China''s energy, environment and policy perspective

Ｗｉｔｈｔｈｅｈｕｇｅｐｏｐｕｌａｔｉｏｎａｎｄｒａｐｉｄｅｃｏｎｏｍｉｃｇｒｏｗｔｈ ,Ｃｈｉｎａｂｅｃａｍｅｔｈｅｗｏｒｌｄ’ｓｓｅｃｏｎｄｌａｒｇｅｒｃｏｎｓｕｍｅｒｏｆｅｎｅｒｇｙ .Ｃｏａｌｄｏｍｉｎａｔｅｓｔｈｅｐｒｉｍａｒｙｅｎｅｒｇｙｕｓｅｄ ,ｆｏｌｌｏｗｅｄｂｙｏｉｌ,ｐｒｉｍａｒｙｅｌｅｃｔｒｉｃｉｔｙａｎｄｎａｔｕｒａｌｇａｓ.Ｗｈａｔｓｔｒａｔｅｇｉｅｓａｎｄ ｐｏｌｉｃｉｅｓａｄｏｐｔｅｄｂｙＣｈｉｎａｔｈｅｒｅｆｏｒｅｗｉｌｌｎｏｔｏｎｌｙｈａｖｅｉｍｐｌｉｃａｔｉｏｎｓｔ…     

China''''s energy, environment and policy perspective

This paper discusses the specific features of the energy in China, and addresses those key challenges in China is that the coexist of (1) higher total energy production and lower per capita level; (2) lower per capita energy resources level with unrational energy consumption structure; (3) lower energy utilization efficiency and higher energy conservation potential; and (4) unequal distribution of energy resources. It reviews the key environmental problems related to the feature of energy production and consumption. Based on the analysis, the author furthers addresses the policy and actions needed.     

Environmental impacts of distributed energy systems—The case of micro cogeneration

Distributed generation in micro cogeneration systems, e.g. reciprocating or Stirling engines and fuel cells, is of increasing interest in the energy market. This paper investigates environmental impacts of micro cogeneration by carrying out a detailed life cycle assessment and an analysis of local air quality impacts of micro cogeneration systems.Most micro cogeneration systems are superior, as far as the reduction of GHG emissions is concerned, not only to average electricity and heat supply, but also to state-of-the art separate production of electricity in gas power plants and heat in condensing boilers. The GHG advantages of micro cogeneration plants are comparable to district heating with CHP. Under the assumption that gas condensing boilers are the competing heat-supply technology, all technologies are within a very narrow range. Looking at the GHG reduction potential on the level of a supply object (e.g. a single-family house) by modeling the operation with a CHP optimization tool, the achievable mitigation potential is somewhat lower, because the micro cogeneration systems do not supply the whole energy demand. Here, fuel cells offer the advantage of a higher power-to-heat ratio.Environmental impacts other than those related to climate and resource protection relate more specifically to technology. In addition to investigating the emissions side, analysis of the air quality situation of a residential area supplied by reciprocating engines was carried out. The analysis shows that for the selected conditions, the additional emission of NO_x due to the engines do not create severe additional environmental impacts.     

Simulation of the energy budget of an urban canyon—II. Comparison of model results with measurements

A simple numerical model that attempts to simulate the energy budget of an urban canyon is assessed by comparing its predictions against measurements made at an urban field site. A street is chosen that satisfieds many of the model's requirements and a measurement scheme is devised to measure variables which are also simulated. The model is run using input information collected from the field and the data produced are compared with the measured data. The results indicate that the model is capable of simulating many of the climate attributes (such as surface temperatures and net radiation at the canyon top) accurately, but does not simulate the dominant mechanism of sensible heat exchange between the canyon and its environment. Nevertheless, the model predicts a small and largely invariant exchange, similar to that measured. The results of the field study, when compared with other published work, indicates that as street canyons become narrower they become increasingly isolated in terms of heat exchange from the overlying atmosphere. The results of the computer runs appear to follow this pattern.     

Simulation of the energy budget of an urban canyon—I. Model structure and sensitivity test

This paper presents the formulation and results of a simple numerical model designed to simulate the climate of an urban canyon. The model is two-dimensional in nature and is based on the observation that ambient airflow which tranverses the long-axis of a symmetrical canyon drives a circulating vortex within the canyon air space which results in the exchange of heat, mass and momentum at the canyon top. A simple model is described which consists of two components: a semi-empirical model to relate within-canyon airflow to ambient wind velocity, and an energy budget model for canyon surfaces. The model is capable of simulating many aspects of the canyon climate, including the canyon surface and top energy budget and surface and air temperatures. Sensitivity tests with the model indicate that the canyon top energy budget is remarkably stable for many changes in canyon parameters. Canyon geometry (expressed as a height/width ratio) caused the greatest changes with increased narrowness being associated with less heat exchange across the canyon top. The model's predictions appear intuitively reasonable and compare well with existing measurement data. The results suggest that the coupling between the urban boundary and canopy layers in terms of heat exchange may be a function of canyon geometry.     

Commercial development of energy—environmentally sound technologies for the auto-industry: the case of fuel cells

The economic importance of energy and environmental issues is continuously increasing, affecting both process and product design in business. The energy crisis in California in 2001 made this basic issue universal. New technologies are expected to reduce pollution derived both from production processes and products, with costs that are still unknown and in competition with more mature technologies high. Nevertheless, until now there is still little, but growing knowledge concerning the process of technological innovation in the fields of energy and environment.In this paper we analyze the development of zinc air fuel cell (ZAFC) and its transfer from a research laboratory to potential mass production. ZAFC are a new ‘environmentally sound technology’, proven to have commercial value, that can be used for substituting internal combustion engines (ICEs) and meeting zero emission vehicles (ZEV) regulations. Although ZAFC performances are higher than traditional electric batteries ones, commercial costs are still high. Hence the pathway to mass production may come from stationary application of fuel cells for power.In contrast to the conventional ‘paradigmatic’ approach, we argue that the existing economic and organizational literature concerning technological innovation is not able to fully explain steps followed in commercializing energy—environmentally sound technologies. Existing models mainly consider adopting problems, which are due to market uncertainty, weak application, lack of a dominant design, and problems in reconfiguring existing organizational routines. Above all ‘market power’ exists in terms of control over technological innovation and its commercial application. Barriers are erected that prevent new technologies such as fuel cells from becoming adapted. Through pro-active government intervention, such as the case in California, new advanced technologies can move rapidly into the marketplace.From this discussion we draw some conclusions and issues for further research concerning policy making for sustaining the process of technological transfer and firms’ strategies in technological innovation.     

Leaf area development, dry weight accumulation and solar energy conversion efficiencies of Phaseolus vulgaris L. under different soil moisture levels near Nairobi, Kenya

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＫｅｎｙａ○ｓｈｉｇｈｐｏｐｕｌａｔｉｏｎｇｒｏｗｔｈｒａｔｅｈａｓｃｒｅａｔｅｄｐｒｅｓｓｕｒｅｏｎｔｈｅｈｉｇｈｐｏｔｅｎｔｉａｌａｒｅａｓ．Ｔｈｉｓｈａｓｒｅｓｕｌｔｅｄｉｎｔｈｅｍｉｇｒａｔｉｏｎｏｆｐｅｏｐｌｅｔｏｕｎｃｕｌｔｉｖａｔｅｄ“ｍａｒｇｉｎａｌ”ｌａｎｄｓｗｈｉｃｈｍａｋｅｕｐａｂｏｕｔ８０％ｏｆｔｈｅｃｏｕｎｔｒｙａｎｄａｒｅｐｒｅｄｏｍｉｎａｎｔｌｙｏｆｌｏｗａｇｒｉｃｕｌｔｕｒａｌｐｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｖｉｔｙ（Ｈｏｒｎｅｔｚ，１９９０）．Ｔｈｅｓｅ…     

Assessing local climate vulnerability and winegrowers’ adaptive processes in the context of climate change

Adaptation to climate change is a major challenge facing the viticulture sector. Temporally, adaptation strategies and policies have to address potential impacts in both the short- and long term, whereas spatially, place-based and context-specific adaptations are essential. To help inform decision-making on climate change adaptation, this study adopted a bottom-up approach to assess local climate vulnerability and winegrowers’ adaptive processes in two regulated wine-producing areas in the Anjou-Saumur wine growing sub-region, France. The data used for this study were collected through individual semi-structured interviews with 30 winegrowers. With a focus on wine quality, climate-related exposure, and sensitivity were dependent on many contextual factors (e.g., northern geographical position, wine regulatory frameworks, local environmental features) interacting with the regional oceanic climate. Climate and other non-climate-related variables brought about important changes in winegrowers’ management practices, varying in time and space. This ongoing process in decision-making enhanced winegrowers’ adaptive responses, which were primarily reactive (e.g., harvesting, winemaking) or anticipatory (e.g., canopy and soil management) to short-term climate conditions. Winegrowers described changing trends in climate- and grapevine (Vitis) -related variables, with the latter attributed to regional climate changes and evolving management practices. Regarding future climate trends, winegrowers’ displayed great uncertainty, placing the most urgent adaptation priority on short-term strategies, while changing grapevine varieties and using irrigation were identified as last resort strategies. The study concluded by discussing the implications of these findings in the context of climate change adaptation in viticulture.     

Leaf area development, dry weight accumulation and solar energy conversion efficiencies of Phaseolus vulgaris L. under different soil moisture levels near Nairobi, Kenya

Leaf area development, dry weight accumulation and solar energy conversion efficiencies of Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv GLP-2 under two soil moisture levels in two contrasting seasons near Nairobi, Kenya were investigated. The experiment confirms that dry weights and yields of Phaseolus vulgaris are limited by a drought induced decrease in leaf area, leading to less radiation interception as a source for assimilation. However, photosynthetic efficiency in Phaseolus vulgaris also appears to decrease and to contribute to these effects. Finally, an even larger decreases of economic efficiency as obtained in the second season, where stress lasted much later into the season, reveals that such a drought also limits considerably the partitioning and translocation of assimilates to the seeds of Phaseolus vulgaris. The efficiencies obtained are in line with the better literature data for other crops.     

Blockage of ATPase-mediated energy supply inducing metabolic disturbances in algal cells under silver nanoparticles stress

Adenosine triphosphate(ATP) generation of aquatic organisms is often subject to nanoparticles(NPs) stress, involving extensive reprogramming of gene expression and changes in enzyme activity accompanied by metabolic disturbances. However, little is known about the mechanism of energy supply by ATP to regulate the metabolism of aquatic organisms under NPs stress. Here, we selected extensively existing silver nanoparticles(AgNPs) to investigate their implications on ATP generation and relevant met...     

Effect of methylmercury on LPO levels, SH groups and activities of GSH-Px, SOD, XOD in liver of rats

ｉｔｈｔｈｅｉｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎｏｆａｇｒｉｃｕｌｔｕｒａｌａｎｄｉｎｄｕｓｔｒｉａｌｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｍｅｎｔａｎｄｉｍｐｒｏｖｅｍｅｎｔｏｆｈｕｍａｎｌｉｆｅ ,ｅｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌｐｏｌｌｕｔｉｏｎｂｅｃｏｍｅｓｍｏｒｅａｎｄｍｏｒｅｏｆｃｏｎｃｅｒｎｆｏｒｐｅｏｐｌｅ.ＭｅＨｇｉｓｏｎｅｏｆｏｒｇａｎｉｃｌｉｐｉｄｓｏｌｕｂｌｅ ,ｈｅａｖｙｍｅｔａｌｌｉｃｐｏｌｌｕｔａｎｔｓ.Ａｌｔｈｏｕｇｈｉｔｓｂｉｏｌｏｇｉｃａｌｅｆｆｅｃｔｓｗｅｒｅｓｔｕｄｉｅｄｉｎｍａｎｙｆｉｅｌｄｓｂｙｒｅ…     

Correction to: Assessing local climate vulnerability and winegrowers’ adaptive processes in the context of climate change

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change - Section 3.4.2: Reference “Nicholas and Durham 2012” should have been cited in the last sentence. That is “Using a list of...     

Protozoa of Lough Neagh,Northern Ireland,UK

ＰｒｏｔｏｚｏａｏｆＬｏｕｇｈＮｅａｇｈ，ＮｏｒｔｈｅｒｎＩｒｅｌａｎｄ，ＵＫ￥ＸｕＭｕｑｉ（ＩｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅｏｆＺｏｏｌｏｇｙ，ＣｈｉｎｅｓｅＡｃａｄｅｍｙｏｆＳｃｉｅｎｃｅｓ，Ｂｅｉｊｉｎｇ１０００８０，Ｃｈｉｎａ）ＢｒｉａｎＷｏｏｄ（Ｆｒｅｓ...     

Major ion chemistry and control of weathering of Bhimtal Lake, Humaun Himalaya, India

ＭａｊｏｒｉｏｎｃｈｅｍｉｓｔｒｙａｎｄｃｏｎｔｒｏｌｏｆｗｅａｔｈｅｒｉｎｇｏｆＢｈｉｍｔａｌＬａｋｅ，ＨｕｍａｕｎＨｉｍａｌａｙａ，Ｉｎｄｉａ￥ＭａｎｐｒｅｅｔＳｉｎｇｈ；Ｂ．Ｋ．Ｄａｓ（ＣｅｎｔｒｅｏｆＡｄｖａｎｃｅｄＳｔｕｄｙｉｎＧｅｏｌｏｇ...     

Photodegradation of hydroxyfluorenes in ice and water: A comparison of kinetics,effects of water constituents,and phototransformation by-products

The photochemical behavior of organic pollutants in ice is poorly studied in comparison to aqueous photochemistry.Here we report a detailed comparison of ice and aqueous photodegradation of two representative OH-PAHs,2-hydroxyfluorene (2-OHFL) and 9-hydroxyfluorene (9-OHFL),which are newly recognized contaminants in the wider environment including colder regions.Interestingly,their photodegradation kinetics were clearly influenced by whether they reside in ice or water.Under the same simulated s...     

Macroinvertebrate assemblages of surface mine wetlands of Southwest Virginia,USA

ＭａｃｒｏｉｎｖｅｒｔｅｂｒａｔｅａｓｓｅｍｂｌａｇｅｓｏｆｓｕｒｆａｃｅｍｉｎｅｗｅｔｌａｎｄｓｏｆＳｏｕｔｈｗｅｓｔＶｉｒｇｉｎｉａ，ＵＳＡ￥ＤａｖｉｄＨ．Ｊｏｎｅｓ；ＲｏｂｅｒｔＢ．Ａｔｋｉｎｓｏｎ；ＪｏｈｎＣａｉｒｎｓ，Ｊｒ．（Ｄｅｐａｒｔｍ...     

Relationship between bioaccumulation, distribution of METand lipid content of aquatic organisms

Ｒｅｌａｔｉｏｎｓｈｉｐｂｅｔｗｅｅｎｂｉｏａｃｃｕｍｕｌａｔｉｏｎ，ｄｉｓｔｒｉｂｕｔｉｏｎｏｆＭＥＴａｎｄｌｉｐｉｄｃｏｎｔｅｎｔｏｆａｑｕａｔｉｃｏｒｇａｎｉｓｍｓＬｉｕＺｈｅｎｇｔａｏ；ＺｈｏｕＦｅｎｇｆａｎ；ＪｉｎＨｏｎｇｊｕｎ（Ｄｅｐａｒ...