Estimation of the Thermal Sensitivity of a Dwelling to Variations in Architectural and Behavioural Parameters

The provision of energy for households is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the domestic sector. There is significant scope for energy savings and thus emission reduction in this sector. This paper constructs a bridge between thermal analysis and environmental assessment in the occupancy stage of the dwelling life cycle, approaching both methods as being on a common system Environment–Dwelling–Inhabitant. The importance of the local level in the thermal analysis and assessment of either a dwelling or an inhabitant's behaviour is demonstrated. It is shown that the researcher can choose between natural experiment, computer experiment and mathematical modelling to analyze the system. Such a choice is discussed for two particular methods of thermal analysis. Thermal Nomograms are the result of mathematical modelling, and the Energy Score Sheet is the result of a computer experiment in energy rating. Despite being developed for the purpose of thermal analysis, these methods can also be utilized for environmental assessment at the local level. The discussion centres on Australian conditions where the majority of the population resides in a relatively benign climate wherein behavioural alterations have significant potential for energy savings and environmental impact. The purpose of the paper is to emphasise benefits apart from energy minimisation to promote the use of energy efficient housing strategies.     

Assessing land use impacts on flood processes in complex terrain by using GIS and modeling approach

A distributed hydrologic modeling and GIS approach is applied for the assessment of land use impact in the Steinsel sub-basin, Alzette, Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. The assessment focuses on the runoff contributions from different land use classes and the potential impact of land use changes on runoff generation. The results show that the direct runoff from urban areas is dominant for a flood event compared with runoff from other land use areas in this catchment, and tends to increase for small floods and for the dry season floods, whereas the interflow from forested, pasture and agricultural field areas contributes to the recession flow. Significant variations in flood volume, peak discharge, time to the peak, etc., are found from the model simulation based on the three hypothetical land use change scenarios.     

Using environmental stressor information to predict the ecological status of Maryland non-tidal streams as measured by biological indicators

In Maryland, U.S., an interim framework has recentlybeen developed for using biologically based thresholds, or `biocriteria', to assess the health of nontidal streams statewide at watershed scales. The evaluation of impairment is based on indices of biological integrity from the Maryland Biological Stream Survey (MBSS). We applied logistic regression to quantify how the biotic integrity of streams at a local scale is affected by cumulative effects resulting from catchment land uses, point sources, and nearby transmission line rights-of-way. Indicators for land use were developed from the remote sensing National Land Cover Data and applied at different scales. We determined that the risk of local impairment in nontidal streams rapidly increases with increased urban land use in the catchment area. The average likelihood of failing biocriteria doubled with every 10% points increment in urban land, thus an increase in urban land use from 0 to 20% quadruples the risk of impairment. For the basins evaluated in this study, catchments with more than 40–50% urban land use had greater than 80% probability of failing biocriteria, on average. Inclusion of rights-of-way and point sources in the model did not significantly improve the fit for this data set, most likely because of their low numbers. The overall results indicate that our predictive modeling approach can help pinpoint stream ecosystems experiencing or vulnerable to degradation.     

Controlled-release fertilizer(CRF):A green fertilizer for controlling non-point contamination in agriculture

Fertilizers contribute greatly to high yields but also result in environmental non-point contamination, including the emission of greenhouse gas(N2O) and eutrophication of water bodies. How to solve this problem has become a serious challenge, especially for China as its high ecological pressure. Controlled-release fertilizer(CRF) has been developed to minimize the contamination while keeping high yield and has become a green fertilizer for agriculture. Several CRFs made with special coating technology were used for testing the fertilizer effects in yield and environment through pot experiment and field trial. The result indicated that the CRFs had higher N use efficiency, thus reducing N loss through leaching and volatilization while keeping higher yields. Comparing with imported standard CRFs,the test on CRFs showed similar fertilizer effect but with much lower cost. CRFs application is becoming a new approach for minimizing non-point contamination in agriculture.     

植物遗传资源保护与利用的市场化机制和国际制度

随着植物物种资源的不断减少和因生物技术迅猛发展对植物遗传资源需求的不断增加 ,植物遗传资源正逐步由公共物品转变为稀缺物品。坚持《生物多样性公约》所确立的遗传资源效益公平分享原则 ,完善现有国际多边体系 ,促进以“遗传编码功能”价值概念和遗传资源保护效应“内部化”与“补偿”方案为基础的植物遗传资源市场化保护与利用机制的形成 ,建立“植物遗传资源交易所”和“生物多样性合作社” ,将有助于提高世界各国尤其是发展中国家保护植物遗传资源的积极性 ,实现全球植物遗传资源的可持续利用     

中国能源的现状

研究中国能源的现状，其中主要包括能源储量和能源生产以煤为主；石油和天然气在能源构成中的比例低下；煤炭储量可观，但品质不高；能源生产增长迅速；能源短缺。尤其是清洁能源短缺，清洁能源危机将会长期存在。我国如此的能源现状已造成大气环境煤烟型严重污染。我国从石油输出国已变成石油进口国，我国半个多世纪以来实施的“能源自给政策”急需调整。采用洁净煤技术开发利用清洁能源，确保经济在持续迅速发展的同时，我国大气环境免遭污染，即经济发展和大气环境保护双赢。     

风能资源评估系统开发与应用

开发风能资源、利用风力发电在我国虽然只有数十年，但其发展却很快，风能作为可再生的清洁能源也越来越受到重视。风能资源评估作为风电资源开发的前提，是风力机选址的关键。介绍了以Visual Basic为开发工具，利用SQL Server为数据库开发而成的风能资源评估系统的结构和特点。经实践证明，本系统缩短了风能资源评价周期，提高了数据处理可靠性。     

再论含金硫化物矿物中能否存在负价金问题──答李九玲等同志

本文从讨论金属结合能何以具有表面化学位移的原因开始,从金属团簇的一般性质出发,论证了金属结合能自尺寸大于1nm的团簇到金属微粒再到块体金属具有连续过渡性;金属结合能与粒径R呈正相关;与1／R具线性负相关关系,认为金微粒或团簇具有1．1eV以上的结合能负位移是可能的。并指出李九玲等同志在“评<含金硫化物矿物中不可能存在负价金>”一文中引用的某些衬底材料上的金团簇呈现结合能正位移的数据是由于这些金困簇已与其衬底材料发生了键合作用造成的,它们不能作为否定金属结合能位移与粒径呈正相关的依据。同时,笔者从“化学结合金”在氰化过程中并未被氧化成正离子金判断,它不应是负价金。并由同质并能位移与粒径可具负相关关系推论,“化学结合金”应是合企硫化物矿物中可存在的少量微粒碲金矿、碲金银矿等中的正离子金。笔者强调在讨论企的价态问题时应采用Allred－Rochow电负性数据而非常用的Pauling电负性数据,并再次指出含金硫化物矿物中不可能有负价金存在。     

云南省经济增长与能源消耗的计量模型研究

根据云南省1985~2003年能源消耗的统计数据以及人均GDP统计数据,分析人均GDP与能源消耗之间的相关关系,选取相关性较好的能耗指标(煤炭消耗量、石油消耗量、天然气消耗量、电力消耗量)建立两者之间的计量模型。并在此基础上分析能源消耗与人均GDP增长的关系。经研究发现,云南省经济增长与能源消耗呈类似于EKC的倒U型曲线,且曲线尚未到达转折点,能源消耗量随着经济增长将持续增长。有必要采取有利措施倡导“循环经济”、“绿色GDP”等使曲线走势向良性方向发展。