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23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, 1-5 September 2008, Valencia, Spain; 3743-3748, This paper outlines the results of a wide ranging review of urban areas where PV has been successfully implemented or where plans to implement PV are being prepared. The areas reviewed ranged from those where the planning priorities for an area are still being shaped to those where large numbers of PV buildings were installed over 10 years ago and issues of maintenance and the impact of occupants’ behaviour can be assessed. All the projects are of a significant size, involving large groups of buildings, and have impacted substantially on the urban area where they are located. The range of countries, project stages and stakeholders involved has been extremely wide and this has led to the collection of a comprehensive set of lessons learnt and successful methods of promoting the implementation of PV within the urban planning process which are summarized here.

Electricity, power systems worldwide have traditionally been designed to a vertical v connected scheme characterised by centralised generation. Over the last few decades, several factors have dictated a gradual shift from the central-control approach to a more distributed layout where distributed generation (DG) technologies are effectively integrated and not just connected (appended) to the networks; amongst others liberalisation of electricity markets, security and quality of supply and environmental issues. Photovoltaic powered distributed generation (PV-DG), although still having a much lesser impact than other DG technologies, is increasingly being embedded into electricity distribution networks worldwide within the framework of successful regulatory state and marketing programmes. PV-DG has added values (benefits)for the electricity systems that extend from peak power and load reduction (when deployed close to electricity consumption points) to participation in grid-supporting or grid-forming modes of operation. The question arises as to what the present situation of PV technology is for its optimal integration in distribution networks, whether there are still technical barriers to overcome as well as new opportunities for PV in future renewably supplied electricity systems. This paper presents the current state of knowledge concerning these topics from a European perspective with regard to different grid structures. It also discusses existing standards, flew opportunities to provide grid services and research and development needs identified to fully exploit the added-value-and still developing-benefits of PV-DG.

Methane is a major Greenhouse Gas (GHG) that accounts for 14% of the world’s total amount of GHG emissions, originating mainly from agriculture, coal mines, land fields, wastewater and oil and gas facilities [1]. The European Commission presented the so-called Green Deal in December 2019, also known as the Green Pact, which is a set of policies aimed at making Europe climate neutral by 2050. The plan is to reduce greenhouse gas production at least by 50% compared to 1990 levels, as well as zero pollution by 2050, whether soil, air, or water pollution. Neutralization of the methane emissions can be done by different methods, one of them being the complete catalytic oxidation. Methane combustion is achieved by using of noble metal loaded oxide catalysts, palladium being known to offer a high catalytic activity. However, its deactivation at high temperatures requires the development of new catalysts or improvement of Pd (PdO) dispersion on catalytically active supports such as pre-modified alumina, hexaaluminates etc. An alternative for stabilization of support and catalytic active phase could be found in the introduction of oxides to the existing catalytic systems [2,3]. According the authors in [4] the hydrothermal stability of Pd-based catalysts in methane combustion has been significantly improved by addition of the Ni. Such excellent catalytic performance has been related to the stabilizing effect of the support due to the least lattice mismatch between NiAl2O4 and Pd, which contributes to the high Pd dispersion. The Pd-based catalysts modified by nickel were prepared by sequential impregnation of Al2O3 with aqueous solutions of Ni(NO3)2.6H2O and Pd(NO3)22H2O. The Pd was introduced on Al2O3 after impregnation with Ni and next calcination. The palladium content on the surface of all prepared samples was approximately 0.2 wt%. Characterization techniques as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), BET, TPR, TEM and EPR have been used to investigate the surface structure and bulk composition of mono and bimetallic nickel and palladium catalysts. Catalytic activity tests were performed using 750 ppm methane.The specific surface area decreases with increasing nickel content, which is probably due to the partial pore blockage of the Al2O3. XRD pattern of the synthesized catalysts show the presence of two phases namely γ-Al2O3 and Al2NiO4. The last one has also been confirmed by HRTEM and SAED analyses. SAED patterns demonstrate the presence of Pd and PdO as well. Diffraction lines for Pd and PdO are not observed in the XRD patterns of studied samples revealing finely divided phases. The reduction behaviour of the synthesized catalysts was investigated by means of TPR. Several reduction maxima were observed: at 70°C, 330°C, 420°C and above 500°C. The hydrogen consumption at 70°C is attributed to the reduction of PdO. Two high-temperature peaks (at 330°C and 420°C) are observed in the TPR profiles of all samples. They are less intense in the catalysts with low nickel content. The peak with a maximum at 330 °C in the TPR spectrum is most likely due to the reduction of finely divided NiO particles and this at 420°C, for the reduction of bulk of NiO. H2 consumption above 500 °C is due to mixed Ni-Al oxide phases. An intensive negative peak at 77°C in the TPR profile of all catalysts is ascribed to the decomposition of β-palladium hydride. The reduction of highly dispersed PdO to metal Pd can take place even below room temperature and this metal absorbs hydrogen, leading to the formation of the hydride phase, which decomposes at about 70°C. The chemical state of Pd and Ni and the percentage of the different oxidation states of these elements on the catalytic surfaces were studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. All three oxidation states Pd0, Pd2+ and Pd4+ are established for palladium. The presence also of paramagnetic palladium species (Pd+ or Pd3+) are suggested from EPR investigation. The doublet Ni2p XPS spectra and peak binding energy values propose that nickel is mainly present as Ni2+ on the sample surface. According to the EPR data part of Ni2+ ions are located in partly dehydrated Al(OH)3. The formation of orthorhombic Ni+ species and Ni+ species in axial symmetry has been also suggested. The catalytic activity of the nickel modified samples is higher than that of the monometallic palladium one. The most active sample is that containing 10% Ni and the least active is that with 0.5% Ni loading. The difference in T50 between them is only 5 °C, which indicates that the high nickel content is not appropriate because it does not lead to a significant increase in catalytic activity. References 1. Federal Register/ Vol. 78, No. 63 / Tuesday, April 2, 2013 / Proposed Rules, Environmental Protection Agency, 40 CFR Part 98, 2013 Revisions to the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule and Proposed Confidentiality Determinations for New or Substantially Revised Data Elements. 2. S. Todorova, P. Stefanov, A. Naydenov and H. Kolev, Rev. Roum. Chim. 59 (2014) 251. 3. P. Stefanov, S. Todorova, A. Naydenov, B. Tzaneva, H. Kolev, G. Atanasova, D. Stoyanova, Y. Karakirova and K. Alexieva, Chem. Eng. J. 266 (2015) 329. 4. Y. Liua, S. Wanga, T. Suna, D. Gaoa, C. Zhanga and S. Wang; Appl.Catal. B 119–120 (2012) 321. Acknowledgements: The authors thank to the National Science Fund of Bulgaria for the financial support under the Contract KП-06-RUSSIA-22.

Malathion (ML) is a well known pesticide commonly used in many agricultural and non-agricultural processes. Its toxicity has been attributed primarily to the accumulation of acetylcholine (Ach) at nerve junctions, due to the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). The aim of the current research was to study the protective effect of the melissa plant extract against reproductive impairment induced by malathion in 32 male albino rats, and the biological experiment was divided into four groups (8 in each) that given malathion (27 mg/kg; 1/50 of the LD50 for an oral dose) and/or Melissa officinalis (MO) extract (200mg/kg/day) by gavages technique. The sperm counts, sperm motility, sperm morphology, FSH, LH, and testosterone levels had been determined in testes homogenate at the end of the experiment. It is worthy to report that, rats treated with melissa extract did not show a significant difference when compared with the control group, while rats given malathion alone had significantly lower sperm count, sperm motility, and significantly higher abnormal sperm numbers, than the untreated control rats as well as having significantly lower serum FSH, LH, and testosterone levels compared with the control group. Administrations of melissa extract restore all mentioned histological parameters towards the control group and the melissa extract had a strong positive protective effect against malathion toxicity. Results the of biological parameters were confirmed by the histological examination of rat testes and indicated that, both control and melissa groups showing normal seminiferous tubules, while malathion group testicular tissues had necrosis, edema in the seminiferous tubules and degeneration of spermatogonial cells lining the seminiferous tubules with incomplete spermatogenesis. 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