New energy policy and low-carbon society in Japan after the Great East Japan Earthquake

The Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011 devastated the eastern region of Japan.Due to the resulting nuclear accident,Japanese Cabinet decided to revise its energy policies.The Energy and Environment Council in National Policy Unit published options on the nation’s scenarios for energy and economy in 2030.We estimated the economic impacts of the options to national economy and households in 2030.Finally,we clarified significant factors to establish a secure,affluent and low-carbon society based on the energy scenarios.     

Experimental and life cycle assessment analysis of gas emission from mechanically–biologically pretreated waste in a landfill with energy recovery

The global gaseous emissions produced by landfilling the Mechanically Sorted Organic Fraction (MSOF) with different weeks of Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) was evaluated for an existing waste management system. One MBT facility and a landfill with internal combustion engines fuelled by the landfill gas for electrical energy production operate in the waste management system considered. An experimental apparatus was used to simulate 0, 4, 8 and 16 weeks of aerobic stabilization and the consequent biogas potential (Nl/kg) of a large sample of MSOF withdrawn from the full-scale MBT. Stabilization achieved by the waste was evaluated by dynamic oxygen uptake and fermentation tests. Good correlation coefficients (R²), ranging from 0.7668 to 0.9772, were found between oxygen uptake, fermentation and anaerobic test values. On the basis of the results of several anaerobic tests, the methane production rate k (year^?1) was evaluated. k ranged from 0.436 to 0.308 year^?1 and the bio-methane potential from 37 to 12 N m³/tonne, respectively, for the MSOF with 0 and 16 weeks of treatment. Energy recovery from landfill gas ranged from about 11 to 90 kW h per tonne of disposed MSOF depending on the different scenario investigated. Life cycle analysis showed that the scenario with 0 weeks of pre-treatment has the highest weighted global impact even if opposite results were obtained with respect to the single impact criteria. MSOF pre-treatment periods longer than 4 weeks showed rather negligible variation in the global impact of system emissions.     

Current EU-27 technical potential of organic waste streams for biogas and energy production

Anaerobic digestion of organic waste generated by households, businesses, agriculture, and industry is an important approach as method of waste treatment – especially with regard to its potential as an alternative energy source and its cost-effectiveness. Separate collection of biowaste from households or vegetal waste from public green spaces is already established in some EU-27 countries. The material recovery in composting plants is common for biowaste and vegetal waste. Brewery waste fractions generated by beer production are often used for animal feeding after a suitable preparation. Waste streams from paper industry generated by pulp and paper production such as black liquor or paper sludge are often highly contaminated with toxic substances. Recovery of chemicals and the use in thermal processes like incineration, pyrolysis, and gasification are typical utilization paths. The current utilization of organic waste from households and institutions (without agricultural waste) was investigated for EU-27 countries with Germany as an in-depth example. Besides of biowaste little is known about the suitability of waste streams from brewery and paper industry for anaerobic digestion. Therefore, an evaluation of the most important biogas process parameters for different substrates was carried out, in order to calculate the biogas utilization potential of these waste quantities. Furthermore, a calculation of biogas energy potentials was carried out for defined waste fractions which are most suitable for anaerobic digestion. Up to 1% of the primary energy demand can be covered by the calculated total biogas energy potential. By using a “best-practice-scenario” for separately collected biowaste, the coverage of primary energy demand may be increased above 2% for several countries. By using sector-specific waste streams, for example the German paper industry could cover up to 4.7% and the German brewery industry up to 71.2% of its total energy demand.     

活性炭法测定地下建筑中的氡

阐述了氡的来源、在环境中的分布状况及其对人体的危害。用主动式活性炭盒采样和高纯锗探测器伽玛射线谱仪对样品进行测量,具有灵敏度高、精度好、易于操作等特点。     

几种地板燃烧性能的实验研究

地板的燃烧性能对室内火灾的发展蔓延及火灾危害都有重要的影响,本文使用锥形量热仪对市场上常见几种地板(实木地板、竹制地板和复合地板)的燃烧性能进行试验研究。实验结果表明,地板的热释放速率具有两个峰,相同辐射功率下,竹地板和实木地板的比消光面积分别比复合地板高29．3％、42．5％,竹制地板点燃时间较小,复合地板火灾危险性要小于竹制地板和实木地板。     

Cars and fuels for tomorrow: a comparative assessment

Light duty vehicles, i.e. passenger cars and light trucks, account for approximately half of global transportation energy demand and, thus, a major share of carbon dioxide and other emissions from the transport sector. Energy consumption in the transport sector is expected to grow in the future, especially in developing countries. Cars with alternative powertrains to internal combustion engines (notably battery, hybrid and fuel-cell powertrains), in combination with potentially low carbon electricity or alternative fuels (notably hydrogen and methanol), can reduce energy demand by at least 50%, and carbon dioxide and regulated emissions much further. This article presents a comparative technical and economic assessment of promising future fuel/vehicle combinations. There are several promising technologies but no obvious winners. However, the electric drivetrain is a common denominator in the alternative powertrains and continued cost reductions are important for widespread deployment in future vehicles. Development paths from current fossil fuel based systems to future carbon-neutral supply systems appear to be flexible and a gradual phasing-in of new powertrains and carbon-neutral fluid fuels or electricity is technically possible. Technology development drivers and vehicle manufacturers are found mainly in industrialised countries, but developing countries represent a growing market and may have an increasingly important role in shaping the future.     

井下高温作业的矿工生理、生化测定研究

对煤矿井下高温作业的矿工进行了生理和生化方面的测定研究。测定与分析结果显示高温井下工人血浆中乳酸 (RU )及热应激蛋白 (HSPs)等指标明显高于非高温井下工人对照组 ,并具有非常显著统计学意义。班中体温以及班前、后体重差值也具有非常明显的差异 ,研究结果表明 ,井下高温作业环境对矿工健康有很大影响 ,应加强对这些矿工的劳动保护     

Climate policies and skill-biased employment dynamics: Evidence from EU countries

The political acceptability of climate policies is undermined by job-killing arguments, especially for the least-skilled workers. However, evidence of the distributional impacts for different workers remains scant. We examine the associations between climate policies, proxied by energy prices, and workforce skills for 14 European countries and 15 industrial sectors over the period 1995–2011. Using a shift-share instrumental variable estimator and controlling for the influence of automation and globalization, we find that climate policies have been skill biased against manual workers and have favoured technicians. The long-term change in energy prices accounted for between 9.2% and 17.5% (resp. 4.2% and 8.0%) of the increase (resp. decrease) in the share of technicians (resp. manual workers).     

Renewable Energy Legislation in China: Political and Institutional Strategy for Effective Implementation

Abstract

Over the past decade, the Chinese government has developed several plans regulations and policy measures related to the development of renewable energy technologies and has implemented a series of pilot projects. Chinese policymakers have spent several years studying how renewable energy policy models that have been used internationally could be implemented in China. Programs are currently underway to implement pilot renewable portfolio standards, or mandatory market shares (MMS) for renewable energy, in several provinces. This paper examines the primary institutions that are involved in promoting renewable policies in China, the structure of the policies that currently are being drafted, and the status of the complementary, national-level renewable energy law being drafted to provide a legal basis for ongoing local and national-level policies. It then examines the legal requirements for promoting renewable energy legislation under the Chinese law-making system. Finally, it provides recommendations for strategies to ensure the smooth implementation of a multi-faceted national renewable energy policy and legal framework.     

Heidegger and Being at the Hanford Reservation: Standing Reserve,Enframing, and Environmental Communication Theory

This essay examines the potential of Heidegger's phenomenology as a foundation for environmental communication theory, emphasizing his critiques of modern science, technology, humanism, and metaphysics. A phenomenological approach to environmental communication provides resources for recognizing metaphysical assumptions that endanger both humans and nature. The Hanford nuclear reservation serves as an illustrative text, exemplifying Heidegger's reading of nuclear energy as a culmination of both Western metaphysics and the instrumental stance that he calls “enframing.” In Heidegger's view, the ordering and control accomplished through enframing obscures the mutually constitutive relationship between humans and nature, and in doing so, diminishes the possibilities for authentic human existence. The chapter examines how both representational and constitutive models of communication contribute to those conditions, and adopts a set of concepts from Heidegger's phenomenology as a foundation for an alternative, “bounded constitutive” model.