The intermittent nature of renewable energy resources such as wind and solar causes the energy supply to be less predictable leading to possible mismatches in the power network. To this end, hydrogen ...production and storage can provide a solution by increasing flexibility within the system. Stored hydrogen as compressed gas can either be converted back to electricity or it can be used as feed-stock for industry, heating for built environment, and as fuel for vehicles. This research is the first to examine optimal strategies for operating integrated energy systems consisting of renewable energy production and hydrogen storage with direct gas-based use-cases for hydrogen. Using Markov decision process theory, we construct optimal policies for day-to-day decisions on how much energy to store as hydrogen, or buy from or sell to the electricity market, and on how much hydrogen to sell for use as gas. We pay special emphasis to practical settings, such as contractually binding power purchase agreements, varying electricity prices, different distribution channels, green hydrogen offtake agreements, and hydrogen market price uncertainties. Extensive experiments and analysis are performed in the context of Northern Netherlands where Europe’s first Hydrogen Valley is being formed. Results show that gains in operational revenues of up to 51% are possible by introducing hydrogen storage units and competitive hydrogen market-prices. This amounts to a €126,000 increase in revenues per turbine per year for a 4.5 MW wind turbine. Moreover, our results indicate that hydrogen offtake agreements will be crucial in keeping the energy transition on track.
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•We integrate green hydrogen production with the electricity and the hydrogen market.•We consider the profit-maximizing behavior of green hydrogen energy system operators.•We provide optimal state-dependent solutions via Markov decision process theory.•Including green hydrogen storage can increase operational revenues significantly.•Hydrogen offtake agreements will be crucial to keep the energy transition on track.
This paper infers the terms of trade effects of free trade agreements (FTAs) implemented in the 1990s. We estimate large FTA effects on bilateral trade volume in 2 digit manufacturing goods from ...1990–2002, using panel data gravity methods to resolve two way causality. The terms of trade changes implied by these volume effects are deduced for 40 countries plus a rest-of-the-world aggregate using an endowments general equilibrium model. Some countries gain over 5% of real manufacturing income, some lose less than 0.3%. Global efficiency of manufactures trade rises 0.9% based on a distance function measure of iceberg melting.
•We infer the terms of trade effects of free trade agreements implemented 1990–2002.•Panel data methods resolve two way causality between trade and FTAs.•Some members gain over 5% of real manufacturing income.•Some non-members lose less than 0.3%.•Global efficiency rises 0.9% using novel distance function measure.
This paper contributes to the literature on the evolution of North-South trade agreements, which historically involved countries in the global South relinquishing policy space for activist trade and ...industrial policies in exchange for locking-in preferential and stable market access. It takes as case study the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), drawing on the agreements, media coverage of the negotiations, and 107 interviews with negotiators and stakeholders in all three countries. I show how the renegotiation resulted in changing conflicts: while the Mexican government attempted to preserve its market access and sought to further restrict its policy space due to path dependence, the Trump administration wanted to reduce market access for Mexico and create uncertainty to re-shore production. The Trump administration partially succeeded by undermining the lock-in effect of trade agreements and including unprecedented provisions in USMCA. The actions of the Biden administration indicate a long-term shift in US trade policy towards protectionism. Combined with the USMCA sunset clause, this creates the risk that the US will use USMCA review periods to create market access uncertainty instead of seizing the opportunities to strengthen North American economic cooperation.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was the first of the 'Mega-FTAs' to be signed. Had it been ratified, it would have created the world's largest preferential trade area. The negotiators of the TPP ...aspired to create 'a next-generation transformative agreement' that would address a new trade agenda focused on regulatory coherence and business facilitation. The expectation was that this agenda would generate a 21st Century trade politics that would be less contentious, at least among business actors, than traditional negotiations on market access. Studies of another Mega-FTA under negotiation, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) that has a similar agenda found unified business support for the agreement domestically and the emergence of transnational business coalitions in support of the agreement. Recent theorising on trade politics suggests, however, that global value chains (GVCs) that involve vertical intra-industry trade introduce 'traditional' distributional issues that will divide business interests domestically - and, in the case of GVCs organised on different geographical bases, internationally as well. This cleavage was evident in the TPP negotiations, unlike those for TTIP, as were other divisions among business - both domestically and across countries - over the sharing of existing rents and of new rents generated by regulatory harmonisation.
Given the importance of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), it is critical to examine its potential success, or failure, particularly in the context of the Regional Economic ...Communities (RECs). Another important issue is how the AfCFTA would interface with other Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), the customs unions and monetary communities that already exist in Africa. The free trade agreements that subregions and or countries in Africa enter into are a threat to the AfCFTA because all efforts of African countries should be focusing on boosting intra-African trade in order to ensure that the AfCFTA succeeds and it does not seem feasible to readily 'absorb' the RECs into the AfCFTA. Using results from fieldwork, the paper makes a case that the future of RECs should be resolved so there is sufficient clarity regarding the implementation of the AfCFTA as far as the role of RECs is concerned.
This book offers a unique contribution that examines major recent changes in conflict, negotiation and regulation within the labour relations systems and related governance institutions of advanced ...societies. The broad scope of analysis includes social welfare institutions, new forms of protest including judicialisation, transnational structures and collective bargaining itself. As the distinguished group of participating authors shows, the accumulation of numerous crucial changes in the interactions of unions, employers, political parties, courts, protestors, regulators and other key actors makes it imperative to reframe the study of collective bargaining and related forms of governance. The shifting dynamics include the growing relevance of multi-level interactions involving transnational entities, states and regions; the increasing tendency of workers and unions to turn to the courts as part of their overall strategy; new forms of solidarity among workers; and the emergence of new populist and nationalist actors. At the same time, sectors of the workforce that feel under-represented by existing institutions have contributed to new types of protest and 'agency'. Building on classical debates, the book offers new theoretical and practical approaches that insert the study of collective bargaining into the analysis of governance, solidarity, conflict and regulation, as they are broadly construed.
This paper examines how the European Union's good governance initiatives under its sustainable development agenda affect ratification of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with African, ...Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries. The theoretical framework argues that the likelihood of ratification is influenced by adjustment costs a signatory faces in implementing EPA provisions. We focus on the level of corruption as indicative of adjustment costs. In partner countries where corruption is high, EPAs that stipulate the lowering of tariffs and improved sustainability standards would clash with the interests of ACP elites and result in hefty adjustment costs. Empirical analysis of 78 ACP countries supports this argument. Results show that the likelihood of EPA ratification is lower in ACP countries with high levels of corruption. They support prevailing theories of self-selection into international agreements, where a given signatory is more likely to ratify agreements close to its institutional status quo.
Category:
Bunion
Introduction/Purpose:
Historically, two-dimensional radiographic study techniques have been used to classify and describe hallux valgus deformities and guided treatment based on ...severity of deformity in the transverse plane only. These two-dimensional radiographic studies and were not able to assess rotational deformity and may explain the high recurrence and dissatisfaction rates which have been reported. Recently, a triplanar hallux abducto valgus classification (THAVC) system was proposed. This key elements of this classification system are the pathologic alignments in all three anatomic planes. The THAVC system is intended to clarify the deformity and apply a triplanar anatomic algorithm for treatment. To our knowledge, this classification system has not been validated. Our objective was to assess the intra-reader and inter-reader reliability of the THAVC.
Methods:
After approval by the Institutional Review Board, patients with hallux abducto valgus (HAV) were identified from a foot and ankle registry. Electronic medical records and digital radiographs were reviewed by the principal investigator (PI). Selected radiographs were then deidentified of patient information and assembled in a digital slide presentation and presented to the reviewers. The eligibility criteria required complete weightbearing radiographic studies and represented varying degrees of HAV. The reviewers included three board certified, fellowship trained orthopaedic foot and ankle surgeons. Images of twenty cases of hallux valgus and five normal cases were distributed electronically, who independently classified all 25 cases according to the THAVC system for a total of 75 observations. After an eight week washout period, the order of the HAV cases was randomized and redistributed to the reviewers. The three reviewers were blinded to the results of the both radiographic reviews until after statistical analysis had occurred.
Results:
We evaluated the intra-reader consistency by Cohen's kappa for the agreement between two measurements from the same reader. The average kappa value from three readers was 0.241 with 95% CI (0.093-0.374), indicating a fair agreement. The inter-reader agreement was 0.046 with 95% CI (-0.041-0.112), showing poor agreement between readers.
Conclusion:
The Triplanar HAV Classification is the first classification system that utilizes anatomic, multi-plane evaluation. Our results indicate while this is the first known HAV classification system, by this analysis it lacks reliability. This study shows that the reading of 2D radiographs still present a difficulty in assessing a 3D problem. Perhaps a scoring system utilizing advanced imaging such as 3D WBCT could prove more reliable and applicable.
Does trade liberalization lead to the outsourcing of pollution from industrialized countries to developing countries? According to the pollution-haven hypothesis, international trade is a key channel ...through which richer countries can geographically dissociate consumption from production of goods. We examine whether and how trade liberalization via preferential trade agreements (PTAs) facilitates the shifting of consumption-based environmental burdens from developed countries (via imports) to poorer countries (via exports). Based on panel data analysis of 183 countries from 1987 to 2013 we find partial evidence for trade-induced environmental burden shifting. While we observe an increase in footprint exports from low-income countries when these countries liberalize trade, this is not matched by an increase in footprint imports of high-income countries. Our results also show that environmental clauses in PTAs and participation in international environmental agreements do not influence the relationship between trade liberalization and ecological footprint movements. However, domestic institutions have a significant effect on the trade-induced distribution of environmental burdens. These findings suggest that PTAs as a policy tool for trade liberalization are, per se, unlikely to induce exploitation of low-income countries' natural capital by wealthier nations. However, they suggest that political incentives inherent to democratic institutions encourage environmental burden shifting.
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