Small hydropower stations in Greece: The local people's attitudes in a mountainous prefecture

During the last years, it has become evident that operation of hydropower stations creates discussions and different views on the local communities. Especially, although the issue of operation of small hydropower (SHP) stations or plants is of considerable interest in Greece, almost no study has been conducted to investigate the current status of Greek citizens’ attitudes towards utilization of the available hydropower potential through SHP. The present study, therefore, aims to examine in the prefecture of Ioannina, Greece, the local people's attitudes on operation of SHP stations in connection with the increased public interest for environmental and social dimensions of small hydropower stations, and to determine how these attitudes change with respect to various factors.     

Contribution of SHP Stations to the development of an area and their social acceptance

The global community, but also the European Union particularly, has launched in recent years a series of actions and measures for the promotion of the renewable energy sources (RES) in the context of dealing with the climate change. Small hydropower (SHP) stations can play a vital role in the increasing energy demand, helping to reduce the mankind dependence to the fossil fuels. In addition, SHP stations have significant advantages as they contribute to the development of the local economy and to the reduction of the environmental pollution.Changing the legislative framework in recent years in Greece increased the penetration of RES in the country's energy system and encouraged the private initiative in this area.The study was carried out in an area of Northern Greece (Prefecture of Pella) where the installation of private SHP stations is particularly impressive over the last decade (in relation with other parts of the country). The main conclusions of the study carried out with a questionnaire are that there is an important acceptance of SHP stations from the residents recognizing the role that they play in the regional development and in the protection of the environment making them more attractive to investors.     

Immunization with Genetically Modified Trypanosomes Provides Protection against Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are incurable neurodegenerative diseases, associated with the conversion of the physiological prion protein to its disease-associated counterpart. Even though immunization against transmissible spongiform encephalopathies has shown great potential, immune tolerance effects impede the use of active immunization protocols for successful prophylaxis. In this study, we evaluate the use of trypanosomes as biological platforms for the presentation of a prion antigenic peptide to the host immune system. Using the engineered trypanosomes in an immunization protocol without the use of adjuvants led to the development of a humoral immune response against the prion protein in wild type mice, without the appearance of adverse reactions. The immune reaction elicited with this protocol displayed in vitro therapeutic potential and was further evaluated in a bioassay where immunized mice were partially protected in a representative murine model of prion diseases. Further studies are underway to better characterize the immune reaction and optimize the immunization protocol.     

Optimum design and operation under uncertainty of power systems using renewable energy sources and hydrogen storage

The presented work addresses the design and optimization under uncertainty of power generation systems using renewable energy sources and hydrogen storage. A systematic design approach is proposed that enables the simultaneous consideration of synergies developed among numerous sub-systems within an integrated power generation system and the uncertainty involved in the system operation. The Stochastic Annealing optimization algorithm is utilized to handle the increased combinatorial complexity and to enable the consideration of different types of uncertainty in the performed optimization. A parallel adaptation of this algorithm is proposed to address the associated computational requirements through execution in a Grid computing environment. The proposed developments are implemented in a system that consists of photovoltaic panels, wind generators, accumulators, an electrolyzer, storage tanks, a compressor, a fuel cell and a diesel generator. Numerous design and operating parameters are considered as decision variables, while uncertain parameters are associated with weather fluctuations and operating efficiency of the employed sub-systems. The obtained results indicate robust performance under realizable system designs, in response to external or internal operating variations.