A ban on one is a boon for the other: Strict gasoline content rules and implicit ethanol blending mandates

Ethanol and methyl-tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) were close substitutes in the gasoline additives market until MTBE was banned due to the concerns about groundwater contamination, leading to a sudden and dramatic substitution toward ethanol as an alternative oxygenate and octane-booster. We use variation in the timing of MTBE bans across states to identify their effects on gasoline prices. We find that state bans increased reformulated gasoline prices by 3–6 cents in non-Midwestern states for which the bans were binding, with larger impacts during times of high ethanol prices relative to MTBE and crude oil. We find qualitatively similar, yet smaller effects for conventional gasoline. We argue on the basis of a simple conceptual model and supporting empirical evidence that these bans functioned as implicit ethanol blending mandates in areas that were previously using MTBE to comply with strict environmental constraints. Overall, our results are consistent with the theoretical prediction that mandating a minimum market share for a more costly alternative fuel—either directly, or implicitly through a ban on the preferred conventional fuel—will inevitably increase fuel prices in a competitive market.     

Sustainability measurement of product-service systems: Brazilian case studies about electric car-sharing

Modifying the traditional production system and the culture of consumption is necessary to achieve a sustainable society. The product-service system (PSS) business model allows companies to progressively add services to physical products, thus promoting more pro-sustainable business outcomes. The purpose of this work is to verify how a PSS model can contribute to sustainability by analyzing two electric car-sharing projects using a set of five factors. As a methodological strategy, a Systematic Literature Review and a case study of the two projects (VAMO and EMOTIVE) were performed. Findings show benefits generated by both projects as to environmental aspects, mainly related to gases emission. It was also possible to observe social benefits due to income development and environmental awareness. This paper thus contributes to the discussion of the potential of the PSS models and how they can leverage business models toward a more sustainable society. Although the results are applicable only in this case, this article can motivate new projects and contribute to enriching the debate about sustainable solutions, as the literature in this field still provides few case studies showing these types of applications.     

Fuel consumption and gasoline prices: The role of assortative matching between households and automobiles

Analyses of policies to reduce gasoline consumption have focused on two effects, a compositional effect on the fuel economy of the automotive fleet and a utilization effect on how much people drive. However, the literature has missed a third effect: a matching effect, in which policies change how high-utilization households are matched to fuel-efficient vehicles in equilibrium. We show that higher gas prices should lead to stronger assortative matching. Empirical estimates using US micro-level data are consistent with this hypothesis. We find a $0.50 increase in the gas tax would reduce US gas consumption by 0.8% through the matching effect alone, bringing annual environmental benefits of about $1.7 billion.     

混凝法预处理洗车废水的试验研究

对混凝法预处理洗车废水进行了试验研究.通过烧杯试验对所选4种混凝剂处理洗车废水效果进行比较,确定了最优混凝剂及其投加量.试验结果确定聚合氯化铝铁为最优混凝荆,其最佳投加量为20mg/L.     

洗车废水的污染与环境管理研究

本文分析了洗车所造成的水资源的浪费、对环境的污染以及对道赂交通、居民、行人的影响，介绍了我国对洗车废水管理的现状，并从法制建设、执法监督、废水处理，先进洗车技术推广、宣传教育等方面提出了针对我国洗车废水污染的环境管理对策建议。     

液氯槽罐车公路运输事故原因分析及建议措施

近年来,液氯槽罐车公路运输事故频发,对社会及环境造成了极大负面影响。本文结合“3.29”液氯泄漏事故等典型事故,从人、车辆及罐体、道路环境和管理四个方面分析归纳了导致液氯槽罐车公路运输事故的主要原因,并提出相应的建议措施。     

混凝-MBR组合技术净化洗车废水试验研究

研究混凝-MBR组合技术净化洗车废水,首先对该技术净化CODcr、UV254、NH3 -N和浊度的效果进行了考察,实验结果表明,当废水温度大于22℃时、溶解氧浓度大于4.8 mg/L时、pH值在6到8之间的条件下,该组合技术对CODcr、NH3 -N和浊度的净化效果较好,平均净化率分别达到90.2%、96.4%和98%以上,高于传统MBR技术和常规技术,出水CODcr约为20 mg/L,NH3 -N基本在0.7 mg/L以下,浊度也小于0.5NTU,水质优于中国建设部生活杂用水水质标准( CJ25.1-89).     

Detection of the toughest: Pedestrian injury risk as a smooth function of age

Objective: Though it is common to refer to age-specific groups (e.g., children, adults, elderly), smooth trends conditional on age are mainly ignored in the literature. The present study examines the pedestrian injury risk in full-frontal pedestrian-to–passenger car accidents and incorporates age—in addition to collision speed and injury severity—as a plug-in parameter.

Methods: Recent work introduced a model for pedestrian injury risk functions using explicit formulae with easily interpretable model parameters. This model is expanded by pedestrian age as another model parameter. Using the German In-Depth Accident Study (GIDAS) to obtain age-specific risk proportions, the model parameters are fitted to the raw data and then smoothed by broken-line regression.

Results: The approach supplies explicit probabilities for pedestrian injury risk conditional on pedestrian age, collision speed, and injury severity under investigation. All results yield consistency to each other in the sense that risks for more severe injuries are less probable than those for less severe injuries. As a side product, the approach indicates specific ages at which the risk behavior fundamentally changes. These threshold values can be interpreted as the most robust ages for pedestrians.

Conclusions: The obtained age-wise risk functions can be aggregated and adapted to any population. The presented approach is formulated in such general terms that in can be directly used for other data sets or additional parameters; for example, the pedestrian's sex. Thus far, no other study using age as a plug-in parameter can be found.     

节能和清洁能源汽车

随着天津市机动车保有量的增加，由机动车排放造成的污染绝对量也在增长，燃料的充分利用和加速发展或引进技术含量高、排放低甚至零排放的车型，是改善天津市机动车排放状况减少对环境空气环境污染的重要措施，本文阐述较先进的机动车节能技术现状及使用清洁能源燃料汽车的发展趋势。     

Potentially preventable prehospital deaths from motor vehicle collisions

Background: In 2011, about 30,000 people died in motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) in the United States. We sought to evaluate the causes of prehospital deaths related to MVCs and to assess whether these deaths were potentially preventable.

Methods: Miami–Dade Medical Examiner records for 2011 were reviewed for all prehospital deaths of occupants of 4-wheeled motor vehicle collisions. Injuries were categorized by affected organ and anatomic location of the body. Cases were reviewed by a panel of 2 trauma surgeons to determine cause of death and whether the death was potentially preventable. Time to death and hospital arrival times were determined using the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data from 2002 to 2012, which allowed comparison of our local data to national prevalence estimates.

Results: Local data revealed that 39% of the 98 deaths reviewed were potentially preventable (PPD). Significantly more patients with PPD had neurotrauma as a cause of death compared to those with a nonpreventable death (NPD) (44.7% vs. 25.0%, P =.049). NPDs were significantly more likely to have combined neurotrauma and hemorrhage as cause of death compared to PPDs (45.0% vs. 10.5%, P <.001). NPDs were significantly more likely to have injuries to the chest, pelvis, or spine. NPDs also had significantly more injuries to the following organ systems: lung, cardiac, and vascular chest (all P <.05). In the nationally representative FARS data from 2002 to 2012, 30% of deaths occurred on scene and another 32% occurred within 1 h of injury. When comparing the 2011 FARS data for Miami–Dade to the remainder of the United States in that year, percentage of deaths when reported on scene (25 vs. 23%, respectively) and within 1 h of injury (35 vs. 32%, respectively) were similar.

Conclusions: Nationally, FARS data demonstrated that two thirds of all MVC deaths occurred within 1 h of injury. Over a third of prehospital MVC deaths were potentially preventable in our local sample. By examining injury patterns in PPDs, targeted intervention may be initiated.