H2POWER: Development of a methodology to calculate life cycle cost of small and medium-scale hydrogen systems
Abstract At this time, hydrogen-based power plants and large hydrogen production facilities are capital intensive and unable to compete financially against hydrocarbon-based energy production facilities. An option to overcome this problem and foster the introduction of hydrogen technology is to introduce small and medium-scale applications such as residential and community hydrogen refueling units. Such units could potentially be used to generate both electricity and heat for the home, as well as hydrogen fuel for the automobile. Cost modeling for the integration of these three forms of energy presents several methodological challenges. This is particularly true since the technology is still in the development phase and both the financial and the environmental cost must be calculated using mainly secondary sources. In order to address these issues and aid in the design of small and medium-scale hydrogen systems, this study presents a computer model to calculate financial and environmental costs of this technology using different hydrogen pathways. The model can design and compare hydrogen refueling units against hydrocarbon-based technologies, including the “gap” between financial and economic costs. Using the methodology, various penalties and incentives that can foster the introduction of hydrogen-based technologies can be added to the analysis to study their impact on financial cost.
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
To achieve a sustained growth of 8 per cent during the period 2005–31, India would need to grow its primary energy supply by three to four times. Similarly, China’s energy demand is expected to increase by two to two-and-a-half times during the same period. By 2030, the two countries combined together would account for around 25 per cent of the total energy consumption in the world and would become two of the largest carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emitters. The overall demand for energy in the two countries can be significantly lowered by adopting energy efficiency measures to lower energy intensity. A recent report suggests that the overall energy consumption can be reduced by 25 per cent by taking appropriate energy conservation measures in India. Also, a rapid deployment of new renewable energy technologies, both for electricity generation and for thermal applications, can result in significant reduction in demand for fossil fuels. These measures would not only result in lowering the CO 2 emissions and reducing the dependence of the two countries on energy imports, but would also assist in building of a more sustainable and efficient energy infrastructure in the two countries. Some of the common areas of interest for the two countries in energy efficiency and renewable energy are:
The role of prolactin in andrology: what is new?
Prolactin (PRL) has been long deemed as a hormone involved only in female reproduction. However, PRL is a surprising hormone and, since its identification in the 1970s, its attributed functions have greatly increased. However, its specific role in male health is still widely unknown. Recently, low PRL has been associated with reduced ejaculate and seminal vesicle volume in infertile subjects. In addition, in men consulting for sexual dysfunction, hypoprolactinemia has been associated with erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation, findings further confirmed in the general European population and infertile men. Several metabolic derangements, recapitulating metabolic syndrome, have also been associated with low PRL both in men with sexual dysfunction and from the general European population. In men with sexual dysfunction, followed-up for more than 4 years, low PRL was identified as an independent predictor of the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events. Finally, an association with anxiety or depressive symptoms has been found in men with sexual dysfunction and from the general European population. While a direct role for impaired PRL function in the pathogenesis of these reproductive, sexual, metabolic and psychological disorders is conceivable, the possibility that low PRL is a mirror of an increased dopaminergic or a decreased serotonergic tone cannot be ruled-out. Hyperactivity of the dopaminergic system can explain only a few of the aforementioned findings, whereas a hypo-serotonergic tone fits well with the clinical features associated with low PRL, and there is significant evidence supporting the hypothesis that PRL could be a mirror of serotonin in the brain.