Search results for "11. Sustainability"
showing 10 items of 257 documents
Multi-agent Systems for Estimating Missing Information in Smart Cities
2019
International audience; Smart cities aim at improving the quality of life of citizens. To do this, numerous ad-hoc sensors need to be deployed in a smart city to monitor the environmental state. Even if nowadays sensors are becoming more and more cheap their installation and maintenance costs increase rapidly with their number. This paper makes an inventory of the dimensions required for designing an intelligent system to support smart city initiatives. Then we propose a multi-agent based solution that uses a limited number of sensors to estimate at runtime missing information in smart cities using a limited number of sensors.
A stacked interleaved DC-DC buck converter for proton exchange membrane electrolyzer applications: Design and experimental validation
2019
Abstract Since the two last decades, hydrogen production has been attracting the attention of the scientific community thanks to its inherent very low pollution when energy coming from renewable energy sources (RESs) are used. However, it implies the use of DC/DC converters to interface source and load. These conversion systems must meet several requirements from current ripple point of view, energy efficiency, and performance to preserve the sustainability of hydrogen production. This article proposes the design and realization of a stacked interleaved buck converter to supply a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer. The converter is designed to ensure a low output current ripple and a sui…
Geographical Information and Urban Transport Systems
2013
International audience; Despite being huge elements of town and city infrastructure (planning, construction, maintenance, and ongoing spending), as well as factors that contribute to urban life in a significant economic, social, and environmental manner, transport systems are still rarely understood from an integrated point of view. This book attempts to connect all three major dimensions: supply on the one hand, demand on the other, and finally the negative aspects - the main risks associated with transport systems. Each chapter of this large collection of authoritative works is written by recognized experts and specialists in their respective fields, and each deals with transport systems …
From fractal urban pattern analysis to fractal urban planning concepts
2014
International audience; Fractal geometry can be used to develop a multiscale approach toinvestigate the spatial organization of urban fabrics. First, the concepts behindfractal reference models are introduced so as to provide a better understandingof the results obtained from empirical analyses of urban patterns. Then, differentmethods for conducting fractal analyses are presented and the results obtained forurban patterns are discussed. It turns out that, despite their irregular appearance,urban patterns are often organized by an inherent fractal order principle, at leastacross a certain range of scales. More detailed analysis of the findings reveals linksbetween these fractal properties a…
A statistical-dynamical downscaling for the urban heat island and building energy consumption - Analysis of Its uncertainties.
2020
AbstractHigh-resolution maps of the urban heat island (UHI) and building energy consumption are relevant for urban planning in the context of climate change mitigation and adaptation. A statistical–dynamical downscaling for these parameters is proposed in the present study. It combines a statistical local weather type approach with dynamical simulations using the mesoscale atmospheric model Meso-NH coupled to the urban canopy model Town Energy Balance. The downscaling is subject to uncertainties related to the weather type approach (statistical uncertainty) and to the numerical models (dynamical uncertainty). These uncertainties are quantified for two French cities (Toulouse and Dijon) for …
The role of the building sector for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gases: An Italian case study
2013
The paper presents one of the first Italian experiences assessing the effectiveness of sustainable production and consumption strategies. The authors developed an energy and environmental extended input–output model, combined with the life cycle assessment, to analyse the role of the building sector in the reduction of Italian energy consumption and CO2 emissions. In detail, the model allows to assess the energy and environmental benefits arising from the Italian tax deduction policy for energy retrofit actions of buildings. Moreover, the authors defined an original model to assess the indirect rebound effect caused by the energy retrofit actions. The outcomes of the research point out that…
The impact of COVID-19 on alternative and local food systems and the potential for the sustainability transition: Insights from 13 countries
2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major stress test for the agri-food system. While most research has analysed the impact of the pandemic on mainstream food systems, this article examines how alternative and local food systems (ALFS) in 13 countries responded in the first months of the crisis. Using primary and secondary data and combining the Multi-Level Perspective with social innovation approaches, we highlight the innovations and adaptations that emerged in ALFS, and how these changes have created or supported the sustainability transition in production and consumption systems. In particular, we show how the combination of social and technological innovation, greater citizen involvement,…
Scholarly discussion as engineering the meanings of a European cultural heritage
2016
The vague concept of a European cultural heritage is frequently referred to – but rarely explicitly defined – in scholarly discussion. The use of the concept in academia constructs a European cultural heritage as a category in research and explicitly and implicitly produces its focuses and outlines. Thus, the use of the concept can be considered as scholarly engineering of a European cultural heritage. To be able to have a scholarly discussion about a European cultural heritage, the meanings and uses of the concept need to be clarified. This article examines the meanings and uses of the concept in recent scholarly articles published in various disciplines. In the study, the concept analysi…
Politics of solidarity in the context of European heritage : The cases of the European Solidarity Centre and Hambach Castle
2019
This article explores the politics of solidarity in the framework of constructing a common cultural heritage of the European Union. The politics of solidarity stems from the notion of solidarity embedded to European heritage. We use critical heritage studies as a theoretical approach that understands heritage as an inherently dissonant social construct, produced by various actors according to political, economic and social interests. The study analyses empirical data from the European Heritage Label (EHL), a flagship heritage action of the EU that communicates shared values and a sense of identification to European citizens. Our empirical data includes ethnographic observation as well as in…
Politics of tangibility, intangibility, and place in the making of a European cultural heritage in EU heritage policy
2016
The EU has recently launched several initiatives that aim to foster the idea of a common European cultural heritage. The notion of a European cultural heritage in EU policy discourse is extremely abstract, referring to various ideas and values detached from physical locations or places. Nevertheless the EU initiatives put the abstract policy discourse into practice and concretize its notions about a European cultural heritage. A common strategy in this practice is ‘placing heritage’ – affixing the idea of a European cultural heritage to certain places in order to turn them into specific European heritage sites. The materialisation of a European cultural heritage and the production of physic…