Assessing the impact of environmental pollution damage on the competitiveness of hydrogen as a motor fuel

This paper examines conditions for the competitiveness of hydrogen versus conventional hydrocarbon motor fuels. The economic efficiency of different alternative fuels is analyzed on the basis of specially designed models that can incorporate a broad variety of technical and economic parameters of fuel production, distribution and use. Main attention is paid to consequences of air pollutant emission, which stimulate interest in the use of alternative, in particular, hydrogen, technologies. The total, energy and environmental costs of conventional and hydrogen technologies of motor transport are calculated and parameters of hydrogen technologies at which they can become commercially attractive to users are evaluation.     

Prospects for hydrogen use in decentralized power and heat supply systems

Possible uses of hydrogen produced from natural gas in fuel cells in decentralized power and heat supply systems are considered. Conditions for the competitiveness of the new technology compared to centralized and decentralized systems based on heat-and-power miniplants with gas-turbine and gas-piston engines are defined. Fuel cell-based systems that use natural gas as fuel are shown to be not energy-saving technologies, although they help reduce the discharges of carbon dioxide and other contaminants to the environment. Large-scale application of fuel cells in decentralized energy-saving systems is only possible if their cost is reduced below $100 per kilowatt.     

Health system reform in China: What role for private insurance?

The purpose of the present paper is to show that much of the literature on health economics and on the international experience with different forms of health system organization can be interpreted as supporting the idea that reliance on an unregulated market mechanism for organizing the production and financing of health services is likely to result in major problems both with respect to efficiency and equity. However, reliance on a centralized “command-and-control” model managed by government has also been shown to entail problems in practice. For this reason I argue that the best option at China's current state of development may be a compromise model in which competing private providers are given an important role, both for the production of health services and in the provision of health insurance, but in which the government intervenes (through regulation and direct provision) in such a way as to attain both a high degree of equity of access to health care, and to avoid the most significant forms of “market failure” that would arise in an unregulated private system.     

Prospects for the production and transportation of oil and gas resources from the western Russian Arctic

The article discusses the growth in the volumes of oil and gas production and transportation in the western regions of the Russian Arctic in the next few decades due to the presence of unique resources located there. The assessment of the possible development of these regions shows great prospects for the oil and gas sector under the conditions of expansion and modernization of their existing transportation systems, as well as favorable market conditions.     

Study on Corporate Governance Structure of Public Enterprise from the Angle of Railway Renewal and Overhaul Rights

Governance mode, in which governance structure and relationships among transaction parties as well as the concerning economic performance of property rights allocation are determined, is always the initial and overall incentive institutional arrangement. Railway transportation facility renewal and overhaul rights take on dualistic characteristics of both public goods and enterprise goods. For those renewal and overhaul rights obviously belonging to public domain with prominent commonweal features, organization mode of public enterprise can take advantages of government and market govemance, save transaction cost, improve production efficiency, simultaneously fulfill society and enterprise objectives. Viewed from the angle of renewal and overhaul rights, even though we cannot eliminate, we can reduce the public domain in Chinese railway system by means of organization boundary adjustment, establishment of railway transportation enterprises providing complete transportation product for the transportation market. The paper strongly maintains that it is imperative to arrange railway renewal and overhaul rights within public domain through special governance structure on the basis of special lawmaking institutional supply.     

日本车用氢能的产业发展及支持政策

氢能作为最具发展潜力的清洁二次能源,由于其具有低碳零污染和能源高效等特点,开发和利用氢能正成为全球能源科技革命的重要方向。从应用终端来看,车用氢能是氢能主要发展领域。在日本,车用氢能全产业链包括从燃料电池研发到燃料电池汽车(FCV)生产等一系列核心价值链,并以下游终端应用为推力。日本车用氢能产业发展以国家战略为政策引领,面对氢燃料电池汽车成本高,加氢站等基础设施不足等问题,政府运用经济刺激和部门协同等多项政策举措加以应对,同时搭建"政府+大学+企业"的合作开发创新平台,加强技术与产业的协作,利用市场带动产业发展,以FCV作为下游终端发展重点,多层次协同推进车用氢能产业的发展。     

论社会主义市场经济的主要特征--从"经济事实"的角度进行理解

经济事实是理解和把握社会主义市场经济主要特征的依据.理解和把握社会主义市场经济的主要特征需考虑的主要经济事实有社会主义的本质、社会主义的基本制度、社会主义的发展阶段.社会主义市场经济的主要特征表现为发展生产力和强国富民;以公有制为主体,多种经济成分共同发展;以按劳分配为主体,多种分配方式并存,把按劳分配与按要素分配结合起来;社会公平与市场效率相结合;以市场为基础,国家宏观调控为主导;与社会主义精神文明建设相结合.     

INTENSIFICATION OF RAINFED LOWLAND RICE PRODUCTION IN WEST AFRICA: PRESENT STATUS AND POTENTIAL GREEN REVOLUTION

The objective of the current paper is to explore the factors influencing the expansion and intensification of rice production in rainfed lowland sites. The village/lowland‐level data show the following: (1) the expansion of lowland rice cultivation has been driven by population pressure and accessibility to the market; and (2) the adoption of water control technologies is enhanced by the existence of immigrants and accessibility to the market. Rice cultivator data show that investment in water supply canals is influenced by land tenure security and that the canals enhance yield. This suggests that investment in water control technologies in rainfed lowland is necessary to realize a rice Green Revolution. Considering the fairly high average yield already achieved with water control technologies and the vast area of lowlands without water control technologies in rural area, there is a high potential of a rice Green Revolution in rainfed lowland in West Africa.     

循环经济的综合边际效益分析

资源的循环利用是一个充满无限商机的大市场,是一种方兴未艾的朝阳产业.它改变了先污染后治理的单向度的发展模式,有利于加快产业链的开发,促进技术的升级换代,降低企业的边际成本,提高社会的综合效益.循环经济是生产与消费的有机结合,是一种可持续的科学发展观.     

全面认识和正确理解社会主义市场经济

社会主义市场经济体制为实现中国经济的跨越式发展提供了体制活力与制度保障.本文旨在突破经济学概念的西方范式,立足中国经济发展伟大成功实践,提出全面认识和正确理解社会主义市场经济.本文从市场经济的概念入手,论述了市场的概念、性质及其与商品经济的关系,提出市场经济的本质是交换经济.与此同时,提出开放性是社会主义市场经济的最鲜...     

Employment in domestic plants and foreign affiliates: A note on the elasticity of substitution

Conclusions For a high-wage country like Austria, it is commonly expected that growing employment in foreign affiliates substitutes jobs at home. This paper provides a simple framework for estimating the determinants of relative labor demand (abroad in relation to that at home) bilaterally. It is based on the relationship of (dis)economies and transportation costs under the hypothesis that goods trade is an imperfect substitute for foreign production in the case of horizontal investments, while with respect to vertical investments, goods trade is solely dependent on relative market size. The estimates are based on bilateral industry-level data on foreign affiliates and the domestic activities of Austrian manufacturing firms, covering the period 1990–1996, the 10 most important host countries and 7 industrial sectors.     

长江水路货运的生命周期清单分析

交通运输既是工业生产系统的重要环节,也是资源消耗大户和造成环境污染的重要来源。内河水路货运是交通运输业的重要组成部分。长江水运在我国内河水运中占有重要地位。本文选择了长江水路货运中的两种典型运输方式,介绍这两种运输方式完成一定货物周转量的生命周期清单的基本计算方法,得到了长江两种典型水路运输方式的生命周期清单,并进行了比较。该清单可以为各类材料与产品的生命周期清单分析或生命周期评价提供定量的数据支持和方法基础。     

Effects of Poor Transportation on Lean Production and Industrial Clustering: Evidence from the Indian Auto Industry

Conventional wisdom suggests that poor transportation systems adversely affect industrial competitiveness by raising the unit cost of freight. This study finds that freight is neither the only nor the most significant cost that poor transportation creates for auto firms in India. Poor transportation also raises the damages incurred in transit, total inventories, and ordering and overhead costs. Worse, it creates external diseconomies by introducing inefficiencies and unreliability in the supply chain, making it difficult for assemblers to implement lean production. These external diseconomies—rather than excessive freight prices or other direct costs—may be the more debilitating impact of poor transportation infrastructure on industrial performance. In India, transportation constraints and the imperatives of lean production are driving assemblers to create auto clusters.     

非点源污水就地处理技术及其应用

介绍几种常见的就地处理技术及其应用情况.污水就地处理工艺主要针对小水量的分散污水而设计,适用于远离城市排水管网地区的非点源污染治理,能解决非点源污染集中处理过程中成本过高、施工复杂、管理不便和效果不佳等问题,具有广泛的应用前景.     

Institutions and economic performance: evidence from the labour market

We analyse the institutional determinants of economic performance,taking European labour-market institutions as a case in point.European economic growth after the Second World War was basedon Fordist technologies, a setting to which the continent'sinstitutions of solidaristic wage bargaining were ideally suited.They eased distributive conflicts and delivered wage moderation,which in turn supported high investment. The wage compressionthat was a corollary of their operation was of little consequenceso long as the dominant technologies were such that firms couldrely on a relatively homogeneous labour force. But as Fordismgave way to diversified quality production, which relied moreon highly skilled workers, the centralization of bargainingand the compression of wages became impediments rather thanaids to growth. Assuming that growth will rely even more inthe future on rapidly changing, science-based, skilled-labour-intensivetechnologies, countries with centralized labour-market institutionswill have to move still further in the direction of decentralization.Whether Europe in particular can accommodate these demands willhelp to determine whether it is able to re-establish a fullemployment economy in the twenty-first century.     

Analysis of the animal feed to poultry value chain in Zambia

ABSTRACT

Rapidly growing populations, urbanisation and income are together triggering increased demand for high-value agricultural commodities across Southern Africa with scope for gains from trade and regional integration. The poultry sector in Zambia, in particular, has witnessed a rapid growth triggering increased investments and competition, benefiting the consumers. Despite this growth, the sector still faces huge challenges hindering the development of the animal feed, feed input and poultry production sub-sectors. This has limited the extent of participation of the Zambian poultry industry in the regional market due to uncompetitive prices. This study analyses the animal feed to poultry value chain in Zambia, focusing on the industry capabilities with a view to enhancing its competitiveness and production for the regional market. Enhancing value chain capabilities will require improvements in productivity and production of key poultry inputs, and addressing transportation inefficiencies and coordination among governments.     

我国高速铁路和航空客运竞争优势分析

高速铁路与民航在客运市场上的竞争越来越激烈。两者的竞争各有优势,目前看民航的优势主要有便捷、服务质量和舒适度高、销售网络成熟,长远看其难以被替代的优势主要在于建设投资占地少、航线灵活;高速铁路的价格上暂有优势,而核心优势在于节能、运量大和稳定性强。文章认为,高速铁路更适合在中短途市场上发挥作用,航空的长处在于长途运输,通过空铁联运可以更好地将二者的优势结合。     

Development prospects for the heating supply in Russia

The main factors that influence the consumption of heat energy in the centralized heating supply systems in the long term are discussed in this article. Consumption of heat energy by the population for space heating and hot water will be the most significant component of the demand. The possible extents of heat consumption and heat saving in the buildings of cities are estimated on the basis of an analysis of the advanced development of housing construction and the quality of dwelling units. It is shown that it is necessary to increase the annual creation of new pipeline networks to decrease accidents and heat losses. Several scenarios for the development of centralized heat supply systems within the limits of the long-term forecast of the FEC (Fuel and Energy Complex) development of the country until 2030 are discussed. It is shown that major changes in the structure of heat production can occur as limits increase for carbon dioxide emissions in centralized heat supply systems.     

Soil Erosion and Smallholders' Conservation Decisions in the Highlands of Ethiopia

Soil erosion is one of the most serious environmental problems in Ethiopia. Coupled with growing populations, falling per capita food production and worsening poverty, loss of productive land due to land degradation undermines rural livelihoods and national food security. Despite their awareness of the erosion problem, peasants' investments in land have been limited. We use an applied nonseparable model to simulate conservation decisions. Pervasive market imperfections, poverty and high rates of time preference seem to undermine erosion-control investments. Lack of technologies which provide quick returns to subsistence-constrained peasants also seem to deter such investments. Lower private incentives to internalize the intertemporal land degradation externality may require public intervention.     

数字化转型下新能源场站智能管控平台研建

随着新能源场站集控平台研发的深入,功能需求逐渐增加。然而,现有平台建设过程中大多仅能够实现基本功能,而且受制于行业数据通信、数据治理、数据挖掘等技术,导致集控平台建设投入产出比不高,集控平台的智能化、智慧化水平仍需提升。基于工业互联网平台架构,构建新能源场站智能管控平台,通过现场传感测量设备、高速数据通信网络、先进测控平台之间的协调配合,实现新能源场站远程的监测维护、运行优化、故障诊断、管理决策等智能化功能,用真实、准确、全面的数据支撑新能源发电企业打造智能、高效的友好型新能源场站。以国家能源集团新能源技术研究院有限公司院内风光系统作为平台应用对象,结果证明平台有效地提高了运维控制工作效率,降低了总人工成本与总设备维护成本。