Observing the situation in the power industry it is easy to see that there are very deep changes in it. They rely primarily on moving away from conventional energy to renewable energy. This is particularly the case for energy in the European Union. Europe strives to be a forerunner in renewable technologies and a leader in the fight against global warming. The mining industry is being abolished and coal-fired power stations are being displaced by renewable energy sources. This situation is not only a result of EU directives but also of grassroots social initiatives inspired by environmental groups. The new lignite openings are being blocked, due to the lack of public acceptance, and the construction of conventional power plants. They do not help economic arguments for the development of energy based on coal, lignite, fuel that is significantly cheaper than the other, or to provide potential investors with the creation of new jobs. Also, coal investments are suspended in other regions of the world. CoalSwarm coal research shows that 2016 saw a dramatic fall in the amount of coal investment in the world. Even in China and India, where most of the coal industry has developed in recent years, about 100 investments have been suspended. The situation in the US is unclear. Although Barack Obama signed the Paris Agreement, current United States President Donal Trump has spoken out about this agreement and in numerous speeches and is eager to return to the dominant role of coal in the American economy. Poland still maintains the carbon structure of the power industry, but the Minister of Energy has announced that the new block at the Ostrołęka power plant will be the last coal-fired power plant to be built in Poland. This statement allows us to believe that there may be a return to Poland’s energy policy in the nearest future, and the long-awaited document, Poland’s energy policy until 2050, will determine the direction of change for the coming years.
The article presents the problem of micro-apartments. The issue is presented in a cross-sectional view, covering both the historical overview and current trends. The problem has been discussed against the background of demographic factors that justify the trend of minimizing living space. In addition to spatial issues, the paper presents the social and psychological issues related to small-scale inhabitation, as well as legal frames concerning minimal size of the flats.
The article presents current state of the structure of hard coal enrichment plants in Poland, taking the capacity, the range of grain enrichment and the type of equipment used into account. This data were presented in a tabular format for each Polish Coal Company operating on the Polish market. The article was also present simplified: flow sheet of the steam and coking coal enrichment system. Based on the presented data, the planned needs and trends were described in terms of increasing production efficiency, minimizing water consumption and safety of work. A list of research and development works which must be undertaken were also presented as well as factors determining the technological development of the processing plants.
Fruit tree orchards were present in some public parks from the very beginning of their existence in the 19th century. Apart from the utilitarian role, in the 20th and 21st centuries, they also gained different ones: ornamental — on account of high aesthetic qualities of fruit trees in the flowering and fruit-bearing seasons, environmental and ecological — related to supporting biodiversity, cultural — in the context of memory of old forms of using rural and allotment gardens, social — as a space for leisure, and even therapeutic — as an element of hortitherapy. The growing popularity of orchards indicates a change in the trends in contemporary public parks development.
This study illustrates the benefits of statistical techniques to analyze spatial and temporal variations in water quality. In this scope water quality differentiation caused by anthropogenic and natural factors in the Tahtali and Balçova reservoirs in western Turkey was investigated using discriminant analysis-DA, Mann Whitney U techniques. Effectiveness of pollution prevention measures was analyzed by Mann Kendall and Sen’s Slope estimator methods. The water quality variables were divided into three groups as physical-inorganic, organic and inorganic pollution parameters for the study. Results showed that water quality between reservoirs was differentiated for “physical-inorganic” and “organic pollution” parameters. Degree of influence of water quality by urbanization was higher in the Tahtali reservoir and in general, no trend detection at pollution indicators explained by effective management practices at both sites.
The occurrence of a hydraulic connection between piezometers is identified based on similar changes in water levels. Some piezometers react to changing upper or lower water levels, some may also react to atmospheric precipitation. If the reaction to variable upper water levels is significant, then leakage of seepage control devices is identified and the dam is subjected to repair works. The aim of this research paper is to present and analyse the dynamics of variability of water lev-els in open piezometers of the Chańcza dam, located at the 36 km of the Czarna Staszowska River in the town of Korytnica in Świętokrzyskie province (Poland). Before the analysis of the piezometric data was commenced, the Grubbs statistical test was used to identify and reject the outliers. The scope of the research includes the data captured between January 14, 2014 and January 13, 2017. A hypothesis was formulated that the change in the trend occurred after the spring of 2015 when the water level in the reservoir was reduced by approx. 1.5 m. Two trend lines were adapted for the water levels of each pie-zometer using the least squares method – the first one for the period from January 2014 to May 2015, and the second one from June 2015 to January 2017. In this way, two slopes of the linear function were obtained together with an estimation of their errors. These slopes were compared using a statistical parallelism test.
The aim of the research conducted in a 2-year pot experiment in an unheated plastic tunnel was to determine suitability of Miscanthus × giganteus for phytoextraction of nickel from soil as well as to assess tolerance of this species on increasing concentrations of this metal in soil. Pots were filled with mineral soil (sand) and a mixture of soil with high-moor peat and three levels of nickel were introduced, i.e. 75 mg dm-3, 150 mg dm-3 and 600 mg dm-3 and the control combinations used substrates without the addition of nickel. Nickel was introduced only in the first year of the experiment in the form of nickel sulfate (NiSO4 · 6H2O). Miscanthus × giganteus accumulated a considerable amount of nickel in biomass. Miscanthus × giganteus growing in contaminated mineral soil turned out to be a species tolerant to high nickel concentrations
Horns, teeth, claws, beaks… Given this mighty arsenal it’s a wonder there isn’t more physical conflict in the animal world, such as among birds.
Aim: This study investigates the impact of assertiveness training on assertiveness and self-esteem of high school students. Method: The study employs Quasi-experimental design where 130 participants aged 13-17 years were selected randomly and assigned into two groups as experimental (N-65) and control group (N-65). Tools: For this aim Assertiveness scale (AS) and Self-esteem questionnaire (RSE) were used. Training: During the treatment phase, the experimental group received assertiveness training of 5 weeks comprising two sessions per week, and each session took 45 minutes. After treatment both experimental and control groups are measured with post-tests. Results: The results show that assertiveness training has significantly increased the assertiveness and decreased the aggression and submission in the experimental group. Also the training has significantly increased the self-esteem of students. Conclusion: The obtained findings revealed an increase in the rate of self-esteem and assertiveness and decrease in the aggression and submission of students. Hence it proved that assertiveness training is significantly effective on the assertiveness, aggression, submission and self-esteem of students.
The research paper presents the results of hydraulic conductivity, pore structure, phase composition and microstructural tests of hardening slurries prepared using Portland cement, bentonite, water and fluidized-bed ashes coming from hard coal and lignite combustion. The slurries were subjected to long-term (210 days) exposure to the filtering action of an environment strongly aggressive to a cement binder. A sulphate solution 2- with sodium content of SO4 2- = 6700 mg/l was applied, which modelled sulphate aggression. The comparative base were samples subjected to filtration in tap water (neutral environment).
The test covered dependencies between hydraulic conductivity k10 (filtration coefficient) and the parameters characterizing porous structure in the slurry, as well as the impact of an aggressive medium on slurry tightness (its porosity and hydraulic conductivity). Changes in the phase composition and slurry microstructure were analysed in terms of its corrosion resistance to the action of sulphate aggression.
Observations from other researchers have been confirmed that the use of fluidized fly-ash addition has a positive effect on increasing the resistance of cement matrix exposed to sulphate aggressiveness.