Do global climate summits influence public awareness and policy preferences concerning climate change?

A survey-embedded experiment implemented around the time of the 2014 annual Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (N ≈ 1200) examined whether such summits are able to increase citizens’ awareness of climate problems. This study finds that exposure to positive or negative cues about the COP increases climate change awareness, particularly among participants who start out with a low level of awareness. Neither positive nor negative cues about the COP significantly affect people’s policy preferences. Our finding resonates with Bernard Cohen’s observation that the mass media may not often be successful in telling people what to think, but they are successful in telling readers what to think about.     

The promissory note: COP 21 and the Paris Climate Agreement

The 2015 UN climate negotiations in Paris resulted in an inclusive, binding treaty that succeeds the Kyoto Protocol. In contrast to the failure at Copenhagen in 2009, the Paris negotiations are therefore seen as a major diplomatic success that has regenerated faith in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as a forum for dynamic multilateralism. The Paris Agreement provides a robust framework for ratcheting up efforts to combat global warming. However, the Agreement’s value will remain unclear for some time. The historical path to the Paris accord is outlined, and a preliminary assessment is offered of its key elements and outcomes.     

Investigation of Environmental Effects Based on Exergetic Irreversibility for Display Cases’ Units in Commercial Cooling

This study examines energetic and exergetic performances of display cases’ units used in market applications depending on different refrigerants. Besides CO₂ emission potential of each refrigerant based on exergetic irreversibility obtained from analyses is calculated by the method of Total Equivalent Warming Impact (TEWI). In this study, 1 kW cooling capacity and vapor compression cooling cycle is taken as reference and refrigerants of R-22, R-134a, R-404A, and R-507 together with alternative refrigerant R-407C and R152a are examined separately. According to analyses, R-404A gas, used widely in market applications, has low performance with average COP 3.89 and average exergy efficiency 55.20%. R-152a gas has the best performance by the thermodynamics parameters including COP 4.49, exergy efficiency 63.79%, and 0.23 kW power consumption and emission parameter 14097.490 ton CO₂/year. Although COP is used as a criterion to evaluate the systems, this study finally emphasizes the importance of exergy analysis and TEWI method which are important methods to determine irreversibility and emission potential of the systems.     

环保型CO_2跨临界带膨胀机制冷循环性能研究

由于CFCs和HCFCs人工合成制冷剂破坏大气臭氧层,并产生温室效应,因此用自然工质替代合成工质越来越受到国内外制冷界的重视。文章对环保型CO2制冷工质进行了综合评价,并利用热力学原理建立模型,分析了CO2跨临界带膨胀机制冷循环的性能。结果表明:与CO2跨临界带节流阀制冷循环相比,CO2跨临界带膨胀机制冷循环明显提高了系统的性能系数(COP)。同时在保持压缩机排气压力和膨胀机等熵效率一定时,CO2跨临界带膨胀机制冷循环系统COP随着气体冷却器出口温度的增加而逐渐降低,但随着蒸发温度的增加而快速增加。在实际系统设计过程中,应综合考虑以上影响因素,以使系统设计最优化。     

环保型开式吸附制冷系统的实验研究

采用氯化锂除湿转轮，对环保型开式吸附空调制冷系统进行了实验研究。实验证明，该空调制冷系统可用９０ ～１００ ℃的热源作动力，制冷效率可以超过４０ ％ 。这样，利用太阳能或工业余热就可以驱动该制冷系统，减少常规压缩式制冷产生的氟里昂及热岛对空气的污染。本文取得的实验数据为环保型开式吸附空调制冷系统的中试设计提供了可靠依据。     

Global Climate Talks from Failure to Cooperation and Hope: Swedish News Framings of COP15 and COP21

The purpose of this study is to offer an analysis of how two UN Conferences of Parties, COP15 in Copenhagen 2009 and COP21 in Paris 2015, were covered and debated in Swedish newspapers. Two national and two regional newspapers were selected for the study, and a qualitative frame analysis was conducted on 309 articles. A typology of frames applicable to science-related policy and climate change debates was used and its relevance for global climate summit context was discussed. Having territory in the Arctic region, indigenous populations affected by climate change measures, and political and public sensitivity to environmental issues, the climate debate has particular significance in the Swedish case. Findings indicate a trust in the role of national and supra-national governance to address climate change problems, but also that newspapers in Sweden maintained a focus on the global aspects of the two meetings, rather than framing them as surrogate battlefields for domestic politics.     

Correlating negotiation hotspot issues,Paris climate agreement and the international climate policy regime

The concerns over climate change negotiation, decision texts and links to domestic policy interests of countries to keep warming within an acceptable limit have become the ‘hotspot issues’ of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Hotspot issues are the human – political economy factors which have evolved over time from negotiation texts or phrases, principles or behaviors with tendencies to influence climate negotiations yet cannot be identified with the scientific literature. Whilst big emitters have been accused as having hegemony over the negotiations, the effects of disunity amongst the parties over domestic policy interests have been overlooked. Hence the article examines the emergence of hotspot issues and how they manifest within the international climate policy regime. The Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) of 130 countries submitted before the Paris agreement, were analyzed using the following texts: Adaptation, Mitigation, Co-benefits, Finance, Land use, Food security, Poverty, Resilience, Green growth, Green economy, Sustainable development, Biodiversity, Ecosystem services and Conservation. Of these, ‘adaptation’ was cited 2780 times, 1956 for ‘mitigation’ and 32 for ‘ecosystem services’ in the nature conservation category. Ten phases of the climate policy regime and historical hotspot issues were identified for the period 1980–2030. ‘Adaptation’ and mitigation appeared more frequently in the INDCs and correlated with each other (r = 0.56), as the two correlated further with ‘land use’ (0.50 < r < 0.60), and similarly with sustainable development (0.40 < r < 0.70) where ‘r’ is the Pearson Rank Correlation. Therefore the success of the ‘ambitious targets’ for mitigation will depend on similar ambitious goals for adaptation, land use and sustainable development. Several differences existed in the correlation of the hotspot issues within the regional geographical blocs (Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America) and split along the hotspot issues yet Europe mostly oriented towards mitigation and land use, and Oceania on resilience building. These differences provide favorable conditions for increased cooperation and true multilateralism if they are properly diagnosed.     

Refrigeration waste heat utilization for drying applications: a review

ABSTRACT

Cold chain industry has a vast potential for waste heat recovery. It is a matter of importance for energy efficiency point of view, as global energy demand is increasing day by day. Ample amount of low-grade energy is either unutilized or underutilized. The heat rejected by a Heat pump or refrigeration system emerged as a promising solution for dehydration by utilizing low-grade waste heat despite higher investment. As compared to solar drying technology, heat pump drying evolved as a reliable method regarding better process control, energy efficiency, and quality of the product to be dried. Energy utilized through the refrigeration system’s waste/exhaust heat recovery in combination with or without renewable energy source enhances the overall efficiency of the system and also reduces the cost. This useful review investigated and compared the research findings of waste heat utilization through heat pump and from condenser of refrigeration system on laboratory, pilot as well as industrial scale for drying of various fruits, vegetables, and agro products. Various drying parameters like drying rate, moisture content, Specific Moisture Extraction Rate (SMER), Coefficient of Performance (COP), Exergy efficiency, and temperature as well as humidity conditions inside the drying chamber were also reviewed to promote the technological advancement of energy utilization by commercial cold storage waste heat recovery.     

The UN climate change negotiations and the role of the United States: assessing American leadership from Copenhagen to Paris

The role of American leadership in the UN climate negotiations that produced the 2015 Paris Agreement is examined. First, United States (US) climate goals are identified. Then, utilizing unique survey data collected at eight UN climate summits between 2008 and 2015, the extent to which the US was recognized as a leader by potential followers is investigated. Finally, the extent to which US goals are reflected in negotiation outcomes is evaluated. Recognition of the US as a leader varied over time, peaking at the UN climate meetings in Copenhagen and Paris, reflecting US leadership in shaping the outcomes of both meetings. Although the results reveal a divided leadership landscape in which the US must compete for leadership with other actors, such as the European Union and China, US leadership was crucial to the successful adoption of the Paris Agreement.     

Climate Engagement in a Digital Age: Exploring the Drivers of Participation in Climate Discourse Online in the Context of COP21

Various scholars underscore the importance of public engagement with climate change to successfully respond to the challenges of global warming. However, although online media provide various new opportunities to actively engage in climate discourse so far very little is known about the drivers of this form of engagement. Against this background, this study tested a theoretical model on the effects of media and interpersonal communication on participation in climate discourse online using data from a representative online survey of German citizens (n?=?1392) carried out while COP21. Overall, the results show that receiving information on climate change from social media (social networks, Twitter, blogs), active information seeking online and interpersonal conversations about COP21 strongly encourage participation in climate discourse online. Moreover, results provide relevant insights on the role of interest in climate politics, personal issue relevance and climate scepticism as preconditions of communication effects.