Oil dependency,political institutions,and urban–rural disparities in access to electricity in Africa

In line with the resource curse literature, this paper examines the effect of oil dependency on the disparities in access to electricity between urban and rural areas in Africa, conditional on the quality of political institutions. Based on data from 36 African countries over the period 2000–2017, our investigation suggests that oil rents (% of GDP) increase urban–rural disparities in access to electricity. However, the quality of institutions shapes the effect of oil dependency on these disparities. Specifically, a 10% increase in the institutional quality score reduces the adverse effects of oil rent on electricity access disparity by around 19%, and the negative impact of oil dependency on urban–rural disparities is reversed when institutional quality reaches a score of 52% on a scale from 0 to 100. The robustness tests support these results and call for strengthening the quality of institutions to overcome the resource curse in Africa.     

春节期间南京市大气气溶胶粒径分布特征

为研究春节期间燃放烟花爆竹对城市大气气溶胶数浓度粒径谱分布的影响,对2012年1月19~31日南京大气气溶胶数浓度、污染气体浓度和质量浓度进行了观测分析.结果表明,烟花爆竹的燃放期间10~20 nm气溶胶浓度远低于非燃放期,50~100、100~200和200~500 nm数浓度有较大增加,20~50 nm和0.5~10μm气溶胶数浓度变化不大.烟花爆竹的燃放对气溶胶数浓度谱影响较大,非燃放期数浓度谱为双峰型分布;在燃放期数浓度谱为单峰性分布,且峰值向大粒径段偏移.烟花爆竹燃放期间质量浓度谱为双峰型分布,对细粒子的质量浓度影响较大,燃放期间PM2.5/PM10和PM1.0/PM10的值可升高10%.烟花爆竹的大量燃放对1.0~2.1μm粒径段气溶胶密度影响最大,对其他粒径段密度影响较小.     

Governing Quasi-Public Network Services for adaptation to climate change

Adaptation takes place in both private and public sectors, or as an interrelation between the two, and often under the realm of public regulation. Thispaper uses the Swedish and the Norwegian electricity grid sector, as providers of a vital public good under strict public regulation, to analyse reforms' effects on adaptive capacity in this area. The paper shows that transformational changes in both sectors during the 1990s shifted both the formal organisational structure (rules and regulations), as well as the organisational culture, in the direction of economic efficiency. These two dimensions individually reduced adaptive capacity to climate change, although differently in the two countries. However, the formal structure and organisational culture also yielded substantial influence on each other. This leads to the conclusion that when designing public regulations and implementing reforms, organisational culture must be considered in the design. Also the paper contests previous findings in the literature by showing that under given conditions there exist some substitution between the two dimensions in influencing adaptive capacity, implying that both dimensions should be included when analysing adaptation since analysing them in isolation is likely to lead to wrong conclusions.     

Quantifying the rebound effects of residential solar panel adoption

Customers who adopt solar panels can reduce their energy bills and lower the effective average electricity prices they pay. When the price falls, a solar consumer might consume more electricity than before – a solar rebound effect. We provide the first empirical evidence of residential solar rebound effects in the U.S. We use household level hourly and daily electricity meter data as well as hourly solar panel electricity generation data from 277 solar homes and about 4000 non-solar homes from 2013 to 2017 in Phoenix Arizona. Using matching methods and a fixed effects panel regression approach, we find that when solar electricity generation increases by 1 kWh, solar homes increase their total electricity consumption by 0.18 kWh. This indicates that solar rebound effects are estimated at 18%. Building upon our theoretical framework, the increase in consumer surplus from solar panel adoption is estimated at $972/yr.     

A case study of an isolated wind powered electricity system meeting 100% of local demand

Using meteorological and electricity demand data for a 4-year period, electricity demand in Shetland was modeled to provide an estimate of the demand over a 30-year period from 1 January 1981. That modeled demand was then compared to estimated wind power output over the same period using the WAsP model. The wind farm output was estimated for a range of sizes of wind farm up to the consented 370 MW Viking Wind Farm in Shetland. Some wind power was available for 94% of the time and the 370 MW wind farm would meet 100% of demand for nearly 80% of the time. The statistics of single and accumulated deficits were calculated for a range of wind farms and estimates of the amount of additional generation capacity and additional power requirements were assessed. The study suggests that with storage, wind power in Shetland could meet all electricity demand in Shetland at around £130 to £150/MWh (excluding subsidy) and with a grid connection allowing the sale of excess power, those costs could be reduced.     

秸秆焚烧对哈尔滨市灰霾天气的影响

2015年11月1—4日,哈尔滨市及周边地区发生了连续的灰霾天气,颗粒物浓度急剧升高。污染发生时,监测仪器均布设在哈尔滨市区上风向30 km处(哈尔滨市双城区)并开展了连续96 h的监测分析。综合利用气象观测资料,3D可视激光雷达监测资料及地面空气污染监测资料分析了灰霾天气发生的气象条件和污染边界层特征,根据哈尔滨市双城区大气污染物排放源谱库对主要成分进行来源解析,结合颗粒物质量浓度和气象条件研究了秸秆焚烧对灰霾天气的影响。结果表明,灰霾天气持续期间,夜间生物质燃烧源成为该地区颗粒物的第二大源;秸秆焚烧产生的大气污染物,由于地面长时间静风,污染边界层降低等原因,致使本地污染物累积、不易扩散,加剧了本次污染。     

Vetoing the future: political constraints and renewable energy

Despite the increased importance of and attention to renewable energy, its share in the overall energy mix has varied significantly across countries and over time. There are many determinants of clean energy transitions; this study focuses on political constraints. Here it is argued that political systems that have fewer political constraints have fewer access points through which powerful status quo veto players can slow the progress of clean energy reforms. To test the theory, a hierarchical model is applied on a dataset of 125 countries over four decades. The results provide significant support for the theory. Furthermore, the effects for political constraints hold even when we distinguish between hydro and non-hydro renewable sources and control for regime type. This study builds on research that recognizes the importance of politics in understanding the challenges and opportunities of clean energy reform.     

京津冀产业碳排放强度变化及驱动因素研究

为探讨京津冀地区温室气体排放强度变化的影响因素,采用对数平均迪式分解模型及归因分析(LMDI-Attribution)方法,基于1996—2014年数据从细分行业角度进行研究。针对温室气体排放强度作产业结构、能源强度和排放因子三因素LMDI乘法分解,对温室气体排放强度变化的影响效应作归因分析,量化4个行业对分解因素影响效应的贡献,得到以下主要结论:1996—2014年京津冀地区温室气体排放强度主要呈现下降趋势,累计下降23.05%。其中,能源强度是温室气体排放强度下降的主导因素,其影响效应为-61.18%,对这一影响效应贡献最大的是工业,并且四大经济部门均通过能源强度在不同程度上使得温室气体排放强度有所减小,可见"阶梯电价"、"千家企业节能项目"、"十大重点节能项目"等相关政策在工业发展中对提高能源效率的作用明显。产业结构使得温室气体排放强度增加23.53%,其主要贡献者是工业,说明"工业产品出口退税率调整"等一系列政策的效果不明显;然而农业则使得温室气体排放强度降低,贡献值为3.09%。碳排放因子在1996—2014年间对温室气体排放强度的影响为60.47%,是京津冀地区温室气体排放强度增加的主要因素,说明京津冀地区的能源结构不合理。工业对这一效应的贡献最大为55.97%。可见,工业在京津冀地区的温室气体减排工作中起到最为关键的作用。     

以预处理剩余污泥为燃料MFC产电性能及不连续供电的可行性

为探讨微生物燃料电池(microbial fuel cell,MFC)处理经预处理后剩余污泥的可行性以及不连续供电能力,采用双室MFC,以剩余污泥热处理上清液为基质进行启动和运行,通过改变电池阴极电子受体而导致电势差变化来监测其产电的运行稳定性.结果表明,反应器以氧气作为阴极电子受体148 h后启动成功,最大输出电压0.24 V,将阴极电子受体换为铁氰化钾时,能获得0.66 V的最大输出电压和4.21 W·m~(-3)的最大功率密度.当将阴极电子受体分别替换为氧气或者开路,又转换为铁氰化钾后,电池输出功率恢复迅速,电池对有机物去除效率基本不受影响,对化学需氧量(COD)、氨氮去除效率分别达70%和80%.本研究表明,利用预处理剩余污泥进行MFC处理和产电是可行的,可获得较高的功率密度,同时MFC可以实现不连续供电.     

遥感技术在灰霾监测中的应用综述

介绍了灰霾遥感监测的基本原理,论述了基于图像变换的TC法、HOT法和基于反演气溶胶光学厚度的灰霾遥感监测技术,以及造成灰霾天气的秸秆燃烧遥感监测方法.指出卫星遥感技术可以提供大尺度、长时间序列的污染物时空分布特征和变化趋势,以及全球性的大气环境综合遥感数据,是灰霾监测与综合治理的重要途径.