You are What You Eat: Meat, Novel Protein Foods, and Consumptive Freedom

Animal husbandry has been accused ofmaltreating animals, polluting the environment, and soon. These accusations were thought to be answered whenthe Dutch research program ``Sustainable TechnologicalDevelopment' (STD) suggested a government-initiatedconversion from meat to novel protein foods (NPFs).STD reasoned that if consumers converted from meat toNPFs, non-sustainable animal husbandry would no longerbe needed. Whereas STD only worried about how toconstruct NPFs with a meat bite, this paper drawsattention to the presumed, but problematic, role forthe government in the execution of the STDsuggestions. Although vegetarians take the credo ``YouAre What You Eat' literally and accuse non-vegetariansof being beasts, a different interpretation is morepromising: eating meat has become a leading thread inmany lifestyles and narratives of self-identity. Sincethe freedom to follow your own lifestyle orconsumptive preferences is a core value incontemporary affluent societies, governmentintervention in the formation and satisfaction ofconsumer preferences for meat dishes is a precariousissue. Hence, NPFs might be interesting for a smallfraction of society, but we had better not expect toomuch from a government-initiated conversion from meatto NPFs as the answer to animal husbandry'sproblems.     

Long-term perspectives on world metal use—a system-dynamics model

In this paper, a system dynamics model is described, which simulates long-term trends in the production and consumption of metals (i.e. iron/steel and an aggregate of metals of medium abundance) in relation to impacts such as ore-grade decline, capital and energy requirements and waste flows. This metal model can be of assistance in exploring the issue of sustainability of metal resource use. Application of the model to historical trends shows it to be fairly capable of reproducing the long-term trends in the 1900–1990 period, among others on the basis of two intensity of use curves applied to 13 world regions. For future trends, a set of perspective-based long-term scenarios has been constructed that represent the major paradigms in resource use. These scenarios highlight some of the uncertain factors in the relation between economic growth, metal resource exploitation and use, and energy and environmental consequences. They also indicate that apparently similar metal flows in society may be the result of quite different and sometimes contrary assumptions on metal demand, production patterns and resource base characteristics. Such analyses contribute to a more open and transparent discussion on the issue at hand by adding quantitative explications to qualitative views.     

Development of Indicators to Assess Economic Vulnerabilities to Changes in Ecosystem Services: Case Study of Counties in Maryland,USA

We develop indicators showing the relative environmental burdens that human activities place on locales for a given level of economic benefits. The main purpose is to develop tools that allow us to examine the potential vulnerabilities within economies to changes in resource conditions. The indicators of pollution emission or resource consumption per job can be used to identify potential challenges to resource and industry managers and to compare areas in terms of their ability to adapt to change. For example, if a large number of area jobs are dependent on abundant water, this indicates a vulnerability to a reduction in water availability for industrial use. We develop a case study for 23 counties and 1 city in Maryland to examine the usefulness and limitations of the indicators. Our case study demonstrates that the indicators provide an informative view into patterns of local economic activity and use of an area’s environmental goods and services. In contrast to patterns for total environmental burdens (e.g., total SO₂ emissions) that are typically reported, the rates of environmental burden per job are not simply correlated with high or low economic output. Thus, the indicators represent distinct patterns of environmental burdens per job that reflect reliance on environmental services. The indicators have some limitations when used at this fine scale because they can misrepresent conditions in counties in which economic sectors are dominated by one or a few businesses. For this reason, the indicators are best used as a regional screening tool.     

低能耗脉冲喷吹袋式除尘器的三维数值模拟及工程应用

以袋式除尘器装置为研究对象,考虑射流偏移,建立了脉冲喷吹清洁的三维CFD数值模型,并进行实验验证;对喷嘴与文丘里管优化设计,修改数值模型,研究了低能耗下的脉冲喷吹清灰效果;在将改进的喷嘴与文丘里管进行工程应用的过程中,研究了其对大气粉尘排放的影响。结果表明,建立的三维CFD模型展现出了高瞬态行为和可压缩效应,即在射流中表现出涡流环与冲击单元现象。与孔喷嘴相比,改进后的喷嘴设计对射流偏移进行了调整,并且使滤袋内脉冲压力增加了5.1%~13.3%,提升了清灰效果。对比喉部直径为85 mm的文丘里管,无文丘里管的设计使得射流不易进入滤袋中,导致滤袋内脉冲压力降低了41.4%~46.3%,引起清灰效果的下降;减小文丘里管喉部直径,可以减少回流,提升滤袋内脉冲压力,改善清灰效果。对比原始装置,安装了改进喷嘴与文丘里管的袋式除尘器能明显降低大气粉尘排放,以上研究结果可为脉冲喷吹清灰除尘器的优化设计提供参考。     

基于支持向量机的湿法脱硫塔污染治理优化与能效评价

环境污染排放治理与系统综合能耗之间的协同优化与评价是解决我国环境与能源不堪重负的理论前提。针对燃煤电厂脱硫系统协同优化与评价的关键问题,基于湿法脱硫控制系统在线运行数据的支持向量机(SVM)智能深度自学习,构建了脱硫系统实时在线污染排放指标和系统综合能耗指标的协同预测模型,明晰了关键调控参数-污染排放治理-系统综合能耗之间的协同耦合规律,据此提出了工业级锅炉脱硫塔的污染排放治理与系统综合能耗的创新协同评估方法。结果表明：出口二氧化硫排放浓度和系统综合能耗指标与氧含量呈负关联协同耦合关系,与浆液密度呈先减后增的协同耦合关系,而污染排放治理与系统综合能耗指标呈负关联协同耦合关系;提高氧含量并将浆液密度控制在约1 250 kg·m⁻³,可使系统污染排放治理与综合能耗指标均处于最优状态,协同优化可使系统综合能耗指标最大降幅达8.3%。示范工程验证表明：脱硫系统污染排放与综合能耗指标的协同预测模型精准可靠,其最大误差小于10%。综合上述结果,基于支持向量机的回归方法可应用于工业级湿法脱硫锅炉的污染排放治理与能效评价,对实际脱硫工程的优化运行具有指导意义。     

不同条件下厨余与污泥共发酵效率及能耗分析

从甲烷产率、系统稳定性,以及产、耗能的角度系统分析了温度及有机负荷率（OLR）对厨余垃圾和剩余污泥共发酵过程的影响。结果表明,甲烷产率随负荷增加呈现先增加后减小的趋势,且高温系统甲烷产率显著高于中温系统,最大甲烷产率分别为407.92 mL·（g VS）-1及357.86 mL·（g VS）-1。在负荷提升过程中,中、高温系统均出现了以丁酸为主的有机酸积累,但当OLR增至15.93（g VS）·（L·d）-1后,高温系统仍能实现稳定运行。通过能耗分析可知,当负荷高于5.05（g VS）·（L·d）-1后,共发酵系统逐渐由耗能状态转变为产能状态,在高负荷运行条件下,高温发酵系统净产能显著高于中温系统,且具有甲烷产率高、稳定强的优势,所以在厨余垃圾和剩余污泥共发酵过程中更加具有应用前景。     

绿色消费与社会可持续发展的思考

消费的过程实质上就是一个资源消耗的过程。随着地球上有限资源被不断地消耗,因消费而引起的环境污染也日益严重,社会可持续发展的问题摆在了人们弱面前。本文介绍了绿色消费及其产生的背景,简析了目前中国的消费现状及国内外绿色消费与环境标志产品,提出了促进中国的绿色消费和实现社会可持续发展的对策。     

基于灰色动态模型群的衡水市居民年用水量预测

针对居民用水量序列的随机性和周期性以及传统灰色模型由于离散程度大而产生的过拟合问题,依据灰色模型理论构造了由5个GM(1,1)模型组成的灰色动态模型群;基于衡水市2007—2019年居民年用水量数据,采用灰色动态模型群对衡水市2020—2030年居民年用水量变化进行预测研究,并对预测结果进行残差检验以及残差修正;将灰色动态模型群分别与5个GM(1,1)模型进行对比,以检验模型性能。结果表明：灰色动态模型群的预测相对误差整体小于传统GM(1,1)模型,具有更好的准确性和适用性;衡水市2019年居民年用水量为1 795.00万m³,2030年预计增至2 862.21万m³,未来衡水市居民年用水量呈明显增长趋势,这与衡水市未来人口增长和社会经济发展趋势相吻合。衡水市未来居民用水量预测结果可为供水优化调度和水资源优化配置提供参考。     

模拟太阳光协同三维电极/电Fenton降解甲基橙

以TiO2纳米管为阳极、石墨电极为阴极、泡沫镍颗粒为粒子电极组成新型的模拟太阳光协同三维电极/电Fenton(3D/SPEF)体系降解甲基橙。研究了该体系的协同处理效果,以及该体系降解甲基橙的影响因素和反应动力学。结果表明:模拟太阳光与3D/EF体系光电催化联合处理表现出良好的协同效应,其处理能耗仅为3D/EF的9/16;协同体系降解甲基橙过程的表观反应动力学总级数为0.97;通过单因素实验确定协同体系最优反应条件为:电压为15 V、初始pH为7、甲基橙初始浓度为50 mg/L、Fe2+投加量为1 mmol/L,甲基橙的去除率达到93.77%,3D/SPEF体系在中性条件更有利于甲基橙的降解,克服了常规三维电极/电Fenton一般只能在酸性条件下进行的不足。     

土地流转与农户收入增长——基于收入结构的视角

农户参与土地流转能否产生正的收入效应是一个广为社会各界关注的问题,然而已有的经验研究结论却大相径庭,文章以为对土地流转异质性影响的忽视是导致诸多土地流转收入效应研究结论不一致的关键。基于此,文章应用2010—2018五轮中国家庭追踪调查数据(CFPS),分析土地流转对不同农户类型、不同收入来源的影响差异。基本实证结果表明:第一,土地流转确实会增加农户收入,但是主要表现为对转出农户有正的收入效应,对转入农户的家庭纯收入影响并不明显。第二,土地流转对转入农户与转出农户的不同类型收入的影响并不一致。转出户工资性收入增长幅度远高于经营性收入下降幅度,工资性收入对转出户家庭纯收入的增长贡献接近80%;转入户的经营性收入增长无法弥补工资性收入下降,导致家庭总收入水平没有显著变化。以上实证结果经双重差分模型、处理效应模型等一系列模型敏感性分析后并未改变,表明文章的基本结论是稳健的。进一步地,文章对收入异质性的原因进行分析,发现土地流转对不同农户的劳动力资源配置决策影响存在差异,转出户外出务工与创业的概率增加,非农生产的劳动力投入增加;而转入户则在农业生产中投入更多资源,包括家庭农业劳动参与增加以及农业投入增加。文章进一步的政策讨论也发现,由于转出农户对技术改进的依赖性较弱,转出农户只需要保证能够找到一份替代工作就可以获得更高的收入;但对转入农户而言,由于缺乏足够的技术帮扶,所以他们的土地生产改进有限,反而难以产生土地流转理论提到的资源配置优化,这可能会限制土地流转市场的进一步扩大。综上,文章研究为优化土地流转政策、提高土地流转参与率,并最终实现农户的社会福利改善提供了一定的理论与经验证据支持。