To improve bioremediation of arsenic (As) contamination in soil, the use of microorganisms to efficiently reduce As and their assessment of genetic erosion by DNA damage using genomic template stability (GTS) evaluation and using RAPD markers were investigated. The five sites examined for microorganisms and contaminated soils were collected from affected gold mining areas. The highest As concentration in gold mining soil is 0.72 mg/kg. Microorganism strains isolated from the gold mining soil samples were tested for As removal capacity. Two bacterial isolates were identified by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and morphological characteristics as Brevibacillus reuszeri and Rhodococcus sp. The ability to treat As in nutrient agar (NA) at 1,600 mg/L and contaminated soil samples at 0.72 mg/kg was measured at 168 h, revealing more efficient As removal by B. reuszeri than Rhodococcus sp. (96.67% and 94.17%, respectively). Both species have the capacity to remove As, but B. reuszeri shows improved growth compared to the Rhodococcus sp. B. reuszeri might be suitable for adaptation and use in As treatment. The results are in agreement with their genetic erosion values, with B. reuszeri showing very little genetic erosion (12.46%) of culture in As concentrations as high as 1,600 mg/L, whereas 82.54% genetic erosion occurred in the Rhodococcus sp., suggesting that Rhodococcus sp. would not survive at this level of genetic erosion. Therefore, B. reuszeri has a high efficiency and can be used for soil As treatment, as it is capable to tolerate a concentration of 0.72 mg/kg and as high as 1,600 mg/L in NA.

A low drop-out [LDO] voltage regulator with fast transient response which does not require a capacitor for proper operation is proposed in this paper. Recent cap-less LDOs do not use off chip capacitor but instead they use on chip capacitor which occupy a large area on the chip. In the proposed LDO, this on chip capacitor is also avoided. A novel secondary local feedback technique is introduced which helps to achieve a good transient response even in the absence of output capacitor. Further an error amplifier that does need compensation capacitor is selected to reduce the on chip area. Stability analysis shows that the proposed LDO is stable with a phase margin of 78°. The proposed LDO is laid out using Cadence Virtuoso in 180 nm standard CMOS technology. Post layout simulation is carried out and LDO gives 6mV=V and 360µV=mA line and load regulation respectively. An undershoot of 120 mV is observed during the load transition from 0 mA to 50 mA in 1 µs transition time, however LDO is able to recover within 1:4 µs. Since capacitor is not required in any part of design, it occupies only 0:010824 mm2 area on the chip.

Compared with the robots, humans can learn to perform various contact tasks in unstructured environments by modulating arm impedance characteristics. In this article, we consider endowing this compliant ability to the industrial robots to effectively learn to perform repetitive force-sensitive tasks. Current learning impedance control methods usually suffer from inefficiency. This paper establishes an efficient variable impedance control method. To improve the learning efficiency, we employ the probabilistic Gaussian process model as the transition dynamics of the system for internal simulation, permitting long-term inference and planning in a Bayesian manner. Then, the optimal impedance regulation strategy is searched using a model-based reinforcement learning algorithm. The effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method are verified through force control tasks using a 6-DoFs Reinovo industrial manipulator.

The article raised issues related to the design and execution of low-energy objects in Polish conditions. Based on the designed single-family house, adapted to the requirements of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management ("NF40" standard), the tools to assist investment decisions by investors were shown. An economic analysis and a multi-criteria analysis were performed using AHP method which had provided an answer to the question whether it is worthwhile to bear higher investment costs in order to adjust to the standards of energy-efficient buildings that fulfil a minimal energy consumption's requirements contained in Polish law. In addition, the variant of object that had optimal characteristics due to the different preferences of investors was indicated. This paper includes analysis and observations on the attempts to unify that part of the building sector, which so far is considered to be personalized, and objects in accordance with the corresponding idea are designed as "custom-made".

A formulation developed at the Laboratory of Mechanical Engineering allows robust and efficient simulation of large and complex multibody systems. Simulators of cars, excavators and other systems have been developed showing that real-time simulations are possible even when facing demanding manoeuvres. Hydraulic actuators are presented in many industrial applications of multibody systems, like in the case of the heavy machinery field. When simulating the dynamics of this kind of problems that combine multibody dynamics and hydraulics, two different approaches are common: to resort to kinematically guide the variable length of the actuator, thus avoiding the need to consider the dynamics of the hydraulic system; or to perform a multi-rate integration of both subsystems if a more detailed description of the problem is required, for example, when the objective of the study is to optimize the pump control. This work addresses the inclusion of hydraulic actuators dynamics in the above-mentioned self-developed multibody formulation, thus leading to a unified approach. An academic example serves to compare the efficiency, accuracy and ease of implementation of the simplified (kinematic guidance), multi-rate and unified approaches. Such a comparison is the main contribution of the paper, as it may serve to provide guidelines on which approach to select depending on the problem characteristics.

The paper presents the results of the energy analysis of the conversion of solar radiation energy into electrical energy in Polish weather conditions. The effect of sunlight and working temperature on the photovoltaic module on its power curve P = f(U) is shown. STC and NOCT conditions are described for which the manufacturers specify the parameters of the photovoltaic modules. The manufacturers of photovoltaic panels should give the PPV = f(E) characteristic for the different values of the operating temperature of the modules. An analysis of the economic efficiency of a photovoltaic power plant investment of 1 MWp taking the current legal regulations for the three variants into account was presented. Variant I – the investor benefits from the support of public aid of operational only, Variant II – the investor benefits from the support of public aid for investment in the amount of PLN 1 million, Variant III – the investor benefits from the support of public aid for investment in the amount of PLN 2 million. For all variants, indicators for assessing the economic effectiveness of the investment and the value of the auction price from the maximum price to the price at which the project loses its profitability are determined.

At present, it is said that Industry 4.0 is the fourth industrial revolution. Like the previous ones, it also has the ability to transform economies, jobs and societies. Our expectations are changing to the speed of obtaining answers to the questions asked. This is done by introducing new technologies and processes. This is an opportunity for Polish participants of local heat markets, or participants of the power or energy market. who are currently facing profound changes and investments forced, among others, by BAT conclusions. Such mega-processes as digitization, automation, artificial intelligence, IoT, machine learning are increasingly penetrating the world and business. More than 200 years have passed since the first industrial revolution, which was the use of the steam engine, and the requirements for testing the efficiency of enterprises have changed, which themselves are changing very quickly. The basic efficiency measures used in a given sector often result from the specifics of the sector and its degree of development on a macroeconomic scale. Therefore, it is worth placing the energy company in this environment and presenting its role to better match the instruments used. The above is also associated with increased reporting and the need to use additional evaluation measures, e.g. effectiveness of individual projects. It is therefore worth analyzing the available literature in this area, and the performance measures available and used in it, which will help in assessing the effectiveness of management, despite political and regulatory turmoil, and help us use the opportunities brought by the fourth industrial revolution.

The need for effective and rational use of land, protection, and preservation of its qualitative state (as the agricultural land soil) is due to some negative details, namely, more than a third of the land is eroded, half of which are black soil in particular, which have an average level of nutrient supply, a lot of contaminated abandoned or overdented land. The acuteness of this problem, which has developed with regard to the protection and preservation of the land qualitative state, has become particularly relevant. The solution to this problem requires truly effective methods of influence. One of such methods is the surveillance of ecological and economic monitoring of land. The article analyzes the ecological and economic factors and factors influencing the monitoring and surveillance of land in Ukraine. Perspectives and objectives for improvements in land monitoring are highlighted. The paper discloses a theoretical synthesis and new approaches to solving the problem of environmental management, which can participate in the development of innovative economic and environmental factors of rational land use, which will contribute to enhancing the transition of Ukraine to the model of sustainable land use. The purpose of this work is a scientific analysis of the various organizational factors of monitoring and surveillance of agricultural land in relation to the current legislation in Ukraine.

The paper is devoted to some problems connected with last modification of EU directive on energy efficiency, viz.: free choice of the measure concerning the improvement of energy efficiency, i.e. final or primary energy consumption, corresponding energy savings or energy-consumption index; however without cumulative consumption or cumulative savings of primary energy. In EU directive it has been stressed the importance of measurements systems (reliable measurement information); but has not been recommended any advanced validation of measurements results, nor energy auditing or algorithms of calculating the energy savings due to improvement of energy efficiency concerning large industrial plants. Evaluation of complex buildings should be realized by means of the system method (input-output analysis). The separate problem is devoted to application of thermo-ecological approach in the analysis of complete results of improving the energy efficiency. Human activity is connected with the depletion of nonrenewable resources, including primary energy, due to not only production of consumer goods but also the necessity of compensating the unfavourable effects of harmful emissions from energy-technological processes. Therefore the index of energy-ecological efficiency has been proposed as the most competent evaluation of improvement energy efficiency of production processes and systems.

About 55% of over 14 million Polish households live in multi-family buildings. Cooperative or housing association buildings have a large share in this group. The heat is supplied from the district heating network or from local sources. With respect to facilities fed from gas boiler rooms, the signing and execution of fuel supply contracts is required. From October 1, 2017, the obligation to submit tariffs for gas trading set for all final customers (except for individual gas consumers in households) for approval to the President of the Energy Regulatory Office was lifted. Decisions regarding the choice of the supplier and the content of the concluded contract are made by the authorized bodies of the cooperative or housing association. The consequences of such decisions are borne by the owners and users of residential premises. Ensuring the continuity of a contract for the supply of gaseous fuel essentially comes down to establishing prices and rates in force for a given period. The right decision on the moment of signing the contract or the amendment, termination of the existing contract and signing a new one, or negotiation efficiency will result in financial profits for all users. The costs of heating and domestic hot water preparation are a significant component of the overall cost of the maintenance of flats in Poland. Therefore, it is even more important that the prices and rates agreed upon with the gas supplier are as favorable as possible to users. The high costs of heat are not only expenses for apartment owners. The attractiveness of flat on the rental market is also decreasing. The business activity carried out in facilities located in such buildings is also less competitive.

The authors of the article analyzed gas prices on the Polish market over the last 3 years and presented the results of simulations of the effects of specific prices and rates set in the contract for the supply of fuel at the cost of heating from the point of view of a single apartment. As these are not large amounts per year, they do not motivate to optimize the terms of the gas purchase contract in this respect. The dynamics of changes in gas prices in Poland, although slightly different from world trends, is high. This makes it difficult for those responsible to make the decisions, and for residential users, it often means spending differences in subsequent years. One of the consequences of setting prices and rates significantly higher than obtainable may also be the reluctance of local communities to take measures to increase the energy efficiency of the heat supply system. From the point of view of heating costs, such decisions may distort the economic effect of thermo-modernization.

In this article, the author will try to conditionally transform the energy capacities of NNEGC

Energoatom by converting a liability into an asset using the example of bitcoin. With a surplus of

nuclear power generation, one of the modern tools for using excess electricity is directing it to cryptocurrency

mining. The author of the article will try to calculate the possibilities of Ukrainian NPPs

in the cryptoindustry market by analyzing the competitiveness, market trends and the approximate

profitability of this kind of activity. The essence of the article lies in the intervention of the state

energy giant in completely new activities, partial monopolization of the market and interference

in the activities of decentralized cryptocurrencies, as well as the very novelty of combining two

different fields of activity and the global nature of the consequences. Mining can be used to convert

the underdeveloped electricity or all of Energoatom’s capacities totally, but at the same time it can

also affect the cryptoasset market in the field of decentralization, as the primary cost factor to affect

the price of assets and allow for obtaining super-profits at a state enterprise. The author of the article

tries to understand the profitability of such actions and, in general, to understand the globality

of the idea. The results of the entry of the national energy giant into the cryptoasset market will

change the global processes in the ecosystem of the cryptoindustry and change the situation both

on the electricity market in the region and, in general, will affect the processes of globalization and

unification of the financial sectors of the economy.

This publication presents an assessment of the economic efficiency of a hypothetical installation for the gasification of the municipal and industrial waste for the production of syngas used subsequently for the production of energy or chemical products. The first part of the work presents an example of a technological system for the energo-chemical processing of coal mud and municipal waste, based on the gasification process using a fluidized bed reactor. A hypothetical installation consists of two main blocks: a fuel preparation unit and a gasification unit. In the fuel preparation installation, reception operations take place, storage, and then grinding, mixing, drying and transporting fuel to the gasification unit. In the gasification installation, fuel gasification, oxygen production, cooling and purification of raw process gas and ash treatment are carried out. The following key assumptions regarding the gasification process, as well as the capital expenditures and operating costs related to the process, were estimated. Consequently, based on the method of discounted cash flows, the unit cost of generating energy contained in the synthesis gas (cost of energy, COE) was determined and the results were interpreted. In order to obtain an acceptable efficiency of the gasification process for waste fuels for the production of alternative fuel (process gas), it is necessary to supplement the mixture of waste coal and coal mud with the RDF. In this case, the unit cost of fuel measured by the PLN/GJ index is lower than in the case of hard coal and comparable with brown coal. The use of coal mud for the production of process gas in an economically efficient way is possible only in the case of changes in the legal system allowing for charging fees for the utilization of industrial waste – coal mud.

The energy efficiency of photovoltaic modules is one of the most important aspects in energetic and economic aspects of the project related to system installations. The efficiency of modules and the electricity produced by photovoltaic conversion in solar modules is affected by many factors, both internal, related to the module structure itself and its technical and external factors related to the energy infrastructure, which includes: cabling, inverters, climate conditions prevailing at the micro-installation location and the orientation and angle of inclination of the solar modules. The installation of photovoltaic modules should be preceded by an energy efficiency analysis, which will help to indicate the optimal solution adapted to the given conditions. The article presents a comparative analysis of the amount of energy produced under real and simulated conditions. Analyzes were made on the basis of research carried out in the Wind and Solar Energy Laboratory located at the AGH University of Science and Technology, data from solar irradiation data-bases and computer software for estimating energy resources. The study examined the correlation of the solar irradiation on the modules and the amount of electricity generated in the photovoltaic module. The electricity produced by the module was compared under real conditions and simulated based on two sources of data. The comparison and analysis of the amount of energy of the module were also made, taking simulated different angles of the module’s inclination into account.