An optimized policy for the reduction of CO2 emission in the Brazilian Legal Amazon

The Brazilian government has already acknowledged the importance of investing in the development and application of technologies to reduce or prevent CO₂ emissions resulting from human activities in the Legal Brazilian Amazon (BA). The BA corresponds to a total area of 5 × 10⁶ km² from which 4 × 10⁶ km² was originally covered by the rain forest. One way to interfere with the net balance of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions is to increase the forest area to sequester CO₂ from the atmosphere. The single most important cause of depletion of the rain forest is cattle ranching. In this work, we present an effective policy to reduce the net balance of CO₂ emissions using optimal control theory to obtain a compromising partition of investments in reforestation and promotion of clear technology to achieve a CO₂ emission target for 2020. The simulation indicates that a CO₂ emission target for 2020 of 376 million tonnes requires an estimated forest area by 2020 of 3,708,000 km², demanding a reforestation of 454,037 km². Even though the regional economic growth can foster the necessary political environment for the commitment with optimal emission targets, the reduction of 38.9% of carbon emissions until 2020 proposed by Brazilian government seems too ambitious.     

Self-insurance against natural disasters

Expenditures on self-insurance to mitigate the effects of natural disasters on the value of private assets are examined in a model where individuals are partially insured against financial loss by a public relief program and where private insurance is unavailable. The model predicts that optimal private expenditures on self-insurance will be excessive or insufficient according to the nature of the technology by which individuals protect their assets. The comparative static effects of variations in the level of public compensation, individual wealth, and attitudes toward risk and the degree of environmental uncertainty on self-insurance expenditures and on the magnitude and frequency of public compensation are also characterized and their implications for remedial government policies are examined.     

Group foraging, patch exploitation time and the finder's advantage

 We use a combination of the marginal value theorem (MVT) of Charnov (1976), and a group foraging model featuring information sharing to address patch residence in an environment where food occurs in discrete patches. We shall show that among equal competitors the optimal patch time for the individual that finds the food patch is shorter than that for the non-finder among equal competitors, T _E < T _N. This is the case if the patch-finder commences food harvesting in the patch earlier and manages to monopolise a fraction of the prey items (finder's advantage) before the other individuals come to take their benefit. When individuals differ in their food-searching abilities so that some of them (producers) contribute proportionally more to food-searching than others (scroungers), and differ in ability to compete for the food found, a difference emerges between producer and scrounger individuals in the optimal patch time. Within a patch we always have the finder's advantage (T _E < T _N) regardless of phenotype. Between patches a suite of optimal patch times for encountering individuals emerges depending on the performance of producers and scroungers when changing from solitary feeding to feeding in a group. The optimal patch time for individuals that are affected more severely by competition is shorter than that for individuals of the phenotype with better competitive ability. When both phenotypes are affected similarly no difference in optimal patch times emerges. Received: 13 February 1996 / Accepted after revision: 28 September 1996     

The transition from dirty to clean industries: optimal fiscal policy and the environmental Kuznets curve

This paper investigates privately and socially optimal patterns of economic development in a two-sector endogenous growth model with clean and dirty goods. We consider a second-best fiscal policy framework in which distortionary taxes jointly influence economic growth and environmental quality. In this policy setting, three conditions produce an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC): (i) dirty output is bounded; (ii) clean output grows endogenously; and (iii) growth in the dirty sector reduces growth in the clean sector. These conditions do not arise with a consumption externality, but can emerge with a production externality. Endogenous labor supply implications are also investigated. Although not necessary for producing an EKC, endogenous labor supply provides additional linkages that produce an EKC under circumstances in which it would otherwise not appear.     

Towards an understanding of the influence of sustainability culture on the accounting profession

While some previous research has critiqued accounting behaviour towards society and the environment, this paper points in a slightly different direction. With the aid of a chronological chart, it uses sustainability initiatives from the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) to demonstrate the accounting profession's positive response to societal sustainability culture. Applying the cultural theories of Gray and Hofstede, it argues that society is responsible for alleged negative behaviour in accounting and that society hampers progress in sustainability accounting through political and corporate manoeuvrings. It asserts that, at least within the Canadian context, the more society embraces deeper green culture, the more accounting will transform towards sustainability values. It provides a future research agenda towards extenuating accounting criticisms. The paper suggests some policy implications for government and highlights that the power to condition and moderate accounting behaviour resides within society, governments and the laws of nations; it follows therefore that attaining any goals in sustainable development depends on the choice and commitment of governments and institutions.     

The optimal time path of clean energy R&D policy when patents have finite lifetime

We study the optimal time path for clean energy innovation policy. In a model with emission reduction through clean energy deployment, and with R&D increasing the overall productivity of clean energy, we describe optimal R&D policies jointly with emission pricing policies. We find that while emission prices can be set at the Pigouvian level independently of innovation policy, the optimal level of R&D subsidies and patent lifetime change with the stages of the climate problem. In the early stages of clean energy development, innovators find it more difficult to capture the social value of their innovations. Thus, for a given finite patent lifetime, optimal clean energy R&D subsidies are initially high, but then fall over time. Alternatively, if research subsidies are kept constant, the optimal patent lifetime should initially be long and fall over time.     

超滤膜污染和清洗方法的研究

本文以牛血清蛋白为料液,用酸、碱和表面活性剂作为清洗剂,对聚砜、聚丙烯腈等四种不同材质的超滤膜进行了污染和清洗实验,同时还研究了不同ＰＨ值对膜清洗效果的影响,结果表明,对于季铵化聚砚膜,用ＮａＯＨ清洗效果较好,丙烯腈膜以ＨＣｌ清洗效果为好;Ｐ天等电点附近,容易引起吸附     

The strategic use of innovation to influence regulatory standards

This paper investigates the welfare consequences of strategic behavior by firms to affect the amount of environmental regulation they face. Environmental regulation often attempts to force an industry to develop cleaner technology, but the regulator may have no means to commit to a specific standard. This lack of regulatory commitment induces firms to choose innovation strategically. It is well-known that firms have incentives to suppress innovation to induce the regulator to ratchet down the standard, and this strategic behavior lowers welfare. This paper explores a countervailing incentive. In oligopoly settings, firms have heightened incentives to innovate so as to increase regulation and raise rivals costs. In equilibrium, the incentive to raise rivals cost can mitigate the welfare loss arising from no regulatory commitment. Also, a regulator who is unable to commit ex ante to the stringency of a regulatory standard can induce more clean technology than a regulator with a commitment mechanism.     

The strategic use of innovation to influence regulatory standards

This paper investigates the welfare consequences of strategic behavior by firms to affect the amount of environmental regulation they face. Environmental regulation often attempts to force an industry to develop cleaner technology, but the regulator may have no means to commit to a specific standard. This lack of regulatory commitment induces firms to choose innovation strategically. It is well-known that firms have incentives to suppress innovation to induce the regulator to ratchet down the standard, and this strategic behavior lowers welfare. This paper explores a countervailing incentive. In oligopoly settings, firms have heightened incentives to innovate so as to increase regulation and raise rivals costs. In equilibrium, the incentive to raise rivals cost can mitigate the welfare loss arising from no regulatory commitment. Also, a regulator who is unable to commit ex ante to the stringency of a regulatory standard can induce more clean technology than a regulator with a commitment mechanism.     

Using land as a control variable in density-dependent bioeconomic models

The bioeconomic analysis of endangered species without consumptive values can be problematic when analysed with density-dependent models that assume a fixed environment size. Most bioeconomic models use harvest as a control variable, yet when modelling non-harvestable species, frequently the only variable under control of conservationists is the quantity of habitat to be made available. The authors explore the implications of this in a model developed to analyse the potential population recovery of New Zealand’s yellow-eyed penguin. The penguin faces severe competition with man for the terrestrial resources required for breeding and has declined in population to perilously low levels. The model was developed to estimate the land use required for recovery and preservation of the species and to compare the results to current tourism-driven conservation efforts. It is demonstrated that land may serve as a useful control variable in bioeconomic models and that such a model may be useful for determining whether sufficient incentives exist to preserve a species. However, the model may generate less useful results for providing a specific estimate of the optimal allocation of land to such a species.     

Copper ecotoxicology of marine algae: a methodological appraisal

The production of accurate and reliable data on copper ecotoxicology of marine algae depends on the use of trace metal clean techniques during experimentation. We reviewed the methodologies used in the literature on copper ecotoxicology of marine macro- and microalgae, specifically the use of trace metal clean procedures such as the labware used (glassware vs. plasticware), methods of cleaning the labware (acid soaking and ultrapure water rinsing), stock solution preparation (copper source and acidification), and measurement and reporting of dissolved copper concentrations. In terms of taxonomic classification, the most studied algal groups were the Phyla Ochrophyta, Bacillariophyta, Rhodophyta, and Chlorophyta. In terms of methodology, ～50% of the articles did not specify the labware, ～25% used glassware, and ～25% plasticware; ～30% of the studies specified cleaning protocols for labware to remove trace metal impurities; the copper form used to prepare the stock solutions was specified in ～80% of studies but acidification to stabilise the dissolved copper was performed in only ～20%; and the dissolved copper concentration was measured in only ～40% of studies. We discuss the importance of following trace metal clean techniques for the comparison and interpretation of data obtained on copper ecotoxicology in algae.     

Cleaning symbiosis in an obligate goby–shrimp association

Shrimps from the genus Alpheidae had never been considered as a cleaner organism. In the present study, we demonstrate for the first time, Alpheus rapax engaging in cleaning symbiosis with its gobiid fish associate Myersina macrostoma. Within 450 min of observation time, 9 instances totalling 546 s of cleaning behaviour were recorded. Cleaning behaviour was always preceded by physical contact between the shrimps and their goby associates. The shrimps initiated all cleaning incidents, but these were always terminated by the gobies. Cleaning sessions were observed to occur mostly in the tail region (60.8 %) and followed by the head region (26.2 %). In one instance, a shrimp was observed to clean the gills of its goby associate. The gobies appear to exert some control as to where they were being cleaned by repositioning themselves during a cleaning session.     

Practical Implications of Understanding the Influence of Motivations on Commitment to Voluntary Urban Conservation Stewardship

Although the word commitment is prevalent in conservation biology literature and despite the importance of people's commitment to the success of conservation initiatives, commitment as a psychological phenomenon and its operation in specific conservation behaviors remains unexplored. Despite increasing calls for conservation psychology to play a greater role in meeting conservation goals, applications of the psychological sciences to specific conservation behaviors, illustrating their utility to conservation practice, are rare. We examined conservation volunteers’ motivations and commitment to urban conservation volunteering. We interviewed key informant volunteers and used interview findings to develop psychometric scales that we used to assess motivations and commitment to volunteer. We surveyed 322 urban conservation volunteers and used factor analysis to reveal how volunteers structure their motivations and commitment to volunteer for urban conservation activities. Six categories of motivations and 2 categories of commitment emerged from factor analysis. Volunteers were motivated by desires to help the environment, defend and enhance the ego, career and learning opportunities, escape and exercise, social interactions, and community building. Two forms of commitment, affective and normative commitment, psychologically bind people to urban conservation volunteerism. We used linear‐regression models to examine how these categories of motivations influence volunteers’ commitment to conservation volunteerism. Volunteers’ tendency to continue to volunteer for urban conservation, even in the face of fluctuating counter urges, was motivated by personal, social, and community functions more than environmental motivations. The environment, otherwise marginally important, was a significant motivator of volunteers’ commitment only when volunteering met volunteers’ personal, social, and community‐building goals. Attention to these personal, social, and community‐building motivations may help enhance volunteers’ commitment to conservation stewardship and address the pressing challenge of retaining urban conservation volunteers. Implicaciones Prácticas del Entendimiento de la Influencia de Motivaciones sobre el Compromiso de Voluntarios de Conservación Urbana Asah & Blahna     

Microplastics pollution and reduction strategies

Microplastic particles smaller than 5 mm in size are of increasing concern, especially in aquatic environments, such as the ocean. Primary source is microbeads (<1 mm) used in cosmetics and cleaning agents and fiber fragments from washing of clothes, and secondary source such as broken down plastic litter and debris. These particles are mostly made from polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyesters. They are ingested by diverse marine fauna, including zooplanktons, mussel, oyster, shrimp, fish etc. and can enter human food chains via several pathways. Strategy for control of microplastics pollution should primarily focus on source reduction and subsequently on the development of cost-effective clean up and remediation technologies. Recent research results on biodegradation of plastics have revealed a potential for microbial biodegradation and bioremediation of plastic pollutants, such as PE, PS and PET under appropriate conditions.     

Optimal Marking of Threatened Species to Balance Benefits of Information with Impacts of Marking

Abstract: Marking animals so that they are uniquely identifiable provides information that may assist conservation efforts. Nevertheless, some methods used to mark animals can be harmful. We used mathematical methods to assess the trade‐off between the impact of marking threatened species and the value of the information gained. We considered the case where 2 management strategies, each aiming to improve a species' survival rate, are implemented in an experimental phase. The results of the experiment were applied in a postexperimental management phase. We expressed the expected number of survivors in both phases mathematically, accounting for any mortality caused by the experiment, and determined the proportion of animals to mark to maximize this number. The optimal number of animals to mark increased with the number of individuals available for the experiment and with the number of individuals to be managed in the future. The optimal solution was to mark only 25% of the animals when there were 1000 individuals available for the experiment, the results were used to manage 2000 individuals, and marking caused mortality of 1%. Fewer animals were marked when there were fewer animals in either phase or when marking caused higher mortality. In the case of the Helmeted Honeyeater (Lichenostomus melanops cassidix), the optimal proportion to mark was <1 if the mortality rate was >0.15%–1%, with the threshold depending on the number of animals in the experimental and postexperimental phases. The trade‐off between gaining more information about a species and possibly harming individuals of that species by marking them is difficult to assess subjectively. We show how to determine objectively the optimal proportion of animals to mark to enhance the management of threatened species.     

Environmental solutions sparked by environmental history

Environmental solutions require a decision-making process that is ultimately political, in that they involve decisions with uncertain outcomes and stakeholders with conflicting viewpoints. If this process seeks broad alignment between the government and public, then reconciling conflicting viewpoints is a key to the legitimacy of these decisions. We show that ecological baselines can be particularly powerful tools for creating a common understanding for public support (legitimacy) and conformity to new rules or regulations (legality) that enable the solution. They are powerful because they move the discussion of solutions from the abstract to the concrete by providing a conceptual model for a common expectation (e.g., restoring habitat). They provide narratives of the past (ecological histories) that readjust the future expectations of individuals on how to perceive and respond to new policy. While ecological baselines offer scientists benchmarks for reinstating ecological functions, they also normalize public and government discussion of solutions. This social normalization of public issues may assist government policy and influence social views, practices, and behaviors that adopt the policy. For science to more effectively inform conservation, we encourage interdisciplinary thinking (science- and human-centered) because it can provide public support and government legitimacy for investing in environmental solutions.     

美国汽车清洁燃料研究发展

本文简要介绍了美国汽车清洁燃料和汽油替代燃料的研究和发展状况，内容涉及美国政府对发展汽车清洁燃料的战略、政策、立法和有关发展计划，清洁燃料的类型和种类及应用情况，以及存在的主要问题和未来的发展方向。     

Client preferences by Caribbean cleaning gobies: food,safety or something else?

Predation risk is amongst the most pervasive selective pressures influencing behaviour and animals have been repeatedly shown to trade-off foraging success for safety. We examined the nature of this trade-off in cleaning symbioses amongst Caribbean coral reef fishes. We predicted that cleaning gobies (Elacatinus evelynae and Elacatinus prochilos) should prefer fish clients that pose a low risk of predation (e.g. herbivores) over clients that may have more ectoparasites but pose a higher risk (e.g. piscivores). Our field observations revealed that cleaners did clean preferentially client species with more parasites but predatory and non-predatory clients had similar ectoparasite loads. Despite the lack of a foraging advantage for inspecting predators, cleaners did not avoid risky clients. On the contrary, a larger proportion of visiting predators than non-predators was inspected, gobies initiated more interactions with predatory clients, and predators were attended to immediately upon arrival at cleaning stations. This preferential treatment of dangerous clients may allow the rapid identification of cleaners as non-prey item or may be due to the effect of predators on the rest of the cleaners’ clientele, which avoided cleaning stations whilst predators were present. Dealing with potentially risky clients may allow gobies to regain access to their main food source: non-predatory clients.     

Announcing climate policy: Can a green paradox arise without scarcity?

Unintended consequences of a pre-announced climate policy are studied within a framework that allows for competition between polluting and clean energy sources. We show that early announcement of a carbon tax gives rise to a “green-paradox,” in that it increases emissions in the interim period (between announcement and actual implementation), irrespective of the scarcity of fossil fuels. The paradoxical outcome is driven by consumption-saving tradeoffs facing households who seek to smooth consumption over time and holds both when the announced implementation date is taken as a credible threat and when households are skeptical about the (political) will or capability of the government to implement the policy as announced.     

Why clean and be cleaned? The importance of client ectoparasites and mucus in a marine cleaning symbiosis

The preferences exhibited by cleaner fishes for particular client species and the high variability in rates at which various clients visit cleaning stations have remained largely unexplained. In this study, we assessed the relative importance of client ectoparasite load and mucus characteristics for the behaviour of cleaning gobies, Elacatinus spp, and their fish clients on a Barbadian fringing reef. Client species with high ectoparasite loads visited cleaning stations more often than less parasitised species. This effect was independent of body size. Frequency of visits to cleaning stations was not related to client mucus characteristics. These results suggest that the main motivation for clients to interact with cleaners is ectoparasite removal. Cleaners did not preferentially clean clients with higher ectoparasite load or better mucus, nor did they spend more time inspecting such clients. The interests of cleaners and clients therefore appear to be inconsistent. This may be due to the generally low rate of ectoparasitism on Barbadian fish compared to fish of other regions. Cleaning gobies fed at a lower rate on client species with higher loads of gnathiid isopod larvae, which may be explained if cleaners switch from eating ectoparasites to other items, such as mucus, on clients with few ectoparasites. Our estimates of caloric and protein content of fish mucus suggest that it may be as valuable a food source per unit weight as ectoparasites. However, no data are available to compare the value of each item per unit feeding time. The fact that clients with few ectoparasites still visit cleaners, albeit at a low rate, suggests that the cost of mucus removal may be low, compared to the benefit of incidental parasite removal. Thus, the outcome of cleaning interactions may remain positive, even in areas characterised by naturally low parasitism on clients.