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Exponential Moving Average Extended Kalman Filter for Robust Battery State-of-Charge Estimation
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Workshop on the Celtic Seas Ecoregion Aquaculture Overview
Get PDFThe Workshop on Celtic Seas Aquaculture Overview (WKCSAO) was established to assemble and synthesize aquaculture related data and information from the Celtic Seas ecoregion to in form the Celtic Seas ecoregion aquaculture overview. The Celtic Seas ecoregion comprises much of the UK and all Ireland. Aquaculture is practised in all coastal waters. Both intertidal and subtidal waters are used for aquaculture. In the UK, aqua culture regulation and policy are devolved to the four countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. In addition to Ireland, there are five separate countries with potentially diverse aquaculture policy drivers and regulatory frameworks within the Celtic Seas ecoregion. Marine aquaculture production within the ecoregion is dominated by finfish, largely produced in Scotland. However, molluscs dominate in the other countries - Ireland, Northern Ireland, Eng land, Wales, and the Channel Islands. Seawater aquaculture is currently focused on 4 main spe cies that have all been farmed for > 40 years: Atlantic salmon, mussels (Mytilus spp.), Pacific cupped oyster and rainbow trout. In Ireland and the UK, small production units (< 5 employees) predominate. However, in both countries, more capital-intensive operations (i.e. finfish sector and larger shellfish farms) tend to operate multiple production units and will employ more people. Of note, the employment status (based upon FTEs) is more stable for the finfish sector than shellfish sector, which comprises larger proportion of part-time employment. While the overall employment is considered modest, the importance of these (even part-time) roles in more isolated rural areas is acknowledged. Environmental monitoring of aquaculture is primarily focused on finfish culture practices in all countries where impacts on habitats and wild salmonids are considered. Monitoring of shellfish culture practices are primarily focused upon food safety considerations, e.g. biotoxin and faecal coliform analysis. All species are subject to extensive animal health regulations that are wide ranging and derives primarily from EU legislation. In common with many production areas the primary environmental impacts relate to interfer ence on habitats and species. More specifically, for finfish culture, sea lice, genetic introgression from escaped farmed salmon and disease transmissions from salmon farms are considered as threats to wild salmon. Impacts on overwintering shore birds has been described in relation to intertidal culture operations (oysters and clams). Other environmental interactions considered include emissions of dissolved nutrients, particulate organic matter, pollutants and therapeu tants. A number of case studies are presented where likely interactions among social, economic and ecological drivers and presented solutions to avoid conflict are presented including open com munication among all stakeholders, wider socio-economic consideration and filling knowledge gaps in environmental interactions. A number of issues are identified which may affect aquaculture development and are considered common across the ecoregion. The geopolitical constraints to trade imposed by Brexit is of note. Delays and potential legal challenges associated with licencing decisions. Of particular concern are the potential effects of climate change and subsequent follow-on effects relating to disease, for example, in culture stoc
A framework for integrating ecosystem services as endpoint impacts in life cycle assessment
Get PDFLife cycle assessment is an analysis technique used to assess the environmental burdens of products or production processes. Ecosystem services is a concept used to understand the ways functioning ecosystems support human wellbeing. Both are used to understand how anthropogenic pressures impact the environment. The integration of ecosystem services as indicators in life cycle assessment is increasingly being explored, however there are several limitations with current frameworks. A brief review of existing approaches found they incorporate ecosystem services as midpoint indicators within traditional life cycle assessment structures and aggregate these impacts under the conventional ‘areas of protection’ (i.e., groupings of impacts). These approaches typically only focus on how product systems negatively affect ecosystem service supply (predominantly through land use) and overlook how product systems use up ecosystem services to mitigate their emissions or how interventions in product systems could improve ecosystem service supply. It is argued by several authors that ecosystem services are better placed as endpoint indicators representing damage to the instrumental value of ecosystems in a manner distinct to existing life cycle assessment impact categories, so that any changes in their delivery should be assessed within a new area of protection. In this paper, the potential for an ecosystem services area of protection within life cycle assessment is explored and a novel framework for modelling endpoint characterisation factors related to ecosystem service impacts that addresses the limitations of existing approaches is presented. The proposed novel framework respects existing life cycle assessment protocols by quantifying the endpoint damage to ecosystem services from product systems alongside existing methodologies for modelling endpoint impacts to ecosystem quality (biodiversity), human health and natural resources. This approach, based on small number of pertinent end-point indicators, has potential to broaden out LCA assessments of product systems and quantify the multiple ways they impact ecosystem services
Towards Developing a Digital application for the Five Design-Sheets Methodology
Get PDFThe Five Design-Sheet Methodology is a sketching methodology that helps people ideate different designs; it has been used to develop computer interfaces, games and data visualisations. Traditionally, it is a paper-based process that structures the developer to think about their design solution over five sheets with five sections. However, with the rise of mobile phones and tablets, there is an emerging opportunity to achieve the sketched design ideation process in a digital form. This work investigates the transition of the Five Design-Sheets from a paper-based methodology into a digital sketching application. The paper introduces how we considered the challenge, and have started to develop an application. Currently our application implements the first sheet of the FdS process. We describe the application and present a brief evaluation of the work with designers and developers
Role of medical leaders in integrated care systems: what can be learnt from previous research
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