Warm glow from green power: Evidence from Australian electricity consumers

Green electricity products are increasingly made available to consumers in many countries in order to address a number of environmental and social concerns. Most of the literature on this green electricity market focuses on consumers’ characteristics and product attributes that could affect participation. However, the contribution of this environmental consumerism to the overall environmental good does not depend on participation alone. The real impact relies on market participation for green consumers (the proportion of green consumers) combined with the level of green consumption intensity – the commitment levels, or proportion of consumption that is green. We design an online interface that closely mimics the real market decision environment for electricity consumers in Western Australia and use an error component model to analyze consumers’ choice of green electricity products and their commitment levels. We show that product attributes have limited impact on the choice of green products; however, there is still great potential for better participation by improving the design of green electricity programs. When green products are selected, most respondents select the minimum commitment possible, and this is insensitive to the premium being charged on green power, suggesting that we are largely observing a buy-in ‘warm glow’ for carbon mitigation.     

一起钢质无缝气瓶爆炸事故技术分析

文章简要描述了一起消防气体灭火钢质气瓶爆炸事故,对爆炸气瓶进行了断口分析、金相试验和理化试验,并分析了事故的原因,提醒制造厂家规范制造工艺,对预防类似事故的发生具有一定的参考意义。     

The Influence of Anthropogenic Contamination On Metals Release From Coastal Sediment Suspensions with Aerated Sea Water

The zinc, cadmium, copper and lead release from the uncontaminated and contaminated coastal sediments with aerated sea water was studied. the metals transfer to the dissolved forms was monitored during one-two months by differential pulse anodic voltammetry (DPASV). the sediments with different initial degree of contamination were sampled in the Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan around Vladivostok-the biggest city in Russian Far East. Sediment contamination by metals led to increased release to solution of zinc due to sulphide oxidation and cadmium on account of organic matter decomposition. the copper behaviour was complicated by strong binding with organic matter and enhancements of copper release can only be seen in sediment with a low organic matter content. Significant lead transfer to dissolved forms was not observed regardless of sediment contamination. the temperature affected the release of cadmium and copper through enhanced organic matter destruction. the dissolved metal fluxes from the sediment transformation are compared with metal fluxes towards bottom. Such comparisons show that second contamination by dissolved metals of the studied coastal environment may be important for cadmium only.     

基于Box Behnken设计的煤导热系数分析与预测

为研究分析水分、固定碳及密度3个因素对煤导热系数的影响,选取多个矿井不同煤质的煤作为实验煤样,使用NETZSCH LFA457型激光导热系数测试仪进行测定,并引入二次响应曲面试验设计思想,采用Design Expert软件进行煤质指标的Box Behnken试验设计,按设计表筛选实验数据,构建了导热系数多因素、多水平影响下二次回归响应曲面模型,并对不同采样地点的煤导热系数进行了分析与预测。结果表明:二次回归方程P值小于0.000 1,极显著,失拟项为0.072 4,不显著,回归方程具有统计学意义;当水分在0.9%~10.9%,固定碳在49.3%~83.6%,密度在1.2~1.92 g·cm³之间,对煤的导热系数一次项影响程度为密度>固定碳>水分;二次项影响程度为固定碳和密度>水分和密度>水分和固定碳,且固定碳和密度之间存在交互作用,水分和密度、水分和固定碳之间无交互作用;应用响应曲面模型预测的煤导热系数误差为4.3%,满足精度要求。     

全耦合活性污泥模型(FCASM3)Ⅱ:模型校验

以采用AAO污水处理工艺的德清县狮山污水处理厂作为全耦合活性污泥模型(FCASM3)校验的现场试验基地,分别进行了常规水质指标测定和进水水质特征分析等试验研究,依据现场试验结果,完成了对活性污泥系统生物去除营养物质细观机理模型FCASM3的校验工作,动态校验结果表明,FCASM3模型可以对AAO连续流工艺系统实现较准确的细观模拟,营养物质生物去除过程的动态数值模拟结果与实测结果相一致.     

A choice experiment analysis for solid waste disposal option: a case study in Malaysia

In Malaysia, most municipal wastes currently are disposed into poorly managed 'controlled tipping' systems with little or no pollution protection measures. This study was undertaken to assist the relevant governmental bodies and service providers to identify an improved waste disposal management strategy. The study applied the choice experiment technique to estimate the nonmarket values for a number of waste disposal technologies. Implicit prices for environmental attributes such as psychological fear, land use, air pollution, and river water quality were estimated. Compensating surplus estimates incorporating distance from the residences of the respondents to the proposed disposal facility were calculated for a number of generic and technology-specific choice sets. The resulting estimates were higher for technology-specific options, and the distance factor was a significant determinant in setting an equitable solid waste management fee.     

Valuing improvements to threatened and endangered marine species: an application of stated preference choice experiments

Non-market valuation research has produced value estimates for over forty threatened and endangered (T&E) species, including mammals, fish, birds, and crustaceans. Increasingly, Stated Preference Choice Experiments (SPCE) are utilized for valuation, as the format offers flexibility for policy analysis and may reduce certain types of response biases relative to the more traditional Contingent Valuation method. Additionally, SPCE formats can allow respondents to make trade-offs among multiple species, providing information on the distinctiveness of preferences for different T&E species. In this paper we present results of an SPCE involving three U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed species: the Puget Sound Chinook salmon, the Hawaiian monk seal, and the smalltooth sawfish. We estimate willingness-to-pay (WTP) values for improving each species' ESA listing status and statistically compare these values between the three species using a method of convolutions approach. Our results suggest that respondents have distinct preferences for the three species, and that WTP estimates differ depending on the species and the level of improvement to their ESA status. Our results should be of interest to researchers and policy-makers, as we provide value estimates for three species that have limited, if any, estimates available in the economics literature, as well as new information about the way respondents make trade-offs among three taxonomically different species.     

煤质活性炭在饮用水处理应用中值得探讨的问题

本文介绍了煤质活性炭在饮用水处理应用中存在的如何选择活性炭的性能指标,煤质活性炭新旧国家标准的变化及煤质活性炭的再生等值得探讨问题。本文对煤质活性炭饮用水处理的应用具有一定的意义。     

A large-scale outdoor atmospheric simulation smog chamber for studying atmospheric photochemical processes: Characterization and preliminary application

Understanding the formation mechanisms of secondary air pollution is very important for the formulation of air pollution control countermeasures in China. Thus, a large-scale outdoor atmospheric simulation smog chamber was constructed at Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (the CRAES Chamber), which was designed for simulating the atmospheric photochemical processes under the conditions close to the real atmospheric environment. The chamber consisted of a 56-m³ fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) Teflon film reactor, an electrically-driven stainless steel alloy shield, an auxiliary system, and multiple detection instrumentations. By performing a series of characterization experiments, we obtained basic parameters of the CRAES chamber, such as the mixing ability, the background reactivity, and the wall loss rates of gaseous compounds (propene, NO, NO₂, ozone) and aerosols (ammonium sulfate). Oxidation experiments were also performed to study the formation of ozone and secondary organic aerosol (SOA), including α-pinene ozonolysis, propene and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene photooxidation. Temperature and seed effects on the vapor wall loss and SOA yields were obtained in this work: higher temperature and the presence of seed could reduce the vapor wall loss; SOA yield was found to depend inversely on temperature, and the presence of seed could increase SOA yield. The seed was suggested to be used in the chamber to reduce the interaction between the gas phase and chamber walls. The results above showed that the CRAES chamber was reliable and could meet the demands for investigating tropospheric chemistry.     

Incentive compatibility tests of choice experiment value elicitation questions

This paper uses laboratory experiments with induced values to address fundamental issues related to the incentive compatibility of choice experiment value elicitation questions. In particular, we compare two- versus three-option choice sets and the effect of using alternative provision rules, including one where the outcome is influenced by both participant and “regulator” votes. We find the overall proportion of choices that are inconsistent with induced preferences is rather low. However, there are more deviations from induced preferences for two-option choice sets, and for alternatives to a simple plurality vote implementation rule. A multinomial probit analysis of choices in tandem with a mixed logit welfare analysis suggests there is a statistically significant but modest degree of bias towards selecting the status quo option.