Net value royalties : Practical tool or economist's illusion?

The petroleum industry has traditionally generated substantial revenues for governments. Where governmental power is divided, as in federations like Canada and Australia, a junior level of government normally collects royalties while the senior level levies a variety of imposts (income tax, export duties, excises on production). The combination of recent sharp reductions in prices, more price volatility and an era of freer markets has subjected existing tax and royalty systems to severe strain and has shifted attention to the design of fiscal systems that are more profit- sensitive. For the royalty element, interest focuses on net value royalties (NVRs). This paper deals with the nature and problems of NVRs. It proceeds by looking first at the application of resource rent royalties in Australia. It then focuses on recent megaproject royalty arrangements in Alberta and evaluates the degree to which Alberta's current royalty system is profit- sensitive. Problems associated with NVRs are discussed in the fourth section; concluding remarks are made in the last section.     

吉林省城市紧凑度与城市效率的时空演变及相关性

紧凑城市理念被认为可以有效提高城市经济发展效率,减少城市在开发建设、资源配置等方面的低效率。为探究我国城市紧凑度和城市效率的时空演变及两者间的相关性,本研究以吉林省地级及以上城市为研究对象,研究时间段选择为2000—2013年。研究主要分为三个部分。第一部分,运用熵值法,对吉林省地级及以上城市的紧凑度时空演变特征进行研究,研究发现,吉林省城市紧凑度平均水平较低,并且空间分布极不均衡,受区位和经济发展水平影响较大,高紧凑度城市基本位于哈大城市走廊一线。第二部分运用DEA数据包络模型,对吉林省城市效率演变特征进行研究,结果显示,吉林省城市效率在经过了长期的反复波动后于2012年步入快速增长阶段,受多种因素影响,各城市全要素生产率增长节奏迥异,但都表现出与技术进步一致的变动性,城市经济发展对新技术、新的生产要素投入的依赖较大,资源利用效率整体较低。第三部分运用R语言对吉林省城市紧凑度与城市效率的相关性进行了研究,两者间存在极弱的相关性,接着借助象限图法得出两者在不同时间段内存在一定程度的同步性,紧凑度提升时大部分城市的城市效率会出现提升,紧凑度的下降不一定有效引起城市效率同步下降。     

中国区域能源效率发展演变趋势的R/S分形分析

改革开放以来中国能源效率不断地提高,但是在某些年份存在波动现象.采用非线性分形理论及分形分析R/S方法,科学定量地描述了中国以及各个地区能源效率的演变趋势.首先采用分形理论对1978-2008年的中国能源效率时间序列数据进行研究,结果显示,中国能源效率发展演变存在Hurst现象,具有明显的分形特征.并依照“五年计划”来划分时间序列样本为研究区间,结合“五年计划”详尽地解释说明了中国能源效率变动的原因.然后将数据扩大为样本期为1995-2008年29地区的面板数据,采用面板变系数模型进一步对各个地区的能源效率进行分析,发现除海南外其他地区的能源效率演变过程中具有明显的持续性规律,各个地区能源效率将继续保持增长.西部6个地区以及东北三省的能源效率演变趋势高于全国水平,说明“西部大开发”战略和“振兴东北”战略都已经显效.     

长江经济带国土空间开发利用问题与对策研究

以长江经济带国土空间开发利用问题为研究对象,采用统计分析等方法,系统分析了长江经济带国土开发利用面临的资源环境限制性约束趋紧、国土空间结构性矛盾突出、开发利用效率不高、空间功能下降等问题。提出了优化长江经济带发展国土开发利用,必须从中华民族长远利益考虑,以构建国土空间集聚开发格局和分类保护格局的国土空间蓝图为目标,以承载力为基础优化国土空间开发格局,以分类保护和综合整治增强国土功能,以节约集约提升国土利用效益,以区域统筹协调区域土地利用,实现建设集约高效、生态良好、协调发展的国土构想。     

脉冲曝气活性污泥胞外聚合物的产生特性及其与脱氮效率的关系

为探讨脉冲曝气活性污泥胞外聚合物（EPS）的产生特性及其与脱氮效率的关系,研究了在脉冲曝气装置中曝气时间5 min及停曝时间10 min的条件下,松散结合型胞外聚合物（LB-EPS）与紧密结合型胞外聚合物（TB-EPS）的变化规律,并分析EPS与脱氮效率之间的关系。结果表明：脉冲曝气活性污泥LB-EPS的含量低于TB-EPS含量,且随着脉冲驯化的进行,EPS的含量持续增长。三维荧光图谱（3D-EEM）分析表明脉冲曝气的LB-EPS的色氨酸荧光峰产生红移,TB-EPS的色氨酸荧光强度增大,说明了脉冲曝气驯化过程导致了活性污泥胞外聚合物中色氨酸蛋白类物质含量呈增加趋势。对比研究表明：脉冲曝气氨氮（NH4+-N）去除率在80%左右,与连续曝气相近;而总氮（TN）去除率在50%左右,高于连续曝气20%。脉冲曝气下,EPS对于脱氮有抑制作用,EPS与NH4+-N及TN的去除率之间呈负相关的关系,LB-EPS与TN去除率之间负相关;TB-EPS与NH4+-N去除率负相关且关系显著。     

Economic sustainability and the preservation of environmental assets

The core requirement of sustainability is that current economic activities should not result in an excessive burden on future generations. This criterion is general enough to imply different decision rules for the preservation of environmental assets. Neoclassical economics does not have a sustainability criterion for environmental assets independent of the intertemporal efficiency criterion, which allocates environmental and man-made capital based on projected monetary benefits and costs. This criterion is examined in terms of the feasibility of valuing the benefits of environmental assets, the substitution possibilities between natural and man-made capital, and the ethical grounds for using efficiency as the sole determinant of the allocation of environmental assets. An alternative ecological sustainability criterion is the preservation of safe minimum levels of environmental assets in physical terms rather than the dollar value of a composite of natural and man-made capital. Safe minimum standards for environmental assets constrain the efficiency criterion in order to ensure the sustainability of economic systems. It is argued that the ecological approach to sustainability should limit the economic approach for decisions involving the allocation of environmental assets.     

电旋风除尘模型实验研究

本研究试图将电除尘器与旋风除尘器组合为一体,以求取得较高的除尘效率,并利用旋转气流实现自动清灰。本文介绍了切向进气直流式电旋风除尘的模型试验,通过实测不同工况下的除尘效率和压力损失,应用经典除尘理论,建立了相应的数学模型。     

An approach for analysing the potential for material efficiency improvement

Material efficiency improvement saves energy and reduces the consumption of primary resources and reduces the volume of waste. In this article an approach for analysing the potential for material efficiency improvement is proposed and discussed. In this approach the product functions performed by the materials and various improvement measures are taken into account. The potential for material saving and associated energy saving is assessed and evaluated economically. In this paper the approach is tested in an analysis of the potential for material efficiency improvement with respect to plastic packaging in the Netherlands. The technical reduction potential is found to be 34 ± 7% (157 ± 30 ktonne virgin plastics). Realization of this potential would improve the energy efficiency of the lifecycle of plastic packaging by 31% (10 PJ in 1988). From our study we conclude that our approach can indeed be used to investigate the potential for material efficiency improvement. However, a reliable technical and particularly an economical assessment of reduction measures cannot be made until more detailed data become available.     

Metals recycling in the United States

Twenty-two metals for which secondary recovery is important, in terms of quantity and/or value, were compared and ranked for rate and efficiency of recycling, and availability of recycled metal. In general, their recycling rates trended upward over the period 1970–1993. Iron, aluminum, copper, gold, platinum, and lead accounted for most of the value of all secondary metal produced, while iron and steel dominated in terms of quantity produced and exported. The factors most influential on recycling rates are profitability, public support, organization of infrastructure, sortability, legislative support, and scrap purity. The share of supply accounted for by secondary metals is expected to surpass that of primary metals sometime in the next decade.     

Estimation of the shadow prices of pollutants with production/environment inefficiency taken into account: a nonparametric directional distance function approach

This paper deals with the estimation of the shadow prices of pollutants with a nonparametric directional distance function approach, where the inefficiency involved in the production process is taken into account unlike the previous studies. The directional vector, which is critical to the estimation and subject to the criterion for an appropriate efficiency rule proposed here, is calculated by using the annual plans of power plants in terms of production and environment. In the empirical study for Korea's electric power industry during the period of 1990-1995, we find that the average shadow prices of sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and total suspended particulates (TSP) are approximately 10% lower than those calculated under the assumption of full efficiency. The methodology we propose and the findings obtained in the empirical study allow us to undertake better decision-making over a broad range of environmental policy issues.