Minimax regret discounting

The paper considers an environmental policy decision in which the appropriate approach for discounting future costs and benefits is unknown. Uncertainty about the discount rate is formulated as a decision under Knightian uncertainty. To solve this, we employ minimax regret, a decision criterion that is much less conservative then the related criterion maximin—in particular, it can be shown to implement a “proportional response” in that it equally balances concern about the mistake of doing too little with that of doing too much. Despite the criterion's balanced nature, the minimax regret solution mimics a policy that maximizes the present discounted value of future net benefits with an effective (certainty-equivalent) discount rate that declines over time to the lowest possible rate. In addition to reinforcing Weitzman's (1998) original limiting result, the approach generates concrete policy advice when decision makers are unable to specify a prior over possible discount rates. We apply it to the Stern–Nordhaus discounting debate and find that the effective discount rate converges to the Stern rate in just under 200 years.     

Soil enzymatic activities and microbial community structure with di erent application rates of Cd and Pb

This study focused on the changes of soil microbial diversity and potential inhibitory effects of heavy metals on soil enzymatic activities at different application rates of Cd andor Pb. The soil used for experiments was collected from Beijing and classified as endoaquepts. Pots containing 500 g of the soil with different Cd andor Pb application rates were incubated for a period of 0, 2, 9, 12 weeks in a glasshouse and the soil samples were analyzed for individual enzymes, including catalase, alkaline phosphatase and dehydrogenase, and the changes of microbial community structure. Results showed that heavy metals slightly inhibited the enzymatic activities in all the samples spiked with heavy metals. The extent of inhibition increased significantly with increasing level of heavy metals, and varied with the incubation periods. The soil bacterial community structure, as determined by polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis techniques, was different in the contaminated samples as compared to the control. The highest community change was observed in the samples amended with high level of Cd. Positive correlations were observed among the three enzymatic activities, but negative correlations were found between the amounts of the heavy metals and the enzymatic activities.     

X70钢在包头土壤环境中的腐蚀规律研究

通过在内蒙古包头土壤中室内埋设试样的方法,考察了土壤温度、含水量以及埋设时间对X70钢腐蚀情况的影响,利用失重法和电化学极化曲线方法测定了腐蚀速率.通过SEM和EDS对腐蚀形貌和腐蚀产物进行了观察与分析.实验结果表明,腐蚀速率在埋设60天内一直没有达到稳定,并随温度的升高而增加,在45℃、10%含水量土壤中埋设15天时达最大值;腐蚀程度随时间的延长而加剧;当埋设时间和温度相同时,X70钢在10%含水量土壤中腐蚀严重,在20%含水量的包头土壤中腐蚀轻微;X70钢的腐蚀机理主要是均匀腐蚀和点蚀,腐蚀产物主要为Fe的氧化物.     

湛江临海区域氯离子沉降速率对比研究

目的 研究热带海洋大气环境中SVCl-的影响因素及变化规律.方法 在湛江市临海陆地区域,通过湿烛法采集SVCl-样品,利用Cl?选择电极分析样品Cl?含量,获得SVCl-.分析热带海洋大气环境SVCl-与地理位置、温度、湿度等环境因素的相关性.结果 地理位置对SVCl-影响显著,在风大、浪高海区的临海区域,SVCl-是...     

Application of an early warning indicator and CaO to maximize the time–space-yield of an completely mixed waste digester using rape seed oil as co-substrate

In order to increase the organic loading rate (OLR) and hereby the performance of biogas plants an early warning indicator (EWI-VFA/Ca) was applied in a laboratory-scale biogas digester to control process stability and to steer additive dosing. As soon as the EWI-VFA/Ca indicated the change from stable to instable process conditions, calcium oxide was charged as a countermeasure to raise the pH and to bind long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs) by formation of aggregates. An interval of eight days between two increases of the OLR, which corresponded to 38% of the hydraulic residence time (HRT), was sufficient for process adaptation. An OLR increase by a factor of three within six weeks was successfully used for biogas production. The OLR was increased to 9.5 kg volatile solids (VS) m^?3 d^?1 with up to 87% of fat. The high loading rates affected neither the microbial community negatively nor the biogas production process. Despite the increase of the organic load to high rates, methane production yielded almost its optimum, amounting to 0.9 m³ (kg VS)^?1. Beneath several uncharacterized members of the phylum Firmicutes mostly belonging to the family Clostridiaceae, a Syntrophomonas-like organism was identified that is known to live in a syntrophic relationship to methanogenic archaea. Within the methanogenic group, microorganisms affiliated to Methanosarcina, Methanoculleus and Methanobacterium dominated the community.     

复合垂直流人工湿地微生物特征对典型污水的响应差异

污水性质是影响人工湿地微生物特征的重要因子,而微生物对人工湿地污染物净化功能的发挥至关重要. 运用两组IVCW(复合垂直流人工湿地)分别处理模拟生活污水和污水处理厂尾水,比较研究两组系统下行流、上行流池的基质酶活性及硝化反硝化强度,并通过脂肪酸甲酯图谱分析系统中的微生物群落结构,以解析人工湿地微生物特征对两种污水的响应差异. 结果表明:处理生活污水的IVCW下行流池中脱氢酶、过氧化氢酶、脲酶及硝酸盐还原酶活性均显著高于其他单元,四者平均值分别为其他单元的2.8~4.6、7.9~10.3、19.3~41.7和4.5~10.8倍. 处理生活污水IVCW基质的硝化强度是尾水处理系统对应单元的1.4~5.3倍(下行流)和1.3~3.9倍(上行流),而两组IVCW对应单元基质的反硝化强度之间无显著差异. IVCW下行流池中特征脂肪酸比值及微生物群落结构受污水类型的影响较小,均以厌氧细菌和革兰氏阳性菌为优势菌;上行流池微生物群落结构则受到污水类型的一定影响,真菌的相对丰度较高. 两种污水对IVCW基质酶活性和硝化强度的影响高于对反硝化强度和微生物群落结构的影响.      

Effect of the C:N:P ratio on the denitrifying dephosphatation in a sequencing batch biofilm reactor (SBBR)

A series of investigations were conducted using sequencing batch biofilm reactor(SBBR) to explore the influence of C:N:P ratio on biological dephosphatation including the denitrifying dephosphatation and the denitrification process.Biomass in the reactor occurred mainly in the form of a biofilm attached to completely submerged disks.Acetic acid was used as the source of organic carbon.C:N:P ratios have had a significant effect on the profiles of phosphate release and phosphate uptake and nitrogen removal.The highest rates of phosphate release and phosphate uptake were recorded at the C:N:P ratio of 140:70:7.The C:N ratio of 2.5:1 ensured complete denitrification.The highest rate of denitrification was achieved at the C:N:P ratio of 140:35:7.The increase of nitrogen load caused an increase in phosphates removal until a ratio C:N:P of 140:140:7.Bacteria of the biofilm exposed to alternate conditions of mixing and aeration exhibited enhanced intracellular accumulation of polyphosphates.Also,the structure of the biofilm encouraged anaerobic–aerobic as well as anoxic–anaerobic and absolutely anaerobic conditions in a SBBR.These heterogeneous conditions in the presence of nitrates may be a significant factor determining the promotion of denitrifying polyphosphate accumulating organism(DNPAO) development.