Energies

Climate zoning is widely used to establish building-envelope requirements and estimate residential heating and cooling demand. However, regulatory classifications based primarily on outdoor climatic variables may not adequately represent the diversity of indoor temperature patterns observed under actual building operation. This study assesses the correspondence between regulatory thermal zoning and measured hourly indoor air temperature profiles, using Chile as a case study. Indoor air temperature was monitored at 5 min intervals in the living rooms and bedrooms of 116 occupied dwellings distributed across 14 cities representing eight of Chile’s nine regulatory thermal zones. The measurements were aggregated into hourly profiles and analyzed separately according to room, season, and annual period using k-means clustering. Complementary linear mixed-effects models were used to assess associations between cluster membership and household energy consumption. Two characteristic clusters were identified for each room and analysis period. Their spatial distribution did not exhibit a one-to-one correspondence with the regulatory thermal zoning: geographically distant zones frequently displayed comparable indoor air temperature profiles, whereas dwellings located within some individual zones were assigned to different clusters. The clearest separation between profiles occurred during winter, when the coldest clusters reached mean early-morning air temperatures of approximately 14 °C in both living rooms and bedrooms. The energy models did not identify statistically significant consumption differences between clusters; marginal R² values for the per-capita models ranged from 0% to 2.2%. These findings do not imply that indoor temperatures are independent of outdoor climatic conditions. Rather, they demonstrate that regulatory climate zoning alone is insufficient to represent the variability of indoor air temperatures observed under occupied residential conditions. Although the available measurements do not support formal assessments of operative temperature, thermal comfort, occupant behavior, or energy poverty, the identified data-driven profiles provide an empirical basis for refining indoor-temperature assumptions, developing more realistic baseline scenarios, and supporting the calibration and validation of residential building energy models across different climatic and regulatory contexts.

This study investigates the short-term impact of tightly timed escalation shocks in the 2024 Hezbollah–Iran–Israel conflict on abnormal returns across financial and commodity markets, with particular emphasis on identifying conflict-beneficiary assets. Using a benchmark-adjusted event study analysis, we examine logarithmic returns for 80 assets across four groups–safe-haven assets, energy commodities, energy-sector equities, and the S&P 500 index–based on a 120-day estimation window and two exogenous escalation events on 18 September and 1 October 2024. The findings indicate that energy-sector equities exhibit conflict-beneficiary behavior in response to the examined geopolitical shocks: both events generate statistically significant positive abnormal returns, which accumulate over short horizons and subsequently attenuate, with the second event producing stronger and more persistent effects. In contrast, safe-haven assets, energy commodities, and the broader equity market display no systematic abnormal performance. These results remain stable across robustness checks, including non-parametric inference, shortened estimation windows, and MANOVA, which confirms significant differences in abnormal-return patterns across asset classes. The study contributes to the literature by integrating heterogeneous asset classes within an ESA framework, employing two plausibly exogenous geopolitical escalations, and formally documenting differences in market responses across asset classes. The results suggest that, under the specific geopolitical conditions examined in this study, energy-sector equities may exhibit a conditional defensive role consistent with conflict-beneficiary behavior, providing insight into how markets reprice risk during conflict-driven disruptions. These findings have practical implications for hedging and tactical allocation under closely spaced geopolitical shocks, highlighting the importance of identifying assets whose payoffs mechanically improve under conflict conditions and cautioning against unconditional reliance on traditional safe-haven assets.

Microbial carbon dioxide (CO₂) utilization can supply biomass and chemicals while reducing fossil feedstock demand. This critical review compares microalgae, cyanobacteria, acetogens, hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria, and microbial electrosynthesis for integration with energy systems. Evidence is organized by measurement endpoint, reactor scale, and operating duration within a common process boundary. Photosynthetic cultivation favors sites with natural light, land, and local nutrients; annual productivity, harvesting, and contaminant transfer constrain implementation. Engineered cyanobacteria offer target metabolites when culture stability and product recovery are demonstrated. Hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria favor protein or polymer production with low-emission H₂, efficient gas delivery, and explosion protection. Acetogens suit anaerobic chemical production where reductant supply and product inhibition can be managed. Recent electrosynthesis results support reactor and recovery integration, while electricity demand, selectivity, and component durability determine whole-process feasibility. Laboratory experiments, pilot demonstrations, and sustained operation provide different levels of validation. Practical selection depends on complete energy inputs, product quality, and a defined market or treatment function. The climate benefit also depends on CO₂ origin, the displaced product, and subsequent carbon release; biomass formation alone does not establish durable removal.