze the biological and physiological foundations and bioenergetic costs of these behaviors, analyzing the individual and collective advantages and disadvantages for the dams’ own offspring(s) and alien neonate(s). We also include information on the animal species in which these behaviors occur and their implications on animal welfare.

Bounding the execution time of parallel applications on unrelated multiprocessors

Heterogeneous multiprocessors can offer high performance at low energy expenditures. However, to be able to use them in hard real-time systems, timing guarantees need to be provided, and the main challenge is to determine the worst-case schedule length (also known as makespan) of an application. Previous works that estimate the makespan focus mainly on the independent-task application model or the related multiprocessor model that limits the applicability of the makespan. On the other hand, the directed acyclic graph (DAG) application model and the unrelated multiprocessor model are general and can cover most of today’s platforms and applications. In this work, we propose a simple work-conserving scheduling method of the tasks in a DAG and two new approaches to finding the makespan. A set of representative OpenMP task-based parallel applications from the BOTS benchmark suite and synthetic DAGs are used to evaluate the proposed method. Based on the empirical results, the proposed approach calculates the makespan close to the exhaustive method and with low pessimism compared to a lower bound of the actual makespan calculation.