Metallisch leitende Polymere — Jagdgründe für Solitonen?

Polyacetylene is presented as the prototype of a metallic conducting polymer. The concepts of one-dimensional metal physics are illustrated and special attention is drawn to a structural defect called “soliton”. Electrical, magnetic, and optical experiments connected with solitons are discussed. The authors' opinion is expressed that present experimental results do not yet furnish strong evidence for the existence of solitons in polyacetylene, but that the soliton idea is a fruitful stimulus for further investigations and novel applications.     

The CO2 abatement cost curve for the Thailand cement industry

The cement industry is one of the largest carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitters in the Thai industry. The cement sector accounted for about 20,633 kilotonnes (ktonnes) CO₂ emissions in 2005 in Thailand. A bottom-up CO₂ abatement cost curve (ACC) is constructed in this study for the Thai cement industry to determine the potentials and costs of CO₂ abatement, taking into account the costs and CO₂ abatement of different technologies. The period of 2010–2025 is chosen as the scenario period. We analyzed 41 CO₂ abatement technologies and measures for the cement industry. Using the bottom-up CO₂ ACC model, the cost-effective annual CO₂ abatement potential for the Thai cement industry during the 15 year scenario period (2010–2025) is equal to 3095 ktonnes CO₂/year. This is about 15% of the Thai cement industry’s total CO₂ emissions in 2005. The total technical annual CO₂ abatement potential is 3143 ktonnes CO₂/year, which is about 15.2% of the Thai cement industry’s total CO₂ emissions in 2005. We also conducted a sensitivity analysis for the discount rate parameter.     

Air pollutant emissions from rice straw open field burning in India, Thailand and the Philippines

Rice is a widely grown crop in Asia. China (30%) and India (21%) contribute to about half of the world's total rice production. In this study, three major rice-producing countries in Asia are considered, India, Thailand and the Philippines (the later two contributing 4% and 2% of the world's rice production). Rice straw is one of the main field based residues produced along with this commodity and its applications vary widely in the region. Although rice production practises vary from one country to another, open burning of straw is a common practice in these countries.In this study, an approach was followed aiming at (a) determining the quantity of rice straw being subject to open field burning in those countries, (b) congregating pollutant specific emissions factors for rice straw burning, and (c) quantifying the resulting air pollutant emissions. Uncertainties in the results obtained as compared to a global approach are also discussed.