Considering the excellent environmental properties and heating capability under wide running conditions of the natural fluid COsub.2, the transcritical COsub.2 heat pump system has widely been used ...in the application of water heaters, commercial heating and cooling, electric vehicle thermal management, etc. Since the performance was highly affected by the discharge pressure and heat recovery rate in a transcritical COsub.2 system, the collaborative optimization of these two parameters was analyzed in detail in this study. The results showed that the optimal value of the system heating COP, which was the ration of heating capacity to power consumption, was better under a higher heat recovery rate and relatively lower discharge pressure, which is why these kinds of operating conditions are highly recommended from the perspective of collaborative optimization. Additionally, the heat recovery rate had a positive effect on the system performance when the discharge pressure was lower than its optimal value, while the heat recovery rate would present a passive effect on the system performance when the discharge pressure was higher than its optimal value. The relevant conclusions of this study provide a good theoretical basis for the efficient and stable operation of the transcritical COsub.2 heat pump technology under the conditions of a wide ambient temperature range.
Robert P. Weller's richly documented account describes the extraordinary transformations which have taken place in Chinese and Taiwanese responses to the environment across the twentieth century. ...Indeed, both places can be said to have 'discovered' a new concept of nature. The book focuses on nature tourism, anti-pollution movements, and policy implementation to show how the global spread of western ideas about nature has interacted with Chinese traditions. Inevitably differences of understanding across groups have caused problems in administering environmental reforms. They will have to be resolved if the dynamic transformations of the 1980s are to be maintained in the twenty-first century. In spite of a century of independent political development, a comparison between China and Taiwan reveals surprising similarities, showing how globalization and shared cultural traditions have outweighed political differences in shaping their environments. The book will appeal to a broad readership from scholars of Asia, to environmentalists, and anthropologists.
Knowledge is an intrinsic element of environmental management. Understanding what kinds of knowledge are needed and how to communicate them effectively is crucial for building environmental ...management capacity. Despite extensive research, knowledge and its exchange are commonly considered from the viewpoint of its creators and disseminators, rather than that of its recipients. This can lead to mismatches between supply of and demand for knowledge, and futile knowledge exchange that undermines the effectiveness of interventions. Research is needed that looks carefully at the contexts and consequences of such scenarios. Addressing this gap, we examine the implementation of National Environmental Programs (NEPs) in north-western China, drawing from interviews and questionnaires with scientists, grassroots implementers, and farmers and herders, to identify what and how knowledge has been exchanged and what their perspectives are about knowledge exchange with other actors. We ascertain the positive impacts of knowledge exchange during NEP implementation, as well as the consequences when it is lacking, by analysing the interfaces and interactions between actors, seeking explanation for successes and failures. We conclude that with changing socio-ecological systems, knowledge and its exchange also need to change accordingly, extending beyond the environmental domain to integrate local socioeconomic concerns. Such efforts are necessary to improve environmental management outcomes and advance sustainable development.
The ecological risk assessment guidance of virtually all federal and state agencies, private companies, and other interests can be traced to that of the essential design of the U.S. Environmental ...Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA ecological risk assessment paradigm has remained unchanged for all intents and purposes since its inception 30 years ago, this despite criticism expressed repeatedly by some, for many years. Despite the discipline's name, a core paradigm shortcoming is its inability to express risk, the probability of a receptor-of-concern at a contaminated site developing a toxicological endpoint (e.g., reproductive impairment). Further, common site context and biological realities (e.g., site sizes; home ranges of receptors-of concern) allow for the supported challenges that risk assessments aren't needed altogether, and instances of ecological damage at sites being unknown. This commentary is an open appeal to the EPA to replace the paradigm it has set forth, dispensing with failed processes (e.g., endeavoring to assess risk potential at 75 year-old sites; endeavoring to assess risk potential to wide-ranging species at one-acre properties). The commentary invites the EPA to respond, not with counter-arguments, but rather with explanations for the Agency's resistance to acknowledging problems with its guidance, followed by the Agency commitment to sorely needed ERA reform.
The egregious limitations of the ecological risk assessment process (conceived three decades ago) call for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop and implement its immediate reform.
The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) was founded in 1972 as a nimble, fast, and flexible entity at the core of the UN system--a subsidiary body rather than a specialized agency. It was ...intended to be the world's environmental conscience, an anchor institution that established norms and researched policy, leaving it to other organizations to carry out its recommendations. In this book, Maria Ivanova offers a detailed account of UNEP's origin and history. Ivanova counters the common criticism that UNEP was deficient by design, arguing that UNEP has in fact delivered on much (though not all) of its mandate.
Emission inventories are essential for modelling studies and pollution control, but traditional emission inventories are usually updated after a few years based on the statistics of "bottom-up" ...approach from the energy consumption in provinces, cities, and counties. The latest emission inventories of multi-resolution emission inventory in China (MEIC) was compiled from the statistics for the year 2016 (MEIC_2016). However, the real emissions have varied yearly, due to national pollution control policies and accidental special events, such as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. In this study, a four-dimensional variational assimilation (4DVAR) system based on the "top-down" approach was developed to optimise sulfur dioxide (SO.sub.2) emissions by assimilating the data of SO.sub.2 concentrations from surface observational stations. The 4DVAR system was then applied to obtain the SO.sub.2 emissions during the early period of COVID-19 pandemic (from 17 January to 7 February 2020), and the same period in 2019 over China. The results showed that the average MEIC_2016, 2019, and 2020 emissions were 42.2x10.sup.6, 40.1x10.sup.6, and 36.4x10.sup.6 kg d.sup.-1 . The emissions in 2020 decreased by 9.2 % in relation to the COVID-19 lockdown compared with those in 2019. For central China, where the lockdown measures were quite strict, the mean 2020 emission decreased by 21.0 % compared with 2019 emissions. Three forecast experiments were conducted using the emissions of MEIC_2016, 2019, and 2020 to demonstrate the effects of optimised emissions. The root mean square error (RMSE) in the experiments using 2019 and 2020 emissions decreased by 28.1 % and 50.7 %, and the correlation coefficient increased by 89.5 % and 205.9 % compared with the experiment using MEIC_2016. For central China, the average RMSE in the experiments with 2019 and 2020 emissions decreased by 48.8 % and 77.0 %, and the average correlation coefficient increased by 44.3 % and 238.7 %, compared with the experiment using MEIC_2016 emissions. The results demonstrated that the 4DVAR system effectively optimised emissions to describe the actual changes in SO.sub.2 emissions related to the COVID lockdown, and it can thus be used to improve the accuracy of forecasts.
The capabilities-based view is central to understanding ecosystems management. However, there is still a gap in the literature about the capabilities to manage ecosystems. This article aims to ...identify and map the capabilities applied to business ecosystems management. The methodology consisted of a systematic literature review gathering studies from Web of Science and Scopus databases. From 789 works analyzed, 89 connected capabilities and ecosystems. Content analysis was performed through coding, resulting in a cluster of 11 capabilities, one of which is dynamic and the other ten are operational. The results obtained include the identification, mapping and structuring of dynamic and operational capabilities for ecosystem management and their dispersion among ecosystem actors: focal Arm, suppliers, and complementors. We have developed an ecosystem management capability framework, which presents dynamic capabilities as the central link and driver of the set of ecosystem capabilities, which include the capabilities for ecosystem alignment, the capabilities for sustaining the ecosystem, the capabilities for the growth of the ecosystem and the capabilities for sustaining companies in the ecosystem. The findings contribute to the management literature and practice by offering a structure of capabilities for ecosystem management, gathered in a framework that shows the implications of different capabilities in the ecosystem. In addition, the study presents suggestions for future research addressing each capability cluster. Keywords: Ecosystems. Ecosystem management. Strategy. Dynamic capabilities. Operational capabilities. A visao baseada em capacidades e central ao entendimento de como ecossistemas podem ser gerenciados. No entanto, apesar da relevancia deste tema, ainda existe uma lacuna na literatura sobre as capacidades necessarias a gestao de ecossistemas. O objetivo desse artigo e identificar e mapear as capacidades aplicadas a gestao de ecossistemas de negocios. A metodologia consistiu em uma revisao sistematica da literatura considerando duas bases de dados: Web of Science e Scopus. No total, foram analisados 789 trabalhos; destes 89 fizeram a ponte entre capacidades e ecossistemas. A analise de conteudo foi realizada por meio de codificacao, resultando em um agrupamento de 11 capacidades--uma foi dinamica e as outras dez foram operacionais. Os resultados obtidos incluem identificacao, mapeamento e estruturacao das capacidades dinamicas e operacionais para a gestao do ecossistema, bem como para sua dispersao entre seus atores: firma focal, fornecedores e complementadores. Desenvolvemos um framework de gestao das capacidades do ecossistema, o qual apresenta a capacidade dinamica como elo central e impulsionador do conjunto das capacidades do ecossistema, que incluem as capacidades para: o seu alinhamento, a sua sustentacao, o seu crescimento e sustentacao das empresas nele. Contribuimos com a literatura e pratica gerencial ao apresentar uma estruturacao de capacidades para gestao do ecossistema, agrupadas em um framework que mostra as implicacoes da presenca das diferentes capacidades no ecossistema. Tambem contribuimos ao apresentar sugestoes de pesquisas futuras para cada agrupamento de capacidades. Palavras-chave: Ecossistemas. Gestao de ecossistemas. Estrategia. Capacidades dinamicas. Capacidades operacionais. La vision basada en capacidades es fundamental para comprender como se pueden gestionar los ecosistemas. Sin embargo, a pesar de la relevancia de este tema, aun existe un vacio en la literatura acerca de cuales son las capacidades para gestionar los ecosistemas. El proposito de este articulo es identificar y mapear las capacidades aplicadas a la gestion de ecosistemas empresariales. La metodologia consistio en una revision sistematica de la literatura considerando dos bases de datos: Web of Science y Scopus. En total se analizaron 789 obras, de las cuales 89 hicieron el puente entre capacidades y ecosistemas. El analisis de contenido se realizo a traves de la codificacion, lo que resulto en una agrupacion de 11 capacidades--una dinamica y diez operativas-. Los resultados obtenidos incluyen la identificacion, mapeo y estructuracion de capacidades dinamicas y operativas para la gestion del ecosistema y su dispersion entre los actores del ecosistema: empresa focal, proveedores y complementadores. Hemos desarrollado un marco de capacidades de gestion de ecosistemas, que presenta las capacidades dinamicas como el vinculo central e impulsor del conjunto de capacidades de los ecosistemas, que incluyen las capacidades para la alineacion de los ecosistemas, las capacidades para sostener el ecosistema, las capacidades para el crecimiento del ecosistema y las capacidades para el sostenimiento de las empresas en el ecosistema. Contribuimos a la literatura y la practica de gestion al presentar una estructuracion de capacidades para la gestion de ecosistemas, agrupadas en un marco que muestra las implicaciones de la presencia de diferentes capacidades en el ecosistema. Tambien contribuimos presentando sugerencias para futuras investigaciones para cada grupo de capacidades. Palabras clave: Ecosistemas. Manejo de ecosistemas. Estrategia. Capacidades dinamicas. Capacidades operativas.
The presented material is devoted to the results of the V International scientific and practical conference “Actual problems of the energy complex: physical processes, mining, production, ...transmission, processing and environmental protection” (APEC-V-2022).
List of International Program Committee are available in this pdf.
