Impacts of climate variability and changes on domestic water use in the Yellow River Basin of China

We present a methodology for using a domestic water use time series that were obtained from Yellow River Conservancy Commission, together with the climatic records from the National Climate Center of China to evaluate the effects of climate variability on water use in the Yellow River Basin. A suit of seven Global Circulation Models (GCMs) were adopted to anticipate future climate patterns in the Yellow River. The historical records showed evidences of rises in temperature and subsequent rises in domestic water demand in the basin. For Upstream of Longyangxia region, the impact was the least, with only 0.0021?×?10⁸ m³ for a temperature increase of 1 °C; while for Longyangxia-Lanzhou region, domestic water use was found to increase to 0.18?×?10⁸ m³ when temperature increases 1 °C. Downstream of Huayuankou was the region with the most changes in temperature that gave the highest increase of 1.95?×?10⁸ m³ in domestic water demand for 1 °C of change of temperature. Downstream of Huayuankou was identified as the most vulnerable area, where domestic water demand increases nearly by 42.2 % with 1 °C increase of temperature. Judging from the trends of temperature range, we concluded that future temperature in Yellow River Basin has an increasing tendency. This could worsen the existing issues of domestic water demand and even more to trigger high competition among different water-using sectors.     

Diagnosing institutional barriers and opportunities for adaptation to climate change

Institutions are one of the decisive factors which enable, constrain and shape adaptation to the impacts of climate change, variability and extreme events. However, current understanding of institutions in adaptation situations is fragmented across the scientific community, evidence diverges, and cumulative learning beyond single studies is limited. This study adopts a diagnostic approach to elaborate a nuanced understanding of institutional barriers and opportunities in climate adaptation by means of a model-centred meta-analysis of 52 case studies of public climate adaptation in Europe. The first result is a novel taxonomy of institutional attributes in adaptation situations. It conceptually organises and decomposes the many details of institutions that empirical research has shown to shape climate adaptation. In the second step, the paper identifies archetypical patterns of institutional traps and trade-offs which hamper adaptation. Thirdly, corresponding opportunities are identified that enable actors to alleviate, prevent or overcome specific institutional traps or trade-offs. These results cast doubt on the validity of general institutional design principles for successful adaptation. In contrast to generic principles, the identified opportunities provide leverage to match institutions to specific governance problems that are encountered in specific contexts. Taken together, the results may contribute to more coherence and integration of adaptation research that we need if we are to foster learning about the role of institutions in adaptation situations in a cumulative fashion.     

Increasing the application of gas engines to decrease China’s GHG emissions

This paper employs a review of the technical literature to estimate the potential decrease in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that could be achieved by increasing the application of gas engines in China in three sectors: urban public transport vehicle; shipping; and thermal power plants. China’s gas engine development strategies and three types of gas resource are discussed in the study, which indicates that gas engines could decrease GHG emissions by 520 megatonnes (Mt) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO_2e) by 2020. This would account for 9.7 % of the government’s target for decreasing GHG emissions and is dominated by methane recovery from the use of coal mine gas (CMG) and landfill gas (LFG) for power generation. In the public urban transport vehicle and shipping sectors the low price of natural gas and the increasing demand for the control of harmful emissions could spur the rapid uptake of gas engine vehicles. However, the development of CMG- and LFG-fuelled power plants has been limited by the unwillingness of local enterprises to invest in high-performance gas engine generators and the associated infrastructure. Therefore, further compulsory policies that promote CMG use and LFG recovery should be implemented. Moreover, strict regulations on limiting methane leakage during the production and distribution of gas fuels are urgently needed in China to prevent leakage causing GHG emissions and largely negating the climate benefits of fuel substitution. Strategies for increasing the application of gas engines, promoting gas resources and recovering methane in China are instrumental in global GHG mitigation strategies.     

An empirical analysis of energy efficiency measures applicable to cities,regions, and local governments,based on the case of South Korea’s local energy saving program

As highlighted in the outcome of the Paris Agreement at the 21st Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change there has been a recent push for the stronger mitigation actions of cities, regions, and local governments. Energy efficiency is a tool that can be leveraged by not only industry or national governments but also cities, regions, and local governments for mitigation purposes. However, studies on energy efficiency as a mitigation tool thus far have focused on the national or transnational scale, and on certain sectors of industry. The purpose of this paper is to find the most cost-efficient energy efficiency measures (EEMs) at the city, region, and local government level. To that end, this paper examines the yearly energy savings and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction intensity, as well as energy savings and GHG reduction efficiency, in the case of EEMs conducted by South Korean local governments. Yearly energy savings intensity and GHG reduction intensity are estimated to be in the range of 0.094～0.375 tonne of oil equivalent (TOE)/M-KRW (million Korean won) and 0.287～1.180 tCO2e/M-KRW. Results show that inverter installation at water and sewage treatment plants and improvement of pump efficiency are the most cost-efficient EEMs. Moreover, energy savings efficiency and GHG reduction efficiency are within the range of 18.29～45.31 %, at an average of 30.5 % GHG reduction potential. If this reduction potential is applied to the buildings and facilities regulated and run by cities/local governments, there is a worldwide reduction potential of 1.023 billion tCO₂ compared to 2020 business as usual levels.     

机场飞行区员工无礼行为和工作投入与安全绩效的关系研究

为探讨无礼行为对机场工作人员安全工作的影响,以机场飞行区员工为研究对象,论证了工作场所无礼行为和工作投入与安全绩效之间的关系。统计分析结果表明:无礼行为对安全绩效有显著负向影响,其中孤立疏远和闲言碎语维度对安全情景绩效有显著负向影响,隐私侵犯和孤立疏远维度对安全任务绩效有显著负向影响;工作投入对安全绩效有显著正向影响,其中活力和奉献维度对安全情景绩效有显著正向影响,活力和专注维度对安全任务绩效有显著影响;工作投入在无礼行为与安全绩效之间起到部分中介作用。基于研究结论,对机场安全管理提出了一些可行建议,对于优化机场管理具有一定的启示。     

酸性水储罐安全性研究

为预防酸性水储罐气相空间闪爆事故的发生,取样分析了某炼厂酸性水罐气相空间组成,根据气相组成配制了3种混合可燃气体,利用5 L爆炸极限测试仪测定了混合可燃气体在不同氧含量条件下的爆炸极限,根据爆炸极限数据计算出3种混合可燃气体的极限氧含量。结果表明:随着体系中氧含量增加,爆炸上限明显升高,爆炸下限无明显变化;烃类物质含量高时,混合可燃气体的爆炸上下限均降低,爆炸极限宽度变小;硫化氢和氢气含量高时,混合可燃气体爆炸上下限均升高,爆炸极限宽度变大;3种气相组成的极限氧含量分别为:8.1%、9.9%和10.3%,为防止罐顶气相组成发生闪爆,建议氧含量浓度控制在4%以内,当氧含量浓度到达5%时建议启动氮气联锁进行惰化和稀释。     

兰州市废旧手机产生量预测分析研究

手机普及率日益提高,随之产生的废弃量也日益增多,分别采用时间梯度模型、市场供给A模型、斯坦福(stanford)模型对兰州市2013年-2022年废旧手机的产生量进行了预测.结果显示,不同模型预测结果之间存在较大差异,市场供给A模型和斯坦福(Stanford)模型的预测结果比较接近,均大于时间梯度模型的预测结果,三种模型预测的兰州市2022年废旧手机的产生量分别为40.40万、46.67万和21.04万部.总体上看,兰州市废旧手机的产生量增长趋势较快.     

基于AHP-模糊综合评价法的规划环境影响评价有效性研究

文章从评价主体、评价对象、介入时间、评价内容、公众参与、技术方法、政策制度等方面构建了包括"评价人员素质、早期介入、指标体系、评价标准、公众参与方式、工作程序完整性、法律法规、替代方案"等19项评价指标,提出了AHP-模糊综合评价法对规划环境影响评价有效性进行综合评价的方法,并以南阳石化专业园区规划环境影响评价为实证案例进行了定量分析.     

The Effect of Heat and Free Chlorine Treatments on the Surface Properties of Murine Norovirus

Heat and free chlorine are among the most efficient and commonly used treatments to inactivate enteric viruses, but their global inactivation mechanisms have not been elucidated yet. These treatments have been shown to affect at least the capsid proteins of viruses and thus may affect the surface properties (i.e. electrostatic charge and hydrophobicity) of such particles. Our aim was to study the effects of heat and free chlorine on surface properties for a murine norovirus chosen as surrogate for human norovirus. No changes in the surface properties were observed with our methods for murine norovirus exposed to free chlorine. Only the heat treatment led to major changes in the surface properties of the virus with the expression of hydrophobic domains at the surface of the particles after exposure to a temperature of 55 °C. No modification of the expression of hydrophobic domains occurred after exposure to 60 °C, and the low hydrophobic state exhibited by infectious and inactivated particles after exposure to 60 °C appeared to be irreversible for inactivated particles only, which may provide a means to discriminate infectious from inactivated murine noroviruses. When exposed to a temperature of 72 °C or to free chlorine at a concentration of 50 mg/L, the genome became available for RNases.