scholarly journals A Spatially Highly Resolved Ground Mounted and Rooftop Potential Analysis for Photovoltaics in Austria

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 418
Author(s):  
Christian Mikovits ◽  
Thomas Schauppenlehner ◽  
Patrick Scherhaufer ◽  
Johannes Schmidt ◽  
Lilia Schmalzl ◽  
...  

Austria aims to meet 100% of its electricity demand from domestic renewable sources by 2030 which means, that an additional 27 TWh/a of renewable electricity generation are required, thereof 11 TWh/a from photovoltaic. While some federal states and municipalities released a solar rooftop cadastre, there is lacking knowledge on the estimation of the potential of both, ground mounted installations and rooftop modules, on a national level with a high spatial resolution. As a first, in this work data on agricultural land-use is combined with highly resolved data on buildings on a national level. Our results show significant differences between urban and rural areas, as well as between the Alpine regions and the Prealpine- and Easter Plain areas. Rooftop potential concentrates in the big urban areas, but also in densely populated areas in Lower- and Upper Austria, Styria and the Rhine valley of Vorarlberg. The ground mounted photovoltaic potential is highest in Eastern Austria. This potential is geographically consistent with the demand and allows for a production close to the consumer. In theory, the goal of meeting 11 TWh/a in 2030 can be achieved solely with the rooftop PV potential. However, considering the necessary installation efforts, the associated costs of small and dispersed production units and finally the inherent uncertainty with respect to the willingness of tens of thousands of individual households to install PV systems, installing the necessary solar PV on buildings alone is constrained.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Mikovits ◽  
Thomas Schauppenlehner ◽  
Patrick Scherhaufer ◽  
Johannes Schmidt ◽  
Lilia Schmalzl ◽  
...  

<p>Austria aims to meet 100% of its electricity demand from domestic renewable sources by 2030 which means, that an additional 30 TWh per year are required. Solar energy will play a significant role to reach this goal, meaning the need for a substantial increase in photo-voltaic capacity. While some federal states and municipalities released a solar roof-top cadastre, there is lacking knowledge on the estimation of the potential of both, open space installations and roof-top modules, on a national level with a high spatial resolution. Results show significant differences between urban and rural areas, as well as between the Alpine regions and the Prealpine- and Easter Plain areas.</p><p>The work includes a framework to automatically process solar PV data and land-use data was developed and openly available for usage. The framework is able to fetch solar data automatically from a defined source, and join, manipulate and alter it with geodata applying various spatial methods.</p>


Author(s):  
Chensong Lin ◽  
Longfeng Wu

Many empirical studies have shown evidence of multiple health benefits provided by green and blue spaces. Despite the importance of these spaces, investigations are scarce in details for blue spaces rather than green. Moreover, most research has focused on developed regions. A limited number of studies on blue spaces can be found in China with a focus on the city level. Outcomes have been mixed due to varying research scales, methodologies, and definitions. This study relies on a national-level social survey to explore how the self-rated health (SRH) of senior individuals is associated with local green and blue space availability in urban and rural areas. Results indicate that the coverage ratio of overall green spaces and waterbodies around a resident’s home have marginal effects on SRH status in both urban and rural areas. In urban areas, living close to a park can is marginally beneficial for older people’s health. Regarding different types of blue spaces, the presence of a major river (within 0.3–0.5 km) or coastline (within 1 km and 1–5 km) in the vicinity of home negatively affects SRH among the elderly in urban areas. Close proximity to lakes and other types of waterbodies with a water surface larger than 6.25 ha did not significantly influence SRH. These findings not only evaluate general health impacts of green/blue space development on senior populations across the county but inform decision makers concerning the health-promoting qualities and features of different green/blue spaces to better accommodate an aging population in the era of urbanization.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 22-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myung-Bae Park ◽  
Chun-Bae Kim ◽  
Chhabi Ranabhat ◽  
Chang-Soo Kim ◽  
Sei-Jin Chang ◽  
...  

Happiness is a subjective indicator of overall living conditions and quality of life. Recently, community- and national-level investigations connecting happiness and community satisfaction were conducted. This study investigated the effects of community satisfaction on happiness in Nepal. A factor analysis was employed to examine 24 items that are used to measure community satisfaction, and a multiple regression analysis was conducted to investigate the effects of these factors on happiness. In semi-urban areas, sanitation showed a positive relationship with happiness. In rural areas, edu-medical services were negatively related to happiness, while agriculture was positively related. Gender and perceived health were closely associated with happiness in rural areas. Both happiness and satisfaction are subjective concepts, and are perceived differently depending on the socio-physical environment and personal needs. Sanitation, agriculture (food) and edu-medical services were critical factors that affected happiness; however, the results of this study cannot be generalized to high-income countries.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baojing Li ◽  
Hong Tang ◽  
Zilu Cheng ◽  
Yuxiao Zhang ◽  
Hao Xiang

Leukemia is one of the most common cancers. We conducted this study to comprehensively analyze the temporal trends of leukemia mortality during 2003–2017 and project the trends until 2030. We extracted national-level data on annual leukemia mortality from China Health Statistics Yearbooks (2003–2017). We applied the Joinpoint regression model to assess leukemia mortality trends in urban and rural China by sex during 2003–2017. We also produced sex-specific leukemia mortality using the adjusted Global Burden Disease (GBD) 2016 projection model. In urban areas, age-standardized leukemia mortality decreased significantly among females during 2003–2017 (APC = −0.9%; 95% CI: −1.7, −0.1%). In rural areas, significant decreases of age-standardized leukemia mortality were both found among males (APC = −1.7%; 95% CI: −2.9, −0.5%) and females (APC = −1.6%; 95% CI: −2.6, −0.7%) from 2008 to 2017. Rural-urban and sex disparities of leukemia mortality will continue to exist until the year 2030. According to projection, the leukemia mortality rates of males and rural populations are higher than that of females and urban populations. In 2030, leukemia mortality is projected to decrease to 3.03/100,000 and 3.33/100,000 among the males in urban and rural areas, respectively. In females, leukemia mortality will decrease to 1.87/100,000 and 2.26/100,000 among urban and rural areas, respectively. Our study suggests that more precautionary measures to reduce leukemia mortality are need, and more attention should be paid to rural residents and males in primary prevention of leukemia in China.


BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. e020955 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheng-Yu Lin ◽  
Yen-Cheng Tseng ◽  
How-Ran Guo ◽  
Der-Chung Lai

ObjectiveChildhood hearing impairment (CHI) is a major developmental disability, but data at the national level are limited, especially those on different severities. We conducted a study to fill this data gap.DesignA nationwide study on the basis of a reporting system.SettingTo provide services to disabled citizens, the Taiwanese government maintains a registry of certified cases. Using data from this registry, we estimated prevalence rates of CHI of different severities from 2004 to 2010 and made comparisons between urban and rural areas.ParticipantsTaiwanese citizens ≤17 years old.Primary outcome measuresTo qualify for CHI disability benefits, a child must have an unaided pure-tone better ear hearing level at 0.5, 1 and 2 kHz with an average ≥55 decibels (dB), confirmed by an otolaryngologist. The severity was classified by pure-tone better ear hearing level as mild (55–69 dB), moderate (70–89 dB) and severe (≥90 dB).ResultsThe registered cases under 17 years old decreased annually from 4075 in 2004 to 3533 in 2010, but changes in the prevalence rate were small, ranging from 7.62/10 000 in 2004 to 7.91/10 000 in 2006. The prevalence rates of mild CHI increased in all areas over time, but not those of moderate or severe CHI. Rural areas had higher overall prevalence rates than urban areas in all years, with rate ratios (RRs) between 1.01 and 1.09. By severity, rural areas had higher prevalence rates of mild (RRs between 1.08 and 1.25) and moderate (RRs between 1.06 and 1.21) CHI but had lower prevalence rates of severe CHI (RRs between 0.92 and 0.99).ConclusionWhile rural areas had higher overall prevalence rates of CHI than urban areas, the RRs decreased with CHI severity. Further studies that identify factors affecting the rural–urban difference might help the prevention of CHI.


Author(s):  
Bhuyan KC

The paper was to throw some light on the risk factors for diabetes disability among Bangladeshi adults of 18 years and above residing in both urban and rural areas. In investigating the adults, it was decited to cover 50.1% males and 49.9% females to maintain the national level of sex ratio in the sample. The respondents were interviewed when they were visiting some diagnostic centres in urban and semi-urban areas. The percentage of diabetic respondents included in the sample was 67% and 25.5% of them were suffering for 10 years and above, 6.4% were disable against 4.8% total disable respondents in the sample, and obese adults were 30.2%. Diabetic disable adults in the sample were 4.3%. The most responsible variable for diabetes disability was obesity followed by longer duration of diabetes, sedentary activity, smoking habit, being housewife, being married, etc. These variables were identified on the basis of risk ratio and correlation coefficients of variables and discriminant function scores. Beside these variables, rural people, Muslims, adults of ages 40-50 years, illiterate people had more risk of facing the problem of diabetes disability.


2022 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 01-07
Author(s):  
K.C. Bhuyan

The paper was to throw some light on the risk factors for diabetes disability among Bangladeshi adults of 18 years and above residing in both urban and rural areas. In investigating the adults, it was decided to cover 50.1% males and 49.9% females to maintain the national level of sex ratio in the sample. The respondents were interviewed when they were visiting some diagnostic centres in urban and semi-urban areas. The percentage of diabetic respondents included in the sample was 67% and 25.5% of them were suffering for 10 years and above, 6.4% were disable against 4.8% total disable respondents in the sample, and obese adults were 30.2%. Diabetic disable adults in the sample were 4.3%. The most responsible variable for diabetes disability was obesity followed by longer duration of diabetes, sedentary activity, smoking habit, being housewife, being married, etc. These variables were identified on the basis of risk ratio and correlation coefficients of variables and discriminant function scores. Beside these variables, rural people, Muslims, adults of ages 40 – 50 years, illiterate people had more risk of facing the problem of diabetes disability.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Ghapar Othman ◽  
Nurul Hanisah Jizan

Urbanization is the process of transforming a characteristically rural society into an urban one. The urban population is growing at an increasing rate while the rural population is declining, giving rise to imbalances in the development between urban and rural areas. The government’s strategy is to distribute the development to the major settlement centres in the rural areas, which are experiencing the same effects of urbanization as the urban areas in terms of changes to the use of land, especially the reduction of agricultural land and the increase in built-up areas. This study used the method of overlay in GIS applications to investigate land use changes, the speed of urban expansion and direction of development that has taken place from the period 2001 to 2018 in the town of Kuala Nerang, Kedah. This town has undergone a change in its status from a main settlement centre to a district administrative centre. Agricultural lands, which were targeted for development in the rural areas, have been converted into built-up areas. The speed of urban expansion has been slow, although some areas have recorded a higher rate. The development is moving towards the west along the main road connecting the major towns in this part of the state. The functions of the district administrative centre have influenced land use changes.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myriam de Loenzien ◽  
Clémence Schantz ◽  
Bich Ngoc Luu ◽  
Alexandre Dumont

AbstractCaesarean section can prevent maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity. However, it involves risks and high costs which can be a burden, especially in low and middle income countries. The international healthcare community considers the optimal caesarean rate to be between 10% and 15%. The aim of this study is to assess its magnitude and correlates among women of reproductive age in urban and rural areas in Vietnam. We analyzed microdata from the national Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) conducted in 2013-2014 using representative sample of households at the national level as well as regarding the urban and the rural areas. A total of 1,378 women who delivered in institutional settings in the two years preceding the survey were included. Frequency and percentage distributions of the variables were performed. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were undertaken to identify the factors associated with caesarean section. Odds ratios with 95% confidence interval were used to ascertain the direction and strength of the associations. The overall CS rate among the women who delivered in healthcare facilities in Vietnam is particularly high (29.2%) with regards to WHO standards. After controlling for significant characteristics, living in urban areas more than doubles the likelihood of undergoing a CS (OR = 2.31; 95% CI 1.79 to 2.98). Maternal age at delivery over 35 is a major positive correlate of CS. Beyond this common phenomenon, distinct lines of socioeconomic and demographic cleavage operate in urban versus rural areas. The differences regarding correlates of CS according to the place of residence suggest that specific measures should be taken in each setting to allow women to access childbirth services appropriate to their needs. Further research is needed on this topic.


Author(s):  
Katarzyna Zatońska ◽  
Piotr Psikus ◽  
Alicja Basiak-Rasała ◽  
Zuzanna Stępnicka ◽  
Maria Wołyniec ◽  
...  

(1) Background: Alcohol is a leading risk factor of premature morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to investigate the patterns of alcohol consumption in the PURE Poland cohort study baseline. (2) Methods: A Polish cohort was enrolled in the baseline study in 2007–2010. The study group consisted of 2021 adult participants of urban and rural areas from the Lower Silesia voivodeship in Poland (747 men and 1274 women). (3) Results: In the overall study population, 67.3% were current drinkers, 10.3% were former drinkers, and 22.4% were abstainers. Current use of alcohol products was more prevalent in men (77.2%), people living in urban areas (73.0%), and people with a higher level of education (78.0%). The percentage of current drinkers decreased with increasing age (from 73.4% in 30- to 44-year-olds to 48.8% in participants aged 64 and more). The majority of participants (89.2%) declared a low level of alcohol intake. The chance of high level of intake of alcohol was four times higher in men than in women (OR 4.17; CI 1.64–10.6). The majority of participants (54.6%) declared most frequent consumption of low-alcohol drinks (beer, wine) and 21% declared most frequent consumption of spirits. Current drinkers had almost 1.5-fold higher odds of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) than never drinkers (OR 1.49, CI 1.03–2.17; OR 1.66, CI 1.27–2.18, respectively). Former drinkers had higher odds for hypertension and CVD than never drinkers (1.73, CI 1.05–2.85; OR 1.76, CI 1.22–2.53, respectively). (4) Conclusions: In our cohort study, we observed several socio-demographic factors differentiating the patterns of alcohol consumption. The preventive programs should focus predominantly on men, people aged <45 years, and those with a higher level of education.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document