Earthquake insurance pricing: a risk‐based approach

Flat earthquake premiums are ‘uniformly’ set for a variety of buildings in many countries, neglecting the fact that the risk of damage to buildings by earthquakes is based on a wide range of factors. How these factors influence the insurance premiums is worth being studied further. Proposed herein is a risk‐based approach to estimate the earthquake insurance rates of buildings. Examples of application of the approach to buildings located in Taipei city of Taiwan were examined. Then, the earthquake insurance rates for the buildings investigated were calculated and tabulated. To fulfil insurance rating, the buildings were classified into 15 model building types according to their construction materials and building height. Seismic design levels were also considered in insurance rating in response to the effect of seismic zone and construction years of buildings. This paper may be of interest to insurers, actuaries, and private and public sectors of insurance.     

农业生物质废弃物转化功能材料的研究进展

农业生物质废弃物的数量正在迅速增加,导致许多环境和治理问题. 因此,将农业生物质废弃物回收利用并增值应用越来越受到关注. 近些年农业生物质废弃物利用和衍生功能材料的研究进展主要包括以下两个方面：①提取天然聚合物并增值应用;②直接制备新型碳基材料,包括吸附、催化、储能电极和复合功能材料等. 农业生物质废弃物转化功能材料已逐步实现且应用范围广泛;未来的研究需要评估农业生物质废弃物衍生产品的质量和安全性,并开发高度可行且具有成本效益的生物质废弃物转化方法,以期实现规模化工业生产.     

新形势下再生原料进口制度改革初探

禁止进口固体废物是我国打击“洋垃圾”入境的重要举措。固体废物与再生原料界限模糊导致政策实施过程中存在执行难度，固体废物属性鉴别作为技术手段难以完全应对，进口制度需要进一步改革。通过对进口固体废物及再生原料管理政策分析，再结合固体废物属性鉴别过程中的实际难题，梳理出制度体系不完善、标准规范不健全、技术水平欠缺三方面的问题。为防止固体废物冒充再生原料入境，提出构建完善新型制度体系、建立健全标准规范、加强能力建设等具体举措。     

列车车厢内装材料VOCs释放特性研究

列车车厢内的空气质量对乘客的健康和乘坐舒适度有明显影响.密闭车厢的内装材料所释放的挥发性有机物(VOCs)是影响车厢内环境空气质量的主要污染物.为研究25G型客车车厢内空气VOCs浓度的分布机理及扩散规律,采用环境测试舱法和扫描电镜(SEM)表征,对车厢主要内装材料(座椅坐垫、PVC地板、墙板等)的VOCs释放速率进行...