1,355,413 research outputs found
Water policy and regulations: a UK perspective
No full textThe water industry and the regulatory processes in the UK offer unique policy challenges and opportunities. This affects the extent to which the efficient management and use of water resources can be promoted to achieve guidelines stipulated in the EU Water Framework Directive, minimise water stress, improve resource efficiency and contribute towards achieving the 80% carbon emission reduction target by 2050. This paper presents a review of water efficiency policy in England in the context of domestic water consumption. The approach taken was to interview key water stakeholders and analyse the interview transcripts qualitatively as well as quantitatively; using text mining techniques. The resulting data was used to map the key factors, the strategic constraints as well as opportunities for the effective implementation of water policy objectives. A theoretical framework was then derived from the findings. The chapter concludes with recommendations to promote innovation and positive change for water efficiency through improved evidence processes, communication and multi-stakeholder involvement
Magnetotransport properties of lithographically defined lateral Co/Ni80Fe20 wires
No full textIn this article we have investigated the magnetization reversal process of laterally defined coupled magnetic structures consisting of micron-sized sputtered Co and Ni80Fe20 wires lying side by side at temperatures ranging from 3 to 300 K. We have used a microfabrication technique to create an array of planar, laterally coupled magnetic wires made of two ferromagnetic materials. We observed two distinct peaks in the magnetoresistance (MR) curves corresponding to the magnetization reversals of Co and Ni80Fe20 wires. Below a critical temperature of 20 K we observed an asymmetric shift in the Ni80Fe20 peak position for both forward and reverse field sweeps due to the exchange coupling between the ferromagnetic (Ni80Fe20) and antiferromagnetic (Co–oxide at the interface of Co and Ni80Fe20 formed during fabrication) parts. The Co peaks gradually disappeared as the temperature was reduced. At low temperature we also observed that the Ni80Fe20 peaks in the MR loops are considerably shifted to larger fields corresponding to the increase in coercivity
Co-creating water efficiency with water customer
No full textComplex issues surround supply, demand and use of water in buildings and the lack of evidence hampers design and optimal solution implementation. One challenge is the lack of a coherent understanding of water use, as influenced by the water user. The need for this evidence base has resulted in disparate studies and results. This chapter argues for a difference approach to knowledge creation based on the co-creation approach. The primary evidence gap centres on water-in-use, but co-creation techniques can involve individuals/households creating value through adopting and customising technological innovation to suit their needs, and promote knowledge exchange with customers personalising and redefining their interaction with water. It also argues that acknowledging water users in an active and creative vein empowers them to contribute knowledge (to the evidence base) and solutions for water use efficiency. The chapter concludes by presenting information systems and technologies as a simple, adaptable and effective way to implement co-creation with water. A toolkit developed for co-creation with water users was then introduced, highlighting key benefits of such systems to improve current knowledge of water use efficiency in buildings
From taps to toilets and ponds to pipes-A paradigm shift in sustainable water engineering
No full textThis chapter introduces the main themes in the book, contextualising them in terms of current issues of sustainability, in terms of infrastructure, buildings, businesses and behaviours. The role of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is discussed; they are integral to the achievement of sustainable water engineering principles, in particular the aims encapsulated in SDG6, the Water SDG, whereby the stated ambition is “clean, accessible water for all”. The influence of engineering in achieving all of the SDGs, their interdependence and complexity is critically evaluated. Droughts, water shortages, flooding - these current issues are discussed at a variety of scales, from the single household, to the river catchment using sustainably designed, operated and maintained infrastructure. There is a critical balance to be struck between water resources management, sustainability and engineered approaches; furthermore, the chapter concludes, human behaviour and behaviour change must be accounted for, with community engagement vital in striving to achieve sustainable water engineering.</p
Low temperature magnetotransport properties of lithographically defined lateral Co/Ni80Fe20 Wires
No full textAssessment methodologies for water efficiency in buildings
No full textAssessment methodologies and supporting tools are developed and distributed by the green building council in the respective countries to define and measure the extent to which buildings and associated developments are sustainable. The assessment methods utilise a number of indicators such as energy, water and material consumption as well as social and economic variables. This chapter reviews the BREEAM (UK), LEED (USA), Greenstar (Australia), HK-BEAM, (Hong Kong) and CASBEE (Japan) building energy assessment methodologies. The discussion includes a brief overview of each assessment methodologies and explores key components such as management provisions, energy consumption, indoor environment, local transportation network, water supply and usage, materials, waste management, land use, ecology and pollution from the buildings. The chapter then explores the water efficiency provisions in each tool highlighting the specificities and influences on the evolution and provisions for water efficiency based on the political, social, economic, environmental and technological context of the country or region where there are deployed
Environmental hydraulics research
No full textEnvironmental hydraulics research includes the different domains of hydrodynamics, such as the investigation and implementation of the physical and experimental applications, and research into the quantity, quality, modelling and simulation of the attributes associated with flowing water. This topic is studied both from a technical and environmental point of view, with the objective of protecting and enhancing the quality of the environment. It is a cross-disciplinary field of study which comprises open channel/river flows and pressurised systems, combining, among others, new technological, social, and environmental hydraulic challenges. It provides researchers and engineers working in water-related fields with available information, new concepts and tools, new design solutions, eco-friendly technologies, and the advanced materials necessary to address the increasing challenges of ensuring a sustainable water environment—that is, a water environment effectively managed and adequated for generations to come by promoting the adaptation, flexibility, integration and sustainability of recognised environmental solutions. Using advanced numerical and physical models in field experiments, and tests in different types of laboratory set-ups, specialists in environmental hydraulics produce the best analyses, concepts, techniques, tools, and solutions to environmental hydraulic problems, as well as in relation to the water, energy and environmental nexus
Collective spin waves in arrays of permalloy nanowires with single-side periodically modulated width
No full textWe have experimentally and numerically investigated the dispersion of collective spin waves propagating through arrays of longitudinally magnetized nanowires (NWs) with a periodically modulated width. Two nanowire arrays with single-side modulation and different periodicities of modulation were studied and compared to the nanowires with a homogeneous width. The spin-wave dispersion, measured up to the third Brillouin zone of the reciprocal space, revealed the presence of two dispersive modes for the width-modulated NWs, whose amplitude of the magnonic band depends on the modulation periodicity, and a set of nondispersive modes at higher frequency. These findings are different from those observed in homogeneous width NWs where only the lowest mode exhibits sizeable dispersion. The measured spin-wave dispersion has been satisfactorily reproduced by means of the dynamical matrix method. The results presented in this work are important in view of the possible realization of tunable frequency magnonic devices
Tailoring the magnetization reversal in antidot nanostructures using lithographically engineered inhomogeneities
No full text10.1063/1.3537948Journal of Applied Physics1097-JAPI
Automatic Multiscale Approach for Water Networks Partitioning into Dynamic District Metered Areas
No full textWater distribution systems (WDSs) today are expected to continuously provide clean water while meeting users demand, and pressure requirements. To accomplish these targets is not an easy task due to extreme weather events, operative accidents and intentional attacks; as well as the progressive deterioration of the WDS assets. Therefore, water utilities should be ready to deal with a range of disruption scenarios such as abrupt variations on the water demand e.g. caused by pipe bursts or topological changes in the water network. This paper presents a novel methodology to automatically split a WDS into self-adapting district metered areas (DMAs) of different size in response to such scenarios. Complex Networks Theory is proposed for creating novel multiscale network layouts for a WDS. This makes it possible to automatically define the dynamic partitioning of WDSs to support further DMA aggregation / disaggregation operations. A real, already partitioned, water utility network shows the usefulness of an adaptive partitioning when the network is affected by an abnormal increase of the peak demand of up to 15%. The dynamic DMA reuses the assets of the static partitioning and, in this case, up to the 82% of resilience is restored using 94% of the assets already installed. The results also show that the overall computational and economic management costs are reduced compared to the static DMA partition while the hydraulic performance of the WDS is simultaneously preserved
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