Fast,cheap, and imperfect? US public opinion about solar geoengineering

ABSTRACT

Solar geoengineering, which seeks to cool the planet by reflecting a small fraction of sunlight back into space, has drawn the attention of scientists and policymakers as climate change remains unabated. Unlike mitigation, solar geoengineering could quickly and cheaply lower global temperatures. It is also imperfect. Its environmental impacts remain unpredictable, and its low cost and immediate effects may result in ‘moral hazard,’ potentially crowding out costly mitigation efforts. There is little understanding about how the public will respond to such tradeoffs. To address this, a 1000-subject nationally representative poll focused on solar geoengineering was conducted as part of the Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES) of the US electorate in October–November 2016. The importance that individuals place on solar geoengineering’s speed and cost predicts their support for it, but there is little to no relationship between their concerns about its shortcomings and support for its research and use. Acquiescence bias appears to be an important factor for attitudes around solar geoengineering and moral hazard.     

Low‐concentration hydrogen peroxide decontamination for Bacillus spore contamination in buildings

Remediation and recovery efforts after a release of Bacillus anthracis (anthrax) spores may be difficult and costly. In addition, response and recovery technologies may be focused on critical resources, leaving the small business or homeowner without remediation options. This study evaluates the efficacy of relatively low levels of hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) delivered from off‐the‐shelf equipment for the inactivation of Bacillus spores within an indoor environment. Decontamination evaluations were conducted in a house using both Bacillus atrophaeus var. globigii (Bg; as surrogates for B. anthracis) inoculated on the carpet and galvanized metal as coupons and Geobacillus stearothermophilus (Gs) as biological indicators on steel. The total decontamination time ranged from 4 to 7 days. Using the longer exposure times, low concentrations of HPV (average levels below 20 parts per million) effectively inactivated Bg and Gs spores on the materials tested. The HPV was generated with commercial humidifiers and household‐strength hydrogen peroxide solutions. The presence of home furnishings did not have a significant impact on HPV efficacy. This simple, inexpensive, and effective decontamination method could have significant utility for remediation following a B. anthracis spore release, such as following a terrorist attack.     

黄河中上游能源化工区大气污染跨界环境影响分析

对黄河中上游能源化工区近地面和边界层顶气象流场及该区域大气污染长距离输送产生的跨界环境影响趋势特征进行了分析。结果表明,该区域近地面和边界层顶的流场总体上为西北向东南流动,大气污染物长距离输送可能影响的区域主要为华中地区;区域冷空气的活动对其大气污染物的清除起重要作用;通过CALPUFF模型的模拟结果表明,该区域SO2的影响程度和范围明显大于NO2,在区域内部存在污染物浓度较高的区域,但未对区外造成显著跨界环境影响。     

环保新常态下环境保护综合名录工作的定位与重点探究

本文分析总结了环保新常态下面临的环保新形势,对环境管理转型提出的新要求,认为在环境管理模式由污染控制导向向质量改善导向转变,环境管理思路由注重行政许可、事前审批、指标分配向注重事中事后监管、市场自治、社会共治转变的背景下,现有环境管理制度体系整体与政策手段个体的覆盖主体、切入界面、作用机制、内在逻辑等基础理论问题需要再审视,制度架构顶层设计和分工体系需要再完善。在此背景和趋势下,本文从理论和实践两个层面深入探析了名录工具和产品主体在环境管理中的特性与作用,认为产品是市场经济条件下同时承载功能流、价值流和资源环境流的流通载体,也是制定差别化环境监管政策与市场监管政策、建立跨主体环境成本合理分担机制的最恰当主体,以此为基础,清晰界定了环境管理系统化、科学化、法制化、精细化、信息化转型要求下环保综合名录的本质特征、基本定位和潜力方向,并提出了综合名录工作下一阶段的重点任务。     

长三角经济能源约束下的大气污染问题及对区域协作的启示

长三角地区大气污染治理取得一定成效,然而空气质量改善逐渐进入瓶颈期和攻坚期,大气污染治理战略需要从宏观层面系统谋划。本文系统分析了近10年来长三角区域经济、能源、产业、交通的发展状况和趋势,结合区域大气污染物浓度水平的演变,分析了大气污染与经济社会发展的耦合关系。结合当前区域空气污染的空间分布差异以及经济能源交通结构的内在差别,识别了大气污染的区内差异特征及关键制约因素。在此基础上,从能源结构和产业结构调整、交通结构优化、分区施策、深化治理等角度,为深化区域大气污染联防联控,持续改善大气污染问题提出了政策建议。     

我国长江流域中三角区域大气污染物排放特征研究

中三角区域已经是我国第四个国家级城市群,也将成为我国经济增长的"第四极"。在经济发展的同时,更需要以节能减排、资源环境等为重点,以实现经济建设与生态文明"双可持续"的协同发展。本文以二氧化硫、氮氧化物、烟(粉)尘为主要大气污染物,对我国中三角区域大气污染物排放进行了详细的分析,并与京津冀、长三角、珠三角、"三区十群"等进行了多方位比较。结果表明,2013年中三角区域二氧化硫排放量为151.7万t,其中工业二氧化硫排放量为140.1万t;氮氧化物排放量为147.2万t,其中工业氮氧化物排放量为93.6万t;烟(粉)尘排放量为81.8万t,其中工业烟(粉)尘排放量为71.4万t。中三角区域二氧化硫、氮氧化物、烟(粉)尘排放量均位于"四极"的第三。中三角区域二氧化硫、氮氧化物、烟(粉)尘单位GDP排放强度分别为25.03t/亿元、24.29 t/亿元、13.50 t/亿元,分别位于"四极"的第一、第二、第二。同时,本文还从经济发展模式、产业结构调整、煤炭消费方式等方面对我国中三角等经济"四极"提出了相关建议。     

Performance of a small-scale solar-powered adsorption cooling system

In this study, an experimental investigation on the performance of a small-scale residential-size solar-driven adsorption (silica gel-water) cooling system that was constructed at Assiut University campus, Egypt is carried out. As Assiut area is considered as hot, arid climate, field tests for performance assessment of the system operation during the summer season are performed under different environmental operating conditions. The system consists of an evacuated tube with a reflective concentration parabolic surface solar-collector field with a total area of 36 m², a silica gel-water adsorption chiller of 8 kW nominal cooling capacity, and hot and cold water thermal storage tanks of 1.8 and 1.2 m³ in volume, respectively. The results of summer season field test show that under daily solar insolation varying from 21 to 27 MJ/m², the solar collectors employed in the system had high and almost constant thermal efficiency. The daily solar-collector efficiency during the period of system operation ranged from about 50% to 78%. The adsorption chiller performance shows that the chiller average daily coefficient of performance (COP) was 0.41 with the average cooling capacity of 4.4 kW when the cooling-water and chilled-water temperatures were about 31°C and 19°C, respectively. As the chiller cooling water is cooled by the cooling tower in the hot arid area, the cooling water is at a higher temperature than the design point of the chiller. Therefore, an experiment was carried out using the city water for cooling. The results show that an enhancement in the chiller COP by 40% and the chilling power by 17% has been achieved when the city water was 27.7°C.     

Improving photostability and efficiency of polymeric luminescent solar concentrators by PMMA/MgO nanohybrid coatings

MgO nanocrystals were synthesized and doped with different concentrations in poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) to prepare hybrid organic-inorganic coatings based on polymer nanohybrid thin films. The nanoparticles were found to be spherical with 62 nm diameter as determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscope (AFM). The coatings were characterized by spectroscopic tools such as optical absorption, transmission and fluorescence spectroscopy. The prepared nanohybrid films were spin-coated on cost-effective luminescent PMMA substrates doped with highly efficient luminescent dyes luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs). The outdoor photostability tests demonstrated enhanced protection against UVA radiation for coated LSCs compared to bare LSC substrates. The current–voltage characteristics of commercially produced LSC prototypes showed that the poor UV response of monocrystalline silicon solar cell can be improved by for LSCs coated by PMMA/MgO nanohybrid films which act as luminescent down shifting layer (LDSL).     

Techno-economic and environmental analysis of an integrated standalone hybrid solar hydrogen system to supply CCHP loads of a greenhouse in Iran

The techno-economic and environmental performance of hybrid solar hydrogen energy systems was investigated to provide combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) demands of a standalone greenhouse in Iran to achieve sustainable agriculture based on an optimization procedure. From the environmental point of view, by deploying hybrid energy systems, 83%, to 100% of emissions can be avoided. Also a sensitivity analysis was performed on the hybrid energy systems in order to study the effect of major parameter variation on the systems justification. It was concluded that hybrid solar systems are economically competitive with conventional systems, for high solar intensity locations with high diesel fuel prices and decreased prices for PV and hydrogen storage technology.     

Comparison of the daily global solar radiation from different data sources in Northwest China climate

The solar radiation data are of high importance to the solar energy systems. Conventional methods to obtain the solar radiation data are from weather stations, solar radiation models, commercial software databases, and field measurements. In the present study, a new daily global solar radiation model is proposed, by combining the quadratic function of sunshine fraction and sine function of the day of the year. The solar radiation model calculated data are then compared with China Meteorological Data Sharing System (CMDSS) data, TRNSYS data, and field-measured data in Northwest China climate. It is found that the newly proposed solar radiation model has better performance than the other nine solar radiation models in the literature. The solar radiation model calculated data fit well with the CMDSS annually average data. The TRNSYS data are a bit larger than the CMDSS annually average data in summer half year and a little smaller than those in winter half year. The solar radiation model and the CMDSS annually average data have the best correlation, whereas the TRNSYS data and the field-measured data have the worst correlation. The solar radiation model calculated data have the best correlation with the other three data sources.