对外经济贸易对中国碳排放的影响:基于省级面板数据的实证分析

改革开放以来,我国的对外经济贸易有了显著的发展,外商直接投资和进出口的快速增长有效地推动了经济的快速发展。然而在经济发展的同时,我国碳排放水平日益提高,已成为全球最大排放国。为了更好地管控碳排放,研究外商直接投资(FDI),对外贸易与碳排放的关系具有重要意义。本文通过对我国1995—2011年29个省(市、自治区)的FDI、对外贸易对碳排放的动态效应分析发现,FDI与进出口水平的提升均有利于降低我国碳排放的水平,“污染天堂”假说在我国并未得到证实。同时,本文验证了“环境库兹涅茨曲线”在我国的存在,证实了我国的碳排放水平与人均GDP存在倒“U”型关系。     

Wind energy development in Ontario: a process/product paradox

The Province of Ontario is aggressively pursuing renewable energy development, but not without significant turbulence. Ontario's Green Energy Act (2009) reflects this aggressive pursuit, and is aimed at making the province a global leader in renewable energy development. Wind energy is an integral but controversial part of these commitments. While several installations have been built or announced, conflicts surrounding the development of the technology continue to grow. This article documents, analyses and interprets media coverage in order to understand public discourse potentially driving support for and resistance to wind energy development (WED) in Ontario. Contrary to numerous studies which have elucidated public attitudes towards WED, the media discourse analysed suggests that roadblocks to public acceptance of the technology are more rooted in the development process (renewable energy policies and their implementation) rather than the products of WED (wind turbines). The study highlights the need for increased procedural justice to ameliorate feelings of unfairness which play a key role in fuelling resistance to the technology.     

A Parametric Study of a Piston-Prop Aircraft Engine Using Exergy and Exergoeconomic Analysis Methods

In this study, exergetic and exergoeconomic analysis methods are applied to a four-cylinder, spark ignition (SI), naturally aspirated and air-cooled piston-prop aircraft engine in the cruise phase of flight operations. The duration of cruise is selected to be 1 h. Three parameters, altitude, rated power setting (PS), and air-to-fuel ratio (AF), are varied by the calculation of the max–min values of exergy analysis. Based on the results of energy analysis, the values for the maximum energy efficiency and fuel consumption flow rate are calculated to be 21.73% and 28.02 kg/h, respectively, at 1000-m altitude and 75% PS. The results of exergy analysis indicate that all exergetic values vary from 65% to 75% PS, while this increase is not seen in exergoeconomic analysis. While the maximum exergy input rate is obtained to be 405.60 kW, exergy efficiency has the minimum value with 14.43% and exergy destruction rate has the maximum value with 168.48 kW. These values are achieved at 3000-m altitude and 18 AFs. The maximum average exergy cost of the fuel is calculated to be 130.77 $/GJ at 1000-m altitude, 13 AF ratios, and 65% PS. At this point, while the minimum cost rate associated with the exergy destruction is obtained to be 40.29 $/h, the maximum exergoeconomic factor is found to be 19.98%.     

Mill’s scissors: structural change and the natural-resource inputs to labour

The environmental structural change strategy claims that by shifting our expenditures to economic sectors with lower environmental intensity, absolute resource consumption and environmental impact can be lowered. Environmental Input-Output methodologies for computing these intensities attribute no resource consumption to labour or households because these are not classified as sectors. The suggestion that service sectors entail less environmental impact, however, loses force if a unit of labour contains embodied energy, and attributing these inputs to labour drastically reduces intensity variation between sectors. Relative growth of service sectors has furthermore not been accompanied by decreased resource consumption; thus models whose intensity computations cover not only inter-firm payments but also labour earnings and household expenditures may have superior predictive power. If moreover natural-resource and labour inputs to product are incommensurable, intensity ratios themselves have perhaps only monetary, rather than real, significance.     

关于有机废物类生物质能历史定位及其能源价值评估指标探讨

中国是煤炭消耗的第一大国,同时又是有机废物生物质贮存量第一大国。本文叙述了全球生物质能的历史定位,生物质能的主要评价指标,生物质的能源转换技术和生物质能可供给量模型分析与预测实例,以及我国有机废物类生物质能源化利用途径,并探讨了有机废物的能源利用与废物污染防治相结合的生物质能源发展道路。     

低碳经济下农作物秸秆能源利用需求性分析

本文介绍了农作物秸秆能源利用的几个途径,从能源短缺、环境压力、秸秆过剩数量压力以及发展农村经济等方面分析了在低碳经济下秸秆能源利用的需求性和紧迫性,提出应该加强秸秆能源利用技术研究,大力推广秸秆能源利用。     

Yearlong hibernation in a marsupial mammal

Many mammals hibernate each year for about 6 months in autumn and winter and reproduce during spring and summer when they are generally not in torpor. I tested the hypothesis that the marsupial pygmy-possum (Cercartetus nanus), an opportunistic nonseasonal hibernator with a capacity for substantial fattening, would continue to hibernate well beyond winter. I also quantified how long they were able to hibernate without access to food before their body fat stores were depleted. Pygmy-possums exhibited a prolonged hibernation season lasting on average for 310 days. The longest hibernation season in one individual lasted for 367 days. For much of this time, despite periodic arousals after torpor bouts of ∼12.5 days, energy expenditure was reduced to only ∼2.5% of that predicted for active individuals. These observations represent the first report on body-fat-fuelled hibernation of up to an entire year and provide new evidence that prolonged hibernation is not restricted to placental mammals living in the cold.     

On the economics of energy labels in the housing market

Energy efficiency in the residential housing market can play an important role in the reduction of global carbon emissions. This paper reports the first evidence on the market adoption and economic implications of energy performance certificates implemented by the European Union. The results show that adoption rates are low and declining over time, coinciding with a negative sentiment regarding the label in the popular media. Labels are clustered among smaller, post-war homes in neighborhoods with more difficult selling conditions. We also document that geographic variation in the adoption rate of energy labels is positively related to the fraction of “green” voters during the 2006 national elections. Within the sample of labeled homes, the energy label creates transparency in the energy efficiency of dwellings. Our analysis shows that consumers capitalize this information into the price of their prospective homes.     

Merging Duke Energy and Progress Energy: Online Public Discourse,Post-Fukushima Reactions,and the Absence of Environmental Communication

This article examines online discourse in 2011 surrounding the proposed Duke Energy and Progress Energy merger in the Carolinas. It explores how issues pertaining to the merger, including constructing new nuclear plants, are discussed in media coverage and by citizens using social media. Overall, we find that the merger discourse focuses on economic concerns rather than the environmental concerns we had anticipated. However, post-Fukushima discourse appears to have become more inclusive of environmental concerns. We conclude that environmental discussions and efforts are likely to be globally informed andlocally situated, discussing the implications for environmental communication research exploring online discourses, specifically through social media. Future research must address how to locate and delineate constellations of locally situated discourse to provide a clearer picture of environmentally focused social media communication.     

Development of numerical model for predicting heat generation and temperatures in MSW landfills

A numerical modeling approach has been developed for predicting temperatures in municipal solid waste landfills. Model formulation and details of boundary conditions are described. Model performance was evaluated using field data from a landfill in Michigan, USA. The numerical approach was based on finite element analysis incorporating transient conductive heat transfer. Heat generation functions representing decomposition of wastes were empirically developed and incorporated to the formulation. Thermal properties of materials were determined using experimental testing, field observations, and data reported in literature. The boundary conditions consisted of seasonal temperature cycles at the ground surface and constant temperatures at the far-field boundary. Heat generation functions were developed sequentially using varying degrees of conceptual complexity in modeling. First a step-function was developed to represent initial (aerobic) and residual (anaerobic) conditions. Second, an exponential growth-decay function was established. Third, the function was scaled for temperature dependency. Finally, an energy-expended function was developed to simulate heat generation with waste age as a function of temperature. Results are presented and compared to field data for the temperature-dependent growth-decay functions. The formulations developed can be used for prediction of temperatures within various components of landfill systems (liner, waste mass, cover, and surrounding subgrade), determination of frost depths, and determination of heat gain due to decomposition of wastes.