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The introduction of Feed-in tariffs in the German Renewable Energy Act (EEG) fuelled the growth of anaerobic digestion (AD) industry making Germany the country with highest number of operational AD plants. However, the rapid expansion of AD industry resulted in some unwanted side-effects such as food vs fuel debate, increased prices for electricity and the temporal mismatch between supply and demand of electricity grid. Subsequent amendments in EEG has tried to address some of these issues by reduction in Feed-in tariffs, introduction of a cap on cereal based feedstocks and providing premium for energy production in accordance with market demand. Furthermore, the Feed-in tariffs which were introduced for 20 years are soon going to expire. The changes in legal and political discourse is soon going to introduce some new challanges to the AD industry. This paper has discussed some of these challanges and their potential solutions.

Little is known about the prevalence and association between visual impairment, low vision acuity, and sleep indicators (sleep duration and sleep problem) in the Indian context. We investigate this association for Indian older adults (50+ ages). Using cross-sectional data from WHO-Study on global AGEing and adult health (WHO-SAGE) 2007–2008, a sample of 6560 ( Mage = 61.81, SD = 9.00) was selected for analysis. Self-reported visual impairment and performance-based low vision acuity were used as outcome variables, whereas sleep duration, problem in sleep, and medical condition with socio-demographic were used as covariates. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted. In a fully adjusted model (including all covariates), vision impairment was associated with short sleep duration (<6 hr) and sleep problem, separately and together for both genders. Low vision was positively associated with short sleep duration and sleep problem, separately and together for males, whereas only long sleep (⩾9 hr) is associated with low vision acuity for females in fully adjusted model. Results suggest that sleep apnea including short sleep duration and sleep problem is the underestimated cause of visual impairment and vision acuity. Healthcare providers should consider sleep parameters (sleep duration and sleep problem) along with sleep apnea in the treatment of visual impaired older adults.