Robustness of Meteorological Droughts in Dynamically Downscaled Climate Simulations

We examine the robustness of a suite of regional climate models (RCMs) in simulating meteorological droughts and associated metrics in present‐day climate (1971‐2003) over the conterminous United States (U.S.). The RCMs that are part of North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP) simulations are compared with multiple observations over the climatologically homogeneous regions of the U.S. The seasonal precipitation, climatology, drought attributes, and trends have been assessed. The reanalysis‐based multi‐model median RCM reasonably simulates observed statistical attributes of drought and the regional detail due to topographic forcing. However, models fail to simulate significant drying trend over the Southwest and West. Further, reanalysis‐based NARCCAP runs underestimate the observed drought frequency overall, with the exception of the Southwest; whereas they underestimate persistence in the drought‐affected areas over the Southwest and West‐North Central regions. However, global climate model‐driven NARCCAP ensembles tend to overestimate regional drought frequencies. Models exhibit considerable uncertainties while reproducing meteorological drought statistics, as evidenced by a general lack of agreement in the Hurst exponent, which in turn controls drought persistence. Water resources managers need to be aware of the limitations of current climate models, while regional climate modelers may want to fine‐tune their parameters to address impact‐relevant metrics.     

The determination and matching analysis of pinch point temperature difference in evaporator and condenser of organic rankine cycle for mixed working fluid

Exergo-economic analysis of the pinch point temperature difference (PPTD) in both evaporator and condenser of sub-critical organic Rankine cycle system (ORCs) are performed based on the first and second laws of thermodynamics. Taking mixture R13I1/R601a as a working fluid and the annual total cost per net output power Z as exergo-economic performance evaluation criterion, the effects of PPTD in evaporator ΔT_e, and the PPTD ratio of condenser to evaporator y, on the exergo-economic performance of ORCs are analyzed. Moreover, how some other parameters influence the optimal PPTD in evaporator ΔT_e,opt and the optimal PPTD ratio of condenser to evaporator y_opt are also discussed. It has been found that the exergo-economic performance of ORCs is remarkably influenced by ΔT_e and y, and there exists ΔT_e,opt and y_opt. In addition, ΔT_e,opt and y_opt are affected by heat transfer coefficient ratio of condenser to evaporator ß, the temperature of working fluid at dew point in condenser T_1a, and composition of R13I1/R601a: larger ß and T_1a lead to lower ΔT_e,opt and y_opt; by contraries, larger mass fraction of R13I1 makes ΔT_e,opt and y_opt increase, and y_opt increases linearly. The effects of the temperature of working fluid at bubble point in evaporator T_3a, mass flow rate of exhaust flue gas m_g, and inlet temperature of exhaust flue gas T_gi on ΔT_e,opt and y_opt are very slight. For comparison, three additional working fluids, namely R601a, R245fa, and 0.32R245fa/0.68R601a, are also taken into account.     

Modeling urban solar energy with high spatiotemporal resolution: A case study in Toronto,Canada

This research presents a method to determine the maximum potential for the capturing of solar radiation on the rooftop of buildings in an urban environment. This involves the modeling of solar energy potential and comparison to historical building energy demand profiles through the use of 3-D solar simulation software tools and geographic information systems (GIS). The objective is to accurately identify the amount of surface area that is suitable for solar photovoltaic (PV) installations and to estimate the hourly PV electricity generation potential of existing building rooftops in an urban environment. This study demonstrates a viable approach for modeling urban solar energy and offers valuable information for electricity distributors, policy makers, and urban energy planners to facilitate the substantial design of a green built environment. The developed methodology is comprised of three main sections: (1) determination of suitable rooftop area, (2) determination of the amount of incident solar radiation available per rooftop, and (3) estimation of hourly solar PV electricity generation potential. A case study was performed using this method for Ryerson University, located in Toronto, Canada. It was found that solar PV could supply up to 19% of the study area’s electricity demands during peak consumption hours. The potential benefits of solar PV was also estimated based upon hourly greenhouse gas emission intensity factors as well as Time-of-Use (TOU) savings through the Ontario Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) program, which allows for better representation of the positive impacts of solar technologies.     

不完全竞争行业中的环境工具有效性研究:一个理论框架

各级政府贯彻落实绿色发展的理念,实现经济增长与环境保护的共赢,才能真正实现"绿水青山就是金山银山"。在经济"新常态"背景下,防治环境污染是个复杂而系统性的工程,需要进行经济追因与综合治理,其中,制定实施有效的环境政策工具尤为关键。本文把微观经济学中的双寡头产量竞争模型作为基准模型拓展用于环境经济分析,并把环境税、环境规制、排污权交易这三类主要环境工具对企业生产决策的影响纳入基准模型,旨在对比研究不完全竞争行业中环境工具的有效性问题。结果表明:主要基于市场机制的环境经济政策比行政色彩浓厚的环境规制更有效率。提高环境税率或排污权价格均能显著削减行业污染物排放量,如果环境税率恰好等于排污权价格,则环境税与排污权交易这两类环境工具的效力相等。这对进一步建立和完善我国尚处于探索或初始实施阶段的环境工具,促进石化、电力、钢铁等不完全竞争行业的主要污染物减排,具有一定参考价值和借鉴意义。     

煤炭资源耗减价值及其“利益共享、风险共担”补偿机制研究

煤炭行业清费建税,资源税从价计征引起了社会各界对资源税费制度改革的热议,而资源耗减价值是资源税费制度改革的重要依据之一。将资源回采率纳入使用者成本模型,科学计量了我国2000-2011年间煤炭资源的耗减价值。分析表明:2000-2011年间,4%折现率下煤炭资源耗减价值增加了22倍之多,而资源税费却仅仅增长了7倍,煤炭资源耗减价值与资源税费实际征收额之间存在有巨大缺口得不到补偿;国家资源所有者权益的实现度与煤炭经济形势呈逆向分布,煤炭工业利润率的上升并没有带来国家资源所有者权益的增加,导致这种错位的原因与我国不合理的资源税收机制有很大关系;资源税税率的理论区间为1.11%-8.85%,与国家规定的2%-10%高度重合,从而说明国家决策的合理性。为使资源所有者权益的实现度与煤炭工业经济形势相"挂钩",以资源税收入等于资源耗减价值为切入点,对资源所有者权益的实现度进行数理分析,求得了资源税税率与当期资源价格的关系,发现固定税率的资源税难以适应市场波动,于是提出"资源税+利润税"的组合税收工具,确定了利润税的起征点,计算得出了资源税和利润税的税率组合。该组合税制在一定程度上能够平抑经济周期对煤炭工业造成的影响,同时又维护国家资源所有者权益,从而实现国家与煤炭工业"利益共享、风险共担"。     

中国工业CO_2排放的行业间传导网络及协同减排

工业是碳排放的主要部门,科学识别工业CO_2排放的行业间传导并揭示其联动结构对于跨行业协同减排具有重要的理论和现实意义。本文基于1991-2012年中国工业36个两位数行业数据,在VAR模型框架下,利用Granger因果检验方法对CO_2排放的行业间传导关系进行了识别,并从关系视角出发,借助社会网络分析方法(SNA)揭示工业CO_2排放行业间传导的整体和个体网络结构特征,研究发现:工业CO_2排放的行业间传导呈网络结构形态,网络密度在1-6期的滞后阶数下呈先升高后下降的趋势,并且在滞后2期达到最高;燃气生产和供应业、电力热力生产和供应业、服装业、造纸及纸制品业、木材加工业具有较高的度数中心度、中介中心度、接近中心度,在网络中处于核心位置,并发挥中介和桥梁作用;在CO_2排放的行业传导网络中,煤炭采选业、黑色金属矿采选业、有色金属矿采选业等10个行业属于经纪人板块,医药制造业、饮料制造业、化学纤维制造业等9个行业属于净受益板块,金属制品业、塑料制品业、农副食品加工业等11个行业属于双向溢出板块,烟草加工业、石油加工及炼焦业、燃气生产和供应业等6个行业属于净溢出板块。基于上述结论,本文提出了工业CO_2排放的跨行业协同减排思路。     

中国经济发展方式的转变动力及其作用途径

以全要素生产率增长动力作为经济发展方式的转变动力,本文采用1989-2013年4组省际面板数据经由可行广义最小二乘法实证估计了10个动力因素对全要素生产率增长率的贡献水平与作用途径。研究发现:技术创新水平、市场化水平、人力资本存量水平、异质性企业集聚水平和对外开放度的综合指数对中国全要素生产率增长率的回归估计系数分别为0.575 7,0.212 5,0.136 8,0.064 4和0.018,表明技术创新、市场化改革、人力资本积累、异质性企业集聚和对外开放是促进中国经济发展方式转变的直接动力因素。进一步的研究结果显示:技术创新和异质性企业集聚通过提高前沿技术进步率和生产效率变化率以及规模报酬收益率途径,市场化改革通过提高前沿技术进步率途径,人力资本积累与对外开放通过提高前沿技术进步率和规模报酬收益率途径,促进了中国全要素生产率增长。虽然产业结构变迁、城市化、基础设施建设、区域经济政策实施和金融发展对中国全要素生产率的增长表现为负向或拖累作用,但是,产业结构变迁与城市化能够提高前沿技术进步率,基础设施建设和区域经济政策能够提高规模报酬收益率,金融发展能够提高生产效率增长率和规模报酬收益率,这5项动力因素对促进中国全要素生产率增长的正向贡献有待提高。依据上述研究结论,本文提出尽快攻克制约生产率增长的核心技术,统筹考虑产业结构升级、城市化、基础设施建设和区域经济政策实施以及加快金融领域改革等政策建议,以期加快我国经济发展方式转变进程。     

明清苏浙沿海台风风暴潮灾害序列重建与特征分析

在系统搜集、整理明清苏浙沿海潮灾记录基础上,建立风暴潮频率辨识方法,复原台风风暴潮灾害750次,据此建立逐年风暴潮频率序列。分析显示,1460~1480年、1570~1595年、1715~1745年、1785~1810年、1880~1890年为风暴潮活跃期。明清苏浙沿海风暴潮存在45 a、25 a、14 a三种时间尺度周期,其中45 a周期最为显著。气候跃变分析表明,1402年、1457年、1566年、1624年、1652年、1711年、1846年、1880年风暴潮活动趋于活跃;1444年、1477年、1543年、1634年、1799年、1856年风暴潮趋于平静。与1470年以来温度距平曲线对比显示,气候冷暖与风暴潮发生频率有一定正相关性,全球变暖背景下苏浙沿海可能面临更为严重的风暴潮威胁。苏浙地区明清时期风暴潮灾害空间分布差异明显,大部分风暴潮记载集中于长三角、杭州湾地区,苏北地区风暴潮数量少但影响范围广,浙东地区受地形和经济发展程度影响,风暴潮记载数量少且集中于滨海。     

基于GEV干旱指数和DFA方法的苏北地区季节性干旱研究

为分析近年来江苏省苏北地区季节性干旱灾害特征,利用苏北五市1989~2013年的逐月降水量资料,建立月降水量的广义极值分布函数,通过分析广义极值干旱指数(GEVI),研究苏北五市近25a的季节性干旱分布和干旱等级的时空变化特点。在此基础上,利用去趋势波动分析方法(DFA)对苏北五市月平均降水量的周期性规律进行研究。结果表明,苏北五市的月降水量均服从广义极值Fréchet概率分布,且具有从西北(徐州)地区向东南沿海(盐城)地区递增的空间分布特征,整体上属于干旱灾害频发的地区,且以轻旱为主且季节性特征明显。苏北五市的月降水量存在幂律相关性,即降水量具有较强的正长程相关性,因此,未来苏北地区干旱的总体趋势将与过去特征正相关。     

三峡库区典型土壤酸碱缓冲性能及其影响因素研究

受酸沉降和化肥施用等外源性酸输入的影响,三峡库区土壤面临着严重的酸化威胁。通过选取三峡库区两种典型土壤(紫色土和黄壤)作为研究对象,采用酸碱滴定法对土壤酸碱缓冲性能及其影响因素进行了研究。结果表明:在一定的p H范围内,紫色土(p H 6.5~2.5、6.2~11.5)和黄壤(p H 5.6~2.8、5.5~10.7)的p H变化与外源性酸、碱加入量均呈线性相关关系。通过分段拟合获取的缓冲容量结果显示,紫色土酸、碱缓冲容量分别为101.3、34.6 mmol/kg;而黄壤酸、碱缓冲容量分别为105.3、38.0 mmol/kg。黄壤和紫色土主要受碳酸钙与阳离子交换的缓冲作用;缓冲体系及初始p H、机械组成等土壤理化性质的不同是导致库区典型土壤酸碱缓冲容量差异的主要原因,总体表现为黄壤酸、碱缓冲性能略优于紫色土。此外,由于近年来酸沉降和氮肥用量的增加,使得库区土壤面临的酸化威胁呈上升趋势。该结果对库区土壤环境容量和典型土壤酸化潜势等研究具有参考价值,还可为区域外源性酸临界值评估以及应对策略制定提供理论依据。