Assessing local planning capacity to promote environmentally sustainable residential development

Smart growth and sustainability planning have, in recent years, become central issues in planning discourse. Scholars have argued that planning capacity at the local government level is critical for smart growth planning, and that planners have a fundamental role to play in advancing local and regional sustainability. In this paper, we investigate the extent to which local planning capacity enables communities to promote more sustainable, smart growth residential development. Based on a 2013 survey of 38 county and 53 municipal governments in the state of Wisconsin, USA, this study finds that the majority of the sample communities have permitted residential developments characterized as transit-oriented, New Urbanist, mixed use, infill developments, or conservation subdivisions as alternatives to low-density, automobile-dependent conventional developments. The study also finds that jurisdictions with higher planning capacities are more likely to overcome significant barriers to more sustainable residential development.     

复杂气井套管力学分析与可靠度评价

为建立考虑地层和套管参数随机性的套管可靠度评价理论方法,以便得到复杂井况下套管传统设计安全系数与可靠指标之间的关系,提出了非均匀地应力和内压联合作用下,沿套管最大外挤力方向管壁任意位置发生屈服失效时外壁等效均匀外挤力的计算方法;建立了套管抗挤和抗内压三轴强度计算公式以及有效内压计算方法;根据套管载荷和强度影响因素统计参数以及评价过程中参数测试标准值,利用蒙特卡洛法（MC）建立了完整的套管可靠度计算和评价方法;通过实例对传统安全系数与可靠指标的对应关系进行了研究。研究结果表明:指定条件下,套管安全系数与可靠指标之间存在对应关系;利用建立的方法编制计算程序可以为传统设计法中安全系数代表的安全程度进行量化;可靠度评价方法能够为安全系数的选取提供指导。     

Depoliticizing adaptation: a critical analysis of EU climate adaptation policy

The ways in which climate adaptation is understood in the European Union is examined via three key policy documents: the Strategy on adaptation and the Green and White Papers that preceded it. Drawing on Poststructuralist Discourse Theory, light is shed on the implicit values and assumptions that underpin this recent policy initiative. The findings demonstrate a tension between the declared ambition to act on adaptation and implicit suggestions that nothing really has to change, and the challenge can be addressed by market and technological innovations, and by mainstreaming adaptation into existing sectoral policies. The policy discourse effectively serves to depoliticize choices societies make in response to climate change, presenting adaptation as a non-political issue. Insight into European adaptation discourse enables deeper understanding of recent policy developments and opens up possible entry points for critique.     

Photovoltaic-thermal (PV/t) panel to minimize electrical and air conditioning energy consumption of a typical office in Beirut

A combined photovoltaic–thermal (PV/t) panel is proposed to produce simultaneously electricity and heat from one integrated unit. The unit utilizes effectively the solar energy through achieving higher PV electrical efficiency and using the thermal energy for heating applications. To predict the performance of the PV/t at a given environmental conditions, a transient mathematical model was developed. The model was integrated in a heating application for a typical office space in the city of Beirut to provide the office needs for electricity, heating during winter season, and dehumidification and evaporative cooling during the summer season. To minimize the yearly office energy (electrical and heat) needs, the PV/t panel cooling air flow rate and the dehumidification regeneration temperature were determined for opimal unit operation. Thermal energy savings of up to 85% in winter and 71% in summer were achived compared to conventional systems at a payback period of 8 years for the panels.     

太湖流域水环境保护目标责任考核机制研究

建立科学规范的环境保护目标责任考核机制是实现我国环境保护目标的重要手段之一。作为一个自上而下的制度典范,基层环境保护管理部门是环境管理目标的落实者也是被考核的对象。本研究以太湖流域水环境保护基层管理部门面临的水环境保护目标责任考核机制为研究对象,从水环境保护考核指标的设定、考核评价的实施以及考核结果的应用三个方面分析太湖流域水环境保护目标考核机制的实施现状。结果表明,现阶段的考核体系存在考核指标设置不合理、考核过程实施过程成本较高,以及考核结果缺乏对管理部门的激励性等问题。最后,本文从提高现阶段太湖流域水环境保护考核指标设定的科学性、协调不同部门之间的关系以及加强考核结果的公开与合理应用方面对太湖流域水环境保护目标责任考核机制提出了政策建议。     

Linking landscape development intensity within watersheds to methyl-mercury accumulation in river sediments

An indicator of the disturbance of natural systems, the landscape development intensity (LDI) index, was used to assess the potential for land-use within watersheds to influence the production/accumulation of methyl-mercury (MeHg) in river sediments. Sediment samples were collected from locations impacted by well-identified land-use types within the Mobile-Alabama River Basin in Southeastern USA. The samples were analyzed for total-Hg (THg) and MeHg concentrations and the obtained values correlated to the calculated LDI indexes of the sampled watersheds to assess the impact of prevalent land use/land cover on MeHg accumulation in sediments. The results show that unlike THg, levels of MeHg found in sediments are impacted by the LDI indexes. Overall, certain combinations of land-use types within a given watershed appear to be more conducive to MeHg accumulation than others, therefore, pointing to the possibility of targeting land-use practices as potential means for reducing MeHg accumulation in sediments, and ultimately, fish contamination.     

浅谈我国推行排污许可制度难点及对策

我国排污许可制度推行已有二十余年,但由于在政策设计层面、技术支撑层面及配套保障层面尚有不足之处,排污许可制度在推行过程中遇到很多阻碍,排污许可制度的应用范围、实施效果和改革举措实际落地都还不尽如人意,依然处于难以推广的境地。本文基于对以上各层面存在问题的深入分析,进而指出目前阻碍排污许可制度推行的难点问题及具体成因,其中难点问题主要包括专项法律法规缺失、管理要求落地难、各方权责落实难、多套数据并行、排放标准滞后、部分行业标准缺失、与环境目标未建立响应关系、管理方式落后、数据支撑和人员配备不足等方面。根据前述问题的论证,本文相应提出了推进排污许可制度改革的各项对策措施,并建议排污许可制度应形成上下联动的工作格局,进一步夯实技术支撑基础和完善配套保障措施,以期助力排污许可制度各项改革举措的实际落地,更好地推进排污许可制度的有效实施,建立系统完整、权责清晰、监管有效的管理格局,最终实现排污许可"一证式"管理模式。     

Politics of distributive justice in the siting of waste disposal facilities: the case of Tokyo

Distributive justice is a crucial aspect of disputes over locally unwanted land uses. This study examines the rise and fall in influence of a particular idea of distributive justice that originated in the 23 wards of Tokyo in the early 1970s – namely, that each of the wards should be required to dispose of its own waste within the ward. This idea – in-ward waste disposal (IWWD) – was adopted as a significant principle in waste facility siting plans, but its influence rose and fell over time until the idea was finally abandoned in 2003. Critically reviewing ideational approaches in political studies, the causes and mechanisms behind the changes in IWWD’s influence are elucidated. The result shows the importance of considering multiple, different types of variables and examining the interaction between them to explain the prominence of an idea and its change over time.     

Religion and environmental politics in the US House of Representatives

Does religion affect legislators’ behavior on environmental policy in the US? Studies of environmental policy making have not examined this question, although the literature suggests that religion might affect legislative behavior on environmental policy. This study examines the relationship between US House members’ religion and roll-call voting on environmental legislation from 1973 to 2009. It finds significant differences across religious traditions. Legislators’ party and characteristics of constituencies relevant to environmental politics increasingly, but not entirely, mediate these differences.     

复合链式结构下中国林业碳库系统测度模型构建

温室气体上升导致的全球气候变暖问题不容忽视,增加森林碳汇和木质林产品碳储是缓解温室效应的有效途径。根据森林碳汇功能与林产品碳储功能的关联理论与模型,推导和改进包括森林子碳库、土壤子碳库及木质林产品子碳库在内的林业碳库核算模型及方法,以实现目标碳从森林碳库向木质林产品碳库的过渡与转移。基于气候变化背景下森林-林产品产业链的发展现状,构建包括森林子碳库和林产品子碳库的复合一体化林业碳库模型,使之为中国林业碳库的计量与评价提供判据。首先,对包含森林子碳库和木质林产品子碳库在内的世界林业碳库的发展现状进行探讨,归纳和比较国内外主流的关联林业碳库评估方法模型,从而对中国林业碳库模型的构建提供理论背景支持和逻辑方法支撑。其次,分析现有中国林业碳库评估存在的优势和弊端,找出适合中国林业特点的国家碳库创新评估路径,运用政府间气候变化专门委员会指定的生产法的思路,通过分析目标碳在林产品产业链生产、加工等过程中的流入和支出,提出创新中国林业碳库的模型构想并对其系统内涵进行分析。最后,赋予中国林业碳库系统模型数学表达,分析其数理结构并进行逻辑演绎,在森林子碳库和木质林产品子碳库两个复合链式体系下构建中国林业碳库系统测度模型(ForestProducts Carbon Model/FPCM)。