美国清洁能源的成本和效益

将从分析美国新能源战略的有效性和成本入手,梳理和评估美国政府的新能源方案,同时提出一些关于清洁能源的建议。选择了美国推广清洁能源行为作为对象来讨论,不仅因为美国是世界上最大的清洁能源和可再生能源的投资者,同时还强调美国在运行这一投资的时候并没有使用自由市场来推动,而是完全由政府买单和控制。具体要讨论的方案是：核清理;低收入家庭房屋保暖;先进的汽车电池（牵引）系统及组件;电动汽车补贴退税制度。通过对每个方案内容的阐述和成本、效益的分析,来评估这些方案是否是有价值的和值得继续的。最后的结论可以归纳为这些清洁能源实施项目非常低效,并且提出一系列的证据表明这些项目在没有政府巨额经费支持的情况下是无法继续的,同时表明在没有严格的项目完成日期、持续发生超过预算的额外支出的情况下,政府的支持计划很可能和初衷背道而驰     

Promoting Sustainability with Ecological, Economic and Social Dimensions in Developing Countries

Sustainable development is one of the most important ideas, and goals of our time. It is defined as ＂development which meets the needs and aspirations of the current generation and develops safe and sound society for future generation＂. Achieving sustainable development thus involves a vigorous and urgent debate on different dimensions. The different dimensions of sustainability as a framework involve all issues such as science, technology, economic growth and development, health, education, finance investment and trade, politics, natural disasters, population growth and terrorism, etc. No single dimension is responsible to develop sustainable society. This article mainly described the integrated relationship among the three dimensions ofsustainability.     

Structure of industrial or corporate sustainability programmes

The 15 years up until 2008 have seen an escalating growth in corporate or industrial sustainability programmes to a current level of about 25% of the Fortune 1000 firms. This preliminary study of corporate sustainability programmes yielded a repeatable structure of these programmes that may be unique to industry in the broader sustainability field. These corporate sustainability programmes are different from the prior corporate social responsibility programmes and also are a subset of the vast current use of the word sustainable. The corporate sustainability model is built on four pillars (business excellence, innovation, human contribution and environment) that offer important directions for long-term decision making. In-depth sustainability programme studies revealed recurring principles that reflect current industry or corporate sustainability programmes.     

Overcoming Contradictions Between Growth and Sustainability:Institutional Innovation in the BRICS

The recent accelerated growth rates or efforts to emulate countries that have achieved a rapid pace of economic growth are widely acclaimed as means to uplift millions from poverty. In so doing, however, this rapid economic growth is most likely to coincide with unsustainable levels of consumption, place excessive pressure on life support systems and terrestrial sinks and foreshorten options for the future. Rather than pursuing the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis that higher income will bring with it the means to reduce the impacts of greater consumption, ecological economists assert that buying our way out of future scarcity with fast growth is indeed contradictory with sustainability. To better understand these contradictions and explore potential institutional innovations that may enable developing nations to better confront them (in effect, tunneling under the EKC), this article refers to recent experience in the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). Beginning with a brief comparative summary of major development and environmental indicators, pressures on resources and society in each of the BRICS are discussed, followed by identification of institutional and policy frameworks each country has evolved to confront the challenges of growth and sustainability. The article closes with general conclusions for further research and information sharing among developing nations.     

Overcoming Contradictions Between Growth and SustainabiUty： Institutional Innovation in the BRICS

The recent accelerated growth rates or efforts to emulate countries that have achieved a rapid pace of economic growth are widely acclaimed as means to uplift millions from poverty. In so doing, however, this rapid economic growth is most likely to coincide with unsustainable levels of consumption, place excessive pressure on life support systems and terrestrial sinks and foreshorten options for the future. Rather than pursuing the ＂Environmental Kuznets Curve＂ （EKC） hypothesis that higher income will bring with it the means to reduce the impacts of greater consumption, ecological economists assert that buying our way out of future scarcity with fast growth is indeed contradictory with sustainability. To better understand these contradictions and explore potential institutional innovations that may enable developing nations to better confront them （in effect, ＂tunneling under＂ the EKC）, this article refers to recent experience in the BRICS countries （Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa）. Beginning with a brief comparative summary of major development and environmental indicators, pressures on resources and society in each of the BRICS are discussed, followed by identification of institutional and policy frameworks each country has evolved to confront the challenges of growth and sustainability. The article closes with general conclusions for further research and information sharing among developing nations.     

一般持续发展论（下）

本文比较全面地论述了持续发展的由来、概念、目标和战略要素。作者指出,持续发展的提出反映了人类对自身与环境关系的认识进入新阶段;是既满足当代人和局部需要又不危害后代人和全球满足需要能力的发展,包括一般持续发展论、全球持续性、区域持续性和部门持续性。作者认为,社会福利既包括人造产品也包括自然资本,持续发展的目标在于促进社会福利的增长与公平分配,以及生态系统的持续性;而达到持续发展目标的战略要素则包括经济结构的生态现代化、实行以预防为主的环境政策、经济机制的生态现代化、实行有控制的人口转变以及反贫困。在目标和战略要素的论述中,作者提出了发达和发展中国家(地区)应分别实行强持续性和弱持续性。     

可持续发展的“强”与“弱”--从自然资源消耗的生态极限谈起

可持续发展的标准有强弱之分，本文对这两种可持续发展观进行了理论梳理和介绍，以模型分别指出了实现这两种性质的可持续发展必须具备的基本条件，分析表明，忽略自然资源消耗生态极限的可持续发展是一种“弱”性质的可持续发展。     

国内外可持续发展评价方法对比分析

国际、国内很多组织都对可持续性评价方法进行过研究分析,但大多是特定的案例研究.目前国内外对可持续发展评价方法没有一个全面系统的分析比较,使得不同地区比较起来很困难.本文对各种评价方法如环境可持续性指数法、生态足迹法、能值分析法和指标综合评价法的来源、理论和应用作了介绍.得出各方法适用范围:可持续性指数法适合于国家间的综合评价;生态足迹和能值分析法适合于各种范围,包括国家、区域、地区和小系统;指标体系综合评价法对于小范围更合适.同时对各种方法的优势和缺陷进行了分析讨论,得出:可持续性指数法信息量大,但是计算复杂;生态足迹法计算过程简单,但是缺失一些可持续性信息;能值分析法考虑问题全面,但是其原理涉及热力学知识,很难被一些学者认同;指标体系评价法变通性较大,可随着评价系统的变化而进行调整,但是主观性较强.通过分析指出不同方法适用范围并指出每种分析方法的优势和不足,为以后选择合适的分析方法评价对象的可持续性提供依据.     

Sustainability classifications in engineering: discipline and approach

In order to discuss how to advance sustainability in engineering, it is necessary to be clear as to what exactly is the science of sustainability. The linkage between sustainability philosophy and scientific principles has, in some ways, been acknowledged in the wider literature. Moreover, the recent scholarship on sustainability in international literature has focused on providing definitions, policies and methods, though from an engineering perspective, there is an obvious need for clarity on how the engineering and science community can integrate the science of sustainability into practice. Prima facie, this article provides an overview of the development of sustainability science through a textual analysis to collate the underlying discourse and ideology cited in literature. While the number one sustainability challenge is to mitigate climate change, compiling a definition genesis of sustainability will assist the engineering community in gaining an understanding in the underlying philosophical frames. The aim of this paper is to analyse sustainability information in the print press, journals, periodicals and textbooks since publication patterns contribute to our understanding of the cognitive aspects of scholarly knowledge development.     

Paris agreement on climate change and Botswana’s Vision 2036: an examination of linkages

Sustainable use of natural resources and sustainable development are concepts that are gaining momentum globally in the advent of global warming and climate change. The threshold for the entry in force of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change was achieved exactly 5 days after the unveiling of Botswana’s Vision 2036 document. This development framework envisages sustainable economic development and climate change adaptation. This article uses exploratory research methodology of systematic document analysis to analyze these principles in the context of Botswana. It investigates government's intentions in achieving the third pillar of the national vision. Botswana has declared its intensions to reduce carbon emissions by 15% by 2030 through the intended nationally determined contributions. While the country’s ambitions are largely forward-looking and aligned with those of the Paris Agreement, the economic diversification plans of Botswana threaten to potentially contribute significantly to the emission of greenhouse gases. The article applies sustainability and/or sustainable development theory in examining the relationship between the Paris Agreement and Botswana’s vision. It concludes that there is link between the two documents, both of which are anchored of the development which is environmentally sustainable. It further concludes that developing nations should make international commitments which are aligned to their developmental plans.     

Evaluation of sustainability using an integrated approach at process and product level: a case study

The present world is facing problems like rapid depletion of natural resources and undesired environmental changes on a global scale. Manufacturing organisations are realising the importance of mitigating the present crisis and are adopting sustainable manufacturing principles. Since it is important to achieve sustainable manufacturing, sustainability assessment models were developed. Sustainability assessment models have their own drawbacks and may not provide clear scope for complete sustainable development. A system approach has been developed to overcome this shortcoming by integrating various sustainability assessment models that are already in practice. This article reports the advantages of collecting the advantages of individual sustainability assessment models and how the implementation of the integrated approach has helped to identify the current sustainability level and the scope for future developments in an automotive industry.     

中国西部地区可持续能力透视

本文基于目前可持续发展领域的研究成果,对中国区域,尤其是西部地区的可持续能力进行评估,从整体的高度诊断出西部地区可持续发展的制约因素和障碍,并就增强 事的可持续能力提出几点建议,以此为中开发决策奠定了一些理论基础。     

国家环境可持续能力的评价研究:环境可持续性指数2005

由美国耶鲁大学和哥伦比亚大学合作开发的环境可持续指数（Environmental Sustainability Index，ESI）可用以衡量一个国家或地区能为其后代人保持良好环境状态的能力，也可考虑作为环境决策的基础之一。其研究处在现有环境可持续指标体系研究的国际前沿水平。本文简介了ESI的进展与内涵；阐述了2005ESI的指标设置、方法学及其改进；列举了2005ESI用于146个国家或地区环境可持续性的测试结果及其政策建议，分析了中国得分很低的原因，最后，概要评述了ESI的特点和进一步发展方向。     

Economic Modelling in Sustainability Science: Issues,Methodology, and Implications

Sustainability science is a new branch of human knowledge. It is necessary to model sustainability science based on a framework consisting of the interactions of society, ecology, the environment and the economy. This paper develops such a model, the SEEOSG model, containing the essential structural relationships that incorporate the environmental and economic conditions required for sustainability. The model is solved as a dynamic optimisation problem. This optimal growth model of ecology and economic growth enables us also to analyse the issues which are specific to sustainability science such as the ecologically sustainability and inter-generational equity implications of economic activities and policies. In the model results growth maximisation goals appear to be fraught with difficulties such as infeasibility and non-sustainability. The results also suggest also that an equilibrium ecological and economic system does not sustain over a very long period of time unless appropriate actions are taken. Readers should send thier comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Carbon weight analysis for machining operation and allocation for redesign

The objective of this research paper is to explore and develop a new methodology for computing carbon weight (CW) – often referred to as carbon footprint, in manufacturing processes from part level to assembly level. In this initial study, we focused on machining operations, specifically turning and milling, for computing CW. Our initial study demonstrates that CW can be computed using either actual measured data from process level information or from initial material and manufacturing process information. In mechanical design, tolerance analysis principles extend from design to manufacturing and tolerances accumulate for parts and processes. By extending this notion to CW, we apply mechanical tolerancing principles for computing worst case and statistical case CW of a product. We call this the CW tolerance approach (CWTA). Two case studies demonstrate the computation of CW. Based on the tolerance allocation concepts; CW allocation is also demonstrated through specific redesign examples. CWTA helps in identifying carbon intensive parts/processes and can be used to make appropriate design decisions.     

Recent socio-economic changes in relation to environmental quality of the Pearl River delta

Due to the favorable weather, abundant water resources and fertile soil, the area has been known as the homeland for crops and fish. However, being one of the most developed regions in China, the environmental quality of the Pearl River delta has deteriorated due to recent socio-economic changes during the past two decades. The drivers are industrialization and economic growth, population growth and agricultural development; and the pressures are water pollution which include nutrients and suspended solids, pesticides, other persistent toxic substances (PAHs and PCBs) and oil. These have imposed various impacts such as eutrophication, formation of red tides and biomagnification of organic contaminants through food chains. In response to these, regulatory measures have been established by the Environmental Protection Bureau of Guangdong Province, joining forces with environmental protection authorities in all urban cities and most counties, in addition to the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department, to control pollution in order to prevent further environmental deterioration and economic loss. The present paper is an attempt by following the DPSIR approach promoted by the OECD in the early 1990s and further developed by IGBP LOICZ to review the environmental quality of Pearl River with emphasis on water quality and the impact of rapid socio-economic changes.