Emergy analysis using US economic input-output models with applications to life cycles of gasoline and corn ethanol

A commonly encountered challenge in emergy analysis is the lack of transformity data for many economic products and services. To overcome this challenge, emergy analysts approximate the emergy input from the economy via a single emergy/money ratio for the country and the monetary price of economic inputs. This amounts to assuming homogeneity in the entire economy, and can introduce serious uncertainties in the results. This paper proposes and demonstrates the use of a thermodynamically augmented economic input-output model of the US economy for obtaining sector-specific emergy to money ratios that can be used instead of a single ratio. These ratios at the economy scale are more accurate than a single economy-wide emergy/money ratio, and can be obtained quickly for hundreds of economic products and services. Comparing sector-specific emergy/money ratios with those from conventional emergy studies indicates that the input-output model can provide reasonable estimates of transformities at least as a stop-gap measure until more detailed analysis is completed. A hybrid approach to emergy analysis is introduced and compared with conventional emergy analysis using life cycles of corn ethanol and gasoline as examples. Emergy and transformity data from the hybrid approach are similar to those from conventional emergy analysis, indicating the usefulness of the proposed approach. In addition, this work proposes the metric of return on emergy investment for assessing product alternatives with the same utility such as transportation fuels. The proposed approach and data may be used easily via web-based software.     

生草栽培对三种岭南水果种植系统的生态经济影响评价

综合运用能值、经济与土壤生态学分析方法,以传统清耕模式为对照,定量研究了生草栽培对荔枝(Litchi chinensis Sonn)、龙眼(Dimocarpus longan Lour)和番荔枝(Annona squamosa Linn)三种岭南水果种植系统的生态经济影响。整合系统物质流、能量流和货币流,综合分析其自然资源基础、经济发展状况及可持续发展程度,并将土壤有机质的消耗纳入不可更新自然资源能值投入分析,为岭南水果业生草栽培与否提供科学依据。结果表明,生草栽培可以将荔枝和龙眼种植系统的能值可持续性从传统清耕模式的0.16和0.46分别提升到0.17和0.47;而使番荔枝种植系统的能值可持续性从传统清耕模式的0.59降至0.45。同时,生草栽培可提高荔枝和番荔枝种植系统的经济效益,而降低龙眼种植系统的经济效益。所有案例结果均表明,生草栽培可降低果园土壤有机质的消耗。     

Analysis of underlying causes of investigated loss of containment incidents in Dutch Seveso plants using the Storybuilder method

In the Netherlands there are around 400 “Seveso” sites that fall under the Dutch Major Hazards Decree (BRZO) 1999. Between 2006 and 2010 the Dutch Labour Inspectorate's Directorate for Major Hazard Control completed investigations of 118 loss of containment incidents involving hazardous substances from this group. On the basis of investigation reports the incidents were entered in a tailor-made tool called Storybuilder developed for the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment for identifying the dominant patterns of technical safety barrier failures, barrier task failures and underlying management causes associated with the resulting loss of control events. The model is a bow-tie structure with six lines of defence, three on either side of the central loss of containment event. In the first line of defence, failures in the safety barriers leading to loss of control events were primarily equipment condition failures, pre start-up and safeguarding failures and process deviations such as pressure and flow failures. These deviations, which should have been recovered while still within the safe envelope of operation, were missed primarily because of inadequate indication signals that the deviations have occurred. Through failures of subsequent lines of defence they are developing into serious incidents. Overall, task failures are principally failures to provide adequate technical safety barriers and failures to operate provided barriers appropriately. Underlying management delivery failures were mainly found in equipment specifications and provisions, procedures and competence. The competence delivery system is especially important for identifying equipment condition, equipment isolation for maintenance, pre-start-up status and process deviations. Human errors associated with operating barriers were identified in fifty per cent of cases, were mostly mistakes and feature primarily in failure to prevent deviations and subsequently recover them. Loss of control associated with loss of containment was primarily due to the containment being bypassed (72% of incidents) and less to material strength failures (28%). Transfer pipework, connections in process plant and relief valves are the most frequent release points and the dominant release material is extremely flammable. It is concluded that the analysis of a large number of incidents in Storybuilder can support the quantification of underlying causes and provide evidence of where the weak points exist in major hazard control in the prevention of major accidents.     

Investigation into qualitative discourses of the occupational safety and health inspectors in order to promote enforcement

The aim of this study is to conduct an ex-post evaluation of the OSH Enforcement Act. The focus of the study was to collate the views of occupational safety and health (OSH) inspectors on how the OSH Enforcement Act and the practices of the governmental OSH inspectorate operate from an effectiveness perspective. The questionnaire included open questions addressed to OSH inspectors. The results indicated that there is a tension between the quantitative performance targets, e.g., the number of inspections and the effectiveness of the practical enforcement work. Harmonizing the enforcement practices should be implemented at two levels: OSH local agencies and individual inspectors. OSH inspectors believe that developing the professional skills of OSH inspectors and the monitoring of OSH management systems are important ways of promoting the effectiveness of OSH enforcement.     

静电除尘器的粉尘非稳态收集过程

为了全面揭示电除尘器粉尘非稳态收集过程,建立完整的非稳态静电收尘理论,根据静电学基本原理,研究了极板粉尘层电荷导人、积累、释放的过程,推导出随粉尘层厚度增长而改变的动态收尘电场强度计算公式,进而得到荷电粒子动态驱进速度公式,最终形成静电除尘非稳态收集理论.研究结果表明,在静电收尘过程中,粒子驱进速度与粉尘比电阻、工作电压、粉尘层厚度等多种因素有关;随粉尘比电阻的升高,收尘效率下降,当供电电压为最佳工作电压时收尘效率最高.针对不同比电阻粉尘进行了多项实验研究,实验结果与理论研究结果吻合.非稳态静电收尘理论成功地解释了实际静电收尘过程中与传统静电收尘理论相矛盾的地方,为静电除尘器的设计及其运行参数的选取提供了更为科学的理论基础.     

铸造废砂／废地膜／粘附土三元复合体系的研究

通过X射线衍射分析、红外光谱分析、热分析、电镜及能谱分析、图像分析,可以判断废旧地膜上粘附土的主要矿物质是结晶二氧化硅（粉粒级石英）,它们与聚合物基废弃物复合材料中作为填料的铸造石英砂的性状类同。废旧地膜可以不经清洗,直接与铸造废砂制备复合材料,这可大大降低复合材料的加工成本。这种复合材料实际上是由基体PE、粘附土中大量的SiO2和铸造石英砂SiO2组成的三元复合体系。     

综合防尘技术在开元公司的应用

主要介绍了采煤机高压引射降尘系统、液压支架自动喷雾、粉尘浓度在线检测超限自动喷雾等综合防尘技术在开元公司矿井中的应用。通过对降尘系统效果监测和分析,降尘效率达到84．1％,降尘效果明显,改善了作业场所的劳动卫生条件。     

How Aware Are Other Nations of Climate Change? Analyzing Germans’ Second-Order Climate Change Beliefs About Chinese,US American and German People

ABSTRACT

What people believe about the beliefs of other people – second-order beliefs – has been acknowledged as a key factor that shapes public support for international climate policy. However, very little is known about their origins. Based on data from an online survey (n?=?935), we analyzed how German citizens assess the climate change awareness in their own nation as compared to those of the US and China. Even if the public climate change awareness in the US and China factually differs, we found that German citizens equivalently rate both nations similar and much lower than their own, a finding which can be explained with social identity processes and “in-group”/“out-group” biases. Hierarchical regression analyses demonstrate that the attention individuals pay towards television and social media predict second-order beliefs on climate change awareness positively, while attention to print media is a negative predictor.     

Beyond behaviour change: technological artefacts and characterological development

Addressing the root causes of (un)sustainability entails fundamentally changing our ways of living. This requires going beyond technology and behaviour-oriented approaches common under the umbrella of sustainable development (SD). More fundamental change is required to increase the possibility of realizing ecological and psychological well-being. Here, such change is conceptualized as ‘characterological change’. Next to SD another domain is introduced: characterological development (CD). The potential role of design-interventions in CD is explored in this article. Two studies were conducted, a literature study and experts interviews, covering the fields of Design for Sustainable Behaviour, Persuasive Technology, Practice-Oriented Design and Philosophy of Technology. The literature study shows that current research and interventions predominantly fall within the domain of SD, leaving character and related notions largely unaddressed. The expert interviews (n = 10) show a consensus that (design) research concerning the relation between technological artefacts and human character would be valuable. Research challenges and opportunities for design towards ‘living the good life within ecological means’ are discussed.     

经济增长、市场化改革与土地违法

在当前中国经济快速增长和市场化改革逐步推进的过程中,始终面临着较为严重的土地违法问题;土地违法行为的主体不仅包括企事业单位和令人,更涉及各级地方政府以及农村集体组织.为深入了解经济增长与市场化改革对不同主体土地违法行为的影响,本文进行了初步的理论探讨,并运用全国层面的统计数据开展了相应的实证分析.结果表明,随着经济增长速度的加快,政府和企业的土地违法面积均显著增加;而土地市场化水平的提高则能有效减少土地违法的案件数.进一步地,经济增长和市场化改革对各级政府以及企事业单位、个人和农村集体组织土地违法行为的影响也存在一定的差异.本文的研究也指出,为有效控制土地违法行为的扩大,中国政府仍需采取转变经济增长方式、稳步推进市场化改革、引导企事业单位有序用地和不断完善土地督察制度等措施.