We all know the great efforts made by the authorities in reducing road accidents, however, there are uncontrollable factors. This is the case of adverse weather conditions, including icing on the road surface.
To address this problem, each community uses its own winter maintenance works, defining the riskiest areas and periods of the year, and coordinating the means to combat the ice with tons of chemical deicers (salt, brine, etc.). The main consequence of this process is the significant environmental impact.
What would happen if we proposed roads heating with underfloor heating? The Answer is unanimous: “It is not feasible, the cost is very high .. !! “. But if we say, ” It could save lives on the road and reduce the use of chemical deicers,” things change. Therefore, the challenge ahead is to define specific heating solutions in the most dangerous areas of roads, where the possibility of saving lives is higher, and in fragile ecosystem areas where the use of chemical deicers are more harmful.
Heating the road with underfloor heating is not a new solution, if we surf the Internet and examine the issue in depth, we will see that similar solutions already exist in large bridges and airports. The high cost is not an impediment to its implementation. In general, these solutions are very expensive, both in its development phase and operational phase. Its goal is to melt the ice using large amounts of energy.
Therefore, the challenge ahead is to get an affordable and energy efficient system. This can only be achieved if the problem is approached from different ways (or points of view).
To begin with, the key point is to prevent ice formation, thus drastically reducing the amount of energy required to melt. But how is their formation avoided? A rational solution could be developing intelligent predictive algorithms that warn of icing risk in the short time. These techniques must be based on a good monitoring system. This system will know the weather conditions on the road and temperature conditions inside the asphalt, generally by sensors embedded in the asphalt mix. This monitoring must focus on the real parameters that influence the formation of ice on the road surface.
Another important point to study in depth is the asphalt mixes used in – road building, focusing on both, the binder and the mixture.
Binders that minimize the impact of low temperatures in the performance of the mixtures, ensuring good behavior and suitable fluxing properties are sought. For this purpose polymer modified bitumenand rubber improved bitumens are used. Mix parameters as the gaps will be another factor to consider in the design of these facilities
The next factor to choose is the energy source to heat the system fluid. The energy requirements to prevent icing are less than those required to melt. This makes geothermal energy a strong candidate.
Finally, it is necessary to define the characteristics and distribution of the tubes, the sizing of the installation, the thicknesses of the mixtures and many other factors to be included in the drafting stage of the construction project of a road. All under the tight restrictions imposed by the constructive factors and requirements of driving comfort.
In CARTIF we work in these research areas in order to achieve this goal in collaboration with Eiffage, Euroestudios, Cepsa and the University of Oviedo. So far the results are very encouraging.
We are not angry, of course, what really happens is that air quality issue concerns us greatly in CARTIF. A few weeks ago, we attended a workshop entitled “Technical solutions for reducing emissions from mobility“, held in MAGRAMA (Spanish Ministry). The panel of speakers was made up of a related group of professionals from the mobility sector, in its broadest sense, and all of them exposed several experiences, technical solutions, problems and challenges for the future.
As we drew some conclusions and we heard data which need to be shouted from every corner (although they may irritate us!), we are inaugurating, with this blog post, a series where we are telling you what was said there (part I) to question our rights as citizens (part II) … is our well-being real?
Let’s start from the beginning. The conference opened with a kindly reminder to the assistants about the effects of poor urban air quality. This problem was the common theme of the entire workshop because it is a topic that cannot be forgotten, it concerns our health. Look at these figures: 33,200 people died because of urban air quality effects in Spain in 2013 (390,419 was the total) and 491,000 died prematurely in the EU-28.
With such a strong beginning, and without forgetting there is no exaggeration in these data, we are telling you some considerations:
1.Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP) are being implemented in cities with the aim of improving mobility and make it more sustainable, or what would be the same, reducing individual transportation by internal combustion engine cars. At this point, the conclusion was unanimous, it should be asked to the municipalities to try to be more ambitious in their actions and one of the main axes of their policy should be to improve urban air quality. It seems clear that necessary management measures will be needed fundamentally. Do you know one of the recent initiatives of the Mayor of London? We love it.
2. It seems clear that new technologies in traffic management as long as to encourage car-sharing will be a help for mobility problems, but their actual impact is very limited. Let’s legislate them for the good of all.
3.Volkswagen emissions scandal was mentioned, of course. It was said that automotive industry has developed important improvements on vehicles during recent years, which have led to significant reductions in fuel consumptions and pollutant emissions (without addressing irregularities thereon). Nevertheless, improvements are still needed.
4. Up to now and according to sales figures, technologies for vehicles and alternative fuels cannot compete without economic incentives against the conventional ones. Once more, to promote Research and Development may be the key factor to achieve it.
5. Greater control over the actual condition of the vehicles and the identification of “big high-polluting cars” are necessary. During the conference, it was mentioned that there are already clear publications showing that a relatively small percentage of vehicles would be responsible for high rates of pollutants emissions, and not only among the oldest ones.
We know that to keep citizens calm is the main objective during this kind of formal conferences but, from our point of view, it should be more taxative and make clear that vehicles combustion engines and heatings mainly cause urban air pollution. And this issue leads us directly to the analysis of citizens’ daily activities.
The photographer Peter Menzel few years ago visited different countries of the world in order to photograph families of those countries with the food they consume regularly for a week. A book was published based on this work, “Hungry Planet”, where tastes, preferences and food culture of these countries are reflected, but in addition we can see the reality of our world, in which millions of people suffer from hunger and malnutrition, while in other countries obesity rates grow as epidemic and food are wasted in large amounts.
The expense that a family does in your shopping basket is very different between countries reflecting Menzel. In some, like Chad, they survive as little more than a dollar a week, while in others, we eat with excess of calories and we are wasting big amounts of food. With our habits, we contribute to wasting much of the food we buy and consume in our homes.
I used the pictures of Menzel in this occasion to close this post the serie about food waste in particular, to speaking about food waste in households.
The 42% of food are thrown out in household according to UE, and Spain is the seventh country that more food waste to 7,7 million tons. In 2013 a study was published by Hispacoop and supported by the National Institute of Consumption in which it was noted that in Spain the average waste per household is 1,3 kg/week. The group of breads, cereals, pastries and others foods (19,3%), fruits and vegetables (16,9%), milk yogurts, cheeses and other dairy products (13,3%) and pasta are the most waste food, among all these groups account for 62.6% of wasted food in households.
Leftovers, main reason Leftovers meals are the main reason why food is thrown away in the household (86.5%), not to calculate the portions not plan well or menu beforehand.
We have to recover recipes and seek to take advantage of these leftovers, our recipe book is full of dishes that are born like recipes of leftovers: “croquetas”, “ropa vieja”, the delicious “torrijas”, etc. All of them have appeared of wit of chefs, cooks and especially housewives who have sought the way to harness remains of bread, meat, vegetables and give them a second chance like delicious dishes.
The deterioration of food by poor storage or excess in storage has been reflected as the next reason to reject food in Spanish households. We tend to save the leftovers of the meal, with the intention to use it for a later meal, but then we do not plan well, or we let spoil this leftovers, to finally end up in the rubbish bin.
Planning, kitchen and reused To reduce this waste in our homes we should start by good planning. We have to think the weekly menu, and the food we need for this menu, and what we are going to do with leftovers. Knowing the weekly menu will help us to know previously what quantities and ingredients we need to do it.
In this way we will not buy too much and thus we will avoid some of these foods end up damaged, or buy food we already have in the pantry. When we make the purchase it must look at the expiration date or preferred consumption of food, ensuring that falls within our planning.
At the time of cooking we should adjust the amounts of ingredients to the number of people, using kitchen utensils to help us calculate the portions always in the same way. It can be calculated for cooking more quantity if you have a clear intention, and freeze the leftovers for a later meal planned, but this must be taken into account.
Agriculture is a so old human activity that popular wisdom is full of proverbs and sayings giving recommendations about the best way to precede in farm duties. Popular wisdom along with the knowledge transmitted from parents to children has determined agriculture practice for centuries. Only in 20th Century the advent of machines and chemical fertilisers and pest-controllers started to change the conditions.
Sensor Yara ALS (Active Light Source) to estimate the nitrogen needs.
Nowadays agriculture has to face a changing scenario. New cultures, new policies, less water available, less public tolerance towards chemicals, less people attracted by rural life, emergent countries and the market dominated by a few, big actors. This changing situation leads agriculture to adopting industrial-like principles: process optimisation, cost reduction, performance improvement.
Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) and Internet of Things (IoT) can help to improve agriculture activities according to the new paradigm. These technologies are related to the ability to generate, to process and to use data from the agriculture process.
Data source can be sensors in the process and activity logs. When data are accessed through Internet and processed in the cloud to provide autonomy to the process we have an IoT process because it is not the farmer who is using Internet but the things themselves, where a thing is the field, an irrigation device or a combine harvester. Let’s see some examples that can be applied to improve agriculture.
An irrigation systemcan be automatized using moisture sensors buried in the soil. When the moisture reaches a critical value determined by the farmer, the system starts to work and will go on while the moisture is below the threshold. When the field is wide enough sensors can be placed along it, and the irrigation system can apply different water flows depending on the local conditions. The system can be improved by incorporating weather prediction, which can be used to delay the irrigation when rains are foreseen. Alternatively, the system can warm the farmer who will make a decision based on the information provided by the system.
Other example is a combine harvester equipped with a sensor able to measure the production per square meter. At the end of the task, there is a map of the field reflecting the production meter by meter. This map can be used during the next season to adjust the fertilisation according to the local needs. Moreover, the most suitable time to fertilise is automatically computed considering weather and soil conditions and the forecasted values.
All these techniques based on sensors, data processing and Internet access to the data, machines and fields allow to improve the farm yield and to reduce the use of resources. At the same time, they allow to cover the blanks caused to popular wisdom by this changing world.
More than 40% of the residential buildings in Europe are older than 50 years and subsequently they have a large potential for energy savings. The European Commission is aware of the need of a renovation work as well as the benefits that this activity can bring to the economy; hence, it designs strategies that help to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions to the atmosphere while being able to create new jobs. It is not easy to report an exact number of the benefit associated to this type of initiative given the estimations differ among reports. As reference, here it is provided the annual jobs quantified in the Strategy for Energy Retrofitting Building Sector in Spain that estimated the creation of around 97,000 and 141,000 new jobs between 2014 and 2020.
However, despite the great advantages of this sector, the beginning of a energy efficient solutions project is not simple because of non-technological barriers (Table: BPIE 2011: Europe’s building under the microscope). This explains why annual energy efficient solutions rate is around 1% in most European countries. The high investment cost and the access to finance due to a lack of long term credit from banks are undoubtedly one of the most important barriers which are related to a lack of knowledge and risk perception towards this type of action. Also, many of people who live in this type of households have limited resources and cannot afford such expensive renovations.
On the other hand, accompanying these economic barriers, there is often a lack of interest towards this investment option since the reduction of energy bills and the impact on the property value as a result of the energy efficiency measures are not very relevant aspects to involve the building owners. Nor a better thermal comfort helps to the making decision process when the payback is not imminent. Concerning the legal framework, it should be mentioned that despite the development of regulations that favor energy efficiency in buildings, there are many obstacles in this field to overcome since nowadays the regulatory framework is dispersed and is managed by several administration.
In the case of Spain, the situation is nowadays complicated after the crisis experienced in the construction sector with a special reluctance of banks to lend loans to construction companies. On the other hand, financial institutions force to housing owners to endorse their dwelling in order to solve the possible non-payment that may arise within the community of neighbors. Therefore the rehabilitation of a building or district depends in many cases on the economic capacity for companies to invest as well as the public funding. Also, it has to be mentioned that the regulation is against renewable energy and the self-consumption which is also restrained the advance of energy renovation of districts.
Given this scenario, the only way for the renovation of the buildings is to achieve a short-term payback, being currently this one of the biggest challenges since it is needed to identify the most suitable business model and financial scheme for each type of property, housing and society. Furthermore, it is required to boost the benefits of these initiatives through information campaigns.
‘Did you know that cocoa increases mental activity? We are going to discover and prove scientifically the incredible power of what we have in the pantry’.
With these words, the Spanish cooker Alberto Chicote started ‘Superfoods’, his special TV program, on March28. When it started, I said to myself: I won’t miss it! I have to admit that I had some uncomfortable moments, and I thought: Oh my god! They are getting on top!
According to the ratings, the program was a success. And, on the one hand, I am glad because it shows the Spanish interest in eating in a healthy way (beyond football or ‘big brother’). Secondly, I am glad because it evidences the huge potential of television to increase the nutrition knowledge.
We must learn how to communicate science in an educational and funny way (as Chicote), but always under the strict sight of scientific evidences. After living a few crazy years proclaiming the miraculous effects of food, the publication of Regulation (EC) 1924/2006, related to nutrition declarations and health properties of food, the scene has changed radically, prohibiting attribute to any food a beneficial effect without scientific basis and without being expressly authorized.
In this case, I dedicate today’s post to check briefly the science behind the effects that the program attributed to the 10 ‘Superfoods’. Chicote ensured that:
‘The extra virgin olive oil strengthens bones and eliminates fats’. ‘Cocoa strengthens teeth and streamlines the mind’. ‘Blue fish is good against stresses’. ‘Coffee prevents fatigue driving’. ‘Oranges slow aging’. ‘Pasta increases athletic performance’. ‘The tomato prevents sunburn’. ‘Broccoli protects your eyesight of the sun’. ‘Legumes reduce cholesterol’.
On the one hand, the following table lists the so-called ‘superfoods’ and their benefits reported on television. And on the other hand, it includes the active ingredients that provide these foods, the beneficial effects scientifically accepted by the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) and it today is authorized to inform European consumers about the benefits.
Indeed, there is scientific evidence that selected foods have certain beneficial effects. However, the word ‘Superfood’ is not the right word, because it could give the idea that they are ‘miraculous’, and then we start doing strange things such as ‘broccoli diet’ or eating 2kg of oranges every day in order to get eternal youth.
Looking at the table, we can conclude that:
It is very curious that this program shows some effects of these foods which do not count with the scientific evidences, instead of the recognized healthy effects.
In the case of pulses, because of their phystosterols contents, we could admit that ‘they help to maintain normal cholesterol levels’, but not ‘reduce cholesterol’.
Scientifically, effects on our concentration related to the caffeine consume are demonstrated. However, Europe is not authorized to publicize these effects to avoid excessive consumption of coffee or caffeinated beverages. For more information of caffeine, you can check the following EFSA’s poster.
