Europe–Middle East–North Africa cooperation for sustainable electricity and water

This report summarizes the results of two studies of electricity supply for Europe (EU), the Middle East (ME) and North Africa (NA) up to the year 2050. It shows that a transition to competitive, secure and sustainable supply of electricity and water is possible using renewable energy sources, efficiency gains and fossil fuel backup for balancing power. A strong cooperation between the EU and MENA for the market introduction of renewable energy and the interconnection of the electricity grids by high-voltage direct-current transmission are keys to the success and survival of the whole region. However, the necessary measures will take at least two decades to become effective. Therefore, adequate policy and economic frameworks for their realization must be introduced immediately. The importance of sustainable energy for the security of freshwater supplies in MENA is also described.

Technological Progress, Structural Change and China＇s Energy Efficiency

China has witnessed rapid economic development since 1978, and during the time, energy production and consumption developed at a tremendous speed as well. Energy efficiency which can be measured by energy consumption per unit of GDP, however, experienced continuous decrease. Theoretically, the change of energy efficiency can be attributed to industry structural change and technological change. In order to explain the transformation of Chinese energy efficiency, we adopt logarithmic mean Divisia index techniques to decompose changes in energy intensity in the period of 1994-2005. We find that technological change is the dominant contributor in the decline of energy intensity, but the contribution has declined since 2001. The change in industry structure has decreased the energy intensity before 1998, but raised the intensity after 1998. Decomposed technological effects for all sectors indicate that technological progresses in high energy consuming industries such as raw chemical materials and chemical products, smelting and pressing of ferrous metals, manufacture of non-metallic mineral products and household contribute are the principal drivers of China＇s declining energy intensity.     

江苏、安徽能源强度比较分析与启示

能源在社会经济发展中具有重要作用。随着能源消耗量剧增,能源供需矛盾、环境问题日益突出,研究区域能源强度变化具有重要的现实意义。采用Laspeyres因素分解法,定量分析江苏省和安徽省的产业结构和产业效率对能源强度的影响。研究发现：（1）安徽省的能源强度高于江苏省的能源强度,不过差距在逐渐变小,利用重标极差法预测未来两省的能源强度会逐渐趋同;（2）江苏省的产业结构发展有减小能源强度的趋势,不过作用过程有波动;产业效率有利于降低能源强度;（3）安徽省的产业结构有助于增加能源强度,作用趋势还在增大,产业效率有利于降低能源强度,降低作用大于江苏省。因此本文提出目前同样的投入应该偏向欠发达地区或能源强度较高地区,这有利于快速取得降低能源强度的成效.     

我国城市间客运交通能源消耗趋势的分解

随着我国城镇化水平不断提高,城市作为重要的交通网络节点,其衔接交通运输线路、产生和承担客货流转换的功能日益显著。定量地探讨城市间客运交通能源消费变化的影响因素对于我国未来城市间客运交通能源需求的研究及温室气体减排具有重要意义。本文采用终端能源需求MAED模型,对我国城市间客运交通能耗的历史基期数据进行处理,同时对未来能耗进行预测,在形成ASIF结构的数据基础上,利用对数平均迪氏指数法(Logarithmic Mean Index,LMDI)对城市间客运交通能耗的活动效应、结构效应和强度效应进行分解分析。结果表明,从历史数据来看,我国"十五"期间城市间客运交通能耗的快速增加同时取决于客运周转量的增加、客运交通模式和能耗强度的转变,若延续这一发展趋势,我国中长期城市间客运交通模式将快速增长。未来城市间轨道交通网络的发展和高效利用及交通节能减排政策的落实将是促进能源消耗增速降低的可能选择。     

中国碳排放的因素分解模型及实证分析:1995-2004

能源消费是碳排放的主要来源。随着中国经济的快速发展,能源消费的急剧增长以及以煤为主的能源结构在短期内很难改变,因此,碳排放不可避免地会出现一定幅度的增加。本文基于碳排放量的基本等式,采用对数平均权重Divisia分解法（Logarithmic mean weight Divisia method,LMD）,建立中国人均碳排放的因素分解模型,定量分析了1995-2004年间,能源结构、能源效率和经济发展等因素的变化对中国人均碳排放的影响,结果显示经济发展对拉动中国人均碳排放的贡献率呈指数增长,而能源效率和能源结构对抑制中国人均碳排放的贡献率都呈倒“U”。这说明能源效率对抑制中国碳排放的作用在减弱,以煤为主的能源结构未发生根本性变化,能源效率和能源结构的抑制作用难以抵销由经济发展拉动的中国碳排放量增长。     

Resource Potentials and Limitations of A Nicaraguan Agricultural Region

Food production has to be increased in a sustainable way to meet the future global demand. A key position is attributed to developing countries. A deepened understanding of their agricultural regions with specific resource endowments and constraints is therefore crucial. In this study we propose a methodology based on material flux analysis (MFA) to assess the resource potentials and limitations of a Nicaraguan agricultural region. We focus on current regional and farm resource management and explore them under two scenarios. Indicators are nitrogen and the degrees of self-sufficiency (DSS) for energy, and the staples maize and beans. As data is scarce, most information is based on interviews with farmers of four categories and key persons, and on literature. The results show that nitrogen management does not differ considerably among categories. Nitrogen is mined mostly from staple plots. Self-sufficiency for beans is given in an average year. Yet, landless and small farmers neither produce enough maize for autoconsumption, nor are they self-sufficient for firewood. Energy supply is also the core problem of the region, since the DSS is 70%. Soil nitrogen stocks last at most for three more generations. Analyses with the scenario technique show that: (a) Unlimited population growth has serious consequences in the near future e.g. severe shortage of energy and food. (b) Alternative farming systems are possible, but they require reducing the population by a factor 2, and thus the creation of jobs in a Hinterland. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Analysis of the Energy Embodied in Foreign Goods Trade of China

In recent years, scientists have been increasingly interested in the energy embodied in traded goods among countries. In this article, the direct energy intensities in various economic sectors of China were calculated with the data of energy consumption and output value of each sector, and the input-output table was used to estimate the external energy consumption. The total energy intensity of all sectors was then obtained. From the data of international trade, the energy embodied in goods trade of China was estimated for the period of 1994-2001. During this period, the average energy intensity of imported goods was always higher than that of exported ones. As a country with a surplus in international goods trade, China actually imported net embodied energy in the past few years. The net embodied energy imported was at the same magnitude of the imported energy in the form of fossil fuels.     

中欧节能减排政策比较

欧盟国家开展节能减排较早,并积累了丰富的经验。比较了在金融危机影响下欧盟与中国在节能减排法律框架、管理方式、经济政策、产业政策和技术创新方面的异同,提出中国应该借鉴欧盟国家的先进经验,完善现有的节能减排政策体系,实现经济和社会的可持续发展。     

BPA和EE2在PA微塑料上竞争吸附的位点能量

为研究微塑料上雌激素共存的吸附行为,以17α-乙炔基雌二醇（EE2）和双酚A （BPA）为目标污染物,微塑料聚酰胺（PA）为吸附剂,通过等温吸附实验研究二者在单溶质和双溶质体系下的吸附性能,基于位点能量分布理论进一步剖析二者在PA微塑料上的的吸附特性.同时,采用X射线光谱（XPS）以及傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）对吸附前后的PA微塑料进行表征,探究其可能存在的吸附机理.等温吸附拟合结果及XPS、FTIR的表征结果表明BPA和EE2及二者混合溶液在PA上的吸附属于非均质吸附,疏水分配及氢键作用为主要的吸附机制.位点能量分布分析结果表明,相同浓度（1～4mg/L）条件下,BPA吸附位点主要分布于高能量区;单溶质体系的EE2吸附位点主要集中于低能量区.双溶质体系下,相同浓度的两种物质位点分布函数均随着位点能量的增大而呈指数降低,BPA下降趋势较为平缓,吸附位点分布更集中.两种体系相比较,BPA平均位点能量和位点能量非均质性分别增加了0.749%和2.483%,吸附位点数量减少了10.852%;双溶质体系下EE2平均位点能量降低0.813%,位点能量非均质性增加1.870%,吸附位点数量增加42.429%.双酚A和EE2在PA微塑料上的竞争吸附中,EE2占优势.     

基于LCA的北京市公交车节能及温室气体减排潜力分析

新能源公交车是未来城市公交行业节能及温室气体减排的重点发展方向.新能源公交车在行驶阶段具有良好的节能及温室气体减排效果,而汽车制造、能源生产等相关生命周期阶段的能耗及温室气体排放常被忽视,且目前新能源公交车的乘客运载功能相对较弱,可能对节能及温室气体减排的潜力造成较为显著的影响.因此,本文基于北京市公交车的运营特征,采用生命周期评价(LCA)方法,选择客运周转量作为功能单位,核算了天然气公交车、混合动力公交车和纯电动公交车等新能源公交车相对于柴油公交车的节能及温室气体减排效益.结果表明:发展新能源公交车对促进北京市公交行业及城市节能低碳发展具有积极的作用,但相对于基于运营里程的核算结果,本研究新能源公交车节能及温室气体减排潜力均较低,主要原因是新能源公交车的实际载客量相对较低;混合动力公交车和纯电动公交车在空调开启时的节能潜力与温室气体减排潜力均远低于天然气公交车;通过发展情景分析,建议北京市现阶段应优先发展天然气公交车,适当发展纯电动公交车和混合动力公交车,以减少北京市公交车的总体能耗,同时降低温室气体排放强度.