Increasing market opportunities for renewable energy technologies with innovations in aquifer thermal energy storage

Heating and cooling using aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) has hardly been applied outside the Netherlands, even though it could make a valuable contribution to the energy transition. The Climate-KIC project "Europe-wide Use of Energy from aquifers" - E-USE(aq) - aimed to pave the way for Europe-wide application of ATES, through the realization and monitoring of six ATES pilot plants across five different EU countries. In a preceding paper, based on preliminary results of E-USE(aq), conclusions were already drawn, demonstrating how the barriers for this form of shallow geothermal energy can be overcome, and sometimes even leveraged as opportunities. Based on final pilot project results, key economic and environmental outcomes are now presented. This paper starts with the analysis of specific technological barriers: unfamiliarity with the subsurface, presumed limited compatibility with existing energy provision systems (especially district heating), energy imbalances and groundwater contamination. The paper then shows how these barriers have been tackled, using improved site investigation and monitoring technologies to map heterogeneous subsoils. In this way ATES can cost-efficiently be included in smart grids and combined with other sources of renewable (especially solar) energy, while at the same time achieving groundwater remediation. A comparative assessment of economic and environmental impacts of the pilots is included, to demonstrate the sustainability of ATES system with different renewables and renewable-based technologies. The paper concludes with an assessment of the market application potential of ATES, including in areas with water scarcity, and a review of climate beneficial impact.

Retarder action of isosorbide in a microemulsion for a targeted delivery of ceramide NP into the stratum corneum

Ceramide [NP] is an integral component of the stratum corneum (SC) lipid matrix and is capable of forming tough and stable lamellar structures. It was proven, that in skin diseases as psoriasis or atopic dermatitis different ceramide (CER) classes, including [NP], are degraded. It is obvious that topically application of CER on impaired skin is useful for repairing the skin barrier but a tendency for low penetration due to its poor solubility in conventional dosage forms was observed. Therefore, a stable and physiologic compatible colloidal carrier system, a microemulsion (ME), was developed and characterized. The increasing knowledge of the new colloidal systems in this last decade shows their benefits in dermal application. Isosorbide (Polysorb P) was incorporated into the ME developed. It was expected that Polysorb P has a retarder potential in order to accumulate the CER in the SC, the outermost layer of the skin. Thereby the CER [NP] would be able to interact with the affected skin layers to strengthen the skin barrier. The release and penetration behavior of the CER [NP] from the ME was assessed ex vivo in a Franz diffusion cell. The results of the study showed that CER [NP] penetrate largely in the upper layers of the skin (from SC to stratum basale), which was the desired region. A recovery in the acceptor could not be detected that underlines an accumulation in upper layers. Furthermore, significantly increased values for the SC for the ME with retarder were not received. No differences in the concentrations of CER [NP] were observed. However, the toxicity of MEs was investigated using heńs egg test chorioallantoic membrane (HET-CAM). For the isosorbide-containing ME no difference was obtained in comparison to the non-containing. The results showed that both MEs are safe to be used on the skin for the controlled penetration of CER [NP] into the skin. The isosorbide had no effect on the irritating effect as well as on the penetration of the used CER.