Do lower electricity storage costs reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

In the electricity sector, innovation in large-scale storage is anticipated to reduce costs and improve performance. The effect on greenhouse gas emissions of lower storage costs depends on the interactions between storage and the entire grid. The literature has disagreed on the role of storage in reducing emissions. In this paper we present a stylized model, which suggests that the effect of storage costs on emissions depends on the supply responsiveness of both fossil and renewable generators. Under common conditions in the United States, lower storage costs are more likely to reduce emissions when wind investment responds to equilibrium electricity prices and when solar investment does not. Simulations of a computational model of grid investment and operation confirm these intuitions. Moreover, because of its effect on coal and natural gas–fired supply responsiveness, introducing a carbon dioxide emissions price may increase the likelihood that lower storage costs reduce emissions.     

The time dimension and lithium resource constraints for electric vehicles

The availability of lithium resources for a transition to electric vehicles is a vital topic for transport technology strategy. Recent debate seems to have concluded that there is ‘sufficient’ lithium available, but for the purposes of a technological transition, time matters. It is not simply the quantity of resource that is relevant—the flow rate into society may be a much more difficult constraint and transient events have disrupted heavily concentrated material supply chains in the past. Furthermore, critical assumptions such as the presence of recycling systems may not be justified without policy support. Complacency is therefore not an appropriate stance for a robust evaluation of material risks in the case of lithium.     

Value Plurality among Conservation Professionals

Abstract: Debate on the values that underpin conservation science is rarely based on empirical analysis of the values conservation professionals actually hold. We used Q methodology to investigate the values held by international conservation professionals who attended the annual Student Conference in Conservation Science at the University of Cambridge (U.K.) in 2008 and 2009. The methodology offers a quantitative means of examining human subjectivity. It differs from standard opinion surveys in that individual respondents record the way they feel about statements relative to other statements, which forces them to focus their attention on the issues they believe are most important. The analysis extracts the diverse viewpoints of the respondents, and factor analysis is used to reduce the viewpoints to a smaller set of factors that reflect shared ways of thinking. The junior conservation professionals attending the conference did not share a unifying set of core values; rather, they held a complex series of ideas and a plurality of opinions about conservation and how it should be pursued. This diversity of values empirically challenges recent proposals for conservation professionals to unite behind a single philosophy. Attempts to forge an artificial consensus may be counterproductive to the overall goals conservation professionals are pursuing.     

模拟氮沉降对北亚热带落叶阔叶林土壤呼吸的影响

于2008年4月～2009年4月在龙王山北亚热带落叶阔叶林地进行模拟氮沉降试验,利用静态箱-气相色谱法测定土壤呼吸,研究氮沉降增加对森林土壤呼吸的影响.结果表明,氮沉降没改变土壤呼吸的季节性变化规律和日变化规律.与对照(CK)相比,低氮(TL)、中氮(TM)和高氮(TH)处理使森林土壤年平均呼吸速率分别降低了8.51%、9.74%和11.24%,使日平均呼吸速率分别降低了4.42%、11.09%和12.17%.森林土壤呼吸与土壤温度存在极显著的指数关系(p0.01),CK、TL、TM和TH的土壤呼吸温度敏感系数(Q10)分别为2.53、3.22、2.64和2.92,氮沉降提高了林地土壤呼吸的温度敏感系数.本研究表明,氮沉降显著降低了森林土壤呼吸,但提高了土壤呼吸的温度敏感性.     

石墨烯掺杂分子筛负载氧化铁芬顿催化降解苯酚影响因素的研究

通过水热晶化法制备了石墨烯掺杂介孔分子筛MCM-41复合载体,利用该载体浸渍负载氧化铁制备了非均相芬顿催化剂gh-MCM-41-Fe.以苯酚为模拟有机废水,考察了催化剂和H2O2投加量、水质因素(苯酚初始浓度、反应温度和水中腐殖酸和草酸)等对gh-MCM-41-Fe芬顿催化降解苯酚效能的影响.结果表明,当苯酚初始浓度为100 mg·L-1,催化剂在60 min催化降解苯酚去除率高达97.6%,COD去除率为65.9%,反应符合准一级反应动力学模型;苯酚降解速率随着催化剂和H2O2投加量的增加而增加,但投加过多会消耗·OH自由基从而不利苯酚降解过程;苯酚初始浓度从10 mg·L-1增至100 mg·L-1,苯酚降解速率相应降低,但体系中H2O2及·OH自由基的有效利用率反而增加;反应温度对于苯酚废水降解率和COD去除率影响不大,反应表观频率因子为105.68 min-1,表观活化能为18.43 k J·mol-1;腐殖酸和草酸对苯酚废水降解和COD去除均有抑制作用.     

Ti-MCM-41的微波水热法合成、表征及其催化氧化性质研究

本研究利用微波水热法合成Ti-MCM-41,并采用XRD、FTIR、BET、XPS及TEM等技术对材料进行表征.同时,使用甲基橙溶液作为光催化氧化的对象,对光催化剂的氧化性能进行考察.实验结果表明:利用微波水热法合成Ti-MCM-41,可将合成时间缩短至3 h,能够大大缩减反应时间并节省能源.通过在MCM-41多孔结构中掺杂钛,可明显提高其光催化活性.在酸性溶液中,Ti-MCM-41的催化氧化效率较高.XRD、FTIR、BET、XPS及TEM等表征结果表明,钛成功地掺入到了MCM-41中,并未破坏其多孔有序的结构,Ti-MCM-41同时兼具介孔材料的高比表面积和二氧化钛的光催化性能,有利于在环境污染修复上的应用.     

The oil industry along the Atlantic coast of Cameroon: Assessing impacts and possible solutions

While the oil industry along the Atlantic coast of Cameroon has made important contributions to the national economy, this has been accompanied with adverse environmental impacts. There has been significant pollution from oil drilling, refinery waste, oil spillage, gas and flaring. After discussing these impacts, this paper argues that prevailing regulations are inadequate and need overhauling. It proposes that cleaner production requires:

(i)

specific laws to protect dwellers in the neighbourhood of oil refineries, filling stations, service stations and pipelines;     

Individual-based modelling of fishermen search behaviour with neural networks and reinforcement learning

A model to mimic the search behaviour of fishermen is built with two neural networks to cope with two separate decision-making processes in fishing activities. One neural network deals with decisions to stay or move to new fishing grounds and the other is constructed for the purpose of finding prey within the fishing areas. Some similarities with the behaviour of real fishermen are found: concentrated local search once a prey has been located to increase the probability of remaining near a prey patch and the straightforward movement to other fishing grounds. The artificial fisherman prefers areas near the port when conditions in different fishing grounds are similar or when there is high uncertainty in its world. In the latter case a reluctance to navigate to other areas is observed. The artificial fisherman selects areas with higher concentration of prey, even if they are far from the port of departure, unless a high uncertainty is related to the fishing ground. Connected areas are preferred and followed in orderly fashion if a higher catch is expected. The observed behaviour of the artificial fisherman in uncertain scenarios can be described as a risk-averse attitude. The approach seems appropriate for an individual-based modelling of fishery systems, focusing on the learning and adaptive characteristics of fishermen and on interactions that take place at a fine scale.     

Social dimensions of mining: Research,policy and practice challenges for the minerals industry in Australia

The social dimensions of the mining industry are increasingly acknowledged as critical to business success, yet remain the least understood aspect of the business concept of sustainable development—the ‘triple bottom line’ of economy, environment and society.     

Q235钢在火灾条件下的力学性能研究

在试验的基础上,对建筑中常用的Q235铜在火灾条件下的力学性能进行了研究,获得了Q235钢的屈服强度、极限强度、弹性模量、极限应变等力学性能随温度变化而变化的规律,并对影响Q235钢力学性能的因素进行了分析。