An integrated approach for improving energy efficiency of manufacturing process chains

The rising energy prices and increasingly imposing regulations have drawn attention for improving the energy efficiency of manufacturing processes. Over the past decade, different approaches have been developed to target from individual unit processes to entire manufacturing systems. However, each model or approach has limitations in terms of the efficiency improvement. Thus, an integrated approach is proposed to overcome these limitations combining unit process energy consumption models with production system simulation. The outcome potentially leads to a more energy-efficient production and process planning, which considers the dynamics of individual processes as well as the entire system. Two case studies are presented to demonstrate the approach and its benefits.     

市场分割对能源效率的影响研究

探究能源效率的影响因素并有针对性地提出对策建议是实现"十三五"节能目标的前提条件。本文利用1986—2014年的省际面板数据,基于随机前沿分析和反事实计量方法,重点考察了市场分割对能源效率的影响。结果显示:1市场分割显著地抑制了能源效率的提升;2在考虑市场分割的情形下,能源效率从1986年的0.413提升到了2014年的0.739,年均增速为2.1%,但能源效率依然有较大的改善空间,如果能够消除市场分割的不利影响,能源效率平均每年将会获得1.5%的额外提升;3在样本考察期内,由于市场分割导致的直接能源损失平均每年约为1 200万t标准煤,若考虑市场分割产生的其他间接影响及其动态效应,这一数字估计值会更高;4产权结构改革、对外开放、产业结构升级以及节能法的颁布促进了能源效率的改善,而金融发展规模、政府干预以及以煤炭为主的能源消费结构不利于能源效率的提升。以上研究结论蕴含的政策含义是:为提高能源效率,需要加强市场一体化建设,打破省际壁垒,整合国内市场。鉴于市场分割可能是一些地方政府的占优策略,因此,需要中央政府来进行推动。一方面,中央政府可以通过加强监管和查处力度直接惩罚市场分割行为,另一方面,中央政府还可以通过转移支付的方式鼓励落后地区积极主动融入国内整体市场。当然,提高能源效率,也需要诸如推进产权结构改革,提高对外开放水平,优化产业结构与能源消费结构,改善金融发展效率,减少政府干预以及完善能源政策法规等其他措施的共同跟进。     

Comparing environmental product footprint for electronic and electric equipment: a multi-criteria approach

Electronic and electric devices are now applied in most human activities: their diffusion is increasing worldwide; furthermore, most of them are characterized by a high replacement rate due to technological obsolescence. Consequently, environmental problems due to their diffusion are increasing; several aspects are involved from the energy consumption derived from their manufacturing processes and their use phases to their end-of-life (EOL) management. Such legislative (e.g. the European Energy Efficiency directive for household appliances) or voluntary interventions (e.g. based on the ISO standards) have been introduced for such devices: the aim is to incorporate environmental considerations in product design and manufacturing in order to benefit the environment. Some attempts are focusing on defining standardized models for the overall lifecycle including waste management. The aim of this paper is to introduce a reference model for comparing environmental product footprint of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). All life cycles of EEE will be evaluated: a specific focus is on the EOL management process as their waste management represents a complex problem for developed and developing countries. A multi-criteria decision-making model will be developed based on the well-known analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method: differently from traditional AHP applications, an absolute model has been proposed in order to compare EEE effectively from an environmental point of view. A case study validation regarding large household appliances is proposed.     

长江中游城市群能源效率评价研究

提高能源效率、促进低碳经济转型是当前长江中游城市群区域协同发展和新型城镇化建设的重点和难点。基于共同前沿(Meta-frontier)理论,利用数据包络分析方法构建非参数前沿,并将SO2排放量这一非期望产出纳入DEA模型中,比较分析了2005—2014年长江中游城市群全要素能源效率的区域差异,采用"技术缺口比率"衡量长江中游城市群三大区域之间能源利用的技术差距,并在此基础上研究了能源非效率的分解以及对真实的能源强度和潜在的能源强度进行了相关分析。研究结果表明:1当前长江中游城市群全要素能源效率整体水平偏低,但地区差异并不显著。2三大区域之间的能源技术差距不是很大。3技术缺口和管理等因素对不同区域能源非效率的作用不同。4真实的能源强度和潜在的能源强度都具有一定下降的趋势,而且两者之间的差距逐渐缩小。最后根据分析结果得出一些结论和启示,如制定区域节能战略时坚持"求同存异"的原则,加快技术进步,积极进行能源技术创新,不断提高管理水平等。同时,政府应加大对长江中游城市群的政策倾斜力度,这样才能充分挖掘长江中游城市群的节能减排潜力,这对提升中国区域能源效率的整体水平以及促进绿色经济转型具有重大意义。     

基于能源类型的中国反弹效应测算及其分解

能源问题是实现可持续发展的重大战略问题。能效改进所引起的能耗反弹问题已成为能源经济学领域的一个重要议题。针对已有研究基于复合能源维度探讨反弹效应的不足,本文通过构建一个引入反弹效应测算模块的中国静态CGE模型,研究不同类型能源效率改进的节能效果和反弹差异,并将其在生产侧和消费侧进行分解。在分别提高所有生产部门一次能源使用效率和二次能源使用效率两种情景下,我们发现提高二次能源使用效率对经济的促进作用更大,带来的能源节约也更多。就反弹效应而言,两种情景的反弹效应在9.6%-27.9%范围间,但提高一次能源使用效率带来的反弹效应要普遍大于提高二次能源使用效率带来的反弹。这意味着,能效改进的能源类型选择将关系到政策的实施效果。对反弹效应在生产侧和消费侧的分解则显示,生产侧的能效改进会刺激消费侧能耗增加,而且来自消费侧的能耗增加在二次能源品种的反弹效应中扮演了重要角色,尤其是成品油和燃气。综上,我们认为不论从经济表现还是反弹效应来看,提高二次能源使用效率都是比较理想的能源类型选择,这是以往研究未曾注意到的。同时,由于反弹效应的存在确实降低了能效政策的有效性,因此政府在制定能效政策时可通过对冲能效改进带来的能源服务价格下降来减缓能耗反弹。引导和规范居民的用能观念和用能行为也是减缓反弹效应的一个重要途径,这一点对能源需求远未饱和的发展中国家尤其重要。     

基于LCA的废旧资源循环利用节能减排效果评估模式与方法研究——以吉林省某钢铁企业为例

促进废旧资源循环利用是加快推进我国生态文明建设,完成节能减排目标的必然选择。本文基于生命周期评价模式,从微观企业层面入手,构建产品全生命周期基准流程,引入能量输入与环境输出参数,建立废旧资源循环利用节能减排效果量化核算模型,评估再生产品的节能减排经济成效,并以吉林省某钢铁企业为例,评估"废钢-电炉"短流程和"铁矿石-高炉-转炉"长流程的能源、环境、成本差异,辨识影响废钢再循环节能减排效果的主要因素和重要环节。结果显示,再生钢铁全生命周期与原生钢铁全生命周期相比,节能588.48kgce/t,节能率为84%;主要污染物中SO2减排率最高,达92%;CO2总减排1 180.92 kg/t,减排率为67%;总成本却高出198元/t。其中,炼铁工序的节能量和减碳量最大,烧结工序SO2、NOx和烟(粉)尘减排量最大,焦化工序COD和氨氮减排量最大,回收、加工处理、炼钢环节节能量和减碳量以及SO2、NOx和烟(粉)尘减排量均为负。成本方面,再生钢铁生产成本高于原生钢铁308元/t,虽然再生钢铁由于污染减排可节省56元/t的排污费并获取54元/t的碳交易收益,但都不足以扭转电炉炼钢费用较高的现状。因此,国家应在电炉炼钢方面给予钢企及相关企业适当的财税扶持政策,在电价方面给予钢企一定的优惠或补贴,并完善废钢回收加工体系等,以促进废钢循环利用。基于LCA的废旧资源循环利用节能减排效果评估可以实现对产品生命周期全过程的资源、环境、成本的优化管理。     

Monitoring and assessment of radionuclide discharges from Temelín Nuclear Power Plant into the Vltava River (Czech Republic)

The paper summarizes impacts of the Temelín Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) on the Vltava and Labe River basins. The study is based on the results of long-term monitoring carried out before the plant operation (1989–2000), and subsequently during the plant operation (2001–2005). In the first period, the main objective was to determine background radionuclide levels remaining in the environment after global fallout and due to the Chernobyl accident. A decrease in the concentrations of ⁹⁰Sr, ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs, which was observed before the plant operation, continued also during the subsequent period. Apart from tritium, the results of the observation did not indicate any impacts of the plant on the concentrations of activation and fission products in the hydrosphere. The annual average tritium concentrations in the Vltava River were in agreement with predicted values. The maximum annual average tritium concentration (13.5 Bq L⁻¹) was observed in 2004 downstream from the wastewater discharge in the Vltava River at Solenice. Estimated radiation doses for adults due to intakes of river water as drinking water contaminated by tritium are below 0.1 μSv y⁻¹.     

Relative Assessment of Indicators in Sustainability Enhancement (RAISE): a first approach in the manufacturing stage of products

The estimation of the sustainability performance of products requires tools to provide systematic approaches to the definition of impacts, indicators and comparative scenarios from early design stages. This paper illustrates the Relative Assessment of Indicators in Sustainability Enhancement (RAISE) methodology that is based on the measure of negative impacts generated during any product life cycle stage. This approach includes a systematic process for the definition and evaluation of indicators to compare the sustainability performance of products considering each indicator individually and using a holistic index of sustainability to entail an overall comparison between products from manufacturing scenarios. The RAISE method is developed with the aim of assessing sustainability performance of product life cycle stages and incorporating this assessment into the decision-making process when comparing different manufacturing scenarios. A guitar capo manufactured in polymeric material is used as case study to demonstrate the use of the method. In this paper, only the manufacturing stage is considered; however, the method can also be employed in other stages of the life cycle.     

天津市节能减排绩效及经济效益协调性研究

利用节能绩效-减排绩效关系图,以及节能绩效、减排绩效与经济效益协调关系三角图,研究了2006-2008年天津市17个区县及滨海新区的节能减排绩效关系及其经济协调性状态和趋势.结果如下:①2006-2008年,天津市17个区县及滨海新区的节能减排绩效整体上较差,河西区、西青区、津南区、北辰区、宝坻区、静海县和蓟县的节能减排绩效呈现变差趋势,东丽区和滨海新区(塘沽区、汉沽区和大港区)节能减排绩效很差且无明显变好趋势;其他6个区县的节能减排绩效呈现变好趋势.②2008年,北辰区、武清区、静海县3个区县的经济协调性很强,河西区、河北区、汉沽区、蓟县处于强不经济协调性状态,滨海新区处于弱不协调性状态;2006年,大部分区县(包括滨海新区)处于弱不经济协调性状态,且按强协调趋势发展,其协调性增强主要来自经济效益驱动.③天津市17个区县及滨海新区的节能减排绩效及经济协调性评估权重选择较为合理,能准确地反映节能减排现状.     

Odour from municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills: a study on the analysis of perception

The objective of this work was to develop a relationship between odour intensity and odour concentration by using data collected from various sensitive areas of the municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill site. A number of well-known psychophysical models (e.g., Weber-Fechner law, Steven's power law, Beidler's and Laffort's models) have been discussed that can successfully relate the perceived intensity with the odour concentration. Respective parameters for each of the models were estimated by the nonlinear Levenburg-Marquardt parameter estimation method. The overall performance of the model was tested statistically against sets of data from the olfactometry analysis. The model based on the Weber-Fechner law was ranked 1 in case of five out of nine samples and it has been found more representative of the less intense odour samples. The model based on Laffort's equation has represented the intensity-concentration relationship better with extremely low uncertainties on both parameters k1 and k2 for comparatively more intense odour samples.     

Heavy Metals in Organs and Tissues of the European Black Vulture (Aegypius monachus): Dependence on Living Conditions

The distribution of Fe, Zn, Cu, Cd, Mn, Pb, and Ni in the organs and tissues (kidneys, liver, lungs, brain, heart, muscles, and feathers) of the European black vulture (Aegypius monachus) was studied. It was shown that heavy metals were not responsible for the mass mortality of these birds in southern Primorye in the winter of 2001–2002. The level of pollution with heavy metals of the range of European black vultures wintering in this region (northern China and western Mongolia) may be regarded as insignificant.     

The pathway to a sustainable industrial society – initiative of the Research Institute for Sustainability Science (RISS) at Osaka University

While it is widely known that sustainable development is the only sound and viable pathway for humankind’s future, its attainment remains elusive despite intensive efforts and some successes. The current industrial society approach based on product and process innovation in a variety of fields is not providing the expected results in addressing this important issue. In an attempt to carry out this unavoidable task, Osaka University’s Research Institute for Sustainability Science (RISS) introduces an integral and dynamic innovation system where technology plays a key role in fulfilling societal functions. This innovation system adopts a highly solution-driven approach that makes use of backcasting techniques based on long-term visions and mid-term strategic goals. Since technology management is the key to propelling effective innovation towards sustainability, we propose a technology transition management through the interaction of technology push, demand pull and institutional design, along with eight transition principles. RISS will develop this innovation system based on these three components and through the design of dynamic scenarios and their roadmaps.     

Air quality management in the WHO European Region — Results of a quality assurance and control programme on air quality monitoring (1994–2004)

Since the last decade the WHO Collaborating Centre for Air Quality Management and Air Pollution Control, Berlin, Germany, operates a quality assurance and control (QA/QC) programme on air quality monitoring in the WHO European Region. As main activity Intercomparison workshops have been established for air monitoring network laboratories on a regular basis to harmonise air quality measurements, analysis and calibration techniques. 36 air hygiene laboratories of public health and environmental institutions of 24 countries participated in twelve Intercomparisons between 1994 and 2004. The majority was carried out for NO, NO₂, SO₂ and O₃. The results were predominantly satisfactory for automatic methods. The results of manual methods were mainly in a good, and for several concentration levels partly very good accordance with the data obtained by the monitors.     

Time-series sampling of Ra and Ra at the inlet to Great South Bay (New York): a strategy for characterizing the dominant terms in the Ra budget of the bay

Ra isotopes are a powerful tool for quantifying the flux of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) into the sea. Previous studies of ²²³Ra and ²²⁴Ra mass balances in coastal embayments have shown that the Ra balance is dominated by supply via SGD, exchange with the open ocean and radioactive decay. The current study shows that a single time series over a tidal cycle at the principal inlet to Great South Bay (NY, US) is sufficient to determine the net flux of Ra across the inlet, and also can be used to estimate the decay of short-lived Ra in the bay. Estimates of the net Ra flux obtained from a single tidal time-series by using three different approaches agree with those determined from a more time-consuming survey of Ra within the bay, and may represent a first step of estimating SGD in bays and coastal lagoons.     

Spatial distribution of soil radon as a tool to recognize active faulting on an active volcano: the example of Mt. Etna (Italy)

This study concerns measurements of radon and thoron emissions from soil carried out in 2004 on the eastern flank of Mt. Etna, in a zone characterized by the presence of numerous seismogenic and aseismic faults. The statistical treatment of the geochemical data allowed recognizing anomaly thresholds for both parameters and producing distribution maps that highlighted a significant spatial correlation between soil gas anomalies and tectonic lineaments. The seismic activity occurring in and around the study area during 2004 was analyzed, producing maps of hypocentral depth and released seismic energy. Both radon and thoron anomalies were located in areas affected by relatively deep (5-10 km depth) seismic activity, while less evident correlation was found between soil gas anomalies and the released seismic energy. This study confirms that mapping the distribution of radon and thoron in soil gas can reveal hidden faults buried by recent soil cover or faults that are not clearly visible at the surface. The correlation between soil gas data and earthquakes depth and intensity can give some hints on the source of gas and/or on fault dynamics.     

Phenogenetic monitoring of the weeping birch (<Emphasis Type=Italic>Betula pendula</Emphasis> Roth.) in the Middle Urals: testing a new method for assessing developmental instability in higher plants

Variation of bilateral leaf structures in Middle Ural cenopopulations of the weeping birch (Betula pendula Roth.) growing in gradients of industrial pollution was studied to test the efficiency of a new method of population and individual phenogenetic monitoring allowing an indirect assessment of developmental destabilization by segregating the variance of total asymmetry (TA _R ²) into its additive components, the variances of fluctuating asymmetry (FA _R ²) and directional asymmetry (DA _R ²). The method was tested in the impact zones of two copper-smelting plants in the Middle Urals. The degree of impact was characterized by the index of technogenic pollution (ITP) reflecting the average total contents of 15 water-soluble pollutants in snow samples. The level of asymmetry was estimated from the numbers of denticles with incoming veins (dentovenal elements) on the left and right leaf margins. Spearman’s coefficient of rank correlation between the group values of variance in fluctuating asymmetry (FA _R ²) and corresponding ITP values reached r _S = 0.914 (p < 0.001), providing evidence that the method is highly appropriate for ecological indication of the phenogenetic response of trees to environmental pollution.     

210Pb-dating of a lake sediment core from Lough Carra (Co. Mayo, western Ireland): use of paleolimnological data for chronology validation below the 210Pb dating horizon

The chronologies and sediment accumulation rates for a lake sediment sequence from Lough Carra (Co. Mayo, western Ireland) were established by applying the constant initial concentration (CIC) and constant rate of supply (CRS) hypotheses to the measured ²¹⁰Pb_excess profile. The resulting chronologies were validated using the artificial fallout radionuclides ¹³⁷Cs and ²⁴¹Am, which provide independent chronostratigraphic markers for the second half of the 20th century. The validity of extrapolating the derived CIC and CRS dates below the ²¹⁰Pb dating horizon using average sedimentation rates was investigated using supplementary paleolimnological information and historical data. Our data confirm that such an extrapolation is well justified at sites characterised by relatively stable sedimentation conditions.